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24
SENTENCING

For my second court appearance the bus didn’t arrive, so the police handcuffed the prisoners together in pairs, assigned each pair a guard, and we had to make our own way to court. There was an odd number of prisoners, so I was handcuffed to my escort instead of a prisoner.

‘Can’t we catch a taxi?’ I asked him jokingly.
‘Of course. If you pay,’ he answered.
We took a taxi, as I worried that we might be late if we walked.
My guard was from Santa Cruz. During the taxi ride, we joked about which city had the best-looking girls and the best-tasting beer.
‘The Paceñas are too cold,’ he told me.
‘The beers or the women?’ I asked, remembering that they shared the same name.
‘Both,’ he answered and we fell about laughing in the back seat. The taxi driver who was listening in on our conversation and watching us in the rearview mirror started laughing so much that he forgot to watch the road and almost crashed into the car in front. ‘I think it’s the altitude,’ he said, slamming on the brakes.

My escort’s name was Fernando. By the time we arrived at the court building, he and I were best friends. We arrived half an hour before the other prisoners, but rather than sending me to the holding cells, he let me sit outside the courtroom.

‘Are you thirsty?’ I asked him.
‘Claro. I’m always thirsty,’ Fernando laughed. ‘Will you shout me a beer?’
‘Maybe afterwards.’ I didn’t think drinking before my trial was a good idea so I sent him downstairs to buy some cigarettes and a Coca-Cola