THE AIR IS TENSE in the last neighborhood on the hill. Last night, the police captured several members of Destino’s clica on a raid. Members of Guanacos Criminales Salvatrucha come and go at the youth center without acknowledging me or Gustavo, who is wholly immersed in a giant jigsaw puzzle, pausing only occasionally to check that no piece has made its way to the floor.
Amidst the chaos enters Hugo. He is a kid, twelve years old, with big eyes that scrunch when he laughs. He orbits the gangsters like a satellite; he’s one of Destino’s protégés.
Hugo makes a joke and Destino bursts into laughter. Seconds later, the gangsters join in. The only one who is not laughing is Little Down. He’s in his chair, with a face like stone. He runs his fingers along his chains then gets up and sits next to me. Little Down and I talk for a bit, and after exchanging a few anecdotes and our phone numbers, he leaves. Just like yesterday, he’s dressed in black, and when he walks down the main street people avert their eyes and speed up their pace. Little Down walks nervously, and his clutch of amulets announce his presence with a clinking.
Meanwhile, at the youth center, two women lean against the door. They ask me to call Destino, and he grudgingly gets up from his throne. They talk for a bit, like they are haggling almost. One is young and thin, with two girls furled up in her skirt. A third child walks with zombie-like conviction toward Gustavo’s jigsaw puzzle. Gustavo refuses to share his treasure, giving her a forbidding glare. The other woman is fat and several years older than the first. After a bit, the monarch grabs a handful of bills and gives them to her. Gustavo glances at me, then explains to me that their boyfriends/husbands are gangsters who are now locked up; they come to Destino every few months asking for money. The women don’t leave, they keep haggling and soon enough they receive another handful of bills. They both hug him, kiss him on the cheeks, and leave content with their spoils. Gustavo has finished his puzzle. He shows it to me proudly, then rushes off to hide it in the office. On his face, the unmistakable grin of a job well done.
Destino remains by the doorway. He sees the two women saunter off with their money. He puts a hand in his pocket, stares intently at the coins he has left, and grumbles:
“And they say gangsters don’t get extorted.”
13 This term refers to extortion in the form of the weekly payments small businesses pay to gangs. This occurs throughout the country.