“‘But, sir,’ Seraphim answered him, so moved that his forehead, nose, and cheeks — the little skin there was on his face — was white, ‘we don’t know you, and though we would like, with all our hearts, to believe you and accept that Almo has come to fulfill a prophecy, we can’t stop thinking that for strange reasons you are mocking us, poor comedians that we are.’
“I nodded, holding the baby against my chest. Nevertheless, despite those natural misgivings, I was overcome by a great feeling of well being, since I’d always believed in Almo’s superior Destiny. The Indian’s words were the confirmation of my dreams.
“‘Friends, in this evil society there is no truth other than money. Let’s let it speak,’ he said. He took off his hat and extracted from it a thick wad of banknotes.
“Seraphim whistled in shock. ‘I’ve never seen so much money in one place before!’
“‘It really isn’t much, sir, but enough for what we want. Let me explain: here in the north, in the mining region, is where a few of us shamans live. We are the guardians of the Tradition. Without us, the heritage of our race would be lost. Foreigners have invaded our land with their capital. Now potassium nitrate, copper, iron, silver, and gold all belong to the English and North Americans, who are linked to the government, which belongs to the rich. We shamans have saved up most of the money we’ve earned awaiting the arrival of the Yeco so we can offer it to him in his war against the oligarchy. But time doesn’t pass in vain. So much misery and social injustice made us lose patience and decide to set aside our beautiful legend to act in this ugly reality. I was sent here with the savings to give it to Recabarren and help him that way to create the Socialist Workers Party. Luckily, God wanted me to take refuge on the stage and see your baby naked. This money is for you. Accept it. It will allow you to rent a comfortable room in Iquique, eat well, and dress decently for four months. The time we’ll need to travel around the region announcing the good news and prepare a triumphal reception for you. The only thing I’ll ask of you is that when you’re in the port you bring the child to a certain photographer, a friend of mine, so he can take a picture showing the child’s two sexes. We’ll make copies and distribute them to all our offices. The workers will finally understand that the miracle exists, that God has come down here to Earth and is among us.’
“That roll of bills, coming from a humble man, convinced us. A new life was beginning. A life with an immense ideal. And we did go, as he suggested, to Iquique. He went with us. On the way there, he never spoke a word, and when he stopped, he’d hunker down for hours and hours never taking his eyes off Almo. In a small hotel at the port, they let us board Blacky and Whitey and rented us a room with a kitchen, bath, and windows overlooking the sea.
“Rosauro brought us to his friend, who specialized in identity card photographs, and got a picture of Yeco with his little legs spread, showing his penis and his vagina. He made a date with us: ‘On December 25, I’ll be waiting for you in the canton of Alto San Antonio, one of the most prosperous in the nitrate region. Look for the San Lorenzo mine. Be punctual. That date is important. Yeco must bring us the light that will begin the flight of darkness.’ He made his farewells sharing a bottle of pisco and headed for the desert.
“The four months passed quickly, but a notable change took place in Seraphim. He finally felt himself recognized by society. His child was not a monster but a God. All the injustices he’d suffered in life he now attributed to a dictatorship disguised as a democracy that he was going to help destroy. His abominable poverty and isolation were reaching their final days. Now a free workers’ paradise awaited him. All this thanks to the marvelous Almo. Seraphim stopped dressing like a clown. He bought himself two gray suits, shirts, ties, a felt hat, and a razor. He shaved off the hair on his face and used adhesive tape to pull his ears closer to his skull. Though I didn’t like the change, I understood him. Now he could walk unnoticed through the streets. He was, a delight to his soul, just one more person. After taking advantage of our vacation, eating delicious seafood, basking in the sun at the beach, and loving each other better than ever, we packed up our wagon to go to San Lorenzo, calculating our arrival for the assigned date.
“In those lonely highlands, night came on suddenly. It seemed to rise up out of the ocean and flow to the mountains like a black wave. We could see each other’s faces but not our feet. The dense fog, given off by the extremely dry land, fought to reach the sky, but it was so dense it could not rise. It was a cloud with roots. The mist became so thick that it ate up the road and horses.
“‘Let’s stop. It’s too dangerous to keep moving, and we might fall into a gully. Think of the child,’ I said to Seraphim.
“‘The fact is,’ he answered, ‘that with Almo here nothing can happen. God is protecting us. It’s now we have to show our confidence in him.’ And cracking his whip, he made Whitey and Blacky gallop. At first I was terrified. Then, as the wagon seemed to shake without moving forward — the compact mist and the moonless blackness proved impenetrable to our lantern, keeping us from seeing how the landscape slipped behind us — I gave myself over calmly to the rocking, as if I were in a huge cradle. I think Seraphim fell asleep as well.
“We woke at the edge of a precipice of white stone, an immense excavation resembling a stadium where they mined saltpeter. A group of miners carrying torches surrounded us. Rosauro was with them. ‘Yeco is making miracles. Even though you can see practically nothing, you arrived exactly on time to the place where we were waiting for you. Follow us.’ They guided us to the encampment. ‘Come down from the wagon, please. Our comrades will take care of the horses. Pass through here.’
“We entered a bar called Coquimbo Girls. Waiting for us there, all packed in, were about a hundred miners, waited on by three charming young ladies, daughters of the old couple who owned the place. It seemed incredible that the husband and wife, whose faces were so wrinkled they looked a hundred years old, could have such young daughters. But seeing them move made us realize that their wrinkles came from the salt that had creased their skin, not from age.
“Rosauro was highly excited. He took Almo out of our hands, undressed him, spread his legs, and showed his double sex. The workers fell to their knees whispering: ‘It’s true. He is the Yeco. Blessed be God.’
“Rosauro turned to us: ‘You can rely on these comrades. They come from all the different mines in the region. They’ve heard Recabarren’s speeches and want to fight for workers’ rights. But they haven’t been able to unite. Now, above them, in the Yeco, all our ideals converge. Now, thanks to the presence of this child, they can act like one single man. Tomorrow we are going to declare a strike in San Lorenzo. Then we’re going to extend it to the other centers. Here are the Ruiz brothers, who represent the workers. Yesterday they delivered a request for a wage increase to the mine administrator, Mr. Turner, an Englishman who refused to respond without speaking to management in Iquique. The brothers went on, aloud this time, to explain to Mr. Turner that the miners are paid four pesos for a criminally long workday. The price of a loaf of bread is a peso — that is, one quarter of a day’s pay. At that rate, it is impossible to live. Today, bright and early, the gringo told us that the company refused the increase. Which was what we wanted! Our goal is not to earn a few pesos more but to initiate the Total Revolution that will bring down the exploiters and take control of the Chilean government. Now we have a motive for beginning the process. With Yeco, the sacred flame, present we shall make the grand conflagration explode. There will be thousands of us abandoning our jobs. We shall march down to Iquique like a sea of ants. The authorities will simply have to hear us out. That’s how we’ll win the first battle. We shall go back to the mines, but we will also demand the right to form unions. Which will not be allowed. Then we’ll cause a general strike throughout the nation. The soldiers, who are also of the people, will disobey their chiefs and help us bring down the president and his court of thieves. Tomorrow we shall begin the revolt, and we shall not stop until the final victory!’