REPOLLO

(CABBAGE)

     The day I got my nickname for the rest of my life was the first day of class in the trading school I attended pursuing a career in accounting (E.N.C.O.D was the school name). In those days the older students used to wait for the nerviest and newest students, coming from the surroundings of the school, to welcome them into the institution. Those bullies had scissors and clippers to cut any new student’s hair and clothes. Because it was a school tradition, the faculty and security staff never intervene in those activities, next year all these abused students were going to have their revenge.

     The day before, following my cousins’ advice, I went to a barber shop and got a military style cut.  They also told me to arrive a couple minutes before eight o’clock to be on time for the principal’s speech, nobody, and I mean nobody, dare to be late for his speech or it would be hell for the rest of the year for the “offender” (Professors and students alike).  Guatemalans are known for arriving late to everything, you make an appointment for ten in the morning and everybody shows up at ten thirty; the principal knew it very well so discipline was his first and only rule.

     I arrived thirty minutes before the bell rang and, to my surprise, a lot of the older students were outside waiting for their next victim. When I saw them coming towards me I thought the worst, but they came to welcome me with open arms; I was very popular in the sports world, I was a soccer player and our school’s soccer program was mediocre.  I was relieved to learn that, even before my first day in the school grounds, I had a privileged position among the older students, meaning nobody was going to mess with me or they would had to deal with my new brothers.

     The bell rang and everybody ran inside the building, to the patio were everybody was already lining in rows like soldiers, some with their new hair cuts and  others with holes in their clothes.  I forgot to run and took my time to arrive to the ceremony.  The whole faculty was in front of the students, the school flag was on the left side and the national flag was to the right side of the podium; the principal was ready to instruct the entire audience to sing the national anthem, a practice that any school or institution takes very seriously because it represents the freedom and liberty we all hold dear.

    I was thinking that for the first time I was going to be known for my real name, I was not going to be “Little Fish” anymore, or worse “Lulo” (from Lulu, an American cartoon girl who was very popular those days). I was in a dreamland and felt very happy. I came into the school patio were everybody else was about to start singing the first line of the national anthem and suddenly there was complete silence, you know when you inhale air and your chest is full of pride, yes that is the moment I came in.  Somebody in one of the rows, an older student who knew my father when he was alive, shouted “REPOLLOOOOOOOO” and everybody turned towards the front entrance where I was standing, (my father’s hair was curly and look like a cabbage.) everybody laugh so hard, even the principal, they could not believe what just happened; in a way it was the best way to break the ice. Later I found out that it was a friend called “Culebro” (snake), and that was not his nickname, that was his real last name!

     Anyway, the principal talked to me through the microphone and told me:  “Repollo, what are you waiting for, go and get in a row, we are going to sing the national anthem”, while he winked at me with his right eye.  Welcome home.

REPOLLO