No One Writes To The Colonel

On a Monday at 6 a.m., Aurelio Escovar, a "dentist without a degree" (73), opens his office. He takes out a set of false teeth mounted in plaster and begins polishing them. At 8 a.m., his 11-year-old son interrupts Aurelio's work to tell him that the mayor is there and wants his tooth pulled. Aurelio says to tell the mayor that Aurelio is not there. Aurelio's son says the mayor can hear him. Aurelio continues his work.

Aurelio's son calls to him again. He tells Aurelio that the mayor says he's going to shoot Aurelio if he doesn't take out his tooth. Aurelio, moving "without hurrying" (74), stops polishing and opens his desk drawer, which holds a revolver. He tells his son to let the mayor come and shoot him. The mayor enters with half of his face shaven and the other half in pain, swollen, with "a five-day-old beard" (74). Aurelio tells the mayor to sit down then begins to boil his dental instruments.

Aurelio examines the mayor's infected tooth then tells him it must be pulled "without anesthesia" (75) because he has an abscess. The mayor agrees. Aurelio uses his hot tool to grasp the Mayor's "lower wisdom tooth" (75) then, just before pulling the tooth, says, "Now you'll pay for our twenty dead men" (75). The mayor begins to cry from the pain. After pulling the tooth, Aurelio hands the Mayor a clean cloth and tells him to dry his tears. The mayor rises from the chair and sees the "crumbling ceiling and dusty spider web" (75) in Aurelio's office. Aurelio tells the mayor to go to bed and gargle with salt water. The mayor gives Aurelio a "casual military salute" (75) and begins to leave. He tells Aurelio to send the bill. Aurelio asks if he should send it to the mayor or the town. Without looking at Aurelio, the mayor replies, "It's the same damn thing" (76).