A MILLIONAIRE WOMAN SAW THE RUBY ON THE NECK OF A HOMELESS MAN... AND SHOUTED HER MISSING SON'S NAME
“That pendant! Where did you get that pendant?
The woman’s voice went through the avenue and slowed down the conversations around.
Mauricio Salgado stood still next to a sack full of plastic bottles and cans that he had collected from early. Several people turned to him.
Some already had the phone in their hand.
Mauricio looked at the woman who had just gotten out of a dark car. I'd be just over sixty. He dressed elegantly, wore carefully collected hair and looked out of place among the stalls, pedestrians and noise of downtown Guadalajara.
But I wasn't looking at Mauricio's worn clothes.
He looked at his neck.
There hung a small red stone, mounted on an old piece of metal.
“Sir,” she said, slowly approaching. I need you to tell me where you got that from.
Mauricio looked down at the pendant.
For years I had slept with that piece against my chest.
I've never sold it.
Not even on the days I hadn't eaten hours.
“I found it a long time ago,” he replied.
The woman took a hand to her mouth.
"No.
His eyes began to fill with tears.
That pendant was my son’s.
In less than a minute, the small circle of curious became a crowd.
Mauricio knew those looks too well.
Distrust.
Rejection.
Suspect.
A man murmured that they should call the police.
Another woman asked out loud if Mauricio had stolen it.
Someone started recording closer.
Mauricio did not respond.
He just pressed the strap of the rib that he was wearing on his shoulder.
His name was Mauricio Salgado and he was fifty-six years old.
For most people passing through that area, he was simply “the man with the bottles.”
I had been sleeping for months in a small hostel when there was room. On nights when he could not make room, he was looking for a safe indoor corner or agreed to sleep in the cellar of an acquaintance who allowed him to enter from time to time.
In the morning I walked for hours.
