Free Renaldo by James McCreath Page A

office more than a few months. San Marco’s enormous popularity with the
    soldiers serving under him, as well as the romanticized folklore surrounding
    his combat heroics, made him exulted by the masses.
    38
    RENALDO
    Figueroa San Marco, it could be said, was the most influential man in all
    of Argentina.
    General San Marco would often visit the sight of his new home to make
    inspections and update or change architectural plans. There were no beatings
    or dressing downs when he was on the job site. Tucho and Shaunaker were on
    their best subservient behavior.
    If the general was pleased with the progress, he would sometimes
    speak directly to the assembled workers, thanking them and giving them
    encouragement.
    He is a man of regal bearing , Lonfranco thought.
    Perhaps fifty years of age, the general was not an overly tall man, rather
    more bowlegged in posture from too many years of cavalry service. He was
    barrel-chested and powerfully built, however, with a large, hawk-like nose,
    piercing eyes, and a shock of full, grey hair.
    More than anything, it was his voice that inspired respect. One could just
    imagine the booming baritone imploring his troop to ‘push on, push on to
    glory!’ in the face of overwhelming enemy odds. His talks always left the men
    with uplifted spirits. Even Tucho would be in a good mood for a few hours after
    the general’s departure.
    On the few occasions that work had fallen behind schedule due to excessive
    rains or the unavailability of certain material, the general would quietly walk
    off the sight. He would simply say to Shaunaker that he was sure that the
    foreman would have the building timetable back on track soon.
    This mild reprimand was translated into escalated proddings and beatings
    by Tucho’s bullies. They would drive the men incessantly, often late into the
    night. There was some talk among the workers of revolt on these occasions, but
    each man needed this work, and no one was willing to actually put his job on
    the line.
    It was during one of Tucho’s foul moods that Luigi Monza accidentally
    overturned a wheelbarrow of cement when its front wheel became bogged
    down in the mud. Tucho was there in an instant, flailing away at Monza with
    his baton while screaming insults and kicking the legs out from under the
    startled, apologetic Italian. The cruel man’s gang now joined in, and Monza
    was picked up and passed from bully to bully, pelted, beaten, and insulted.
    Lonfranco’s blood was boiling. There was a ringing in his ears that he had
    never experienced before, and he stood, shaking with rage.
    Unable to control himself, the youth lunged at Tucho, knocking him into
    the wheelbarrow and stumbling on into the mud. As the line boss tried to
    regain his balance and composure, three well-placed punches to the face sent
    the Argentine reeling backwards again, this time covered in his own blood.
    39
    JAMES McCREATH
    Lonfranco turned to face the other tormentors. As they came at him one
    by one, he was able to dispatch each, in turn, into the muck. His co-workers
    cheered him on heartily, but offered no assistance. Even Monza was too stunned
    to come to Lonfranco’s aid.
    Tucho, now brandishing a knife as well as his ever-present baton, had
    maneuvered behind the boy and was about to strike a telling blow to his head
    when a pistol shot exploded a few feet away. The combatants stopped dead in
    their tracks.
    There on a scaffold propped against cement blocks stood General Figueroa
    San Marco. He motioned for Tucho to drop the knife, but the overseer was
    so incensed at the loss of face he had suffered that he hesitated momentarily,
    gesturing at Lonfranco to continue their dance of death.
    A second shot struck the gleaming blade just inches above the handle,
    carrying it out of the Tucho’s grasp. San Marco ordered the bully and his
    followers off of his property at once, for he had witnessed the entire episode.
    Loud cheers from the workers greeted this news, and they ran to