—I'm sorry, boy, but alcoholic beverages are given out at the festival. No minors are allowed to enter without the company of an adult.

I opened my eyes wide in bewilderment.

—What?!

—It was no secret. Didn't you see it on the promotional posters? Look at the top, on the poster. It's right there.

I took a few steps back and looked over the guard booth. There it read "Great Annual Food Festival" and on top of the big name, an asterisk: "No access to minors unaccompanied by a guardian".

I put my hands to my head, dumbfounded. I didn't understand how could we have missed a detail like that.

—Noooo! How could I not have noticed?— exclaimed Erica.

But it wasn't just her fault, it was everyone's fault for not thinking about it. Of course those alcoholic adults were going to want to drink wine and beer, they couldn't enjoy anything without getting drunk. I felt like a fool.

At that, Erica approached me.

—Never mind, let's go around the block and I'll help you guys jump over the fence. It'll be easy!— she said.

I looked at her in amazement. I wondered why she tried to pay with a credit card if she could just jump for free into the festival.

Whatever her motive, Erica's initiative gave me an idea. She didn't want to show her strength to others, but she was willing to do so if we could get in and have a good time. She was a good girl, but I could still go on, I hadn't given up yet.

Determined, I approached the lady again. The cops had already gone elsewhere, they wouldn't press their presence. That was all I needed. I smiled at her, charming.

—What's your name, dear?

She looked at me, quizzical. It was to be expected, but it wouldn't take long to change.

—Montserrat— she said— Why do you ask?

—Monse...— I said in a flirtatious tone, with a deep voice— How is your day going? Doesn't it bore you to look at the entrance hour after hour?

—Well, yes, but at least I'm sitting down. It's quite nice, really— she replied— What are you getting at, kid?

I ignored his direct questions and continued.

—Listen, Monse. My name is Ocko, these are my friends: Troveto, Pekos, Galica and Erica. We came from Santa Gloria school, on the other side of town, just because we wanted to have a good time at the food festival. Galica, the red—haired pigtailed girl you see behind me, is leaving soon and we wanted to see her off by doing something as a group. Isn't there a chance you'll let us in?

Monse pursed her lips, looked at each of us. She looked troubled.

—I'm sorry, kid. If none of you can prove to me that you're of age, I can't let you in. Those are orders.

—Come on, Monse. You know that rule can be easily broken. How many groups of kids have come in with just one posing as the adult? When all they're looking for is to go drinking. We just want to do something fun, we're nice people, we won't bother anyone. For example: See that big guy? Yes, Pekos, he's an athlete, he can't drink, it would destroy his whole diet. And Galica herself? She is an artist, an excellent musician.

The lady showed her teeth, indicating that it was a difficult decision, but shook her head anyway.

—Really, Ocko, I'm sorry. I can't.

I smiled, this time effortlessly. I already had her in my hand. I made a nod, a wink with both eyes and a wide smile, a very complex gesture between trust and complicity.

—And how will they control it? Will there be an inspector inside, asking all the public for their IDs? No, you know that won't happen. Come on, Monse. You know they gave you that order to keep the teens away, but they'll all go over the wall or something. We just saw some kids on the other side of the block, they were going through a hole under the bars, like dogs. If dishonest people can come in and eat whatever they want, is it so bad to let us through?

Monse wrinkled her face, hesitant.

—Come on, Monse— I insisted.

She wrinkled her face even more. I did my charming wink again. She sighed.

—I could let you in, if you'd do me a favor— she said.

I was ready.

—What do you need? Anything for my friend Monse.

She called one of her colleagues to take her place, ushered us into the festival and led us to an area designated as a temporary warehouse. It was covered with boxes of all sizes and strewn everywhere.

—I need you to take all these boxes to the back, because more food is coming and we need to make room— she said— with your big friend, it shouldn't be a problem, right? If you guys do this, I'll let you all in for free.

I sighed. It was more work than I expected, but it wasn't bad.

—All right, guys?

Pekos raised his arms.

—Oh, yeah, this looks like a challenge!— he exclaimed— The winner is the one who carries the most boxes!

—No way! You have too much of an advantage!— Galica argued.

—It's not my fault that you're a little mouse!

—Don't call me that, you hippo!

Galica jumped on Pekos and hung onto him, but Pekos didn't seem the least bit bothered and set to work. Troveto followed him. I calculated that it shouldn't take us more than about ten minutes. It was going to be a piece of cake.

—When you finish, come and see me— said Monse— you're not going to be louts and leave before you finish, are you?

—No, no, no. Not for any reason. We made a deal— I assured her— we'll come see you when we're done, don't worry.

—Ha, how honest. That's all right. Thank you, dear.

She touched my arm in farewell and left. Galica got off Pekos, while he was carrying a big box, and stood looking at the door through which the lady had left. Then she looked at me.

—Did you see how she looked at you? And how she talked to you? And how she touched your arm? You have to be careful, Ocko— she said.

I thought it was cute that Galica was jealous, but her feelings for me would need to remain hidden. I loved her, as a friend, but I also wanted to keep the group together for as long as possible, and I knew it would all break apart the moment Galica confessed to me.

—It's okay, she's just nice— I downplayed it.

—No, Ocko, you mustn't let her! She just wanted to get close to you! Oy! I hate women like that!

I replied with a chuckle to cut off the conversation there, after all I didn't want to be left behind in the competition. I took the first box in my arms and got ready to carry it to the end. Then I noticed Erica, she was coming back from dropping off some containers for the gas grills. I wondered how much she could carry at the same time, and then I remembered her holding the church bell. Then I looked at Pekos, barely carrying a couple of big boxes, but neither as big nor as heavy as that huge bronze bell. I had to hold back a chuckle as I imagined the faces of my friends if Erica decided to show them her strength at that moment and started carrying boxes in her hands as if they were made of marshmallows. But that wouldn't happen.

—Are you all right, Erica? — Pekos asked her— If you're tired, you don't need to overexert yourself.

—Yes, even if it's a competition, it wouldn't be nice to tear yourself up or something— added Troveto.

—Ah, thank you— she answered— my arms feel like jelly, I'm not used to carrying so much weight.

—You can rest, don't worry— reaffirmed Pekos, who was holding a large box in a position that ensured that the rest of us could see his muscles in action.

Erica smiled gratefully.

—It's okay, I can go on. But I'll take care of the smaller boxes, if you don't mind.

—Not at all! Leave the heavy lifting to me!

Then Erica turned to look for another box, only to find my face. I must have been about to burst out laughing, because she looked at me with an expression of "Cut it out, I'm going to get caught if you keep that face!" or something like that.

In the end we finished with all the boxes and shook hands, satisfied with a job well done. Naturally, Pekos won the competition by a long shot, having carried more than half of the boxes by himself, several of which were among the largest. I would have liked to come in second place, but Troveto beat me. Erica came in fourth, only because she couldn't act even lazier than Galica had behaved.

—At least I came in third place— I said to myself, only to remember that Erica could have beaten us all if she had wanted to. That left me just above Galica. I put my hands to my face. How had I fallen so low? Was I really out of shape? It couldn't be!

—Don't we have to go and warn the old lady?— remembered Galica.

—Oh, that's right!

We all decided to go. We walked jokingly and chatting towards the guard booth from behind. When I reached it, I was about to knock on the window to warn Monse that we had kept our part of the bargain, when suddenly I heard a male voice.

Startled, I signaled the boys to stop and let me listen. We leaned against the wall so they couldn't see us through the window and stood at attention. One man was scolding Monse, who was apologizing in the short pauses the other guy gave him. It was a long and nasty discussion, but from it I could tell that the man was for sure the head of the guard, and that he had discovered that she had let us in.

Everything pointed to the fact that plans had changed. With gestures I indicated to the gang that we should leave. We fled silently and at a hurried pace, toward the festival. We needed to get lost in the crowd before the guards came looking for us.

We ran towards the festival, inside the park. Soon we came upon a series of food stalls, all set up in sturdy booths and letting off dense clouds of smells of all kinds, all of them amazing. The stalls formed wide aisles, filled with people. All around, too, people crowded together as if the food had the gravity of the moon. Everyone was eating, drinking and wandering around to get more. A group of dogs wandered around, begging people for a piece and barking happily.

I wasn't very hungry, but the smell of the first food stalls was enough to entice me to go and get something. I looked around, I didn't see any guards anywhere, just my friends enjoying the food: Pekos went for the corndogs, Galica grabbed a seafood paddy, Troveto caught one of the fattest hot dogs I've ever seen, and Erica went for some sushi samples. I didn't have to look far; a piece of lasagna was calling to me from a plastic plate. All the food was sample sized, but that was just so the audience had a chance to try from several of the booths instead of getting stuck with one.

At first I thought the festival would consist of ten to twenty food stands, all set up next to each other, filled with junk food, meats and sweets, but that was not the case. There were about a hundred stands, each one with different food: folkloric, pasta, salads, different stands exclusively for each type of meat, an omelet stand, an egg pail stand, a fruit stand, an exotic drink stand, a mint stand, a spicy food stand, an ice cream stand, a rice preparation stand, a cookie stand, a chard stand, a potato stand, a junk food stand, stands from every country I knew and some I didn't. Where in the world is Tarrakren? No idea, but they have some dumplings filled with meat and a greenish paste, I think they were called pulgmins or something like that, they were delicious.

There were so many stalls that I soon started to get lost, but I didn't feel I had to go anywhere, because I was in heaven. I could have a taste of anything I wanted, of the most delicious food I had ever tasted in my life, and as much as I wanted.

There was not only food. In an open space there was a small stage where a band was playing live music. They would rotate between various bands so they wouldn't stop playing. From time to time waitresses would come by and bring us samples without us having to locate their booths. One passed me a glass of tequila that made me quite dizzy. I took one to Erica, but she didn't want one.

—Didn't you tell the lady you weren't going to drink?— she recalled.

I shrugged my shoulders.

—And you believed me?— I said back.

She still wouldn't accept it.

—It's too strong for me.

—Oh, come on— I insisted.

—I said no. Cut it out, or I'll throw away your glass.

I looked at her, surprised. I couldn't imagine that shy Erica would jump in with such a threat. Her expression was relaxed, but confident. I understood that she was telling the truth, so I decided not to bother her. I ended up leaving the glass on a table by myself, I couldn't drink another one and continue walking, and I didn't want her to see me in that state.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun. We ate whatever we wanted, laughed and even sang along to the songs of some of the bands. I had already forgotten that security was looking for us, until at one point, when I was trying to put a chocolate bonbon in my mouth, my hand stopped. I noticed that Erica was holding it.

—I died— I thought, alarmed— I offended her somehow and she's going to kill me. So much for that.

But she didn't seem angry with me, she didn't even look at me, she just kept her gaze on a distant point.

—I think they found us.

I looked at the same point she did, I found some of the guards, one of them was staring at us while talking on his radio, another one was pointing his finger at us.

—Oh, my God.

Worse, we were drunk, all of us except Erica.

—We have to go— she said.

The others caught on too, and we stood up from our chairs. We tried to pretend we hadn't seen anything and marched away, but soon I noticed another group of guards cutting us off on the main road. They weren't even trying to hide, and we didn't have that luxury anymore either.

—Run!— I yelled.