The Name Of La Boca
It was a place with tin houses and mud streets. A micro-neighborhood with no name yet. That place, where many neighbors lived, one day had a visit from a housing advisor, Mr. Martínez. An unpleasant person at first glance but kind in treatment.
Martinez got out of a fancy truck, his shoes polished up nicely that got muddy when he started walking. He wandered through some places, limiting himself to measuring the ground, the houses, and possibly some lanterns that he found. Don Mario approached to find out what he needed. First, Martinez looked at him with distaste; then he smirked, knowing what he had to answer:
"I'm just taking measurements." I do not know?
-I do not think so…
"Well, this place will be demolished in its entirety."
This couldn't be happening, the place would be demolished! Don Mario wasted no time in going to tell all the neighbors. Some thought of plans to resist the demolition. Don Manuel thought of chaining himself to the houses; but nobody dared to do it.
Don Carlos had the idea of putting broken glass on the ground, so that the wheels of those who came to demolish would be punctured. Some neighbors agreed, but not all.
It was Doña Clotilde who offered the black magic. All accepted. At that time, she was used to solving many things with black magic.
They all gathered in a round, around a shoe that was "magical", according to her.
Doña Clotilde began to say nonsensical things, but some even heard her say: “Oh, Lord beyond life, please help this poor neighborhood not to be demolished. Send someone of faith ”.
That same night, Mr. Martínez woke up almost at dawn with a swollen mouth. He couldn't speak. He did not respond to his body, "it acted by itself." He walked to the edge of the Creek.
His clothes were torn; so much so that the dress pants he was wearing looked like a bermuda. Unconsciously, he was walking towards a tin house and began to paint the ceiling blue; a green wall, another yellow; he painted others red and, finally, gray. He used many colors.
The next night the same thing happened. The same clothes, the same place where he woke up. Thus he painted many houses. Until one night, instead of continuing to paint, he left dance workshop brochures!
So on, every night, every week, for several months. Every night he did good to the neighborhood that still had no name. The demolition of the site was delayed for a time. One night, Mr. Martínez got up as usual, went to one of the murals that he had also painted, and fell at the feet of a couple of dancers.
The next morning, the whole neighborhood went to see what was happening with that motionless man on the ground. Mr. Martínez had passed away.
One of his last actions was to write "sorry" in paint on a wall. After a week, Doña Clotilde summoned the neighborhood to do that round of magic again. Once they were all in the circle, she put her shoe in the middle and started talking nonsense. She only understood that she said: “Who has been the one who has done good in our neighborhood? Who killed Mr. Martínez? After she finished everything, Dona Clotilde said: “We killed him. When we did the ritual, it is seen that we did not express ourselves well and we killed him ”. Everyone was stumped.
A few months later, they decided that the neighborhood had to be named. Some suggested that it had to be "Matanza", others, "Balvanera"; but no name convinced them.
—It seems to me that in honor of Mr. Martínez we name him La Boca.
—I agree to do it in honor of that man, but I don't understand why we would call it La Boca.
"Because when he passed away his mouth was swollen, and it must have been from magic."
And that's how the La Boca neighborhood was called. Also, taking into account the paintings on the plates, the dance, the murals, it was decided that this should be one of the characteristics of the neighborhood: that it should always be colorful and dedicated to art. Today, you can find the plates of various colors that Mr. Martínez painted; couples dancing as an attraction in the streets; and even in a small part of a mural you can read: "In honor of Martínez." It is written on the mural of a couple who dance tango.
