He was not all there, meaning he had been born
'with problems.' That's what our parents said.
His father all he ever said was, 'No Lazaro, No
Lazaro, No Lazaro.' But Lazaro was always

getting himself into trouble. He liked to run
out to the streets naked, then he would aim

his peepee out at the cars and urinate in big arcs.
His father would come running out after him,
screaming, 'Lazaro, Lazaro, me vas a volver loco.'
Then there was the time Lazaro snapped all the

Habanero chilis off the plants that grew in his father's
garden, and he stuffed them in his mouth. Ah, the screams.
His parents had to call the ambulance and when none
arrived, they asked Talo, our next door neighbour

for a ride to the hospital. After the chili incident
we never heard from or saw Lazaro again, and his
parents came and went out of the house
as if they had been childless and content all their lives.