Dennis Hollingsworth

San Cucu Fato

My mother and I had business in Barcelona the other day, taking the first Sarfa line south at 7:30 in the morning. The bus stops at both the Estacion Nord Barcelona and Urquinaona (what a fabulous name), just a block from my gallery at the top of the old city near Plaza Catalunya.

We parted ways at the stop, me to the gallery and she to meet with one of her contacts. She buys antique fabric in Europe and sells it in the States --mainly in California. I'm encouraging her to do eBay, and I'm curious to see what she makes of it.. She was off to see Xxxx and Yyyy, her fabulous "pickers" of all things antigue and fabric in Barcelona. Xxxx and Yyyy are super serious in a funny way, muy Manolo.

The end of the day came with my mother's call. But her voice was heavy. "Dennis, you won't believe what happened. I lost my address book, I think on the bus." For her business, an address book is more than a simple address book. Data is in there. Important data. As she started to wind into worry, I throw an anchor into the idea that we don't know yet if it is truly lost. There is a big chance that the bus driver will find it. They always perform a check of the seats between each trip for a clean up. There is a strong chance that they will find it. Let's put the anxiety off until at least this afternoon, after we've seen what has turned up at the lost and found.

My rational lifeboat would float, but to my surprise, she had already climbed onto a theme park luxury liner, ideologically.

My mother squeezed the Devil's balls until it hurt.

Discovering the lost agenda (address book in Castilian) at Xxxx and Yyyy' place, they jumped to the rescue. With glee they told her that her only chance to recover the agenda was to tie the Devil's testicles by tying two knots in a handkerchief and incantating thusly:

?San Cucu Fato!

Si no encuentro lo que he perdido las bolas no se los des ato!

Saint Cucu Fato!

If I don't find what I've lost, I won't untie your balls from these knots!

The time passed easily as she told me of the whole affair and how her friends helped her with such amusement. Soon, with a telephone call to the bus station's lost and found, Saint Cucu came through for her. They found her treasure and handed it off at the stop at North Station. Relief. And a waxing glee as delight was taken with the mental image of controlling the Devil so.

Xxxx called in:

?Sabe? ?Funciona, verdad! ?Funciona!

You see? It works! It works!
That thing was getting tight on his balls!

Winky eyes and a glimpse into the mists of time, when people didn't wink at such things.