Se subió al tren como muchos otros: esperando que al final del viaje encontrase el trabajo que necesitaba. Él quería buscar algo qué hacer en el pueblo, ya no estaba en edad para inventar cosas, pero Alicia, su mujer, le había recalcado que la situación se hacía insoportable: "Los niños mueren de hambre y las manos las tengo rotas de tanto lavar ropa ajena. Aquí no conseguirás nada. Si no conseguiste trabajo antes, menos ahora que el pueblo se está quedando solo y todo el mundo está buscando trabajo en los pozos petroleros", le reclamó de manera airada. Arcadio habría preferido quedarse, pero tenía mujer e hijos y debía velar por ellos.
_Si por lo menos estuviera solo, con cualquier cosa me hubiese mantenido- pensó Arcadio mientras veía cómo el tren se ponía en marcha.
o0o
El viaje duraría tres días y el tren iba repleto de hombres que al igual que él buscaban trabajo. Cerca de Arcadio estaba sentado un hombre anciano que, por su ropa sucia y harapienta, parecía un indigente. Lo escuchó murmurar, pero luego lo escuchó claramente:
_Ojalá todos consigamos trabajos, aunque yo sé que es poco probable que me contraten - expresó y Arcadio lo miró. El hombre no era tan viejo, tal vez tenía su edad, pero sí tenía un brazo mocho. El hombre continuó:
_No es la primera vez que voy a buscar trabajo en esos pozos. Ya he ido antes y siempre es lo mismo: me rechazan. Yo sé que es por esto - dijo y se pasó la mano por el brazo incompleto- Lo que no saben es que este brazo lo perdí trabajando en un pozo petrolero, y que yo sin un brazo hago más que cinco hombres con sus dos brazos completos.
Arcadio miró a los otros hombres que iban en el tren y todos eran más jóvenes que él. Tuvo miedo.
_Si por lo menos tuviera mujer e hijos por quien luchar, sería bueno. Pero ni eso tengo. Quiero trabajar para sobrevivir, para no ser un estorbo. Solo eso - expresó el hombre en tono de rabia y tristeza, e inclinó la cabeza hacia delante ocultando el rostro. Tal vez lloraba.
o0o
La noche llegó y alertaron que el tren haría parada en la próxima estación para recoger a otros hombres. Arcadio se acomodó en el asiento y esperó poder dormir algo. El tren se detuvo y Arcadio, sin abrir los ojos, sintió que los pasajeros subían tropezando unos con otros. A los minutos, el tren arrancó, pero en eso se escucharon los clamores y gritos. Arcadio abrió los ojos cuando escuchó: "Hombre muerto, hombre muerto". Se incorporó en el asiento y otro hombre que estaba cerca le dijo: "El hombre que estaba hablando con usted, se tiró a los rieles del tren". Arcadio se levantó del asiento y se asomó a una de las ventanas, pero ya el tren iba lejos. Cuando volvió a su asiento, ya era ocupado por otro hombre. El hombre era joven y hablaba con otro tan joven como él. Arcadio se quedó parado, luego miró su rostro en el vidrio empañado de la ventana. Ya no era tan joven y tuvo miedo.
He boarded the train like so many others, hoping that at the end of the journey he would find the work he needed. He wanted to find something to do in the village; he was no longer young enough to invent things, but Alicia, his wife, had stressed that the situation was becoming unbearable: "The children are dying of hunger, and my hands are raw from washing other people's clothes. You won't find anything here. If you couldn't find work before, you'll find even less now that the village is deserted and everyone is looking for work in the oil fields," she told him angrily. Arcadio would have preferred to stay, but he had a wife and children, and he had to provide for them.
"If only I were alone, I could have supported myself with anything," Arcadio thought as he watched the train pull away.
o0o
The journey would last three days, and the train was packed with men who, like him, were looking for work. Near Arcadio sat an old man who, judging by his dirty, ragged clothes, looked like a homeless person. He heard him mutter, but then he heard him clearly:
"I hope we all get jobs, although I know it's unlikely they'll hire me," he said, and Arcadio looked at him. The man wasn't that old, maybe around his age, but he did have a missing arm. The man continued:
"It's not the first time I've gone looking for work in those wells. I've been before, and it's always the same: they reject me. I know it's because of this," he said, running his hand over his missing arm. "What they don't know is that I lost this arm working in an oil well, and that I, without one arm, do more than five men with both arms."
Arcadio looked at the other men on the train, and they were all younger than him. He felt afraid.
"If only I had a wife and children to fight for, that would be good." But I don't even have that. I want to work to survive, so I'm not a burden. That's all," the man said, his voice thick with anger and sadness, bowing his head and hiding his face. Perhaps he was crying.
o0o
Night fell, and they announced that the train would stop at the next station to pick up more men. Arcadio settled into his seat and hoped to get some sleep. The train stopped, and without opening his eyes, Arcadio felt the passengers boarding, stumbling over one another. After a few minutes, the train started moving again, but then he heard shouts and cries. Arcadio opened his eyes when he heard, "Dead man, dead man." He sat up, and another man nearby told him, "The man who was talking to you threw himself onto the tracks." Arcadio got up and looked out one of the windows, but the train was already far away. When he returned to his seat, it was already occupied by another man. The man was young and was talking to another man just as young as himself. Arcadio looked at his face in the fogged-up window. He wasn't so young anymore, and he was afraid.
