San Salvador - Señor Artegas

The morning sun was heating up the broad valley. Finally peace arrived in Salvador after a decade of civil war. Senhor Artegas was wearing a white suit, without any marks, despite the dusty and humid air. He striped with his left hand softly over the edge of his Montecristo Superfino, while his silver lighter fired a Cohiba number 5. At the table was another senhor with a blue and white striped suit. His tie was very narrow, perfectly fitting to the leather shoes. Both gentlemen were sitting in front of the Cathedral watching the rest of their fellow citizen trying to survive the day. The waiter was silently bowing his head towards the mouth of Senhor Artegas and he whispered the order with the number 5 between his lips: Gin and tonic with 3 ice cubes. "Drinking gin before noon means either you need it or you deserve it", explained Senhor Artegas. He was laughing and some of his golden teeth were flashing in the morning light. The other man, was not that happy with the outcome of the conversation they had before. It was unclear if he was sweating because of the smelting heat or the probably large sum of money he lost. When the waiter served the drinks, he was nervously fishing after the slice of lemon in his gin, while Senhor Artegas explained: "Mr. Guiterrez, you should know, that if you make business with the rich, you will get poor and if you make business with the poor you get rich".