Sometimes a susto occurs inadvertently. The people causing it may not even know they’re doing it. Whether out of carelessness or miscalculation, sustos can be launched without intending it. That was the case one day that Cuito was contracted to strip out an old mansion close to the Southside.
Cuito’s cousin had conscripted him to help clean out a big chante that used to be a ranch headquarters a few miles outside the Southside.
“Come on, vato. Esquineame just for a day. I’ll pay you by the hour, buy breakfast and lunch and a six pack of beer for you to go home with,” his cousin pleaded.
“Whatcha, we’ll be done in one day. It’s not that big a job.”
“Órale. Just haul the junk out, y that’s it?” Cuito asked.
“Simón,” his cousin reassured him.
But when they arrived, the chante turned out to be an old mansion that had been turned into a warehouse for newer homes built elsewhere on the same ranch. It was full of rolls of beige shag carpet, old wood-framed windows and thin wooden wall panels.
“Nel, ese! This ain’t gonna be a one-day onda,” Cuito complained when they entered the old mansion.
His cousin didn’t say anything. It seemed he too was surprised.
The mansion owner arrived minutes later.
“This ain’t what you said,” Cuito’s cousin protested.
“Not even gonna start. Vámonos, Cuito.”
“Wait. This stuff has value. I’ll pay you to haul it out. You can then sell it and make more money,” the owner pleaded.
The cousin left. Cuito stayed behind.
“It's gonna take more than a few days to do the job,” he warned the owner.
“Take as long as you want,” the owner said.
Cuito took the job and started with the shag carpet.
His front yard in the Southside was soon overflowing with carpet rolls and remnants. To make room for more, Cuito invited his neighbors to help themselves to the remnants and partially used rolls of carpet. And they made rancho.
Before too long, the susto of free carpet began to appear everywhere in the Southside, in home entryways, porches, carports and garages, and driveways. The susto didn’t subside until police cruisers began to report to their headquarters that they were seeing a strange development.
“Beige shag carpet everywhere like a fast-moving infection. Even sidewalks lined with it,” a police officer radioed in.
The police soon traced the outbreak to its source.
“You keep this up, and we’re going to fine you for littering,” a police detective warned Cuito.
“It’s gonna stop cuz I’m done with the carpet,” Cuito responded.
The detective left shaking his head.
“Tomorrow I start hauling windows,” Cuito said out loud but out of earshot of the officer.
