Entry # 9 Carol 7

That is Carol’s theory. “It would be better if it occurred once and then he learned the lesson, but it has happened three times. It is too hard for me to understand that kind of things. How can that happen? Is it that he loves breaking and twisting his legs? You see? This town is full of crazy people. I believe a trained dog, or a trained monkey could get off the bus without twisting their legs. They do not even have to be trained. ”
There’s an even stranger story. Strange things happen in Cartagena. Hannibal, one of the times he broke his leg, he had to get a surgery. He was operated. He started his recovery sessions. A few days later, he started feeling something weird in his leg. He had been noticing his leg was not going through a normal recovery. He went back to the doctor to check it out. He had to take an x-ray. When he received the x-ray back, he discovered the surgeon had accidentally left one of his operating tools inside Hannibal’s leg.
“What would you expect from a monkey making a surgery on another monkey’s leg? A complete mess. A complete disaster. That is what you should expect from that surgeon making a surgery on Hannibal’s leg. You cannot judge who is worse, either Hannibal who likes jumping off buses, or the surgeon who leaves his tools inside the patient! That is the way this town is. One incoherence after the other. It is endless, never ending.”
At least Hannibal was smart enough to place a demand on the surgeon, and, at least, he won the case. Fortunately. “At least his case was not a total circus, where gorillas and dogs play like most things are in this town. No, at least his case was handled professionally and he got what he deserved. Imagine what had happened if another gorilla handled the case? What kind of craziness would have happened?”
Hannibal is the reincarnation of Mike Tyson, or a gorilla. “The same thing, either Mike Tyson or a gorilla, they’re exactly the same. Both mentally, physically, and emotionally. They’re exact.” Carol says every time we chat about Hannibal. “They all have no brains. The only difference between Hannibal and the other two is that Hannibal died long time ago. Even though you see him walking in and walking out of the house, day after day, he is already dead. That is what I have concluded by his actions. That would be the only answer to why he never speaks, or to why you can never understand what he mumbles, or to why he has always got his eyes closed. How can someone walk, watch T.V., or eat with their eyes completely shut? He’s a zombie! That is why he walks the way he does, and that is why he has the strength he has.”
“But Grandpa, how did Hannibal die?” I would ask Carol just to see and listen what kind of answer he would invent. “Look, son, the answer is pretty obvious. He died doing what he likes the most. Jumping off moving buses.”