A Death in the Market

Oscar the candy-man and I met up for another run around town. 

Oscar the Candyman

He doesn't sell much and his sales pitch is him tapping on his hard wooden box with a twig.  The most expensive candy Oscar sells (the cookies) costs 5 Lempiras, roughly 25 cents.  At this rate his profit margins probably never exceed 1 lempira (5 cents).  Despite this, he is gratuitous with his candy.  Shoddy looking disheveled men without money approach him for a sweet and he hands over a sucker with a smile.  A sucker that probably represents a half hour of his profits.

After sitting down for an interview I picked up his candy box for him and I was shocked at the weight.  I had assumed it was about 20 pounds but what I lifted felt around 35 pounds.  He has not once complained about his job. 

Masked Homicide detective at scene of murder in market

As we walked through central market we heard shots nearby, which isn't unusual.  In the faces of the hundreds of people flooding the streets I see a brief flash of concern and quickly they return to the hustle and bustle. 

We came to a crowd and worked our way to the yellow tape and the dead man.  He was running through the market trying to escape gang members.  He was running through a sort of maze inside a musky building past the smells of butchered meat.  As he dashed outside unto the light upon the street he took his final step and was shot. 

I took this photo of the masked homicide detective perusing the scene and looking menacing.  After I took the photo he quickly jumped on his bike and drove off.  Our passage was blocked and so we turned around.

Girl at murder scene

Within about 10 steps of turning from the murder scene a truck doing a three point turn almost plastered Oscar the candyman to the wall.  Oscar is a bit fearless in his handling of traffic but this time the truck was clearly being an asshole.  We waited for the truck to finish turning and walked behind it. 

However, the truck driver was pissed and decided to let Oscar know his feelings.  Oscar wasn't having it.  He gave the fat driver a piece of his mind.  The scene escalated and the driver got out and lurched toward Oscar.  This fat man was a good match for Oscar and I thought my friend might need some assistance.  I decided to forego photography momentarily and began looking around the tables of the vendors for some form of weapon while saying over and over again, "Cuidado hombre."  As fat man came closer Oscar pulled out his garbage bag wrapped machete which promptly caused the truck driver to get back in his Toyota and drive off in a flurry of curses. 

View from Picacho

Oscar and I made our way to mount Picacho which I kept calling mount Pikachu.  Picacho is at an apex of Tegucigalpa that offers a stunning view of the city.  We had to leave his candy box with the Honduran military at the gate.  The military ended up stealing his cigarettes while we took in the scenery.  Thank God Oscar didn't make a fuss about getting robbed by one of the many Honduran military men equipped with AK47s.  One of those military guys was giving me the stink eye as I walked in, I bet it was him.

We decided to go to the zoo.  The monkeys were stretching their hands out of the cage trying to get fed by the people outside.  One baby monkey hid in the corner sucking on a lollipop.  Whenever a smaller monkey managed to get food he had to run, swing, jump and eat all at the same time while escaping as he was pursued by several screaming jealous monkeys intent on robbing him. 

 All monkeys confined to this small space of land and surrounded by borders trying to escape and getting dumped back in the cage.  Arms outstretched through the wire for help.  Whenever one monkey gets something nice he is targeted by jealousy and endangered by his good fortune.  Meanwhile the man at the gate makes money off the show.