Gabriel had been in that place for less than twenty-four hours when he discovered there were two kinds of rules.
There were the official ones.
Schedules.
Lines.
Shared tables.
Turns.
Assigned spaces.
And then there were the others.
The ones no one had written down.
The ones you learned by watching.
Who could occupy a certain table.
Who you were better off not looking at for too long.
Who had priority even if they arrived last.
And above all, who things belonged to when Maurio decided he wanted them.
Gabriel had heard that name several times since arriving.
Maurio.
He did not need to ask who he was.
He recognized him the moment he saw him crossing the yard.
He was impossible to mistake.
A huge man, around thirty-five years old, with a shaved head, powerful arms, and tattoos running along his neck and part of his face. He walked slowly and was almost always accompanied by two or three men.
He did not constantly raise his voice.
He did not need to.
People simply moved out of his way.
Gabriel watched all of this from a concrete table.
Sitting across from him was Tomás, another young man who had already been there for several months.
Tomás did not talk much.
But he seemed to understand very well how things worked.
“Don’t stare so much,” he muttered.
Gabriel drank some water.
“Why?”
“Because it’s not good for you.”
“I’m just looking.”
Tomás discreetly moved his eyes toward Maurio.
“Around here, that can be enough.”
Gabriel smiled.
“He looks friendly.”
Tomás nearly choked.
“Don’t joke.”
“I’m trying to relax.”
“Relax while looking somewhere else.”
Gabriel lowered his gaze.
On his left wrist was a watch.
It was not particularly modern.
A classic metal piece with a dark face and several small scratches across the glass.
Anyone who truly knew watches would have quickly realized it was not worth a fortune either.
Gabriel wore it for another reason.
It had belonged to his father.
And that made it one of the few things he was unwilling to lose.
Tomás pointed toward it.
“You should hide that.”
Gabriel looked at the watch.
“Why?”
“Because around here it attracts too much attention.”
“It’s just a watch.”
“Exactly.”
Gabriel sighed.
“I can’t hide it.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to wear it.”
Tomás studied him for a few seconds.
“Then I hope no one else decides they want to wear it too.”
Gabriel understood the comment perfectly.
Five minutes later, he realized Tomás had not been exaggerating.
Footsteps began behind them.
Tomás stopped talking.
His expression changed.
Gabriel did not need to turn around immediately.
He already knew who was approaching.
Maurio appeared beside the table.
One of his companions stood behind him.
Another stayed several yards away.
Maurio looked at Tomás.
Tomás lowered his eyes.
Then Maurio looked at Gabriel.
“New guy.”
Gabriel raised his head.
“Yes?”
Maurio pointed at his wrist.
“Nice watch.”
Gabriel looked at it.
“Thanks.”
Maurio smiled.
“Take it off.”
Gabriel thought he had heard him wrong.
“What for?”
The man behind Maurio laughed.
“Because Maurio likes it now.”
Gabriel first looked at the companion.
Then at Maurio.
“I understand.”
Maurio extended his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Tomás remained rigid.
Gabriel could feel the eyes of people at nearby tables watching them.
This had happened before.
Maybe many times.
A newcomer had something.
Maurio saw it.
Maurio wanted it.
The owner eventually handed it over.
Not because there was a rule.
But because nobody wanted to find out what happened after saying no.
Gabriel covered the watch with his other hand.
“It’s not for sale.”
Maurio smiled even wider.
“I’m not offering you money.”
“Then we’re wasting our time.”
The companion stopped smiling.
Maurio leaned slightly forward.
“I don’t think you understood what I’m telling you.”
Gabriel held his gaze.
“It belonged to my father.”
Maurio looked at the watch.
“So?”
“No one touches it.”
Tomás closed his eyes.
As if he wished he could disappear.
Maurio slowly placed both hands on the table.
“Say that again.”
Gabriel breathed.
“The watch belonged to my father.”
“I heard that part.”
“Then what do you want me to repeat?”
The companion spoke again.
“The part where no one touches it.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“No one touches it.”
Several nearby conversations had completely stopped.
Maurio was no longer smiling.
“Around here, what belongs to you stops being yours when I decide I want it.”
Gabriel stayed seated for a few seconds.
Then stood.
He made no sudden movements.
He did not raise his hands.
He did not shout.
He simply stood in front of Maurio.
He was smaller.
But his expression remained calm.
“Then you’re going to be waiting a long time.”
Maurio clenched his jaw.
“Are you challenging me?”
“No.”
“Looks like it.”
“I’m telling you I’m not giving you the watch.”
“That means you’re challenging me.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“That’s your problem.”
The companion stepped forward.
Maurio raised one hand and stopped him.
He never took his eyes off Gabriel.
“What’s your name?”
“Gabriel.”
“All right, Gabriel.”
Maurio pointed toward the watch.
“I’m going to give you a chance.”
“I already answered you.”
“Think about it.”
Gabriel remained still.
Maurio let out a short laugh.
“All newcomers arrive thinking they’re different.”
Gabriel replied:
“I don’t think I’m different.”
“Then act like everyone else.”
Gabriel looked around.
He saw several people pretending not to watch.
“By giving you their things?”
Maurio smiled.
“By learning how to live with people.”
“That isn’t living with people.”
Maurio’s expression changed.
“Careful.”
Gabriel lowered his voice.
“I’m not looking for trouble.”
“You already found it.”
Gabriel touched the watch.
“Over something that belongs to me.”
Maurio stepped a little closer.
“We’ll talk again tomorrow.”
“My answer will be the same.”
“We’ll see.”
Maurio walked away.
His companion followed.
Only when they were far enough away did Tomás begin breathing normally again.
“Are you insane?”
Gabriel sat back down.
“Probably.”
“Do you know what you just did?”
“Said no.”
“To Maurio.”
“It’s still just a word.”
Tomás shook his head.
“Not here.”
Gabriel began eating again.
“Then maybe it should become one again.”
By that night, almost everyone knew what had happened.
Stories traveled quickly.
When Gabriel entered the common area, some people looked at him with curiosity.
Others seemed to expect him to look worried.
Gabriel was not calm.
He was simply good at hiding it.
He was afraid too.
Very afraid.
What he did not want was to allow fear to make every decision for him automatically.
Tomás sat beside him.
“You can still give it to him tomorrow.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
“It’s just a watch.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“To you.”
Tomás fell silent.
Gabriel lifted his wrist.
“My father gave it to me when I turned eighteen.”
“Did he die?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Four years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.”
Tomás looked at the watch.
“Was it expensive?”
Gabriel smiled.
“Not at all.”
“Then Maurio is going to be disappointed.”
“My father didn’t have much money either.”
Gabriel ran one finger over the scratched glass.
“He repaired machinery.”
Tomás listened.
“He bought the watch secondhand.”
“Then why does it matter so much?”
Gabriel thought for a moment.
“Because my father was never very good at saying important things.”
Tomás smiled.
“I know people like that.”
“When he gave it to me, he said, ‘Time is the only thing you can spend and never get back. Don’t waste it trying to impress anyone.’”
Tomás looked at Gabriel.
“And you decided to apply that lesson by standing up to the biggest guy in the yard.”
Gabriel started laughing.
“Now that you say it like that, maybe I misunderstood the message.”
Tomás laughed too.
For a few seconds, they forgot about the problem.
Then Gabriel became serious.
“I don’t want to fight Maurio.”
“He probably does.”
“Then he’ll have to be disappointed.”
Tomás shook his head.
“That’s not how things work.”
Gabriel answered:
“There has to be another way.”
Maurio did not appear the next morning.
Not at noon either.
Gabriel started to think maybe it was over.
Tomás was not convinced.
“He’s waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you to relax.”
“Why?”
“To come back when more people are watching.”
Gabriel looked at his watch.
“Does he always do things like this?”
Tomás took a moment to answer.
“Yes.”
“And nobody says anything?”
“What do you want us to say?”
“I don’t know.”
Tomás shook his head.
“You’ve been here two days. He’s been here years.”
Gabriel understood.
Maurio’s authority did not depend only on his size.
It depended on something harder to break.
Expectation.
Everyone expected him to be able to impose his will.
So most people gave in before discovering what would happen if they did not.
That afternoon, Gabriel was sitting and reading when a shadow fell over the book.
Maurio.
This time he was accompanied by three men.
“I gave you time.”
Gabriel closed the book.
“I appreciate it.”
Maurio extended his hand.
“The watch.”
“No.”
One of the men laughed.
“Again?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“The answer doesn’t change because you asked with company.”
Maurio came closer.
“There are four of us.”
Gabriel looked up.
“I know how to count.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
Gabriel put away the book.
“Maurio, I have nothing against you.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“To me it does.”
Maurio crossed his arms.
“Give me the watch and it ends.”
“For you.”
“For everyone.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
Maurio took a deep breath.
“Why are you making this so difficult?”
The question surprised Gabriel.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve spent two days asking me for something that belongs to me.”
Someone at a nearby table let out a small laugh.
Maurio turned.
The person immediately lowered their head.
Gabriel saw the gesture.
And understood the real problem.
Maurio needed to win in front of everyone.
He no longer wanted the watch.
Maybe he had never truly wanted it.
He wanted to preserve an image.
Gabriel stood.
“Come on.”
Maurio frowned.
“What?”
Gabriel pointed toward an area away from the tables.
“Let’s talk without an audience.”
Maurio looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because I think that’s what really matters to you.”
“What?”
Gabriel looked around.
“That they’re watching.”
Maurio’s face hardened.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“Correct.”
Gabriel walked a few steps.
“That’s why I’m inviting you to talk.”
Maurio’s companions looked at their leader.
He hesitated.
Finally, he followed Gabriel.
They stopped near a wall.
They could still see the yard, but the conversations were far away.
Maurio crossed his arms.
“Talk.”
Gabriel raised his wrist.
“Do you really want this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I like it.”
“Liar.”
Maurio narrowed his eyes.
“Careful.”
“You don’t need the watch.”
“Now you know what I need?”
“No.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“But I saw your own watch yesterday.”
Maurio looked at his bare wrist.
“So?”
“It was much better than this one.”
Silence.
Gabriel continued:
“You don’t want my watch. You want me to hand it over.”
Maurio studied him.
“What’s the difference?”
“Everything.”
Gabriel lowered his arm.
“If I give it to you because you scare me, you don’t win a watch.”
“Then what?”
“You prove in front of everyone that they can still be afraid of you.”
Maurio did not answer.
Gabriel continued:
“And if I don’t give it to you, you feel like you’ve lost something.”
Maurio stepped closer.
“Are you analyzing me now?”
Gabriel smiled.
“I’m trying to understand why we’ve spent two days arguing over something that probably costs less than your shoes.”
Maurio looked toward the yard.
“You don’t understand how things work here.”
“Explain it to me.”
Maurio laughed.
“When I got here, no one gave me respect.”
“So?”
“I earned it.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Or did you make people afraid of you?”
Maurio looked at him.
Gabriel held his gaze.
“They’re not the same thing.”
Maurio remained silent.
“When I arrived,” he finally said, “they tried to take everything from me.”
Gabriel listened.
“Clothes. Food. Even letters from my family.”
His voice was different.
Lower.
“And what did you do?”
“What I had to do so they would stop trying.”
“Then you know exactly what I’m doing.”
Maurio looked at him again.
That surprised him.
Gabriel slightly lifted his wrist.
“I’m protecting something I don’t want to lose too.”
Maurio looked at the watch.
“It’s different.”
“Why?”
Maurio did not answer.
Gabriel continued:
“Someone tried to take your things, and you decided it would never happen again.”
“Yes.”
“And now you do exactly the same thing to other people.”
Maurio clenched his jaw.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe.”
Gabriel shrugged.
“But I’m still keeping the watch.”
Maurio let out an involuntary laugh.
Gabriel laughed too.
The tension eased slightly.
“You’re unbearable,” Maurio said.
“My father used to say that.”
Maurio looked at the watch again.
“Was it his?”
“Yes.”
“Did he die?”
Gabriel nodded.
Maurio remained quiet.
Then asked:
“What did he do?”
“Mechanic.”
“And he left you that?”
“Among other things.”
“Then it isn’t worth much either.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Not in money.”
Maurio looked away.
“Keep it.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“Do I need your permission?”
Maurio looked at him.
Gabriel raised both hands.
“All right. That was a joke.”
Maurio almost smiled.
“Don’t make me change my mind.”
Gabriel answered:
“I thought we had already established that you don’t need the watch.”
“Shut up.”
For the first time, the threat had disappeared from his tone.
When they returned together, the entire yard fell silent.
Maurio’s three companions were waiting.
One asked:
“So?”
Maurio looked at him.
“So what?”
“The watch.”
Maurio sat down.
“Leave it.”
The man looked confused.
“What?”
“I said leave it.”
“But—”
Maurio raised one hand.
“It’s over.”
Gabriel returned to Tomás.
Tomás looked at him as though he had just seen a ghost.
“What did you do?”
“Talked.”
“Just talked?”
“Yes.”
Tomás looked toward Maurio.
“That never works.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Maybe nobody had tried.”
The story began to spread.
But as always happens, it changed with every person who told it.
Some claimed Gabriel had threatened Maurio.
Others said Maurio had been frightened.
Some invented a story about Gabriel’s father.
Others said something mysterious was hidden inside the watch.
None of it was true.
And the rumors began bothering Maurio.
One day, he found Gabriel.
“We have another problem.”
Gabriel sighed.
“What do you want now?”
“People say you defeated me.”
Gabriel started laughing.
“Defeated you how?”
“I don’t know.”
“By talking?”
Maurio sat down.
“This isn’t funny.”
“A little.”
“Now some people think they can do whatever they want.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Maybe that’s good.”
“Good?”
“Depends on what you mean by ‘whatever they want.’”
Maurio frowned.
Gabriel continued:
“If it means nobody has to hand you something just because you ask for it anymore, then yes.”
“Then I lost authority.”
“No.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“You lost fear.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“Here we go again.”
Maurio sighed.
“What do you know about authority?”
Gabriel thought about his father.
“My dad ran a repair shop with fifteen employees for thirty years.”
“So?”
“I never heard a single one of them say they were afraid of him.”
“Then why did they obey him?”
“Because when there was a problem, he was the first one there and the last one to leave.”
Maurio fell silent.
“People did what he asked because they trusted him.”
“That takes years.”
“Yes.”
“Fear takes five minutes.”
Gabriel smiled.
“And it lasts exactly until someone stops being afraid.”
Maurio looked at him.
“You talk too much.”
“My father used to say that too.”
Weeks later, something unexpected happened.
A new young man arrived.
Small.
Nervous.
Clearly lost.
One of Maurio’s old companions approached him while he was eating lunch.
“Give me your dessert.”
The young man looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because I’m asking you.”
The young man hesitated.
He started moving the plate.
Then Maurio appeared.
“Give it back.”
His companion turned.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Maurio, it’s just—”
“It’s his.”
The man looked toward Gabriel, who was sitting several tables away.
“Now suddenly we’re all saints.”
Maurio came closer.
“No.”
He took the plate and returned it to the young man.
“We’re just stopping being idiots.”
Several people heard him.
Gabriel smiled.
Maurio saw him.
“Don’t start.”
Gabriel raised his hands.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Your face did.”
Over time, their relationship became strange.
They were not exactly friends.
But they talked.
Maurio began telling him things he did not discuss with others.
He had a daughter.
Twelve years old.
He had not seen her in a long time.
“Why?” Gabriel asked.
“She doesn’t want to come.”
“Her?”
“Her mother.”
Gabriel remained quiet.
“She says she doesn’t want the girl seeing me here.”
“And you?”
“At first, I got angry.”
“And afterward?”
Maurio looked at the ground.
“Now I think maybe she’s right.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“You should decide that by talking to them.”
“My daughter probably hates me.”
“Did you ask her?”
Maurio did not answer.
“Then you don’t know.”
A week later, Maurio wrote a letter.
He never talked about it.
But Gabriel saw the envelope.
Months later, a response came.
Maurio read it four times.
“Everything okay?” Gabriel asked.
The man tried to keep his voice steady.
“She wants to come.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Good.”
“In two weeks.”
“Even better.”
Maurio looked at Gabriel’s watch.
“You know something?”
“What?”
“I hate that watch.”
Gabriel burst out laughing.
“Why?”
“Because every time I see it, I remember the stupid thing I did.”
“That is an excellent reason to keep it.”
“One day I’m going to break it.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
Maurio laughed.
“I’m joking.”
“You’re learning.”
On the day of the visit, Maurio had been nervous since early morning.
For the first time, no one made jokes.
Gabriel found him pacing back and forth.
“If you keep walking like that, you’re going to wear out the floor.”
“Shut up.”
“Are you nervous?”
“No.”
“Of course.”
“Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
Maurio looked at his clothes.
“Do I look okay?”
Gabriel studied him.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Maurio, you’ve intimidated half the world for years and now you’re asking me if your shirt matches.”
The man closed his eyes.
“I don’t know why I talk to you.”
Gabriel started laughing.
The visit lasted almost an hour.
When Maurio returned, he had an expression Gabriel had never seen before.
Peace.
“How did it go?”
Maurio sat down.
“She hugged me.”
Gabriel smiled.
“That sounds good.”
“She’s grown so much.”
“Children tend to do that.”
Maurio ignored the joke.
“She told me she still has a necklace I gave her when she was little.”
Gabriel looked at his watch.
He understood immediately.
Maurio did too.
“Now I understand.”
“What?”
“Why you wouldn’t give it to me.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Took you long enough.”
“Shut up.”
A year later, the day came for Gabriel to leave.
Before going, he looked for Maurio.
He found him sitting at the same concrete table where everything had begun.
“Nice spot.”
Maurio looked up.
“It’s my table.”
Gabriel started laughing.
“You learned nothing.”
Maurio smiled.
“Sit.”
Gabriel did.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Finally, Maurio pointed toward his wrist.
“You still have that thing.”
“Always.”
“It gets uglier every day.”
“So do you.”
Maurio laughed.
Then became serious.
“Thank you.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“For what?”
“Because that day, you could have turned everything into something worse.”
Gabriel remained silent.
Maurio continued:
“I was waiting for you to react.”
“I know.”
“If you had, we probably both would have lost.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Probably.”
Maurio looked toward the yard.
“But you talked.”
“Sometimes it works.”
“Not always.”
“No.”
Gabriel was clear.
“But it’s worth trying when you can.”
Maurio extended his hand.
Gabriel shook it.
“When you get out, come find me.”
Maurio smiled.
“Why?”
“My old family repair shop needs people.”
“Are you offering me a job?”
“I’m offering you an interview.”
“Idiot.”
Both men laughed.
Two years later, Gabriel was repairing a motorcycle when he heard a voice behind him.
“Does the man with the ugly watch work here?”
Gabriel turned.
Maurio stood in the doorway.
Thinner.
No orange clothing.
Simple shirt.
Jeans.
And beside him stood a teenage girl.
“Gabriel,” he said, “this is Sofía.”
The girl smiled.
“My daughter.”
Gabriel wiped his hands.
“Nice to meet you.”
Sofía pointed at Gabriel’s wrist.
“Is that the famous watch?”
Gabriel looked at Maurio.
“You told her?”
“A version.”
“Which version?”
Maurio smiled.
“That I tried to buy it from you.”
Gabriel started laughing.
“Liar.”
Sofía crossed her arms.
“I knew details were missing.”
Maurio raised both hands.
“We don’t need to tell everything.”
Gabriel looked at the girl.
“Your father was an excellent negotiator.”
“Gabriel.”
“Very persistent.”
“Gabriel.”
Sofía started laughing.
“I want to hear the entire story.”
Maurio sighed.
“This was a mistake.”
Maurio ended up working at the repair shop.
At first, he handled maintenance.
Later, he began dealing with suppliers.
Surprisingly, he was good at organizing teams.
The difference was that now he tried to do it without using fear.
It was not always easy.
Old habits sometimes returned.
When someone made a mistake, his first reaction was to raise his voice.
Then he stopped.
Breathed.
Started over.
Gabriel watched from a distance.
One day Maurio asked:
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re smiling.”
“I’m proud.”
“Don’t say stupid things.”
Gabriel laughed.
So did Maurio.
Years later, the watch stopped working.
Gabriel took it to be repaired.
The watchmaker opened it.
“It’s pretty worn out.”
“I know.”
“You could buy a better one for what repairing this will cost.”
Gabriel smiled.
“I don’t want a better one.”
“Sentimental value?”
“A lot.”
The watchmaker nodded.
“Then that changes everything.”
Gabriel watched the watch lying on the table.
He thought about his father.
About that first afternoon.
Tomás telling him to hide it.
Maurio extending his hand.
The four people around him.
All the directions the story could have taken.
And the strange ending it eventually had.
“Yes,” Gabriel replied. “It changes everything.”
Because the watch had never really been the story.
It was only the object around which two men decided who they wanted to become.
One had used fear for years to stop other people from taking things from him.
The other had learned too late that defending what belonged to you did not necessarily mean destroying the person trying to take it.
They both arrived at that table carrying different stories.
And they both left changed.
Maurio believed respect meant no one dared tell him no.
Gabriel showed him something much harder:
A truly strong person can hear “no” without believing it makes them worth less.
And Gabriel learned something too.
Not everyone who seems intimidating is doomed to remain the same forever.
Sometimes behind arrogance there is fear.
Behind control there is insecurity.
And behind someone demanding respect may be a person who never learned another way to receive it.
That does not mean tolerating abuse.
Nor giving away what belongs to you.
It means setting boundaries without losing yourself in the process.
The watch remained on Gabriel’s wrist for many more years.
With new scratches.
A replaced strap.
Several repairs.
But he never stopped wearing it.
Because whenever someone asked why he kept such an old piece, he smiled.
“It belonged to my father.”
And that was enough.
What almost no one knew was that it also reminded him of something else:
The day a huge man tried to take it from him to prove who was in charge and ended up discovering that real respect is not born when everyone is afraid of you.
It is born when you no longer need to take anything from anyone else in order to feel powerful.