Pedro’s friend ran up to him and asked for cascarilla.
Cascarilla is an incense cone that can be ground into a fine white powder.
A tourist waited on the corner.
With an Italian accent he had asked for a gram or two of cocaine.
Pedro was trying to sell the Cascarilla cones, five for twenty pesos.
The friend didn’t give Pedro twenty pesos,
instead he used the time to crush the cones between his palms.
He strode back to the corner, but his quick glances were not confident.
They had enough time to pull their hands out of their pockets, the traded items stashed, before the police man in his green uniform crossed the street.
The Italian, who had planned to taste his purchase before paying, did not have time for this precaution.
The men tried to look innocent as they hurried away from the cop.
Pedro laughed and offered his cones to the cop as he went by.