Pollo Muelas

Pollo Muelas is a creditor who helps enforce Peregil’s debt through calculated intimidation and sudden violence. His encounter with Peregil on the riverside promenade turns a seemingly friendly greeting into a deliberate ambush, and his shift from praise to a broken arm gives the scene its cruel, disarming force.

Identity and Introduction

Pollo appears alongside Gitano Mairena as one of two figures waiting for Peregil on a stone bench near the docks. The narrative distinguishes him by his small stature, elegance, and precise, dancer-like movements; Mairena, by contrast, is tall, thin, and sinister. Their contrasting appearances make the pair a composed threat rather than an anonymous crowd.

Pollo’s role is grounded in the debt Peregil owes. Peregil carries a large sum intended to settle matters with his employer, Pencho Gavira, but it cannot cover the whole debt to the lender. He also fears the consequences of losing Gavira’s money and the accumulating disasters around him. Pollo and Mairena exploit that vulnerability by waiting where Peregil has little chance of escaping or finding help.

The Riverside Confrontation

Pollo and Mairena greet Peregil as he walks toward the docks, interrupting his optimism. Peregil has been whistling on the near-deserted riverside walk, pleased by the moon above Triana and eager to finish the business and go to the casino. The sudden appearance of the two men makes his body betray his fear: his vision clouds, his ulcer flares, and his legs weaken as he imagines fainting.

Mairena points out that Peregil has miscalculated the deadline: the debt falls due at midnight, when Thursday begins, leaving just over an hour. Peregil swears he will pay. Pollo answers with a laugh and says they will sit together on the bench to keep him company until Thursday arrives. The offer of company is a threat disguised as civility: Peregil understands that the open water and deserted quay offer no refuge, while paying immediately would still leave him exposed to Gavira over the missing money.

Violence and Narrative Function

Peregil’s predicament extends beyond the debt. He is implicated in the kidnapping of a parish priest, has an appointment with a woman and a tall priest, and fears letting down Don Ibrahim, Potro del Mantelete, and Niña Puñales. A church death and the police add to the dangers closing around him. The black river briefly appears as an alternative to the impossible obligations, but Pollo and Mairena have already narrowed his choices by intercepting him at the docks.

Pollo first crouches beside Peregil, breathing laboriously, while a bridge lamp catches half his friendly smile. He tells Peregil that he has done brilliantly and that they are impressed, then pats his face with apparent tenderness. The praise is immediately exposed as part of the intimidation: rising with difficulty and still smiling, Pollo jumps onto Peregil’s right arm and breaks it with a crack. It is the first of the bones they will break that night. The abrupt passage from affectionate gestures to bodily harm defines Pollo’s menace: friendliness is not a reprieve, but another means of control.

The scene cuts from Peregil’s capture to Macarena Bruner checking the time; it is forty minutes past eleven, and she quietly senses that something is wrong. This juxtaposition makes Pollo’s attack part of a larger unfolding crisis, while the precise countdown to midnight sustains the pressure of the debt deadline. His action is both a concrete act of violence and the opening blow in the beating that the narration says is to follow.