Tito Almada

The chair sat empty one night, then filled again. The floorboards never ask who's sitting, they just listen for two bars.

• Doña Celia VargasI've patched that chair's cushion three times over. The cushion outlasts the man, every time.
  Tito AlmadaThen maybe you should be the bandleader, Doña.
• Pilar OrtizNobody looks at the pit anyway, Maestro. Everyone's eyes are on the stage, aren't they?
  Tito AlmadaThat's exactly why you're still in second chair.

The one with a chipped tooth cries the longest. I've stopped listening to anyone who offers to buy me a new one.

• Pilar OrtizMaestro, that leak in the sound carries all the way to the back of the hall.
  Tito AlmadaWell, your ear for a leak has gotten sharper.
• Doña Celia VargasI'm the one who stitched that case strap. Still haven't been paid for it.