— ¡Hace mucho calor, papá! —reclamó el niño.


El padre sabia que su hijo no mentía, pues realmente ese día era muy caluroso, y a diferencia de otras tardes propias del verano caribeño, aquella tarde habían tenido el infortunio de no contar con el aire acondicionado. La máquina ya era vieja, pero les había sido fiel durante casi 8 años y Ramón siempre encontraba la forma de repararla ante cualquier averío que sufriese. No dejaría que aquel aparato, regalo de bodas de su padre, se echase a perder por la eternidad y tuviera que ir a parar al contenedor de basura, junto a las muchas otras cosas que había tenido que desprenderse porque su ciclo útil había cesado.


El sudor empapaba sus frentes. Marcos, el pequeño, se abanicaba frenéticamente con un cuaderno escaso de hojas, imitando a Julia, su madre, que preparaba una limonada rebosante de cubitos de hielo para bajar la temperatura.


—Ya lo arreglo mijo, ya lo arreglo —le respondió Ramón mientras manoseaba el termostato y se preguntaba si el compresor sería la causa de la falla.


—¿Necesitas ayuda, amor? —preguntó su esposa, a la vez que le alcanzaba un vaso de limón.


—No, no, no, ya mismo lo arreglo. —Aunque esta vez sabía que el aparato parecía condenado a no tener arreglo—. Solo dame unos minutos.


Ramón se sentía fastidiado. Hoy su padre vendría de visita a almorzar y no quería que viera como el regalo que le había obsequiado no estaba y menos aún, que pasase calor en esa infernal tarde. Miró el reloj y supo que no le quedaba tiempo, su padre siempre había sido puntual, así que metió el aire acondicionado en una caja y lo guardó en la recámara, ocultándolo de la vista de todos, como si fuera una vergüenza que quisiera barrer bajo la alfombra.


No bien salió de la habitación, escuchó la voz de Julia, saludando a su suegro y se dirigió a la sala, para ver a su padre cargando una larga caja.


— ¡Hey, “Moncho”! —le saludó su padre con una gran sonrisa bajo esa barba canosa y poblada—. Hoy el día amaneció con mucho sol y pensé en traerte un regalito.


Ramón al ver la caja empezó a reír. Era un nuevo aire acondicionado.


— Te ayudo a instalarlo, hijo.


Ramón asintió con una amplia sonrisa.

"It's so hot, daddy!" cried the boy.

The father knew that his son was not lying, because that day was really very hot, and unlike other Caribbean summer afternoons, that afternoon they had the misfortune of not having air conditioner. The machine was already old, but it had been faithful to them for almost 8 years and Ramón always found a way to repair it in case of any breakdown. He would not let that device, a wedding gift from his father, go to waste for eternity and end up in the garbage garbage can, along with the many other things he had had to get rid of because their useful cycle had ceased.


Sweat soaked their foreheads. Marcos, the little boy, frantically fanned himself with a notebook with few leaves, imitating Julia, his mother, who was preparing a lemonade overflowing with ice cubes to lower the temperature.


"I'll fix it, my son, I'll fix it," Ramón replied as he fiddled with the thermostat and wondered if the compressor was the cause of the fault.


"Do you need help, my love?" asked his wife, as she handed him a glass of lemon.


"No, no, no, no, I'll fix it right away. " Although this time he knew that the device seemed doomed to be beyond repair. "Just give me a few minutes."


Ramón felt annoyed. Today his father would be visiting for lunch and he didn't want him to see how the gift he had given him was missing and even less, that he would be hot in that infernal afternoon. He looked at the clock and knew he had no time left, his father had always been punctual, so he put the air conditioner in a box and stored it in the bedroom, hiding it from everyone's sight, as if it were an embarrassment he wanted to sweep under the carpet.


As soon as he left the room, he heard Julia's voice, greeting his father-in-law and went to the living room, to see his father carrying a long box.


"Hey, Moncho! " his father greeted him with a big smile under that gray, bushy beard. "Today the day dawned with lots of sunshine and I thought I would bring you a little present."


Ramón saw the box and started to laugh. It was a new air conditioner.


“I'll help you install it, son. “


Ramon nodded with a broad smile.