Bragging on somebody else's bad reputation

I am not so disingenuous to believe that people will not come with an initial judgment when I tell them I am Venezuelan and that it won’t be a gracious one. I can technically and legally claim two other nationalities besides America, but that would not be too honest. So, I will just accept it and carry on.

But the other day I had an interaction with somebody trying to flex himself as one “mal hombre,” but it did not turn out the way he expected. The short conversation went something like this:

Mal Hombre: Is that a Spanish accent I hear? (stares with attitude) I am from Venezuela.
Me: Coincidentally so am I. What part of Venezuela are you from?
MH: Caracas.
Me: What part of Caracas?
MH (smugly): Petare.
Me: What part of Petare?
MH: (looking at me quizzically): La Redoma.
Me: Oh ! you are from the houses in [redacted] street. I know them well.
MH (Looking unpleasantly surprised): And where are you from?
Me: Also, Petare, but from Barrio [redacted].
MH: Oh! (Silence)

Petare is a town, and it is used pretty much to identify a conglomerate of barrios (favelas) that cover one third of the east Caracas Metropolitan zone. It is not by any stretch of socialist imagination a nice area, in fact it has always been a dangerous place with shootings occurring every night and murders every other day. The town itself goes back to colonial days, and it looks the part of a worn-down shithole. But the barrios are lawless area where you either know the rules of survival or you die, or you get out when you can. My particular barrio was well known for having some serious players you did not want to fuck with and at least one totally crazy guy who loved to set shit on fire. (Pleading the 5th on that last one)

Back to Mal Hombre. Not saying that he is not a man, but he surely is not a Bad Guy nor I saw that criminal mettle in his eyes, he just was trying to look butch, have some street cred since the Tren de Aragua is the latest criminal flavor in TN. Stupid if you ask me, because weaker people will point fingers at you for crap you haven’t done just because you were borrowing gansta reputation.

Never wear the pelt of a predator you haven’t killed.