Chapter 5
2093 Words
JUAN appeared swirling a whiskey and in his free hand the bottle of
beer.
He handed it to Alfredo. Then, without ceasing to stir the glass, he lay down in an armchair, not far from the one occupied by his friend.
not far from the one his friend was sitting in.
-He said, -He received me, Al. An older man was just leaving when I knocked on his door.
door. He said goodbye with a -See you next Thursday, Alice-. I
which indicated to me that your client also has regular customers. The voice of the gentleman who
was respectful or affectionate. I don't know. Certainly, nothing equivocal or doubtful about what he had been doing in that apartment.
as to what he had been doing in that apartment.
-And what do you suppose he was doing?
-Not what I intended, of course. Evidently she had gone to get
a massage, have her hands done, or simply go into the sauna. If you think he
he slept with her, I'd say no.
And as Al poured his beer, without comment, Juan added:
-Beautiful woman. Classy, with a refined style. Not even her white gown, a bit baggy, detracted from her slenderness.
her slender body. By the way, you can't tell she's pregnant.
-Of course not. She's two months pregnant.
-I was just saying. Well, I was getting to the point. She greeted me kindly, correctly and
professional. Her apartment is nice, well decorated, tasteful, nothing corny or overdone.
or overdone. The essentials for comfortable living. I mean what I saw, of course,
because it's a duplex. He received me in a large living room, where he has everything he needs for his profession.
necessary for his profession.
-To the point, Juan. I'm not interested in how comfortable he lives.
-Did you find out where her boyfriend's frescales got to?
-No. I didn't remember. I have time.
-Well, I told her where I was going. Massage, nails, sauna. No waxing,
because I'm very happy with my hair. He ordered me to undress behind a screen, but first he made me a card which, once filled out, he placed in a file, very bulky indeed.
very bulky, by the way. I mean I didn't have half a dozen chips, but a hundred or more.
or more. I gave an assumed name, an imaginary address and went to undress behind the screen.
the screen. She told me I would see a white loincloth right there; to put it on.
to put it on. I went out like that... Then she had me lay down on a table similar to the ones we use, only, with the
only that, with my foot, by pressing a lever, it goes up and down to the height that she
the height she wants. I am usually a chatterbox, and I intended to get into the subject quickly.
quickly into the matter. But she replied with monosyllables to my verbiage.
It may seem absurd to you, but the fact is that I didn't even dare to insinuate myself.
-What are you saying?
-What you're hearing. You know. Al, that a man has a special nose for a woman.
to know a woman. And the woman herself, when she's looking for something, knows how to find it
to find it without being suggestive. She can be discreet, and she certainly is.
But... the -walk- does not suit her. The one I was looking for, anyway. Her massages were
so technical, so correct, that I found myself making a fool of myself if I wanted something from her
What does she choose her clients for? Ah,
she can. She's free to do so. But I was not her s****l client; that much is clear to me.
I'm quite clear about that.
-But there is no woman in that trade, unless it is a total loss, that is given
for the good.
-Look, Al, don't get sharp with me now. When a girl wants,
you can tell right away what she's after. Damn it, Al, this one wasn't after anything!
She was doing a professional duty and I bet her mind was far away from me and what she was doing.
me and what she was doing. She's skilled and knows her stuff about her profession, but I had no courage or daring or cynicism.
I had neither the courage nor the audacity nor the cynicism to insinuate anything to him.
Alfredo stood up furious.
He applied his mouth to the gullet and finished drinking the beer.
-It's impossible for a guy as carefree as you to be massaged by a woman and remain silent.
a woman and stay silent. I don't understand you, Juan.
-Well, you see, I didn't dare. I didn't dare. Shall I spell it out? I didn't dare.
the massage was over, she pointed me to the sauna. She, while I was dying of heat in there, began to make notes.
heat in there, she began to make notes in a thick book. She answered two phone calls
no doubt from clients, and opened the door. In came a young woman she called Maria
called Maria and led her to a waiting room, whose door she closed. She took me out of the
me out of the sauna, handing me a bathrobe, and took me to an adjoining room where she left me alone to get dressed.
where she left me alone to get dressed. But first he asked me if I would do my hands.
I told him no. Why, if I already had someone else waiting for me and would have heard my nonsense if I told him?
would have heard my bullshit if I told them? So I paid -he held out his hand
-. Fifteen thousand pesetas. Because you know that the girl is not cheap at all. All very
very healthy, very normal and without misunderstandings. And, moreover, very expensive.
Alfredo sat down again.
And he pointed at his friend with his raised finger.
-Do you know what I'm telling you, Juan? You've fallen for incautiousness. And not only for charging you,
but because you didn't look for what she would have given you.
-Well, you go ahead and try it. I don't mess with women who behave like ladies.
ladies. Understood?
-That is to say, I stayed as I was.
-And what do you want to know more about? -And what do you want to know more about? After all, she can make a cloak out of her own
her cloak and dagger. She's a mistress, isn't she? You're her doctor, but not her confessor or her blamer.
or her guilt-appellant. Puaff! Don't get me into any more trouble of this kind. There are things that you can
things that you can see by just looking at the person. This one didn't even give a hint like that -and she put her
two fingernails - of doubt.
Alfredo decided to leave the matter in suspense.
There was no point in going to him.
On the other hand, he would lose status and dignity by showing up at that duplex and in front of his own client.
before his own client. So he decided to stop thinking about it.
* * *
Alice had finished the workday and was packing up the waiting room and what she considered her salon.
she considered her beauty salon.
Twice a week a girl would come in and deep clean. The other days she did it herself.
on other days she did it herself. This saved money and time.
It was almost nine o'clock. I used to start at four o'clock, but I almost never finished by eight o'clock.
eight o'clock. Sometimes it was ten o'clock and she was still there. When Daniel lived with her,
he used to cook dinner while she picked up.
Daniel!
What ingratitude!
Not because she gave him money, but because she hesitated long before giving him her love and trust.
love and trust. And then she paid him like that. Why did men have to be so cynical? Because, if she agreed..., but she did not. She gave in,
not without a thousand struggles and a thousand doubts.
Deep down she was looking for a companion. No longer a man to help her live,
but one who would share her joys and sorrows, her satisfactions and disappointments.
disappointments.
There had been everything in her life, and there would undoubtedly continue to be.
She picked up the whole room, put everything in its place and took off her robe, which she threw into the washing machine.
in the washing machine. Then he went to the kitchen. He was wearing red corduroy pants
and a shirt with red stripes, like the pants, and a shade of blue.
He wore moccasins, and his short, shiny black hair, with no bobby pins, was flowing down to his cheek.
his cheek a little.
From time to time he blew on it as he prepared the tray, lined with plastic, with his cold supper.
plastic-lined tray with her cold dinner. Parsimonious indeed. First, because she ate so little, and
second, because she had to keep her diet steady, due to the pregnancy.
She would have the child. Of course she would. At no time did it occur to her to think
of abortion.
She lacked prejudice, even though she was burdened with dignities. It had nothing to do
to do with each other, and she, at least, knew how to distinguish between the two situations.
Nor did she have to account to anyone for her actions. She did not love Daniel with
passionately, no. Perhaps that was because she had always been in hiding, but she did love him and esteem him.
and she did care for him. Besides, they were alike. They would have made a stable and
and realistic.
But Daniel did his comedy.
His hateful comedy!
That is to say, the concept she had of people did not deviate from her origins, even though she always believed, as she gradually got to know Daniel
origins, although she always believed, as she gradually got to know Daniel, that he was different and deserved her esteem,
that he was different and deserved her esteem and affection.
She did not consider that passion for love was indispensable to form a family, a couple.
a family, a couple. It was enough consideration, understanding and that the two liked each other.
liked each other. At certain times he had shown her that, but when it came to the moment of truth, he had behaved like everyone else.
truth, he had behaved like everyone else. Pleasures yes, pleasures too;
responsibilities, nothing.
A new disappointment to add to his life.
She could not say that he behaved like a freeloader. Not that. He never was.
never was. He handled money, never asked her for anything, never accepted the money she offered him.
offered him. And the funny thing is that he always charged her money.
Ham, boiled eggs, a salad and water had been served. And whole wheat bread,
which is not fattening. He hated fat, even if it was artificial.
As he ate, he thought about the future.
I earned enough money, I didn't pay taxes. When his son was born,
she would have a wife to take care of him, although she planned to devote her full attention to him.
She knew a lot about abandoned children. Of parental pleasures. Of
Maternal neglect...
She would not be the same. She would raise her child with all the love in the world, with all her tenderness.
tenderness. She never used to cry. Maybe she had cried too much in her childhood, and almost more
in her adolescence. By now she was cured of her fears.
She finished eating and took the tray to the kitchen.
She liked her duplex. It wasn't hers. Just rented. She paid a high rent,
but she preferred it. She lived well and comfortably. Besides, the building was located in the
downtown. It was a building where wealthy people lived, so no one could come to tell her that she was not in compliance with the law.
nobody could come and tell her that she wasn't following the law. He wasn't entirely law-abiding, but
but he ate enough of the taxpayer's money without swallowing the sweat of a single, self-sacrificing girl.
sacrificed.
She was in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. She felt a little
tense.
She had no friends, nor did she frequent the company of her neighbors.
- Writer
