Читать книгу Hi, This Is Conchita - Santiago Roncagliolo - Страница 13

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11:30 PM

— Yes?

— Hello?

— Yes?

— Are you Reginaldo?

— Maybe.

— Hello, my name is Don. Um…

— Yes?

— Do you need my last name?

— No.

— A friend gave me your number for a…matter that needs to be settled.

— Right.

— …

— And so?

— And so what, Reginaldo?

— Exactly. And so what, Don?

— Will you make an appointment with me?

— No.

— Are we going to arrange things by phone?

— What do you want us to do? Have a party?

— No, but…I don’t know, it doesn’t seem the kind of thing you can do by phone.

— What thing?

— That’s exactly what I can’t say on the phone.

— All right, for starters tell me who we’re talking about.

— Her name’s Mary…she’s…a friend.

— A friend.

— Well, not such a friend, of course, or I wouldn’t be…well.

— Well.

— She’s very nice, I don’t want you to think that…

— It doesn’t matter what I think.

— No of course not, but in any event…

— It doesn’t matter.

— Right.

— I’ll need more information about her.

— She’s young. Yeah. She’s young and has curly blond hair that comes down to her breasts, and thick, pink nipples, like two pacifiers…

— I was referring to her address or something like that.

— Palomares 5, Sixth floor, A.

— P-A-L…

— Palomares, yeah.

— O-M-A…

— With S at the end.

— I heard you.

— When? When will you do it?

— That depends. Do you just want to shake her up or do we blow her away?

— What?

— Because I can just give her a scare, you know, you put a weapon in her mouth and say ‘Listen, bitch, if I see you cheating on him again…’ What’s your name?

— Don.

— ‘If you cheat on Don again, I’ll put a bullet in your brain, blah, blah, blah.’ Generally it works.

— Blah, blah, blah.

— That’s it.

— I don’t think it’ll work in this case, you see, she isn’t cheating on me.

— And how do you know that?

— Well, I don’t know, but…

— You trust her.

— No, it’s just that…

— You don’t trust her? Then we’ll give her a scare.

— I’d prefer the other thing…

— We blow her away.

— I wouldn’t call it that, it’s just that, basically I love her…

— Right. And she has an insurance policy you love too. Right?

— No…she isn’t my wife.

— Then maybe the money won’t go to you. Have you thought about that?

— It isn’t for money.

— Right.

— In fact, she doesn’t have a cent.

— I understand.

— I picked her up at a bar where she sang at night. She lived…she lived in a trailer and like that…

— And you took her in.

— Yeah, you could say that.

— You’re generous, you know?

— Thanks.

— Normally I don’t shoot on orders from people so…

— I’d be grateful if you avoided words like that. It’s just that by phone…

— It’s better.

— Yeah?

— This way you don’t see my face, and I don’t see yours. It’s practical.

— Sure.

— So, you took her in.

— Yeah.

— And then?

— And then we became closer and closer, you know? She…understood me…I mean she understands me…she isn’t…well, not yet…I mean…

— She understands you more than your wife.

— A lot more. My wife and I…it’s like we speak different languages, you know?

— Yeah.

— I mean, it’s not that things are going badly but…

— It’s not like it was before.

— Exactly, it’s not like it was before.

— And why don’t…why don’t you…

— Get a divorce?

— It’s cheaper.

— No, I assure you it isn’t, in my case. Besides, sure, Mary…she’s fine but…

— She isn’t a wife…

— …You know everything that involves and…

— …And people and your property and your life and your success…

— …Like I say…

— You’d rather she didn’t suffer…

— That would be very good of you, it would be very…

— It’s nothing.

— …Generous, on your part.

— Maybe you’d like to tell her something…I don’t know…in those final mom…

— Better not.

— It always helps to have a smile when…

— I’ll invite her to dinner beforehand. I’ll tell her…

— I don’t know if that’s enough…

— I’ll tell her I’ve left my wife, that I love her, that I’ll move in with her that same night, things like that.

— That would be good.

— Yeah.

— In my heart, that’s what I want. I mean…

— Sure.

— …I mean I’m not a monster or anything…

— No, of course not.

— I’d really like to move in with her and spend some time together.

— Right.

— …She…She’s very affectionate with me.

— Sure.

— Sometimes…sometimes we don’t even…don’t even have sex. You know? We just…

— Talk.

— We talk and she makes cream cakes and then we watch TV….It’s what I like best…

— Your wife doesn’t…

— She doesn’t compare.

— Sure.

— It’s a shame things have to be this way, don’t you think so? In other circumstances maybe…

— Maybe, yeah.

— Well.

— I’ll leave you a message with my account number for the advance…

— I was told you’d do it for ten thousand…

— In a case like this, fifteen.

— What do you mean a case like this? What’s special about this case?

— She’s a very good person.

— Right, that’s true, but it’s not worth five thousand…

— Thirteen.

— Twelve.

— Twelve and a half. Fair enough?

— OK.

— Bye, Don, thanks.

— Thank you. It’s always good to talk to someone.