The Last Days of Terranova by Manuel Rivas

Author:Manuel Rivas [Rivas, Manuel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steerforth Press
Published: 2022-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

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That night, Comba wanted to take a walk with Garúa. Just the two of them. There was nothing noteworthy about her suggestion. They would take walks together sometimes, after dinner. A stroll around the Waterline up to Santo Antón Castle or the Abrigo Observation Dyke. On this occasion, they walked around the historic center. They sat down in the Praza das Bárbaras—Garúa had taken quite a liking to the spot. I had too. The first time we went there together, she said that there was something special about the acacias in the square, that they were backwards, their roots digging into the moon.

After her walk with Comba, she looked at me like I was a stranger.

Your mother told me about Eliseo.

Okay.

Okay? It was really difficult for her to talk about. For me, too. If I were trying to create a wonderful human being, I’d create it in his image.

Garúa was silent for a while.

I was surprised, it was the last thing I expected us to talk about. But Comba suddenly asked me what I think of Eliseo. And I told her what I just told you, that he’s a wonderful human being. And she said: Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! He’s my brother. She nearly burst into tears as she said that. And I had to encourage her to talk. I said: Comba, you came out here to tell me something, and now you’re all choked up. Go on, what is it?

He has a big imagination, she said.

He does.

He’s a dreamer.

He is.

He’s never been to the Americas.

Sure he has, he’s been in Buenos Aires! Parque del Retiro, Robert Arlt and the cabbie, Alberto Casares’ bookstore, Chacabuco 955, the golf ball in Ranelagh, his visit to Fijman in the nuthouse in Barracas, Giribaldi’s Grimy Sonnets…I’d never even heard of that book before!

He’s never been. Not to Argentina, not to Mexico, not to Cuba. Aside from a trip to Barcelona at the invitation of the editor Janés, he’s never been farther than Portugal. Lisbon and Amarante, to be specific. Though it’s true that a crow followed him all the way back from Amarante. Has he told you the story about the crow? He came back and said: Comba, there’s a crow at the door. I thought it was one of his jokes, and I said: Go on then, invite it in! And he did. This crow, the Exile, could even talk a bit.

What about Ariel Canzani’s ship and the book cargo, is that real?

It’s all real. Everything he says is true. He just wasn’t there for any of it.

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