Scars by Juan José Saer

Author:Juan José Saer [Saer, Juan José; Dolph, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781934824986
Publisher: Open Letter

So I waited for May second. It rained every day but the first of the month. And on the first, at around nine at night, it started again. I kept busy writing my eighth essay, Chic Young: A Modern Hero. I drew mostly from Blondie, but used a lot of material from Colonel Potterby and the Duchess as well. My thesis was that, bearing in mind the observations he had made about the daily life of the middle class, anyone else would have committed suicide, or at least would have chosen an easier form, the tragedy. As an epigraph I used what I had written a few days before about comedy and tragedy. I spent all of May first writing out a clean copy, and by the time it was dark out I felt euphoric. I asked Delicia if she wanted to eat out, and she said that was stupid, that it was raining and we could eat just as well in the kitchen, as usual, without taking the table into the courtyard. I was about to say that I hadn’t meant it like that, but it didn’t seem worth it. In any event, she was right.

After dinner I helped wash the dishes. When we finished, I took out the five decks of cards, shuffled them, wrote Delicia’s name and mine in the upper corner of a clean sheet of paper and separated them with a vertical line. For the rest of the night we guessed hands, and so accurately that long stretches of time would pass before we changed turns. Next thing we knew, it was morning, and we went to bed.

The next day I was woken up by knocking at the door. Delicia said there was someone asking for me. I guessed it was the worker from the game. I told her to have him wait in the study. I got dressed, washed my face, and went down. In the study I saw a fat man with gray-streaked hair. He had his back to me, and the skin on his neck was dark. When he heard me come in he turned. It was el Negro Lencina. For a second we just stared at each other.

You’ve gained weight, Negro, I said.

We shook hands.

Luisito killed his wife, said el Negro.

I sat down at the desk and offered him a seat on the leather couch. Then I asked if he wanted coffee, and he said no.

Alright, I said, looking at him. Luisito killed his wife. But Luisito who?

Luisito, said el Negro. Luisito Fiore.

Fiore? I said. When?

Last night, said el Negro, in Barrio Roma. Pumped two shots in her head. He’s totally crazy.

I insisted that he have coffee, and finally he agreed. I shouted to Delicia to bring some coffee. Then I sat back down behind the desk.

Two shots, I said. In the head.

In the head, right, said el Negro. He put two rounds in her head.

Thanks for coming to tell me, I said.

I didn’t just come to tell you, said el Negro.

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