The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal

Author:Pedro Mairal [Mairal, Pedro]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-939931-06-1
Publisher: New Vessel Press
Published: 2013-05-06T21:09:00+00:00

22

The next day I went into the supermarket behind the shed and searched through the alcoholic drinks section. They had Chivas, but not White Horse. And I only had enough money for one bottle. But if I wanted information I couldn’t turn up at Jordán’s place empty-handed, so I bought one.

Outside a truck was blocking the traffic as it tried to back into a loading bay. I stood there staring at it: it was impossible for the truck to get in. A paunchy guy with rolled-up sleeves came up to me. It was Baldoni, the supermarket owner.

“When are you going to sell me that shed, Salvatierra?” he asked.

“Well ... it’s a bit difficult.”

“D’you want to come into my office, so we can talk about it in peace?”

“I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“As you wish. But you can see how badly we need room to load and unload ... How much do you want for the land?” he asked me straight out.

“We’ve taken it off the market. There are people working inside the shed, on my father’s art.”

“Yes ... it’s a statue or something, isn’t it?”

“A painting.”

“The fat guy mentioned something about it.”

The “fat guy” must have been the Cultural Affairs secretary. When I said nothing, Baldoni looked down and muttered:

“I’ll give you ten thousand pesos for the plot.”

That wasn’t too bad an offer. Baldoni glanced back at me.

“Well,” I said, “as you know, I run a real estate office in Buenos Aires ... and your offer ...”

“In Buenos Aires?”

“Yes ...”

“There’s no way you can compare prices in the capital with those out here.”

“No, but ...” I let my voice trail off. “Anyway, once the work is finished I guess we’ll take all the stuff out of there, so then we can sell it.”

“And how long will that take?”

“Oh ... quite a long while.”

Baldoni smiled, somewhat irritated. We said goodbye, and I left with the bottle hanging in a plastic bag from my handlebars.

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