Leonardo Padura - Havana Red

“It’s a deal, pal.”

“Hey, but this is cause for celebration, right? Take the twenty pesos in the drawer. Add ten of your own and buy two bottles of that Legendario they’ve put out in the bar in Santa Catalina today.”

“Two?”

“Yes, one each, right?”

“God, how horrible!” said the Count.

“Hey, what horrible god? My lovely lad, all this consorting with queers doesn’t do you much good, just listen to you.”

“Yes, something sticks. A sparrow’s butt, for instance.”

“Tell me more.”

“No, later. I’m going to fetch the two bottles. Stay right there, OK?”

“Hey, wait a minute. I’ll read the story to the old girl and, if she likes it, expect to eat well.”

“And if not?”

“Rice and tortilla.”

Josefina blew her nose on her handkerchief, and said: “Ay, the poor girl, my boy, being killed like that just for fun. The things you think of. And that poor bus driver… But I was moved, and this son of mine says it’s the best Cuban story in the world, and if that’s what he says, well, I got a bit inspired and started to think what kind of meal I could get for you so you don’t drink your rum on an empty stomach, and what I did was real silly, the first thing I thought of, though I reckon it will taste real good: turkey stuffed with rice and black beans.”

“A turkey?”

“Stuffed?”

“Yes, and it’s very easy to make. Look, I bought the turkey yesterday and defrosted the fridge today, it was still soft, so I took it out and basted it while it was thawing. I made garlic, pepper, cumin, oregano, bay, basil and parsley leaves into a paste and, naturally, bitter orange and salt, and basted it well inside and out with that paste. Then I threw in plenty of big slices of onion. The best would be to leave it a couple of hours basted, but as I can see you look starved… Then, as I’d already got black beans on the boil, I started to prepare a tasty sauce: I took two strips of bacon I cut into small pieces and fried, and put more onion in the fat, but cut tiny, with ground garlic and plenty of chilli, and there you go, I poured the sauce on the beans when they were almost cooked and added a cup of dry wine, so they taste a bit sour, the way you like them, right?”

“Yes, that’s how I love them.”

“Me too.”

“And what else?”

“Well, I poured in the white rice to make the congri, a bit more oregano, and for good measure a pinch of salt, and a handful of finely chopped onion. Then I waited for the rice to dry out, before the grains went soft, of course, and switched it off and stuffed the turkey with the congri, so it cooks inside the bird, right? You know what I didn’t have? Toothpicks to close it up… So I used a few stems from the bitter oranges, which are pretty hard… Then put it in the oven, so don’t despair, it will soon be ready. Have your drinks in peace, and it will be on the table at nine thirty. And pour me a drop of rum… That’s it, just a drop, Condesito, or I’ll get drunk …”

“And how many are going to eat this, Jose?”

“As the bird was about eight pounds, there’ll be enough for ten or twelve helpings… but with you two… Well, I hope something will be left for lunch tomorrow. I’ll just go and have a look.”

“Did you hear that, you bastard? The old dear’s mad.”

“What I’d like to know is where the fuck she gets it all… The only thing she didn’t have were the toothpicks.”

“Don’t be such a nosy policeman. Pour me some… This rum is good for getting a skinful and taking a running jump.” “What’s the matter, Skinny?”

Carlos downed more rum and didn’t answer.

“Is it still the business with Dulcita?” the Count asked, and his friend looked at him for a moment.

“Smell that, the bird’s really cooking,” he said, going off at an opportune tangent. “Hey, do you know what should come after a feast like this? A decent cigar. A Montecristo or something of the sort, right?”

“Fuck, of course, a Montecristo,” the Count replied, downing his rum in one gulp. “It has to be a Montecristo,” he said, as he finally saw the face he’d sensed in his dream, where a dirty, raging river suddenly precipitated the fall of the mask, a mask made of a thousand lies which had hidden the truth from him. Yes, that had to be the truth!

Nothing can justify such a crime, was the most sophisticated philosophical conclusion he could reach as he felt the cold water on his back. The vivid memory of the whole bottle of pale Legendario rum still coursed rich and bitter round his mouth, though he was surprised to discover he was hungry and hadn’t much of a headache. How could it be? In the kitchen, after swallowing a couple of analgesics, he looked alarmed as the funnel to his coffee pot swallowed his last stocks of coffee and waited for it to strain and for Sergeant Manuel Palacios to arrive, pulled on his old blue jeans – you’re dead thirsty, he told himself, observing the remains of an evil liverish stain on the cloth at thigh level and on his pockets – and went out on to the porch, as he did every Sunday, to savour a whiff of nostalgia for life in the neighbourhood that was also transvested, metamorphosed, definitively different, where he’d felt happy or miserable, in like doses, on many other Sundays in his life, ever since he’d been conscious of life. The church bells had tolled for no one for many a year, and that invigorating smell of freshly baked bread had never again floated from the nearby bakery, what’s bread made of now, if it doesn’t smell like it used to? But he resisted; despite these absences, it was a simply wonderful day: the previous evening’s heavy downpour had swept away the filth from heaven and earth, and the sun’s brightness triumphed over any darkening doubts. A good day to play baseball (but was there also the will?), the Count thought, and he went back in for his coffee and drank a big cupful, a bitter swill round to clear out the last phantoms of sleep, alcohol and hangover. As he lit his cigarette, he heard the car horn calling him from the street. Shirt unbuttoned, he went out on to the pavement, and as he opened the car door, greeted Sergeant Manuel Palacios.

“Well, tell me where,” Manuel Palacios mumbled, making it clear he was ready to obey.

“I’ve fucked up your Sunday?”

“No, of course not.”

The Count smiled. That’s all I need, he told himself, thinking he too would have preferred not to work on Sunday and to stay at home, sleeping, reading, or even writing, now he’d started to write again. But he said: “Let’s go to Headquarters, the Boss is there… Hey, did you find Salvador?”

“No, not yet.”

Manuel Palacios started up the car, without looking at his boss, and when they reached the church the Count decided to show his hand.

“Look, Manolo, I’ve thought of something to wind up this case. That’s why I called you.”

He waited in vain for a response from his colleague and continued: “Do you remember there was a bit of a Montecristo cigar among the things they found in the place where Alexis was killed?” And he waited. He didn’t wait long.

“Fuck, you’re right, Conde! Do you think…? No, it can’t be. His father…?”

“Let’s see if we can find the butt of the Montecristo I gave the Boss and if the lab can tell us if they’re similar. Even if they’re only distant relations, I think Faustino Arayan has hit the jackpot with a single ticket.”

Manuel Palacios, conclusively persuaded by Conde’s reasoning, put his foot down and the car lurched off fearfully.

“Easy does it, we’ve got time.”

“No, the quicker this is sorted, the quicker I’m on the razzle.. . If you’d seen the girl I picked up yesterday…”