Mario Vargas Llosa - The Discreet Hero

“First melodrama, then threats,” Rigoberto thought to himself. He was uneasy, naturally, but increasingly intrigued by what was happening. He observed the twins as if they were a pair of incompetent actors. His expression was attentive and courteous. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to laugh.

“I?” He pretended to be baffled. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say, nephew.”

“You’re the person my papa always listened to,” Escobita stated with great emphasis. “Maybe the only one he always listened to. You know that very well, uncle, so stop pretending. Please. We’re not here to play guessing games. Please!”

“If you’d advised him, if you’d opposed him, if you’d made him see the great mistake he was about to make, the wedding would never have happened,” Miki declared, slapping the table. Now he’d changed, and a small viper zigzagged at the back of his light-colored eyes. His voice had become heated.

Rigoberto heard some music down below, at the seawall: It was the knife grinder’s penny whistle. He always heard it at the same time. The fellow was a punctual man. He’d have to see his face some time.

“A wedding, by the way, that’s worthless because it’s pure garbage,” Escobita corrected his brother. “A travesty without the slightest legal standing. You know that too, uncle; you’re not a lawyer for nothing. So let’s talk turkey, if you don’t mind, and call a spade a spade.”

“What’s this imbecile trying to say?” Don Rigoberto wondered. “They both use clichés however they choose, like wild cards, not knowing what they mean.”

“If you’d let us know in time what my papa was planning, we’d have stopped it, even if it meant calling in the police,” Miki insisted. He still spoke with a forced sadness that couldn’t hide the trace of fury in his tone. Now his partially hooded eyes were threatening Rigoberto.

“But instead of warning us, you took part in that fraud and even signed as a witness, uncle.” Escobita raised his hand and made an enraged gesture in the air. “You signed along with Narciso. The two of you even involved the driver, that poor illiterate, in your ugly, ugly intrigue. So cruel, to take advantage of an ignorant man like that. Frankly, we didn’t expect anything like this from you, Uncle Rigoberto. I can’t get it into my head that you’d go along with this pathetic farce.”

“You’ve disappointed us, uncle,” was Miki’s finishing touch; he moved as if his clothes were too tight. “That’s the simple truth: dis-ap-point-ed. Just as it sounds. It makes me sad to say this to you, but that’s the way it is. I’m saying it to your face and as frankly as I can because it’s the sad truth. You bear a huge responsibility for what’s happened, uncle. And we’re not the only ones who think so. Lawyers are saying it too. And to be perfectly frank, you don’t know what you’ve let yourself in for. This could have very bad consequences in your private life and in your other one.”

“What’s the other one?” thought Don Rigoberto. Both of them kept raising their voices, and their initial affectionate courtesy had evaporated along with their smiles. The twins were very serious now, no longer hiding their resentment. “Will they offer me money? Threaten me with a hired killer? Pull out a revolver?” Everything was possible with a pair like this.

“We haven’t come to reproach you.” Escobita suddenly changed strategy, sweetening his voice again. He smiled, caressing one of his sideburns, but there was something twisted and belligerent in his smile.

“We love you very much, uncle,” Miki agreed with a sigh. “We’ve known you since we were born, you’re like our closest relative. Except…”

He couldn’t finish the idea and was left with his mouth open and an indecisive, disheartened look in his eyes. He opted for nibbling furiously on his little finger again. “Yes, he’s the stupider one,” Don Rigoberto thought to himself.

“The feeling is mutual, nephews.” He took advantage of the silence to get a sentence in. “Calm down, please. Let’s talk like rational, civilized people.”

“That’s easier for you than for us,” replied Miki, raising his voice.

“Of course,” Don Rigoberto thought. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying, but sometimes he gets it right.”

“It’s not your father but ours who married his maid, an ignorant, lousy half-breed, a chola , and made us the laughingstock of all the decent families in Lima.”

“A marriage that isn’t worth a damn besides!” Escobita reminded him again, gesturing frenetically. “A farce with no legal basis at all. I suppose you’re well aware of that, Uncle Rigoberto. So stop acting like a boob, it doesn’t suit you at all.”

“What should I be aware of, nephew?” he asked very serenely, with a curiosity that seemed genuine. “And I’d like you to explain the meaning of that word ‘boob.’ It’s a synonym for imbecile, isn’t it?”

“I mean you’ve gotten involved in a huge mess out of pure ignorance,” Escobita exploded in anger. “A motherfucking mess, if you’ll pardon my language. Maybe without meaning to, thinking you were helping your good friend. We grant your good intentions. But none of that matters, because the law is the law for everybody, in this case most of all.”

“This could mean serious personal problems for you and your family.” Miki’s voice was filled with pity, and as he spoke, he put his little finger back in his mouth. “We don’t want to scare you, but this is how things are. You never should have signed that paper. I tell you that objectively and impartially. And with all my love, of course.”

“We’re telling you this for your own good, Uncle Rigoberto,” said his brother, adding nuance to their argument. “Thinking more of your own interest than of ours, though you may not believe it. I only hope you won’t come to regret your mistake.”

“Soon they’ll be in a rage, and these animals are capable of hitting me,” Rigoberto realized. The twins were letting themselves be carried away by anger, and their looks, gestures, and expressions were increasingly aggressive. “Will I have to defend myself against these two with my fists?” he wondered. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been in a fight. In the Academy of La Recoleta, surely, during some recess.

“We’ve consulted the best lawyers in Lima. We know what we’re talking about. That’s why we can assure you that you’re now involved in one huge goddamn mess. Forgive me for using such ugly words, but we men have to look truth in the face. It’s better that you know.”

“For complicity and concealment,” Miki explained in a solemn tone, saying each word very slowly to emphasize its hostility. His thin voice kept breaking and his eyes were ablaze.

“The annulment of the marriage is under way and the judgment won’t be long in coming,” Escobita explained. “That’s why the best thing you could do is help us, Uncle Rigoberto. The best thing for you, I mean.”

“In other words, it’s not us we want you to help but my papa, Uncle Rigoberto. Your lifelong friend, the person who’s been like an older brother to you. And we want you to help yourself and get out of this fucking predicament that you’ve gotten yourself and us into. Do you understand?”

“Frankly, I don’t, nephew. I don’t understand anything except that the two of you are very upset.” Rigoberto chided them with serenity, affection, and a smile. “Since you’re both talking at the same time, I confess you have me a little confused. I really don’t understand what this is about. Why don’t you settle down and calmly explain what it is you want.”

Did the twins believe they’d beaten him? Is that what they thought? Because their attitude became immediately more temperate. Now he saw that they were smiling, nodding, exchanging complicit, self-satisfied glances.