Cesar Aira - Ghosts

At last the extraordinary Inés Viñas made her appearance. Predictably, she had climbed the stairs at a leisurely pace and wasn’t even out of breath. Are you on your own? said Elisa as soon as she saw her. Roberto’s coming later, dear, I came early to give you a hand. But you didn’t need to bother, etc. etc. They gave each other a kiss without interrupting their conversation. You couldn’t find two more typical Chilean women. And seeing them together, it was striking the way they realized the type, almost to the point of caricature. The coincidence was especially notable because they were so physically different. Inés Viñas was quite short and petite. Her skin had a more olive tone; her hair was a shinier black, and her cheeks were sunken (while Elisa Vicuña’s were round and somewhat childlike). She was quite pretty and rather flamboyant, within the demure limits imposed by her family and nationality. She was wearing stylish white sandals, an Indian skirt and a blue cotton tee shirt. And long earrings. You look really well. Not as well as you. No you do, really. Come off it, can’t you tell I had a cough? What do you mean, a cough? Like I said, one of these days I’m going to catch pneumonia. She’s so funny this girl, she kills me! Hi Patri! Patri was extraordinarily Chilean too. Seeing the three of them together made it even more noticeable. You washed your hair? See how awful mine is? Come on, mine’s much worse. I told you to be quiet, you kids! The older children wanted to make off with the toy cars that belonged to the others. No, said Elisa Vicuña, You leave them there. Oh, poor things, said Inés Viñas, I’ll wrap them up again. No, don’t, this little devil ripped the paper. It was already ripped, shrieked the boy. Are they asleep? asked the guest lowering her voice, which, since she was Chilean, was already very soft. Your brother too, said Elisa. The three of them put on highly stylized laughing expressions. They found it seriously funny. Still napping at seven! All right, off you go, said Elisa. Silly of me, wasn’t it. Four exactly the same. I didn’t know what to get them. You shouldn’t have bothered, dear. It wasn’t much of a bother: the same thing for all four! Inés dear, it’s perfect. Before I forget, I brought something for you too, Patricita. For me?! Listen, Elisa, Roberto is going to bring some bottles of wine…. That’s too kind! But you don’t have to, you know, I’m not a little girl any more. Look, it’s just something small. Patri removed the gift with great care from the little paper envelope: it was a bracelet of colored beads. Her pleasure and gratitude soared to indescribable heights. She put it on straight away, and it looked very nice on her. What a cute bracelet! They moved on to more general topics. How about this heat? said Inés Viñas. It doesn’t let up, does it? asked and confirmed her sister-in-law. There must be a bit of breeze here, though. Don’t you believe it. Isn’t there? Well, yes, but only sometimes. That was understandable. What I can’t understand, said Inés, is why you came to live in this birdcage. They laughed.

Meanwhile, the children had woken up. A bit of crying and moaning: here we go, said Elisa Vicuña. She went into the bedroom and came back with the two little monsters, one under each arm, naked and crying, covered with perspiration. Their aunt gave them a kiss, laughing at the way they were carrying on. She had an easy manner with children, which calmed them down, and even these little ones were alert to the word “present.” The two toy cars had been wrapped up again, and the parcel was on the table. A little bath first, said Elisa. I’ll give you a hand. No, don’t worry, it won’t take long…. you’ll see…. I’ll just give them a splash…. She went into the bathroom and poured some water over the children, which woke them up properly. Patri, she called from the bathroom: Go and tell the others to come for their snack. Patri went out. Hey, is Javier coming? In a minute, said Elisa. With the whole family. The two children, with wet hair, were deposited on top of the table, and Ernesto began to open the parcel. Aunt Inés cuddled them. The little girl was so tiny and sweet. She’s always smiling, isn’t she! She’s lovely! Elisa was preparing something in the kitchen. How can I help? asked her sister-in-law. I’m fine, in a minute I’ll give you their shoes and you can put them on. Where are they? Hold on, said Elisa, heading for the bedroom, I’ll get them for you now. As she took the children’s shoes, Inés said: And that man is still asleep, is he? Uh huh, like a log, takes a fair bit to wake him up. The two older children came in. You haven’t gone and broken the cars already, have you? said their mother. No, no! See! They displayed them, intact. Patri had come in quietly and was looking at the bracelet on her wrist. Inés Viñas finished putting on the children’s shoes, and told them each to sit on a chair, with their red toy cars, if they liked (but the best thing, said Juan Sebastián, is crashing them), while their mother poured them each a big glass of milk. So you must have bought a fridge, said Inés, looking at the glasses…. No, no. They’re going to lend us one. This is special milk, it keeps without a fridge. Oh yes, I know, said Inés.

While the children were busy with their afternoon snack, Inés Viñas made the following remark: The last time I was here, not even ten days ago, you could see right through each floor, but today on the way up…. Her sister-in-law interrupted: So you saw the partition walls? They’ve put most of them up already; they might even have finished. Hey, can we look at them? At what? At the apartments, dear. Sure, straight away! The owners won’t come? Why would they come, at this time of day, on New Year’s Eve? Anyway, Patri put in, they were all here this morning. Were they? Why? I don’t know, said Elisa…. I think there was a meeting. You wouldn’t believe how many people there were. We stayed in here, while they came and went.

Then they told the children to finish their milk while they went down to look at the apartments. But they could have saved their breath: the four of them guzzled down what was left so they could come along. They began the descent chatting brightly. They guessed at the layout of the rooms from what they could see. The upper floors were more finished. Patri was quite amazed by their suppositions, which would never have occurred to her. She knew that those rooms would be bedrooms, dining rooms, bathrooms, or kitchens, but she had never wondered which would be which. The other two were even doing imaginary swaps: I wouldn’t put the living room here; I’d make this my bedroom. Other aspects of the apartments made them laugh. They’ll have to put up huge drapes, said one, and the other replied: Except they don’t have neighbors looking in, that’s the advantage. They went down from the sixth floor to the fifth, and from the fifth to the fourth, talking all the way. They ranked the floors according to preference. Look at the way these rich people live, said Inés Viñas. And they’re going to splash around up there too? Elisa looked up at the ceiling, bewildered for a moment, until she remembered the swimming pool. How do you like that, she remarked, a pool on the rooftop terrace! I couldn’t believe it, until I saw it with my own eyes, or rather till I saw they were building it. It’s just incredible, said Inés. Isn’t it? said Patri, who was taking a very small part in the conversation. Some things are unbelievable, said the visitor, but when you see them with your own eyes, you have to bow to the evidence. Yes, said Patri.

As they visited the apartments methodically, from one end to the other, the question of evidence led to two topics that were, not unreasonably, dear to their hearts: medicine and marriage. Inés Viñas swore by homeopathy and warmly recommended it at every opportunity. She saw her little old homeopath as a kind of shaman whose precise and parsimonious doses could cure anything. Her sister-in-law Elisa, while not a supporter of allopathy (it didn’t deserve supporters, she admitted, since it was just a business) favored conventional medicine, because she had a problem with belief. There are people who just can’t believe, she said, and I’m one of them. But you could make an effort! said Inés. If it was only a matter of making an effort, I would have done it already, if only to please you, replied Elisa. Well don’t make an effort, then, just believe! Elisa: The thing is, you have to make an effort. And not believing is simply not being able to do that. Elisa dear, I really can’t follow you, although I’m trying, I swear. Come on, what if you gave it a go? This whole conversation was abstract, in a manner of speaking, because neither of them was ill or thought she was. Which probably explains why they could reason about it. Look, Inés, homeopathy, or any other kind of magical medicine, only works for those who believe. That’s where you’re wrong, Elisa! Lots of people who didn’t believe have been cured. Is that so? But didn’t they believe afterward? Of course, why wouldn’t they? That’s what I mean: you have to believe, either before or after. But it’s not the same thing! It doesn’t matter: I’d only be convinced by someone who didn’t believe at all, someone who had been cured, and went on not believing. But that’s impossible! Exactly, you see what I mean?