Everything is Nice by Jane Bowles Read Free Book Online Page A

assassin."
    She stopped still in the street and looked up at the sky. "Jesu Maria!" she said. "Don't let me say such things about my own daughter." She clutched at Consuelo's arm.
    "Come, come. Let us hurry. My feet ache. What an ugly city this is!"
    Consuelo began to whimper. The word "assassin" had affected her painfully. Although she had no very clear idea of an assassin in her mind, she knew it to be a gross insult and contrary to all usage when applied to a young lady of breeding. It so frightened her that her mother had used such a word in connection with her that she actually felt a little sick to her stomach.
    "No, mamà, no!" she cried. "Don't say that I am an assassin. Don't!" Her hands were beginning to shake, and already the tears were filling her eyes. Her mother hugged her and they stood for a moment locked in each other's arms.
    Maria, the servant, was standing near the fountain looking into it when Consuelo and her mother arrived at the pension. The traveler and Señorita Côrdoba were seated together having a chat.
    "Doesn't love interest you?" the traveler was asking her.
    "No . . . no . . ." answered Señorita Côrdoba. "City life, business, the theater. . . ." She sounded somewhat halfhearted about the theater.
    "Well, that's funny," said the traveler. "In my country most young girls are interested in love. There are some, of course, who are interested in having a career, either business or the stage. But I've heard tell that even these women deep down in their hearts want a home and everything that goes with it."
    "So?" said Señorita Côrdoba.
    "Well, yes," said the traveler. "Deep down in your heart, don't you always hope the right man will come along some day?"
    "No . . . no . . . no. . . . Do you?" she said absent-mindedly.
    "Who, me? No."
    "No?"
    She was the most preoccupied woman he had ever spoken with.
    "Look, senoras," said Maria to Consuelo and her mother. "Look what is floating around in the fountain! What is it?"
    Consuelo bent over the basin and fished around a bit. Presently she pulled out her mother's pink corset.
    "Why, mamà," she said. "It's your corset."
    Señora Ramirez examined the wet corset. It was covered with muck from the bottom of the fountain. She went over to a chair and sat down in it, burying her face in her hands. She rocked back and forth and sobbed very softly. Señora Espinoza came out of her room.
    "Lilina, my sister, threw it into the fountain," Consuelo announced to all present.
    Señora Espinoza looked at the corset.
    "It can be fixed. It can be fixed," she said, walking over to Señora Ramirez and putting her arms around her.
    "Look, my friend. My dear little friend, why don't you go to bed and get some sleep? Tomorrow you can think about getting it cleaned."
    "How can we stand it? Oh, how can we stand it?" Señora Ramirez asked imploringly, her beautiful eyes filled with sorrow. "Sometimes," she said in a trembling voice, "I have no more strength than a sparrow. I would like to send my children to the four winds and sleep and sleep and sleep."
    Consuelo, hearing this, said in a gentle tone: "Why don't you do so, mamà?"
    "They are like two daggers in my heart, you see?" continued her mother.
    "No, they are not," said Señora Espinoza. "They are flowers that brighten your life." She removed her glasses and polished them on her blouse.
    "Daggers in my heart," repeated Señora Ramirez.
    "Have some hot soup," urged Señora Espinoza. "Maria will make you some—a gift from me—and then you can go to bed and forget all about this."
    "No, I think I will just sit here, thank you."
    "Mamà is going to have one of her fits," said Consuelo to the servant. "She does sometimes. She gets just like a child instead of getting angry, and she doesn't worry about what she is eating or when she goes to sleep, but she just sits in a chair or goes walking and her face looks very different from the way it looks at other times." The servant nodded, and Consuelo went in to bed.
    "I have