The Truce by Mario Benedetti Read Free Book Online Page B

don’t dare call it a friendship), perhaps it’s because I deserve it.
    He wants to come to see me at home. ‘It’s a private matter, friend. I can’t discuss it over the phone, nor can I invite you over to my house to discuss it, either,’ said Vignale. We agreed to meet on Thursday night. He’ll come after dinner.
Wednesday 10 April
    There is something about Avellaneda that attracts me. That’s obvious, but what is it?
Thursday 11 April
    It’s half an hour before dinner. Vignale is coming over tonight, but only Blanca and I will be here. Jaime and Esteban disappeared as soon as they found out he was coming. I don’t blame them, though; I would have escaped, too.
    A change has come over Blanca. She has colour in her cheeks now. And it’s not makeup because she retains this colour even after she washes her face. Sometimes she forgets that I’m in the house and starts to sing. She doesn’t have much of a voice, but she uses it well. I like hearing her sing. I wonder what goes through my sons’ heads. Are they realizing a moment of high aspirations?
Friday 12 April
    Last night, Vignale arrived at eleven and left at two o’clock in the morning. His problem is very simple: his sister-in-law is in love with him. It is worth transcribing, albeit roughly, Vignale’s version of the story: ‘Just look, they’ve been living with us for the past six years. Six years isn’t four days. I’m not going to tell you that up till now I’ve never noticed Elvira. You already know she’s very pretty. And if you were to see her in a bathing suit, you would be knocked speechless. But hey, looking is one thing, taking advantage is another. What do you expect? My wife is already middle-aged and, besides, doing the housework and taking care of the kids has exhausted her. You can imagine that after fifteen years of marriage, it’s not a matter of looking at her and ipso facto becoming aroused with passion. Furthermore, sometimes her periods last two weeks, so it’s very difficult for me to arrange my desires to coincide with her availability. The
truth is I’m hungry for sex quite often, so I feast my eyes on calves of Elvira who, to make matters worse, always wears shorts in the house. The thing is that Elvira has misinterpreted the way I look at her; well, actually, she hasn’t, but there’s no need to make such a fuss. The fact of the matter is that if I had known Elvira was interested in me earlier, I wouldn’t have paid her any attention because the last thing I want is to create a scandal and disrupt my own home, which has always been sacred to me. First, there was the exchange of glances and me pretending not to notice. But the other day she was wearing those shorts when she simply crossed her legs and I had no other choice but to say to her: “Be careful.” She replied: “I don’t want to be careful,” and that was the last straw. Then she asked me if I was blind, said that I well knew that I wasn’t unresponsive towards her, etc., etc. Although I was sure it was a waste of time and effort, I reminded her about her husband, that is to say, my brother-in-law, and you know what she said? “Who? That moron?” And the worse thing is that she’s right, Francisco is a moron. That’s what mitigates my scruples a bit. What would you do in my place?’
    In his place I wouldn’t have any problems: first of all, I wouldn’t have married that idiot woman, and second, I wouldn’t be at all captivated by that other middle-aged woman’s soft flesh. But I couldn’t tell him anything beyond the commonplace: ‘Be careful because you won’t be able to get rid of her. If you want to break up your family, then go ahead, but if your family means more to you than anything, then don’t take the risk.’
    He left feeling remorseful, preoccupied and undecided. I think, however, that