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“Well, for someone who knows nothing about politics, you’re doing quite well as Director of Security, ” Don Fermí n said. “Another drink, Don Cayo? ”

They came across a donkey lying in the street, invisible dogs barked at them. They were almost the same height, they went along in silence, the sky had cleared, it was hot, no breeze was blowing. The man resting in his rocking chair got up when he saw them come into the deserted bar, served them beer and sat down again. They clinked glasses in the half-light, still without having spoken to each other.

“Fundamentally, two things, ” Dr. Ferro said. “First, maintaining the team that has taken power. Second, continuing the cleanup with a strong hand. University, unions, administration. Then elections and working for the good of the country. ”

“What would I have liked to have been in life, son? ” Ambrosio asks. “A rich guy, naturally. ”

“So you’re going to Lima tomorrow, ” Trifulcio said. “What are you going to do there? ”

“For you it’s being happy, son? ” Ambrosio asks. “Me too, naturally, but for me being rich and being happy is the same thing. ”

“It’s all a matter of loans and credit, ” Don Fermí n said. “The United States is ready to help a government that maintains order, that’s why they backed the revolution. Now they want elections and we have to give them what they want. ”

“To look for work there, ” Ambrosio said. “You can make more money in the capital. ”

“The gringos believe in formalities, we have to understand them, ” Emilio Aré valo said. “They’re happy with the General and all they ask is that democratic forms be preserved. With Odrí a as an elected president, they’ll open their arms to us and give us all the credit we need. ”

“And how long have you been working as a driver? ” Trifulcio asked.

“But above all we have to bring forward the National Patriotic Front or the Restoration Movement or whatever it’s to be called, ” Dr. Ferro said. “That’s why the program is basic and that’s why I insist on it so much. ”

“Two years as a professional, ” Ambrosio said. “I started out as a helper, filling in with the driving. Then I was a regular truckdriver and up till now I’ve been driving buses around here, from one district to another. ”

“A patriotic and nationalist program that would bring together all sound forces, ” Emilio Aré valo said. “Industry, commerce, workers, farmers. Based on simple but efficient ideas. ”

“So you’re a serious man, a hard worker, ” Trifulcio said. “Tomasa was right in not wanting people to see you with me. Do you think you’ll find work in Lima? ”

“We need something that will remind people of Marshal Benavides’ excellent formula, ” Dr. Ferro said. “Order, Peace and Work. I’ve thought of Health, Education, Work. What do you gentlemen think of it? ”

“Do you remember Tú mula the milk woman, the daughter she had? ” Ambrosio asked. “She married the Vulture’s son. Do you remember the Vulture? I helped his son run away with her. ”

“Of course, the General’s candidacy has to be launched at the highest level, ” Emilio Aré valo said. “All sectors would have to proclaim it in a spontaneous way. ”

“The Vulture, the loan shark, the one who was mayor? ” Trifulcio asked. “Yes, I remember him. ”

“It’ll be proclaimed, Don Emilio, ” Colonel Espina said. “The General’s getting more popular every day. In just a few months people will have seen the tranquillity we have now as opposed to the chaos the country was in with Apristas and Communists loose on the streets. ”

“The Vulture’s son is in the government, he’s important now, ” Ambrosio said. “Maybe he’ll help me find work in Lima. ”

“Why don’t just the two of us go have a drink, Don Cayo? ” Don Fermí n asked. “Haven’t you got a headache from friend Ferro’s speeches? He always leaves me seasick. ”

“If he’s important, he probably won’t want to have anything to do with you, ” Trifulcio said. “He’ll look right past you. ”

“With great pleasure, Mr. Zavala, ” Bermú dez said. “Yes, Dr. Ferro does talk a lot. But you can see that he’s had experience. ”

“In order to win him over, take him a little present, ” Trifulcio said. “Something that’ll remind him of his home town and touch his heart. ”

“Enormous experience, he’s been in every government over the past twenty years, ” Don Fermí n said. “This way, my car’s over here. ”

“I’m going to bring him a couple of bottles of wine, ” Ambrosio said. “And what are you going to do now? Are you going back to the house? ”

“Whatever you’re having, ” Bermú dez said. “Yes, Mr. Zavala, whiskey, fine. ”

“I don’t think so, you saw how your mother received me, ” Trifulcio said. “But that doesn’t mean that Tomasa’s a bad woman. ”

“I’ve never liked politics because I’ve never understood what it was all about, ” Bermú dez said. “Circumstances got me involved in politics in my old age. ”

“She says you abandoned her a whole lot of times, ” Ambrosio said. “That you only came back home to get the money she made working like a mule. ”

“I hate politics too, but what can we do, ” Don Fermí n said. “When hard-working people stay out and leave politics to the politicians, the country goes to the devil. ”

“Women exaggerate and, after all, Tomasa is a woman, ” Trifulcio said. “I’m going to work in Ica, but I’ll come back and see her now and then. ”

“Is it true that you’ve never been here? ” Don Fermí n asked. “Espina’s been exploiting you, Don Cayo. The show is pretty good, you’ll see. Don’t think I’m a big night-lifer. Very rarely. ”

“And how are things here? ” Trifulcio asked. “You should know, you should know a lot at your age. Women, whorehouses. How are the whorehouses here? ”

She was wearing a skin-tight white evening gown that had a slight sparkle about it and outlined the lines of her body so neatly and vividly that she seemed to be naked. A dress, the same color as her skin, which touched the floor and made her take short little steps, cricket hops.

“There are two of them, one expensive and one cheap, ” Ambrosio said. “By expensive I mean twenty soles, at the cheap one you can go as low as three. But they’re terrible. ”

Her shoulders were white, round, soft, and the whiteness of her complexion contrasted with the darkness of her hair, which flowed down her back. She tightened her mouth with slow avidity, as if she were going to bite the small, silver-plated microphone, and her large eyes gleamed and kept looking over the tables.

“A pretty-looking Muse, eh? ” Don Fermí n said. “At least compared to the skeletons that came out to dance before. But her voice doesn’t help her very much. ”

“I don’t want to take you or for you to go with me, and besides, I know it’s best if you’re not seen with me, ” Trifulcio said. “But I’d like to take a walk over there, just to see. Where’s the cheap one? ”

“Very pretty, yes, a beautiful body, beautiful face, ” Bermú dez said. “And I don’t think her voice is so bad. ”

“Close by here, ” Ambrosio said. “But the police are always hanging around because they’re always having fights. ”

“Let me tell you that that woman who’s so much of a woman there isn’t really that at all, ” Don Fermí n said. “She likes other women. ”

“That’s the least of my worries, because I’m used to cops and fights. ” Trifulcio laughed. “Come on, pay for the beers and let’s go. ”

“Is that so? ” Bermú dez said. “A woman as pretty as that. Is that so? ”

“I’d go with you but the bus to Lima leaves at six o’clock, ” Ambrosio said. “And my things are still all scattered around. ”

“So you don’t have any children, Don Cayo, ” Don Fermí n said. “Well, you’ve saved yourself a lot of problems. I’ve got three and right now they’re beginning to give Zoila and me headaches. ”

“You can leave me at the door and take off, ” Trifulcio said. “Take me along a way where nobody will see us, if you want. ”

“Two young gentlemen and a little lady? ” Bermú dez asked. “Already grown up? ”

They went out onto the street again and the night was brighter. The moon showed them the potholes, the ruts, the stones. They went through deserted alleys, Trifulcio turning his head from right to left, observing everything, taking an interest in everything; Ambrosio with his hands in his pockets, kicking stones.

“What future could the navy hold for a boy? ” Don Fermí n asked. “None. But Sparky insisted and I used my influence to get him in. And now you see, they threw him out. Lazy in his studies, undisciplined. He’s going to end up without a career, that’s the worst of it. Of course, I could make some moves and get him reinstated. But no, I don’t want a son who’s in the navy. I’d rather put him to work for me. ”

“Is that all you’ve got, Ambrosio? ” Trifulcio asked. “Only twenty soles? Only twenty soles, a driver and everything? ”

“Why don’t you send him abroad to study? ” Bermú dez asked. “Maybe with a change in surroundings the boy will straighten out. ”

“If I had any more I’d give it to you too, ” Ambrosio said. “All you’d have to do is ask and I’d give it to you. Why did you pull that knife? You didn’t have to. Look, come to the house and I’ll give you more. But put that away, I’ll give you another fifty soles. But don’t threaten me. I’m glad to help you, give you more. Come on, let’s go to the house. ”

“Impossible, my wife would die, ” Don Fermí n said. “Sparky all alone in a foreign country? Zoila wouldn’t hear of it. He’s the one she spoils. ”

“No, I won’t go, ” Trifulcio said. “This is enough. And it’s a loan, I’ll pay you back your twenty soles because I’ve got a job in Ica. Were you scared because I took out the knife? I wasn’t going to do anything to you, you’re my son. And I’ll pay you back, I give you my word. ”

“And has your younger son turned out difficult to handle too? ” Bermú dez asked.

“I don’t want you to pay me back, I’m giving it to you, ” Ambrosio said. “I wasn’t scared. You didn’t have to take out the knife, I swear. You’re my father, I would have given it to you if you’d asked. Come to the house, I swear I’ll give you fifty soles more. ”

“No, Skinny is just the opposite of Sparky, ” Don Fermí n said. “First in his class, winning all the prizes at the end of the year. You have to rein him in to stop him from studying too hard. A beauty of a boy, Don Cayo. ”

“You must be thinking that I’m worse than what Tomasa’s told you, ” Trifulcio said. “But I took it out for no reason, really, I wasn’t going to do anything to you, even if you didn’t give me a single sol. And I’ll pay you back, word of honor, I’ll pay you back your twenty soles, Ambrosio. ”

“I can see that the younger one is your favorite, ” Bermú dez said. “What career is he going into? ”

“All right, you can pay me back if you want to, ” Ambrosio said. “Forget about all this, I’ve already forgotten. Don’t you want to come to the house? I’ll give you fifty soles more, I promise. ”

“He’s still in the last part of high school and doesn’t know, ” Don Fermí n said. “It isn’t that he’s my favorite, I love all three of them the same. It’s just that Santiago makes me feel proud. Well, you understand. ”

“You must think that I’m a dog who’d even steal from his own son, who’d pull a knife on his own son, ” Trifulcio said. “I swear to you that this is a loan. ”

“You make me a little jealous listening to you, Mr. Zavala, ” Bermú dez said. “In spite of all the headaches, being a father must have its compensations. ”

“But it’s all right, I do think it just happened like that and that you will pay me back, ” Ambrosio said. “Now forget about it, please. ”

“You’re living at the Maury, right? ” Don Fermí n said. “Come on, I’ll drop you there. ”

“You’re not ashamed of me? ” Trifulcio asked. “Tell me frankly. ”

“No, thanks a lot, I’d rather walk, the Maury is close by, ” Bermú dez said. “I’m very pleased to have met you, Mr. Zavala. ”

“But what a thing to think, what have I got to be ashamed of? ” Ambrosio asked. “Come on, we’ll go into the whorehouse together if you want. ”

“What are you doing here? ” Bermú dez asked. “What brings you here? ”

“No, go pack your bag, you shouldn’t be seen with me, ” Trifulcio said. “You’re a good son, I hope everything works out for you in Lima. Believe me, I’ll pay you back, Ambrosio. ”

“They sent me from one place to the other, they made me wait here for hours, Don Cayo, ” Ambrosio said. “I was ready to go back to Chincha, I tell you. ”

“Generally the Director of Public Order’s chauffeur is someone from the Police Department, Don Cayo, ” Dr. Alcibí ades said. “For reasons of security. But if you prefer. ”

“I’ve come to look for work, Don Cayo, ” Ambrosio said. “I’m sick of driving that broken-down old bus. I thought that maybe you could help me get a job. ”

“Yes, I prefer it this way, doctor, ” Bermú dez said. “I’ve known this black fellow for years and I have more confidence in him than in some X from the police. He’s outside by the door, would you take care of it, please? ”

“I know all about driving, and I’ll get used to the Lima traffic right away, Don Cayo, ” Ambrosio said. “You need a chauffeur? That would be great, Don Cayo. ”

“Yes, I’ll take care of it, ” Dr. Alcibí ades said. “I’ll have them put him on the rolls of the Prefecture or sign him up or whatever is necessary. And I’ll have them get the car for you today. ”

“All right, you’re hired, then, ” Bermú dez said. “You’re in luck, Ambrosio, you arrived at just the right moment. ”

“To your health, ” Santiago says.

THE BOOKSTORE WAS INSIDE A BUILDING with balconies, you went in through a vague entranceway and from there you could see it huddled in back, barred and deserted. Santiago arrived before nine o’clock, scanned the bookcases in the entrance, thumbed through the time-worn books, the faded magazines. The old man with a beret and gray sideburns looked at him indifferently, good old Matí as he thinks, then he began to look at him out of the corner of his eye, and finally he went over to him: was he looking for something? A book on the French Revolution. Ah, the old man smiled, over here. Sometimes it was does Mr. Henri Barbusse live here or is Don Bruno Bauer in? sometimes touching the door in a certain way, and sometimes there were comical confusions, Zavalita. He led him to a room that had been invaded by piles of newspapers, silvery cobwebs and books stacked up against black walls. He pointed to a rocking chair, he should sit down, he had a slight Spanish accent, eloquent little eyes, a very white goatee: he hadn’t been followed? You had to be very careful, everything depends on the young people.

“Seventy years old and he was pure, Carlitos, ” Santiago said. “The only one I’ve ever known at that age. ”

The old man gave an affectionate wink and went back into the courtyard. Santiago browsed through old Lima magazines, Variedades and Mundial, he thinks he set aside those that had articles by Mariá tegui or Vallejo.

“Of course, in those days Peruvians could read Vallejo and Mariá tegui in the press, ” Carlitos said. “Now they read us, Zavalita, that’s a backward step. ”

Moments later he saw Jacobo and Aí da come in. Not yet a little worm or a snake or a knife, it was a pin that sank in and disappeared. He saw them whispering beside the aged shelves and saw the carefree look and the joy on Jacobo’s face and saw them separate when Matí as went over to them and saw Jacobo’s smile disappear and a frown of concentration appear, abstract seriousness, the face he had been showing the world for some months. He was wearing the brown suit that he rarely changed now, the wrinkled shirt, the tie with the loosened knot. He’s taken to disguising himself as a proletarian Washington joked, he thinks he only shaved once a week and didn’t shine his shoes, one of these days Aí da’s going to leave him Soló rzano laughed.

“All that mystery because that was the day we were going to quit playing games, ” Santiago said. “Things were about to start for real, Carlitos. ”

Had it been at the start of that third year at San Marcos, Zavalita, between his discovery of Cahuide and that day? From readings and discussions to the distribution of mimeographed sheets at the university, from the deaf woman’s boardinghouse to the small house in Rí mac to Matí as’ bookstore, from dangerous games to the real danger: that day. The two groups hadn’t merged again, he only saw Jacobo and Aí da at San Marcos, other groups were active, but if they asked Washington he would answer that a fly can’t get into a closed mouth and would smile. One morning he called them: at such and such a time, at such and such a place, just the three of them. They were going to meet someone from Cahuide, they could ask him any questions they wanted to, air any doubts they might have, he thinks I didn’t sleep that night either. Sometimes Matí as would raise his eyes from the courtyard and smile at them, in the room in back they smoked, thumbed through magazines, kept looking at the entranceway and the street.

“He said nine o’clock and it’s nine-thirty, ” Jacobo said. “He probably won’t come. ”

“Aí da changed a lot when she started going with Jacobo, ” Santiago said. “She joked, she looked happy. On the other hand, he became serious and stopped combing his hair and changing his clothes. He wouldn’t laugh with Aí da if anyone was looking, he almost never said a word to her in front of us. He was ashamed to be happy, Carlitos. ”

“Just because he’s a Communist doesn’t mean he’s stopped being Peruvian. ” Aí da laughed. “He’ll come at ten, you wait and see. ”

It was a quarter to ten: a bird face in the entranceway, a hopping little walk, skin like yellow paper, a suit that danced on him, a little garnet tie. They saw him talking to Matí as, looking around, coming over. He went into the room, smiled at them, sorry I’m late, a thin little hand, the bus he was on had broken down, and they stood looking at each other, embarrassed.

“Thanks for waiting. ” His voice was very thin too, he thinks. “A fraternal greeting from Cahuide, comrades. ”

“The first time I’d heard the word comrades, Carlitos, you can imagine Zavalita and his sentimental heart, ” Santiago said. “I only knew his nom de guerre, Llaque; I only saw him a few times. He was in the Workers’ Section of Cahuide, I never got beyond the University Section. You can imagine, one of those pure ones. ”

That morning we didn’t know that Llaque had been a law student during the time of Odrí a’s revolution, he thinks, that he’d been a victim of the police attack on San Marcos, that he’d been tortured and exiled to Bolivia, and that in La Paz he’d been in jail for six months, that he’d returned clandestinely to Peru: only that he looked like a little bird, that morning as his frail voice summarized the history of the Party for them and they watched him as he moved his thin yellow hand in a repeated rotary movement, as if he had a cramp in it, and kept watching the courtyard and the street out of the corner of his eye. It had been founded by José Carlos Mariá tegui and as soon as it came into being, it grew and organized teams and won over segments of the working class, he wanted to show us that we could be trusted, he thinks, and he didn’t hide from us the fact that it had always been tiny or its weakness as compared to APRA, and that had been the golden age of the Party, the period of the magazine Amauta and the newspaper Labor and the organization of labor unions and students sent into Indian communities. When Mariá tegui died in 1930, the Party had fallen into the hands of adventurers and opportunists, old Matí as died and they tore down the building on Chota and built a cube with windows in it he thinks, who had given it a bungling line that separated it from the masses who therefore came under the influence of APRA, whatever became of Comrade Llaque, Zavalita? Adventurers like Ravines, who became an agent of imperialism and helped Odrí a overthrow Bustamante, could he have become a renegade, tired of the difficult and stifling militancy, could he have a wife and family and a job in a ministry? and opportunists like Terreros who became a religious fanatic and every year dressed up in a purple habit and hauled a cross in the Procession of Our Lord of Miracles, or was he still carrying on and speaking in that little bird voice of his to student groups when he wasn’t in jail? Betrayals and repression had almost wiped out the Party, and if he was still carrying on was he pro-Soviet or pro-Chinese or one of those Castroites who had died in guerrilla actions or had he turned Trotskyite? and when Bustamante took office in 1945 the Party had won legal status again and began to rebuild and fight among the working classes against APRA reformism, could he have gone to Moscow or Peking or Havana? but with Odrí a’s military coup the Party had been broken up again, could he have been accused of being a Stalinist or revisionist or adventurer? the whole Central Committee and dozens of leaders and militants and sympathizers jailed and exiled and some murdered, would he remember you, Zavalita, that morning at Matí as’s place, that night at the Hotel Mogolló n? and the surviving cells of that great shipwreck had slowly, laboriously come together as the Cahuide Organization, which published that pamphlet and was made up of the University Section and the Workers’ Section, comrades.

“You mean that Cahuide has only a few students, only a few workers? ” Aí da said.

“We operate under difficult conditions, sometimes because a comrade falls months of effort are lost. ” He was holding his cigarette between the nails of his forefinger and his thumb, he thinks, smiling in a timid way. “But in spite of the repression, we’ve been growing. ”

“And naturally, he convinced you, Zavalita, ” Carlitos said.

“He convinced me that he believed in what he was telling us, ” Santiago said. “And besides that, you could see that he liked what he was doing. ”

“How does the Party stand on unity of action with other outlawed organizations? ” Jacobo asked. “APRA, the Trotskyites? ”

“He didn’t hesitate, he had faith, ” Santiago said. “At that time I still envied people who had a blind faith in something, Carlitos. ”

“We would be ready to work with APRA against the dictatorship, ” Llaque said. “But the Apristas don’t want to give anyone the reason to call them extremists and they do everything they can to prove their anti-Communism. And there can’t be more than ten Trotskyites in all and they’re most likely police agents. ”

“It’s the best thing that can happen to someone, Ambrosio, ” Santiago says. “Believing in what he says, liking what he does. ”

“Why does APRA, which has become pro-imperialist, still get support from the people? ” Aí da asked.

“By force of habit and by their demagoguery and because of the Aprista martyrs, ” Llaque said. “Especially because of the right wing in Peru. They don’t understand that APRA isn’t their enemy anymore but their ally, and they keep on persecuting it and that’s why all the prestige with the people. ”

“It’s true, the stupidity of the right has made APRA a big party, ” Carlitos said. “But if the left has never gone beyond being a kind of freemasonry, it hasn’t been because of APRA but because there haven’t been any capable people. ”

“Capable people like you and me don’t get involved, ” Santiago said. “We’re content to criticize the incapable people who do. Do you think that’s right, Carlitos? ”

“I don’t, and that’s why I never discuss politics, ” Carlitos said. “You force me to with your disgusting nightly show of masochism, Zavalita. ”

“Now it’s my turn to ask a question, comrades. ” Llaque smiled, as if ashamed. “Do you want to join Cahuide? You can work as sympathizers, you don’t have to join the Party yet. ”

“I want to join the Party right now, ” Aí da said.

“There’s no rush, you can take your time and think it over, ” Llaque said.

“We’ve had more than enough time for that in the group, ” Jacobo said. “I want to join too. ”

“I’d rather keep on as a sympathizer, ” the little worm, the knife, the snake. “I’ve got some doubts, I’d like to study a little more before I join up. ”

“Fine, comrade, don’t join up until you’ve got rid of all your doubts, ” Llaque said. “As a sympathizer you can play a very useful role too. ”

“That’s when it was shown that Zavalita wasn’t pure anymore, Ambrosio, ” Santiago says. “That Jacobo and Aí da were purer than Zavalita. ”

And what if you had joined up that day, Zavalita? he thinks. Would militancy have pulled you along, getting more and more involved, would you have become a man of faith, an optimist, another pure person, dark and heroic? You would have had a hard life, Zavalita, the way Jacobo and Aí da must have, he thinks, in and out of jail a few times, hired and fired from dirty jobs, and instead of editorials against mad dogs in La Cró nica, you would have been writing for the poorly printed pages of Unidad, when there was enough money and the police didn’t stop you, he thinks, about the scientific advances in the socialist fatherland and the victory in the bakers’ union of Lurí n’s revolutionary slate over that of the defeatist, pro-management Apristas, or in the even worse printed pages of Bandera Roja, against Soviet revisionism and the traitors of Unidad, he thinks, or maybe you would have been more generous and would have joined a rebel group and dreamed and acted and failed in guerrilla operations and you’d be in jail, like Hé ctor, he thinks, or dead and rotting in the jungle, like Half-breed Martí nez, he thinks, and made semiclandestine trips to youth congresses, he thinks, Moscow, bearing fraternal greetings to journalistic meetings, he thinks, Budapest, or received military training, he thinks, Havana or Peking. Graduated as a lawyer, a married man, counselor to a union, a deputy, would you have been worse off or the same or happier? He thinks: oh, Zavalita.

“It wasn’t horror over the dogma, it was the reflex of a two-bit anarchist child who doesn’t like to take orders, ” Carlitos said. “Underneath it all you were afraid of breaking with people who eat and dress and smell well. ”

“But I hated those people, I still hate them, ” Santiago said. “That’s the only thing I am sure of, Carlitos. ”

“Then it was the spirit of contradiction, the chip on your shoulder, ” Carlitos said. “You should have stuck to literature and forgotten about revolution, Zavalita. ”

“I knew that if everybody set himself to being intelligent and having his doubts, Peru would go on being fucked up forever, ” Santiago said. “I knew there was a need for dogmatic people, Carlitos. ”

“Dogmatic people or intelligent people, Peru will always be fucked up, ” Carlitos said. “This country got off to a bad start and it’s going to end up bad. Just like us, Zavalita. ”

“Capitalists like us? ” Santiago asked.

“Scatographers like us, ” Carlitos said. “We’re all going to explode and foam at the mouth, like Becerrita. To your health, Zavalita. ”

“Months, years dreaming about joining the Party, and when I get the chance, I draw back, ” Santiago said. “I’ll never understand it, Carlitos. ”

“Doctor, doctor, I’ve got something that keeps on going up and down in me and I don’t know what it is, ” Carlitos said. “It’s a crazy little fart, madam, you’ve got a face like an ass and the poor little fart doesn’t know which way to get out. The thing that’s upsetting your life is a crazy little fart, Zavalita. ”

Do you swear to dedicate your lives to the cause of socialism and the working class? Llaque had asked, and Aí da and Jacobo I swear, while Santiago looked on; then they picked their pseudonyms.

“Don’t feel left out, ” Llaque said to Santiago. “Sympathizers and militants are on an equal footing in the University Section. ”

He shook hands with them, good-bye comrades, they should leave ten minutes after him. The morning was cloudy and damp when they left Matí as’ bookstore behind and went into the Bransa on Colmena to have some coffee.