Swift as Desire (13 page)

Looked after by his grandparents, Raúl grew and developed rapidly, and although at first he missed his parents, it wasn’t difficult for him to get used to living surrounded by toys and his grandparents’ loving attention from Monday to Friday, then spending the weekends with his parents. Saturdays and Sundays were like
holidays for the Chi family. Júbilo somehow managed to counteract the strong influence that Raúl’s grandparents had on the boy. Júbilo took his son to the markets to eat, to the floating gardens at Xochimilco, he showed him the most interesting corners of the capital so he would have a broader vision of what Mexico really was. He felt it was vital for his son to know his traditions and his cultural heritage before he was exposed to other cultures.

Lucha would use Júbilo and Raúl’s outings to rest, to lie in the sun on the back patio, and to recover her strength before returning to work on Monday morning. The weekends were often spent in pajamas and a robe, except for the weekends when Raúl went to stay with his grandparents at their house in Cuernavaca, which were spent in bed, totally naked.

Lucha’s working helped the young couple enjoy several years of renewed passion. With money in her purse for stockings and dresses, she recovered her joy for life and it seemed as if all of her problems had vanished. However, fate was soon to interrupt their lives in an untimely manner and turn them upside down.

The first sign of the change was the news of Lucha’s new pregnancy, which took them by complete surprise. Neither of them had expected it. They had convinced themselves that Lucha had become sterile after Raúl’s birth. Now, to their dismay, they realized this was not the case. It is also worth mentioning here that this news coincided with the return into their lives of a character they
thought was long forgotten: don Pedro, the cacique from Huichapan.

Don Pedro belonged to a group of opportunists who took advantage of the Mexican Revolution to place themselves in government posts, where they stole everything they could lay their hands on. Shortly after Júbilo won the bet against him in Huichapan, don Pedro joined the PRI, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, and arranged to be appointed as a national representative in congress. Later he went on to occupy various administrative posts, among which director of the Telegraph Office was the least important, but he wasn’t about to complain, he knew he had to show his obedience and loyalty to the party. A person like him, addicted to power, would even be willing to accept the position of a bathroom inspector in a bordello, just to remain inside the inner circle. Besides, from what he saw during his first tour, it wasn’t going to be bad at all. The first thing that caught his attention about the Telegraph Office wasn’t the antiquity or the architecture of the beautiful building, but the ass of the woman who was to be his private secretary, so shapely and, although he didn’t know why, so familiar.

“Haven’t we met before?” he asked her directly when she was introduced to him.

“
Sí
, señor, we met when my husband was working briefly in Huichapan as a telegraph operator, several years ago now,” Lucha responded.

“Of course! How could I forget that? Your husband won a very memorable bet against me.… Well, well, isn’t
life interesting, I’ve just arrived and already I have old acquaintances in the office.”

The news lay heavier than rotten fish on Júbilo’s stomach. Having such a hateful person as his boss didn’t please him one bit. When they greeted one another they did so coldly, as befits old adversaries. It was obvious that don Pedro was not at all happy either to have the husband of the secretary he’d already been eyeing working under his command. And he was a man whose actions followed his eyes. Only this time it was going to be a little more difficult. The look in Júbilo’s eyes told him that. Curiously, don Pedro would never have recognized his old poker opponent if he hadn’t remembered his wife’s ass. Júbilo had grown a full mustache, which made him look much more handsome and manly. It was don Pedro who hadn’t changed at all. The only thing he had added to was his belly, but the rest was exactly the same. He was still the same unscrupulous man, only now he had more influence and had learned better tricks. Júbilo knew perfectly well what the man was capable of and soon his suspicions were confirmed. When don Pedro took over, he did so completely. He acted as if the whole institution belonged to him—the building, the desks, the telegraph machines, the telegraph operators…and the secretaries—as if he could do whatever he wanted with them, as if he could take, manipulate, and use everyone in any way he wished. Soon rumors began to spread about how he went too far with the secretaries.

Obviously, his primary target was Lucha. She was the
one he fancied the most and also the one who worked closest to him. Going to work became a torment for Lucha. Not only was she going through the first months of her pregnancy with its accompanying nausea and vomiting, but she had to put up with don Pedro’s insinuations. She constantly felt his gaze on her breasts or her rear. Lucha didn’t know how to hide them any more. And to make matters worse, they were growing bigger every day because of her pregnancy. Which don Pedro didn’t seem to notice, the pregnancy that is, not her voluptuousness, of that he was acutely aware, regardless of the fact that Lucha was happily married. What’s more, her condition seemed to excite him. His attacks grew more vigorous every day. At first he had limited himself to brushing up against her, but gradually don Pedro began to rub her shoulders when she was sitting at her desk as he paced behind her. Flowers and chocolates started to appear on her desk with little notes, and finally he started baiting her with words. Sometimes after dictating a letter he would try to talk to her.

“What’s wrong, Luchita, do you feel sick?”

“No, señor.”

“Well, you seem so serious with me.”

“No, it’s not that, I just feel a bit under the weather.”

“You see? Then you do feel sick. I really don’t know how that husband of yours can make a beautiful woman like you work.”

“He doesn’t make me work. It was a personal decision.”

“Well, if it was your own decision, it must have been forced by circumstances. No woman leaves her home and her children for pleasure.… Tell me, wouldn’t you rather be at home right now surrounded by comfort and lots of trinkets, instead of hanging around here listening to an old flirt like me?”

Lucha had to think very carefully before she answered. If she agreed, don Pedro would take it as confirmation that she was forced to work by her circumstances, but if she said no, he might misinterpret it to mean that she loved to be in that office listening to an old man who, beyond being a flirt, was totally immoral. So Lucha simply shrugged her shoulders and left his office.

But when she got back to her desk, her boss’s powerful words began to have an effect on her. She felt angry at Júbilo. Of course she would love to be at home enjoying her pregnancy and feeling clean and pure, instead of having to protect her belly from don Pedro’s obscene ogling. Those thoughts intensified her nausea, causing her to throw up in the ladies’ room.

Júbilo, in turn, was also annoyed. The office was no longer a safe place for them. There was constant danger in the air and he didn’t know what to do. He felt totally impotent. He was doing everything he could to support his family with dignity. He already held down two jobs. If only there were thirty-six hours in a day instead of twenty-four he could find another. He was desperate to get his wife out of the office, but Lucha wouldn’t let him. At first she had been tempted to quit, but Júbilo and she
had plans to buy a new house that was a little larger, with an extra bedroom for the new baby, and they needed her salary for that. So she decided to keep her job and stay as far away from don Pedro as possible. But that only made Júbilo angry at her, and it also made him less efficient at work, because he was constantly alert to what was going on between Lucha and don Pedro.

J
ÚBILO WASN’T THE ONLY
one who was worried. Uncertainty took hold of the office and drastically changed the personal and work relationships that had existed before don Pedro had arrived. Layoffs didn’t take long to occur and everyone feared for his head. The confidence that had reigned before began to disappear. The jokes and laughter faded away. Nobody felt free or confident enough to indulge in them anymore. The only one who could have changed the situation was Júbilo, but he was too preoccupied with his own concerns. The atmosphere grew worse day by day, hour by hour, until it reached a climax. Lucha was seven months pregnant and was taking a break with Lolita. Lucha’s unborn baby also decided to take advantage of the rest period by moving and stretching in her belly. Lolita was fascinated by the new shape of Lucha’s belly and, full of curiosity, she asked Lucha if she could feel the child’s movements. Lolita was an unmarried woman who had spent most of her life working in that office, and she was dying to rub the stomach of a
pregnant woman. Of course, Lucha granted her dear friend’s request, and they were lost in their own world when don Pedro appeared and asked Lucha if he too could touch her stomach. He used the same reasons as Lolita, that he was very curious about feeling the unborn baby’s movements.

Lucha was torn: she had no desire for this man to touch her, but she couldn’t think of a reason for denying him. If she refused him, she would seem rude since she was already allowing Lolita to touch her stomach. While Lucha ruminated on these thoughts, don Pedro took matters into his own hands. He removed Lolita’s hand and put his in its place. As he did so, he took advantage of the opportunity to brush Lucha’s breast. Lucha didn’t even have time to get angry, because at that very instant Júbilo arrived in a fury and forcefully tore don Pedro’s hand away.

“I don’t want you to ever put your hand on my wife again,” declared Júbilo.

“You are not in a position to give me orders,” retorted don Pedro.

To which Júbilo responded by punching don Pedro squarely in the face. It was a powerful right hook, worthy of Kid Azteca. As don Pedro’s heavy body rolled down the stairs that Júbilo had only moments before hurriedly climbed, a dense silence hung in the air. No one could believe what had just happened. The friendly, the jovial, the attentive Júbilo, a friend to all, was picking a fight, and with none other than the boss, the hated and feared
enemy of all. It goes without saying that everyone sided with Júbilo, but they had to hide the fact, as they held their breath. Reyes tried to help his boss rise from the floor, but his offer was refused.

“Nothing happened. I just slipped. Get back to work!”

Don Pedro stood up, shook off the dust, removed his handkerchief from his pocket to stanch the blood dripping from his mouth, and headed for his office. As soon as he closed the door behind him he began to plot his revenge. He had always been a poor loser and this was the second time Júbilo had defeated him. What bothered him most was that he had been made to look foolish. He could never forgive that. His injured mouth hurt, but not nearly as much as his wounded pride.

Júbilo had just signed his death warrant in the office, but he didn’t care. He felt he had done the right thing. All that remained now was to convince Lucha to submit her resignation along with his. But Lucha felt that it was better to calm down and to think things through clearly. They were in no position to be unemployed, especially if it was to be both of them.

For this and other reasons, the surprise birthday party they had organized for Lolita was ruined. They had planned to present her with a cake and sing the customary birthday song. The party didn’t turn out to be as much fun as previous occasions. Everyone missed Júbilo’s jokes and laughter. Neither he nor anyone else in the office was in a mood for joking that day. For there to be laughter, an atmosphere of confidence is necessary, and this was
rapidly dwindling away in the Telegraph Office. Reyes struggled more than ever to enliven the gathering, but the most he was able to do was raise a chuckle from his fellow workers. Nevertheless, it was enough to provide an opportunity for a photograph to be taken.