I climbed the staircase, took out my keys and opened the door to my sister Adriana’s apartment.
“It’s me,” I said.
Adriana jumped off the couch to kiss me, crying and pestering me with questions: what happened to me, where had I been, how did I end up in such a sorry state? Damián was also happy I’d returned.
I said I needed to take a shower, shave, and change before I told them anything. I went into the bathroom. She called Deputy Commissioner Handal to tell him I’d come home, but he was away at the moment, extremely busy looking over the rubble of a scrapyard where Jacinto Bustillo, the snakes, and the yellow Chevrolet had been burned to ashes by flamethrowers and incendiary bombs.
San Pedro de los Pinos, D.F.,
September-October, 1995.
TRANSLATOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Marjorie Ratcliffe, Rafael Montano, Hugh Hazelton, Stephen Henighan, Christopher Bavota, my friends and family, and above all, Horacio Castellanos Moya.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Horacio Castellanos Moya was born in 1957 in Honduras, but grew up in El Salvador. He has lived in Guatemala, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain and Germany. His work has been translated into German, French, Italian, and Portuguese. His novel Senselessness was published in English to universal critical acclaim in 2008 by New Directions. He has published eight novels and is now living in exile as part of the City of Asylum project in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Lee Paula Springer works as a freelance translator and copy editor. She lives in Montreal. Her website is www.leepaulaspringer.com