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‘And…?’

‘You haven’t been to the fair for days,’ he said.

‘Yes… I’ve been busy… What about you?’

The Crip turned to look at me. Because we were walking on the shady side of the street he started to talk about the temperature, then about poverty, then about the difficulties inherent in his daily tasks; he also told me that in the last week someone had stolen a pair of reins and then, once he’d exhausted all possible topics of conversation, he stopped me in the middle of the pavement and, taking hold of my arm, said ex abrupto:

‘Tell me, che Blondy, can I trust you or not?’

‘And you’ve dragged me out here to ask me that?’

‘But can I trust you or not?’

‘Look, Crip, tell me, do you believe in me?’

‘Yes… I’ve got faith… but tell me, can I talk to you?’

‘Of course.’

‘Look, let’s go in here then, we’ll have a drink.’ The Crip walked to the drinks counter in a grocery, asked for a bottle of beer from the potboy, sat us down at a table in the darkest corner of the room, and after drinking, The Crip said, as if he were getting a great weight off his shoulders:

‘I’ve got to ask your advice, Blondy. You’re really scientific. But, please, che… look, Blondy…’

I interrupted him:

‘Look, Crip, hold on a second. I don’t know what you’ve got to tell me, but let me say that I know how to keep a secret. I won’t ask you anything and I won’t tell anything to anyone else.’

The Crip put his hat on the chair. He was still vacillating, and in his hawkish profile his mental indecision was gently reflected in the movement of the muscles over his jaws. There was a raging fire in his eyes, then he looked at me closely and explained himself:

‘It’s a masterplan, Blondy. Ten thousand pesos at least.’

I looked at him coldly, with the coldness that comes from having discovered a secret that can prove extremely beneficial, and I replied in such a way as to inspire him to confide in me.

‘I don’t know what this is about, but it’s not a lot.’

The Crip’s mouth opened slowly.

‘Not. A. Lot. At least ten thousand pesos, Blondy… At least.’

‘There’s two of us,’ I insisted.

‘Three,’ he replied.

‘Worse and worse.’

‘But the third one’s my woman.’ Without further explanation he took a key, a little flattened key, out of his pocket and put it on the table, leaving it there. I didn’t touch it.

I looked into his eyes, he smiled as if a mad joy had filled his soul, he turned momentarily pale; he drank two glasses of beer one after another, wiped his lips with the back of his hand and said in a voice that did not seem his own:

‘Life is beautiful!’

‘Yes, Crip, life is beautiful. It’s beautiful. Think about it, the wide-open fields, imagine the cities on the other side of the sea. The women who’ll follow us; we’ll be sugar daddies in the cities across the sea.’

‘Do you know how to dance, Blondy?’

‘No, I don’t.’

‘They say that over there guys who can dance the tango get married to lady millionaires… And I’m going to go there, Blondy, I’m going to get there.’

‘What’s the score?’

He looked at me hard, and then joy opened his face, and a great kindness filled his hawkish visage.

‘If you only knew how I’ve worked, Blondy. You see this key? It’s the key to a strongbox.’ He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out another larger key. ‘This is the key to the room where they keep the strongbox. I got it made in a night, Blondy, filing all the time. I worked like a black.’

‘She brought them to you?’

‘Yes, the first one I’ve had made for a month, the second one I made the day before yesterday. Then I went to wait for you at the fair, and you didn’t turn up.’

‘And now?’

‘You want to help me? We’ll go halves. It’s ten thousand pesos, Blondy. They put them in the strongbox yesterday.’

‘How do you know?’

‘He went to the Bank. He brought back a big heap. She saw it and she says that they’re all big, bright notes.’

‘And you’ll give me half of it?’

‘Yes, we’ll go halves, are you up for it?’

I sat up quickly in the chair, pretending to be extremely enthusiastic.

‘Congratulations Crip, it’s a great plan.’

‘You really think so, Blondy?’

‘Not even a pro could have planned this better than you. No jemmying, no need to force the lock. All clean as a whistle.’

‘Right, eh…?’

‘Clean as a whistle. We’ll hide the woman.’

‘No need, I’ve got a flat with a basement that I’m renting; I’ll stash her away for the first few days there. Then with her got up as a man, I’ll take her to the North.’

‘Shall we go, Crip?’

‘Okay, let’s go.’

The canopy of the plane trees protected us from the worst of the sun. The Crip, thoughtful, let his cigarette smoke away between his lips.

‘Who’s the owner of the house?’ I asked him.

‘An engineer.’

‘Oh, an engineer?’

‘Yes, but let’s have it, Blondy, are you up for it?’

‘Why not… okay, man… I’m bored of walking around selling paper. Always the same life, breaking yourself down for nothing. Tell me, Crip, does life have a meaning? We work to eat and eat so we can work. A bit of fun, a few crappy parties, and every day the same, Crip. It’s boring already.’

‘Yeah, Blondy, you’re right… So you’re up for it?’

‘Yes.’

‘So we’ll do the job tonight.’

‘So soon?’

‘Yeah, he goes out every night. He goes to the club.’

‘Is he married?’

‘No, he lives alone.’

‘How far is it?’

‘Not far, the block before Nazca, in Bogotá Street. If you want we can go and see the house.’

‘How many floors has it got?’

‘It’s not a tall house, it’s got a garden at the front. All of the doors lead out to the porch. There’s a strip of land that goes all the way along the front.’

‘And what about her?’

‘She’s the maid.’

‘Who cooks?’

‘The cook.’

‘So he’s rich.’

‘You have to see the house! The furniture!’

‘And when are we going to go tonight?’

‘Eleven.’

‘And she’ll be there alone?’

‘Yes, the cook goes home as soon as she’s done cooking.’

‘Is it safe?’

‘It’s safe. The nearest streetlight’s half a block away, she’s going to leave the door open, we’ll go in and go straight to the office, take the loot, divide it up right there, and then I’ll take her off to the hiding place.’

‘And the cops?’

‘The cops… the cops go for guys with a record. I work as a cart attendant, and anyway, we’ll wear gloves.’

‘You want my advice, Crip?’

‘Advise away.’

‘Okay, listen to me. The first thing we have to do is not be seen there today. Some neighbour could notice us and turn us over. And there’s no point if you know the house already. Right. Next: when does the engineer leave the house?’

‘Nine-thirty, ten, but we can watch out for him.’

‘It’s only ten minutes to open the box.’

‘Not even that, the key’s already been tried.’

‘Well done, very thoughtful… So we can go straight there at eleven.’

‘Yes.’

‘And where shall we meet?’