JOSEFINO: I don’t believe it … Did you hear that, studs? Chunga’s paying.
LA CHUNGA: Not for you, I’m not. You’re a regular. I’m inviting Meche, since it’s her first time here. So that she’ll come back.
(There is a great uproar from the superstuds’ table.)
EL MONO: (Shouting) Hahaha. Am I hearing right?
JOSE: Ask her for a whisky, and share it out, Mechita.
JOSEFINO: (Moving towards the table to take his place again among the superstuds) Right. I’ll try my hand again.
MECHE: Weren’t you going to take me to the pictures?
JOSEFINO: Later. First I’m going to make myself a few bucks by fleecing these three morons. The night’s still young, pussycat.
MECHE: (To LA CHUNGA, indicating JOSEFINO) We’re not going to get to the pictures tonight, I can see that. There’s one on at the Variedades with Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán and it’s in colour. With bullfighting and music. It’s a pity Josefino likes gambling so much.
LA CHUNGA: (Handing her the vermouth, which she has been preparing) That one’s into all the vices. He’s the most unscrupulous bastard out. Whatever did you see in him? What do women see in such a burn? Tell me, Meche. What is it about him?
MECHE: (Partly embarrassed, partly feigning embarrassment) Well, he’s got … he’s a real charmer. He knows how to say nice things to a girl. And besides, he’s good-looking, don’t you think? And also … Well, when he kisses me and touches me, I start to tremble all over. I see little stars.
LA CHUNGA: (With a mocking smile) Does he really make you see little stars?
MECHE: (Laughing) Well, it’s just a manner of speaking really. If you know what I mean.
LA CHUNGA: No. I don’t know what you mean. I can’t understand how a pretty girl like you can fall in love with a poor sod like that. (Very seriously) You know what’ll happen to you, if you stay with him, don’t you?
MECHE: I never think about the future, Chunga. You’ve got to take love as it comes. It’s living for the moment that counts. You’ve got to get as much as you can out of it while it lasts. (Becoming alarmed suddenly) What will happen to me if I stay with him?
LA CHUNGA: He’ll make you see little stars for a little while longer. And then, he’ll put you into the Casa Verde — so that you can keep him, in style, by whoring.
MECHE: (Scandalized) What are you saying? You’re joking, aren’t you? Do you think I could do such a thing? You obviously don’t know me. Do you really think I’m capable of …
LA CHUNGA: Of course I do. Like all those other silly girls who saw little stars, whenever that pimp so much as looked at them. (Stretches out her hand and strokes MECHE’s cheek.) Don’t look so frightened. I like you better when you smile.
The Gallinacera versus the Mangachería
At the superstuds’ table, the game starts to heat up. The atmosphere is becoming electric.
EL MONO: (Highly excited) Three and four, seven, hahaha. So I was a cretin, was I, José? Down, on your knees and start praying, you pathetic creep. Have you ever seen anything like that in all your born days? Seven games on the trot without a single miss. The money’s still all there, for the real men. Anyone take me on?
JOSEFINO: (Taking out a few banknotes) I will. You think you frighten me? Let’s see, how much is there? Two hundred, three hundred. Here’s three hundred. Come on, throw the dice, you peasant.
JOSE: That’s a lot of money, Josefino. (Lowering his voice) You haven’t by any chance been putting Mechita out to work already, have you?
JOSEFINO: Shut it, if she hears you she’ll start getting all suspicious. Well, what are you waiting for, Mono? (EL MONO passes the dice across his eyes, then across his lips, cradles them in his hands, as if casting a spell on them.)
EL MONO: Just making you squirm a bit, slum boy. And now here we go for real …
(They all watch the dice ecstatically.)
Eleven. There you are. This time I’ve really rammed it right down your throats. Eight on the trot. Let’s drink to that, for Christ’s sake. More beers, Chunga. We’ve got a minor miracle here to celebrate.
(JOSEFINO checks EL MONO, as he is about to collect the money he’s won.)
JOSEFINO: The money stays on the table. (The three superstuds look at him in amazement.)
EL MONO: If you want to carry on losing? Be my guest, mate. Go on, make yourself rich then, if you can. The money’s there. All six hundred sols of it. Anyone else betting?
JOSEFINO: No just me.
(He takes more money out of his pocket, counts it ostentatiously, places it slowly and theatrically in the kitty.)
There you are. Six hundred. The Gallinacera versus the Mangacheria.
LITUMA: Holy shit, he must have robbed a bank or something.
JOSEFINO: We leave that sort of thing to street arabs like you; we may be scavengers, in the Gallinacera, but we’re not thieves.
JOSE: Don’t kid yourself, Josefino. It’s the worst district in Piura.
LITUMA: What with the slaughterhouse and the carcasses all over the road, and the flies and the vultures — I wouldn’t brag about it too much, if I were you.
JOSEFINO: At least we’ve got tarmac streets and toilets. You lot haven’t even got that. Nothing but donkeys and beggars. Everyone shits on the floor beside the bed. I don’t know why I have anything to do with people like you. Any day now I’ll even start to smell like you into the bargain. Hold it, Mono, don’t throw those dice yet. Mechita, here, come and bring me some luck.
(MECHE approaches the table, at the same time as LA CHUNGA, who is carrying two more beers; JOSEFINO puts his arm round MECHE’s waist and kisses her salaciously and ostentatiously on the mouth, forcing her to lower her face. The superstuds laugh, drink and applaud. LA CHUNGA looks on, her eyes shining.)
Right, Mono. Now throw those dice.
JOSE: (To JOSEFINO) You know what they say, don’t you? Lucky in love, unlucky at cards.
EL MONO: (Throwing the dice) There they go, and this little superstud’s a rich man.
JOSEFINO: (Happy, exuberant) Two ones. Start to dig your grave, Mono. (To JOSE) You’ve got the wrong saying, mate. It’s ‘Lucky in love, luckier at cards’. Here’s to Mechita for bringing me such good fortune. Thank you, my little one.
(He forces her to lower her head again and kisses her. In doing so, he looks askance at LA CHUNGA as if making fun of her.) Cheers, Chunguita.
(LA CHUNGA doesn’t answer him. She goes back to the bar.)
EL MONO: (Stretching out his hand to JOSEFINO) I must congratulate you. It takes guts to bet the whole bank after eight straight runs. You may be from the Gallinacera, but you certainly deserve to be a superstud.
JOSE: (Mischievously) Did you see Chunga’s face when Josefino was kissing you, Mechita? Her eyes were popping out of her head.