LA CHUNGA: And you still stay with him? How stupid women can be. I’ll never understand how anyone can sink so low.
MECHE: You’ve obviously never been in love.
LA CHUNGA: And I never will be. I prefer to live without a man. In total solitude. No one’s ever going to make me go down on my knees. Or tell me I’m living on borrowed time.
MECHE: Ah, if only I could break loose from Josefino …
LA CHUNGA: (Like a spider attracting a fly into the web she’s spun for it) But you can, silly. (Smiling mischievously) Have you forgotten how pretty you are? Don’t you realize what you do to men when you walk past? None of them can take their eyes off you. Don’t they pay you all sorts of compliments? Don’t they make you propositions when he’s out of earshot?
MECHE: Yes. I could have been unfaithful to him a thousand times, if I’d wanted to. I’ve had plenty of chances.
LA CHUNGA: (Sitting beside her) Of course you have. But perhaps you haven’t realized the best chance you ever had.
MECHE: (Surprised) Who are you talking about?
LA CHUNGA: Someone who’s crazy about you. Someone who’d do anything you asked, just to be with you, because he thinks you’re the most beautiful, the most exquisite creature alive — a queen, a goddess. You could have him at your feet, Meche. He’d never ill-treat or frighten you.
MECHE: But who are you talking about?
LA CHUNGA: Haven’t you noticed? I suppose it’s understandable. He’s very shy with women …
MECHE: Now I know why you gave those three thousand sols to Josefino. Not because you’re a dike. But because you’re a pimp, Chunga.
LA CHUNGA: (Laughing, warmly and affectionately) Did you think I was going to pay three thousand sols to make love to you? No, Mechita, no man or woman alive is worth that much to me. Those three thousand sols aren’t mine. They belong to the man who loves you. He’s prepared to spend all he’s got and more just to have you. Be nice to him. Remember you promised to do whatever I asked. Now’s your chance to get your own back on Josefino for all those thrashings. Make the most of it.
(LITUMA has gone up the little staircase and is at the door of the room, but he doesn’t dare go in. LA CHUNGA goes out to meet him.)
Go on in. She’s there waiting for you. She’s yours. I’ve already had a word with her, don’t worry. Go on, Lituma, don’t be frightened. She’s all yours, enjoy it.
(With a sardonic little laugh, she leaves the room and goes to sit down in her rocking chair. The superstuds carry on drinking and gambling.)
A romantic love affair
MECHE: (Surprised) So it was you. The last person I would have suspected. Mono or José, perhaps — they’re always flirting with me, and they sometimes go even further when Josefino isn’t looking. But you, Lituma, you’ve never said a single word to me.
LITUMA: (Deeply embarrassed) I’ve never dared, Mechita. I’ve never quite been able to show what I felt about you. But, but I …
MECHE: (Amused at his awkwardness) You’re all sweaty, your voice is trembling, you’re so shy, it’s painful. How funny you are, Lituma.
LITUMA: (Imploring) Please, don’t laugh at me, Meche. For the love of God … I beg you …
MECHE: Have you always been frightened of women?
LITUMA: (Very sorrowfully) Not frightened exactly. It’s just that … I never know what to say to them. I’m not like the others. When they meet a girl they know how to chat her up, and make a date with her. I’ve never been able to do that. I get so worked up, I can’t get the words out.
MECHE: Haven’t you ever had a girlfriend?
LITUMA: I’ve never had a woman without paying for her, Mechita. Only the whores at the Casa Verde. And they always make me pay.
MECHE: Just like you’re paying for me now.
LITUMA: (Kneeling before MECHE) Don’t compare yourself with those whores, Mechita, not even in fun.
MECHE: What are you doing?
LITUMA: I’d never make you go down on your knees to me, like Josefino does. I’d spend my life on my knees in front of you. I’d worship you, Meche, as if you were a queen. (He crouches down and tries to kiss her feet.)
MECHE: Ha ha, when you do that, you’re just like a little lapdog.
LITUMA: (Still trying to kiss her feet) Then at least let me be your lapdog, Meche. I’ll obey you, I’ll be loving and gentle whenever you want or if you’d rather I’ll just lie still. Don’t laugh, I’m being serious.
MECHE: Would you really do anything for me?
LITUMA: Try me.
MECHE: Would you kill Josefino if I asked you to?
LITUMA: Yes.
MECHE: But I thought he was your friend.
LITUMA: You’re worth more to me than any friend, Mechita. Do you believe that?
(MECHE puts her hand on his head, as if stroking an animal.)
MECHE: Come, and sit beside me. I don’t want anyone to grovel to me like that.
LITUMA: (Sitting beside her, on the bed, without daring to go very close to her or even touch her) I’ve been in love with you since the first day I saw you. In the Río-Bar, on the Old Bridge. Don’t you remember? No. Why should you remember? You never seemed to take any notice of me, even when you were looking straight at me.
MECHE: In the Río-Bar?
LITUMA: José, Mono and I were in the middle of a game, when in came Josefino with you on his arm. (Imitating him) Hey, look what I’ve found. What d’you think of her, eh? Then he lifted you up by the waist and paraded you in front of everyone. (His face suddenly clouds over.) I hate him when he does things like that to you.
MECHE: Does he make you jealous?
LITUMA: No, he makes me envious, though. (Pause.) Tell me, Mechita. Is it true he’s got one this big? Is that why women are so crazy about him? He never stops bragging to us: ‘Mine’s a real whopper,’ he says. But I’ve asked the whores in the Casa Verde and they say it’s not true, that it’s the normal size — just like everyone else’s.
MECHE: You aren’t going to have much success with me if you say such disgusting things, Lituma.
LITUMA: I’m sorry. You’re right, I shouldn’t have asked you that. But, doesn’t it seem unfair? Josefino behaves so boorishly with women. He knocks them around, they fall in love with him, and when he’s got them really hooked, he sends them out to whore for him. And in spite of that, he still gets the ones he wants. Yet someone like me, who’s an honest, well-meaning, gentlemanly sort, who’d be prepared to treat any woman who loved him like precious china, never gets any attention at all. I ask you, is that fair?
MECHE: It may not be fair. But is anything in life fair?
LITUMA: Is it because I’m ugly that they don’t pay any attention to me, Mechita?
MECHE: (Making fun of him) Here. Let me have a look at you. No, you’re not that ugly, Lituma.
LITUMA: Please be serious with me. I’m telling you things I’ve never told anyone in my life before.
(MECHE looks at him for a moment mistrustfully.)