The Lost Origin (62 page)

I sat for a long time, shocked, in front of the monitor, looking at the images over and over again. Fortunately there was no one in my house but me, so I could put some of them up on the giant screens and enjoy looking at them almost life-sized while my mind went back to those fantastic moments and to the things that had happened to us while we were there. Unfortunately, the Toromonas had burned Proxi’s camera, and we had no more record of our time in the jungle and in Qalamana than Gertrude’s recording of the Capacas’ words which I had. For a moment I felt tempted to listen to it, to see what effect the power of words could produce in that room of my house. But I didn’t. If my projects turned out well in the end, why not give Gertrude the satisfaction of working together with me on the matter while Marta and Efraín got their hands dirty in Tiwanaku? Besides, before anything else, I should call the professor.

“Do you have a computer with an internet connection at home?” I asked her abruptly when she picked up the phone.

“The usual thing is to greet first, and then ask,” she replied with that deep harmonious voice that went through me like a shot.

“Hello. Do you have a computer with an internet connection at home?”

“Of course.”

“Then give me your email address. I’m going to send you something you’re going to like.”

“Did you know sometimes you are stranger than that Luk’ana wretch who led us through Qalamana?”

“Yes, it’s true,” I admitted quickly, without giving it any importance; indifference was part of the plan. “By the way, what are you doing this afternoon?”

She remained silent.

“Oh, wait, I had forgotten!” I told her, laughing. “First greet, and then ask questions. Hello again, what are you doing this afternoon?”

I knew she was smiling.

“I was thinking I would finish unpacking and organize a bit. I woke up very late, and yesterday I didn’t have time to do anything, as you know.”

“It’s just that I thought you could come to my house. They’ve left me completely alone. What do you say?”

“Do you want to keep me in secret?” she asked with an obvious double meaning. But I already had some experience with her way of reacting, and of course, as she well knew, it was
something else that I had in mind.

“Really, what I was thinking….”

“Don’t go on,” she interrupted quickly. “Send me the thing you wanted me to see, and then we’ll talk again. Let me breathe.”

I carefully noted down her email address and we hung up. While I was finishing sending her the photos, my grandmother called.

“Arnauet? Listen, I’m at Daniel’s apartment.”

“What’s up?”

“You have to come stay with your brother for a while. Do you mind?”

Did I mind? It was terrible, horrible, it couldn’t be worse! I had very important things to do that afternoon and I didn’t want to skip them for anything. But when I was about to blurt out an angry reprimand and unpleasant words, I noticed that my grandmother must have people around her and that’s why she wasn’t speaking clearly. She was certainly trying to leave me alone with my brother.

“Do you mean to say that you’ve found a way of taking all of them away?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. You’ll have to come stay with him for at least two or three hours. I know you must still be tired from traveling, but…,” I heard my mother’s voice in the background saying that if I was tired, it was because I’d gone off right after arriving. “The thing is, Arnauet, we’ve thought that since you’re back, we can take advantage of you being here. We’re exhausted. You understand, don’t you? If you stay with your brother, then Clifford, your mother, Ona, Dani, and I can go out, buy some clothes for the boy, and have something to eat somewhere. We need it, Arnauet.”

“You’re the best, Grandma.”

“Come on, don’t complain,” she chided, and my mother, in a tone that left no room for doubt, declared that I would stay with my brother whether I complained or not.

“Tell your daughter that I can hear her.”

“She knows,” my grandmother replied, very entertained. “She said it close to the telephone so you would hear her. Okay, then, it’s set. How long will it take you to get here?”

“An hour. I have to go pick up Marta.”

“Since you’re coming alone,” my grandmother pronounced, to make it clear that it would be better for Marta to wait in the car until they had left, “remember to grab that very ugly doll you brought for Dani, the one you showed us last night.”

“It’s a god.”

“I don’t care. It’s still in very bad taste. Alright, goodbye. Don’t be late.”

Basically, my magnificent plans for that afternoon had just been dashed. I’d have to wait, and frankly, I didn’t like it at all. Something told me that Marta would indeed have come to my house. Well, I could find out. We still had the night ahead of us. I called her.

“Hello, have you seen the pictures?” I asked her when she picked up.

“I’m looking at them.” I could hear in her voice the smile that was doubtlessly drawn on her lips. “It seems unbelievable, doesn’t it?”

“It does. I felt the same.”

“It’s fantastic material. Lola did a great job. It seems odd to look at all those things from here, from home!”

“Speaking of homes….”

“I’ve been thinking,” she announced unexpectedly. “I think I prefer to leave the visit until after we cure Daniel. Let’s do things properly.”

“Okay,” I accepted, very calm.

She remained silent, surprised.

“Okay? I thought you would insist.”

“No, not at all. If you want to leave it until after curing Daniel, it’s okay with me. By the way,” I said, very serious, “my grandmother just called. I have to stay with Daniel for a couple of hours, because the whole family is going shopping.”

It took her a few seconds to react, and then she laughed.

“Fine! You win!” she said, still laughing. “We’ll go to your brother’s apartment, and then we’ll see.”

While I went to look for the car, I reproached myself for having so much stupid faith in the Capacas’ damned phrase. If it didn’t work, if that spell, charm, or enchantment didn’t fulfill its purpose, Daniel would remain a vegetable for a long time, or in the worst case, for the rest of his life. I told Marta as much when she got in the car, and for the rest of the trip to Xiprer Street, we nervously discussed the alternatives: Translate the gold sheets from the Chamber of the Traveler at top speed, try to find Qalamana again by flying over the immense area of its probable location, make Daniel listen to Gertrude’s recording…. Basically, I guess we were nervous about a lot of things, but we were going to face the worst of them immediately.

“You remember the phrase, right?” I asked her for the umpteenth time as we got out of the car, which I had parked, as always, across a corner of the sidewalk.

“Don’t be difficult, Arnau. I’ve already told you that I remember it perfectly.”

“By the way….” I called her as she walked away toward the café where I’d asked her to wait for my call; she turned and in her eyes I saw something I liked. “You know I don’t have your cell number?”

With a smile, she walked up to me and repeated it a couple of times while I tried to save it to my phone without any mistakes. Then she walked away slowly and I stayed watching her until she turned on the second cross street and disappeared. It took an effort for me to break my paralysis and walk to the door of my brother’s building.

My mother buzzed me in from upstairs, and as I crossed the entryway and went up the three or four stairs that led to the elevator, I saw, waiting for its arrival, the back of one of those enormous redheaded guys that looked so much like Jabba. Someday, I told myself, someday I’ll come to this building and they will all have left for their planet and I won’t run into any of them again. I laughed with my mouth closed, and the guy looked sideways at me, thinking, I supposed, that I was off my rocker.

Ona met me at the door and gave me a strong hug. She looked much better than when I left Bolivia. She had recovered her smile and she again looked animated and content.

“Come on, then, get inside, shaman of the jungle,” she teased. “Has anyone told you you’re worse than your brother? Look at you, running off to the Amazon in the middle of the night and coming back two months later with a miracle potion!”

“Well, it’s doing wonders for him,” announced my mother, who came in from the hall with her grandson in her arms. “I would even say he looks, I don’t know…more alive. Right, Clifford? Clifford and I were just remarking on it this morning after giving him the first infusion with the drops, right, Clifford? Right away I noticed something strange in Daniel, something different.”

Ona rolled her eyes at me to show that I shouldn’t believe a single word of what my mother was saying (as if I could) while I grabbed Dani and lifted him in the air. It was terribly hot in that apartment. Even so, my nephew, as always, was firmly clutching his blanket.

“Look what I brought you!” I told him, showing him the Ekeko.

“Really, Arnie, I don’t understand how you could have bought something like that for the boy. With all the pretty things there must be in the jungle! This doll is awful.”

At that moment, my nephew threw it joyfully through the air and kicked me to keep me from picking it up off the floor, where he could keep happily destroying it.

“See what I was telling you?” my mother continued. “It’s going to last him ten minutes! You have your head in the clouds, son. You should have brought something he could keep until he was older, as a souvenir from his uncle’s travels. But, no, of course! You bring him a horrible doll that the boy’s going to break before we leave.”

My nephew played soccer with the Ekeko in the hallway. His leg aimed a little to one side or the other at first, and he didn’t manage to make the god move toward the living room, which was his objective, but on the second attempt, the successor of the Staff God, Thunupa, slid forward another yard, cleaning the floor. The kid was having the time of his life. The gift had been a very wise choice.

“Hey, come on, get going,” a weak and tremulous voice said from the sofa in the back of the room. “The stores are going to close.”

It was my grandmother. Why did she have that strange voice?

“But aren’t you going with them?” I asked her with an inquisitive look, as I greeted Clifford, who, like Ona, looked much better than the last time I had seen him. Time makes us get used to everything, even the most painful experiences.

“Your grandmother has just had a dizzy spell,” my mother announced. “That’s why we didn’t have time to call you. But since the poor thing doesn’t want to ruin our afternoon, she insists that we go without her. Can you take care of her, Arnie? We’re leaving you in charge of your brother and grandma, so you have double the work. If she gets worse….” she said, grabbing her purse and handing Clifford Dani’s bag with the diapers, bottles, extra clothes, and that whole incredible quantity of things that children need to go anywhere. “Are you listening to me, Arnau?”

“Of course I’m listening to you, Mom,” I murmured, distracted, stealthily shooting my grandmother one of those looks that would have frightened the devil.

“I was telling you that if grandma gets worse, call me immediately on my cell. Will you be alright, Mom?” she asked, leaning toward my grandmother to give her a kiss goodbye.

My grandmother, putting on a serious expression, let herself be kissed, and sighed sadly.

“Don’t worry about me. Have a good time.”

Everyone went back through the hallway toward the door, and my mother turned her head to talk to me in a whisper:

“Don’t be shocked when you go in the bedroom and see your brother. Bed rest takes a lot, you know. He’s very thin and emaciated, but that’s normal. Don’t let it upset you. And don’t let grandma out of your sight. It had to happen sooner or later! Right, Clifford?” Clifford nodded without saying anything. “Look at her, the poor thing, how much she wanted us all go to together, and at the last minute, she’s taken a terrible turn. But the thing is, whether she likes it or not, she’s getting on in years and these things happen to people of her age. Watch her carefully, Arnau, in case something happens to her and gives us an unpleasant surprise! Take care of both of them, okay, son? Then, when we get back…”

“Eulàlia,” Ona called her from the landing, with the elevator door open.

“Okay, we’re leaving, but what I was going to tell you,” I gently pushed the apartment door open to make her go, “what I was going to tell you was that tonight we’ll all have dinner
here. The whole family reunited. Okay?”

“Not a chance!” I thought. “I have other, much more interesting things to do tonight!”

“Eulàlia,” Ona insisted. “They’re calling the elevator from other floors.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Okay, remember everything I told you, Arnie.”

“Yes, Mom,” and I closed the door abruptly, turning toward the biggest liar in the world, ready to give her a piece of my mind. But she had already gotten up off the sofa, as fresh as a rose, and stood waiting for me, smiling. I could see how well she looked, thanks to the afternoon light coming in from the balcony.

“You know you’re a cheat and you’re going to have to go to confession lots of times for what you’ve done today?” I yelled, advancing toward her in long strides.

“Be quiet, they’ll hear you!” she begged with a scared expression, holding a finger to her lips. “Come here. Did you think I was going to miss it? No way! Besides, you owe me. I’ve been covering for you for two months. By the way, where’s Marta?”

“In the café around the corner I always park the car on.”

“I hope they don’t see her.”

“Ona’s the only one who knows her and I don’t think she’ll look,” I replied, taking a seat and looking at the plants my sister-in-law had on the terrace. In the smallest space imaginable were piled dozens of pots full of all kinds of flowers.

“You should hear the things Ona says about her! If she finds out that Marta has come to her house, she’ll kill you and me!”

“I have something to tell you, Grandma,” I told her with all the pity in the world, taking her hand and making her sit next to me. I knew that what I was going to explain to her about her grandson Daniel was going to hurt her a great deal, but I didn’t have any choice; she was the most clear-headed person in the family, and if we cured my brother, he would need her help to face what would have to come after. Besides, the nonsense my family said about Marta would have to stop. I began fill her in on the research on
quipus
and
tocapus
, but without going into details so I wouldn’t confuse her. In the gentlest and shortest way I could, I related the theft of material from the professor’s office and what had happened with the curse. And while I explained what we had really gone to look for in the jungle and what we had found there, I called Marta to tell her to come up.