The Blue Line (28 page)

She comes back to Ulysses and takes him by the arm.

“It's time. Let's go.”

Julia takes her black gloves out of her bag, lowers the veil over her face, and walks up the path to the group of people waiting. The crowd parts at their approach, making way for
them to join the priest standing between the two graves. Julia nods her thanks. She finds her sister, Anna, among those present and hugs her, overcome with emotion.

“When did you arrive? You never told me . . .”

“Pablo and I landed in New York this morning. We weren't sure we would get here in time.”

Julia puts a hand on her sister's arm and begins to pull her along, but Anna holds back for a moment to introduce her to a white-haired man Julia doesn't recognize.

“Soy Augusto,” he says.

Julia identifies his voice immediately. He sweeps her up, smothering her. She feels she could surrender herself to this man's arms. She would like to tell him so but holds back.

Diane is there too, and Ben and his wife, Pat. Julia takes Diane's hand in hers as she passes and kisses it. In the sea of faces she recognizes Conchita, who makes her way through the crowd to come and hug her, red-eyed. Julia swallows back tears as best as she can. Alice is there too, impeccable with her stewardess poise. Olivier is the only one absent.

In the first row Julia recognizes Swirbul's top executives with their wives. Kwan and his family are standing stiffly next to the priest. Julia says hello and goes to stand on the other side with Ulysses and Anna. Ernesto Mayol, Theo's uncle, is already there waiting for them.

A woman facing her on the other side of the coffins smiles sadly and gives her a little nod. Julia is sure she knows her. But it takes her several minutes to figure out it is Nicole, Mia's
stepmother. Julia clutches Ulysses' arm. She takes a step back. Anna catches hold of her and helps her stay upright. She sees the shoes of the man standing next to Nicole. Huge shiny black shoes.

The coffins are lowered simultaneously using a system of pulleys. Kwan breaks down for a brief instant, then pulls himself together. The flowers, the soil, the words, later the silence and the wind.

People crowd around Julia. Hands are held out, kisses are offered. Julia is elsewhere, she is alone.

As the crowd scatters, a vast flock of birds flies, trilling, across the sky. Julia dares to raise her eyes to look at them, and in the movement her gaze stops at the man.

She is no longer afraid. She wants to observe him carefully now. She begins to coldly dissect the human being facing her from head to toe, incapable of any feeling. A scar above his eye keeps his face frozen in a single expression. Strands of unnaturally black hair barely conceal his severe baldness. The thick lips have the texture of overripe fruit. The sagging face is perched atop an enormous, flabby body. Only his balled-up fists with their protruding knuckles betray a muted violence.

Kwan and his family are already heading for their cars. Julia stands up straight and allows her friends and family to embrace her. She takes a deep breath, drops Ulysses' arm, and walks forward serenely. Ulysses and Anna stand aside. The men in black sunglasses walk rapidly up the path and quietly encircle the elderly couple.

The man she is staring at remains absent, incapable of moving. His wife pulls gently at his sleeve, obtaining no reaction.

Julia plants herself squarely in front of him.

“Captain Ignacio Castro.”

The man lifts his head and stares at her with empty eyes.

“I am Theo's wife,” Julia says. “I met you at the Mansión Seré.”

EPILOGUE

I
t is a winter morning at dawn. Julia brings her suitcases downstairs and places them by the front steps. It has snowed during the night. This odd encounter between sand and snow fascinates her. She is moved by the appeal of touching, as if by doing so she could put an end to her own incongruities. She's out.

In front of her a red sun emerges from the water like a ball of fire into the cold yellow winter sky. Julia steps forward, stretching out her hands as if to grasp it. Her footsteps crunch on the immaculate surface.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a pair of deer emerge and spring over the red sun and over Julia. They bound down the avenue, hesitate, then disappear into a backyard. All that remains is the imprint of their steps in the thick snow on the beach.

Julia no longer doubts.

—

The young uniformed woman sweeps the pages with a light beam, as Julia holds out her passport. She stares at Julia and back at the photo on her ID, then returns it to her.

The line seems endless. Julia waits her turn patiently, holding her shoes in one hand and her bag in the other. She places all her things in the screening bin and walks forward with her arms at her sides. Her cell phone starts ringing just as she is about to pass through the metal detector. A security officer orders her to switch it off. She takes it out of the bin, glancing at the screen before obeying. It is a call from Ulysses. The officer glares at her, spiteful.
Now I
'll be here for hours
. Her bag is indeed selected to be searched. Ulysses will have to wait.

The other security staff has been tipped off. Every single item of her makeup is inspected. Julia has to wait even longer. When she reaches the private lounge, the flight attendant informs her she has only a few minutes before boarding. She pours herself a glass of wine and dials Ulysses' number. She gets his voice mail. Disappointed, she refuses to leave a message. The phone vibrates again. A series of text messages start pouring in. She reads Adriana's first: “Hello, Julia. Good news. El Diablo's trial is scheduled for early next year. Some new witnesses have come forward. I've also found Sosa. Augusto has confirmed he'll testify. Well done, Julia, and Merry Christmas!”

Merry Christmas? Probably not. Julia will spend it on an airplane; by the time she reaches New Zealand the celebrations will be over. Her thoughts drift back to Olivier. He will be joining them in New Zealand toward the end of her stay. Ulysses insisted on it. Julia can't help but smile. The two of them have always plotted behind her back.

A flight attendant approaches discreetly.

“Ma'am, you have to go to the gate now.”

“Fine. Thank you.”

She doesn't want to take off before talking to her son. Sighing, she gets up. She begins walking down the interminable corridor leading to the boarding gate. Her phone vibrates endlessly. She checks it as she walks. Dozens of messages keep pouring in.

When Julia is finally ready to dial her son's number, seat belt buckled, coat and bag stowed away, her cell phone rings again: Ulysses calling. The flight attendant bends over her.

“Please hurry, ma'am. We'll be taking off soon.”

She grabs her phone and answers in haste. “Angel, I saw you'd called me. I was going through security and I had all these problems with the staff because they went through all my things and your . . .”

Ulysses breaks in gently.

“Mom. Mom, please, listen to me.”

“That's what I'm doing, angel. I'm all ears.”

“Mom, I've just sent you lots of photos.”

“Okay. I'll look at them.”

“Mom, I have to tell you . . . Are you listening?”

“Of course I am. I only have ears for you!”

“Are you sitting down?”

“I'm on the plane; we're about to take off. Tell me quickly. I have to hang up.”

“Mom . . . I became a dad an hour ago!”

“Oh, my God! Ulysses. And on Christmas day! I can't believe it!”

“Me neither!”

“The baby came early. How wonderful! I wish I were there, I can't wait. . . . Is it a girl or a boy?”

“Mom, you're the grandmother of two little girls!”

—

Julia holds a glass of champagne, studying all the while the photo she has in front of her.

Mama Fina is sitting next to her, amused by the expression on Julia's face.

“I was waiting for you,” Julia states without raising her eyes.

Mama Fina smiles.

“Now, tell me, which one of these two children has inherited the gift?”

—

It is Julia's turn to smile. She leans toward the window.

The sea and the sky have turned into
one.

*
In Spanish the word
“plata”
is used interchangeably to mean either “silver” or “money.”

*
“Girl! The Río de la Plata isn't a river, and it's not made of silver or money!”

*
Night of the Long Sticks, July 29, 1966: the end of university autonomy and the persecution of Argentine scientists and academics by the military regime of General Juan Carlos Onganía.

*
“El Conductor” means “The Guide” or “The Leader.” Honorific title given to Perón by his followers.

*
“El Cordobazo” refers to a civil uprising against the military junta in the city of Córdoba that took place on May 29, 1969.

*
The Sorcerer.

*
Traditional Argentine beverage—an infusion of yerba maté leaves also known as “Jesuit's tea,” served in a gourd and drunk through a
bombilla
, a silver straw.

*
Inhabitants of the
villas miserias
.

*
Inhabitants of Buenos Aires.

*
Nickname given to Rodolfo Eduardo Almirón Sena, the principal suspect in the murder of Carlos Mugica and head of security for José López Rega (“El Brujo”) at the time. He died in 2009 in a hospital in the city of Ezeiza, near Buenos Aires, while in prison awaiting trial.

*
Overzealous supporters of the Boca Juniors.

*
Nickname for the military.

*
Native of Buenos Aires.

*
“I've been looking for you for so long!”

*
Military conscripts.

*
“El Loco” means “crazy man” in Spanish.

*
Corporal Dread.

*
Refers to disappeared prisoners who reappeared as political prisoners.

*
“El Diablo” means “the Devil” in Spanish.

*
Poder Ejecutivo Nacional (National Executive Power).

*
A Theology of Liberation
.

*
Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada, the Argentine naval mechanics school in Buenos Aires: the largest of the five hundred clandestine detention centers that operated during the military dictatorship, where an estimated five thousand people were tortured and killed and hundreds of children born to detainees were forcibly removed at birth.

*
Workers' Power.

*
Because after everything I have understood
That what the tree has visibly in bloom
Thrives of what is buried beneath.

 

(Translation by Sarah Salazar, http://theenglishcenterblog.tumblr.com/post/113527898559/poem-translation)

*
“Dolores” (and by extension the nickname Dolly) means “pains” in Spanish.

*
The Odyssey of Homer
, translation by Allen Mandelbaum (New York: Bantam, 1991).

*
Raúl Alfonsín became president of Argentina following the elections on October 30, 1983.

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