an artistsâ conference in Eastern Europe, he informs us that in his absence my mother will receive a petition for divorce. We let him know that weâre unhappy that heâs chosen to do it this way rather than opting for a consensual divorce, and after my mother informs him that given the circumstances, she wonât make it easy for him, I walk him to the Metro in silence. My motherâs resolve lasts scarcely a few weeks. After discussing it with me, she calls a lawyer and gives him the go-ahead to take my father for all she can get, but when we have my father on the ropes, we relent. Before this, I write him a letter that the friend he met in Brazil intercepts and that earns me her deepest hostility, in which, with a temerity that ashames me now, I ask him not to marry her.
In 1987, when I happen to be in my fatherâs neighborhood with a friend whoâs an aspiring painter, I stop by his place to ask him to show us his paintings. No one answers the buzzer, but just as Iâm about to give up, he comes walking down the street with the friend he met in Brazil. Theyâre dressed up; heâs nervous and sheâs beaming. I immediately guess that theyâve gotten married, which he confirms days later.
In 1987 I take my college entrance exam, and in the fall I begin my degree in philosophy. My father doesnât hide his surprise when I tell him and asks how I plan to make a living.
In 1987 I have a girlfriend and sheâs a writer. Sheâs older than I am and pretty wild, which means that neither my mother nor my father likes her, and although my mother pretends otherwise, my father doesnât bother. During Easter, when the friend he met in Brazil is out of town, he invites my girlfriend and me to spend a few days with him in his country house. He makes fun of everything she says, sets traps for her, is condescending to me, and tells unflattering stories about when I was little. At some point I get the sense that heâs competing with me.
In 1987 my father and the friend he met in Brazil buy a place together and for the first time both of their names are on the title. My father explains that neither I nor her children will be given the keys, and he promises that everyone will be treated equally. In the same conversation he tells me that theyâre going to draw up a document in which both of them will agree which household items, paintings, and furniture belong to each. When he gives it to me weeks later, I discover that what was hers is still hers and the only things that will now be shared are his.
In 1988 I spend two months in London, staying with an old girlfriend of his. Iâm there to learn English, but all I do is sit at a library, where I read the Iliad and the Odyssey in Spanish and try in vain to write.
In 1988 my dog has to be put to sleep. Again itâs my father who takes care of it, though this time my mother and I are with him.
In 1988 my writer girlfriend cheats on me with a friend of my motherâs whom we put up when he comes to Madrid, and months later she leaves me to go to America with an ex-boyfriend. I find out that my father, who got the news from me, has told the whole story to some friends, and when I get upset, he defends himself by attacking her so harshly that Iâm deeply offended and abandon him in the middle of the street.
In 1989 he presents me with a painting from a recent exhibition, giving it to me behind the back of the friend he met in Brazil.
In 1989 I ask him to teach me to drive. He gives me one lesson, and days later, explaining why he canât give me more, he says that the friend he met in Brazil has told him that it could be bad for the car.
In 1989, during the summer, while my father and the friend he met in Brazil are away, her son moves into their place. When my father finds this out from me, he sends me the keys and asks me to make an appearance there. Days later, when he gets back, he tells me that heâs
In 1987, when I happen to be in my fatherâs neighborhood with a friend whoâs an aspiring painter, I stop by his place to ask him to show us his paintings. No one answers the buzzer, but just as Iâm about to give up, he comes walking down the street with the friend he met in Brazil. Theyâre dressed up; heâs nervous and sheâs beaming. I immediately guess that theyâve gotten married, which he confirms days later.
In 1987 I take my college entrance exam, and in the fall I begin my degree in philosophy. My father doesnât hide his surprise when I tell him and asks how I plan to make a living.
In 1987 I have a girlfriend and sheâs a writer. Sheâs older than I am and pretty wild, which means that neither my mother nor my father likes her, and although my mother pretends otherwise, my father doesnât bother. During Easter, when the friend he met in Brazil is out of town, he invites my girlfriend and me to spend a few days with him in his country house. He makes fun of everything she says, sets traps for her, is condescending to me, and tells unflattering stories about when I was little. At some point I get the sense that heâs competing with me.
In 1987 my father and the friend he met in Brazil buy a place together and for the first time both of their names are on the title. My father explains that neither I nor her children will be given the keys, and he promises that everyone will be treated equally. In the same conversation he tells me that theyâre going to draw up a document in which both of them will agree which household items, paintings, and furniture belong to each. When he gives it to me weeks later, I discover that what was hers is still hers and the only things that will now be shared are his.
In 1988 I spend two months in London, staying with an old girlfriend of his. Iâm there to learn English, but all I do is sit at a library, where I read the Iliad and the Odyssey in Spanish and try in vain to write.
In 1988 my dog has to be put to sleep. Again itâs my father who takes care of it, though this time my mother and I are with him.
In 1988 my writer girlfriend cheats on me with a friend of my motherâs whom we put up when he comes to Madrid, and months later she leaves me to go to America with an ex-boyfriend. I find out that my father, who got the news from me, has told the whole story to some friends, and when I get upset, he defends himself by attacking her so harshly that Iâm deeply offended and abandon him in the middle of the street.
In 1989 he presents me with a painting from a recent exhibition, giving it to me behind the back of the friend he met in Brazil.
In 1989 I ask him to teach me to drive. He gives me one lesson, and days later, explaining why he canât give me more, he says that the friend he met in Brazil has told him that it could be bad for the car.
In 1989, during the summer, while my father and the friend he met in Brazil are away, her son moves into their place. When my father finds this out from me, he sends me the keys and asks me to make an appearance there. Days later, when he gets back, he tells me that heâs
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