Mona and Other Tales by Reinaldo Arenas Page B

Elisa to be on her way to another tryst. She was not. After such a turbulent night, Elisa seemed to want to find inner peace by looking at works of art. At least that is what I thought when I saw her get out of the taxi and hurriedly enter the Metropolitan Museum, just at the moment it was opening its doors. After paying for admission, I rushed inside the building and went up to the second floor, following the route she had taken. I watched her go into one of those large galleries, and right there, in front of my eyes, she disappeared. I looked for her for hours throughout the immense building, without any success. I did not skip any possible corner. I looked behind every statue, went around every amphora (there are some enormous ones) and even searched inside them. On one occasion I got lost among countless sarcophagi and centuries-old mummies, while calling Elisa’s name out loud. Once out of that labyrinth, I found myself in a temple of the time of the Ptolemies (according to a placard) 5 seemingly floating in a pool. I searched everywhere in that enormous pile of stones, but Elisa was not there either. About three in the afternoon I went back to my room and threw myself on the bed.
    I woke up at two in the morning. In a rush, I put on my uniform and left for Wendy’s. My boss, who had always been pretty decent to me, told me that this was no time to start working; it was almost time to leave. I detected a tinge of sadness in his voice when he informed me that the next time this happened I would be fired. I assured him there would be no next time, and I went back to my room. Elisa was waiting by the door. I was not even surprised that she had been able to enter my building, though the front door is always locked and only the tenants have keys. She said she had been at Wendy’s several times and I was not there, so she decided to wait for me in my house. We went into my room, and perhaps because I had slept for hours or because I was afraid I would never see her again, I made love to her with renewed passion. Yes, that night, I believe, I was the clear victor. But how many duels—I sadly asked myself—had she fought today before coming to me? . . . At dawn, when I again started an attack, sliding over her naked body, I saw that Elisa had no breasts. I jumped to the edge of the bed, wondering whether this woman was driving me insane. As if sensing my anguish, she immediately pulled me over with her arms to her beautiful breasts.
    As on the previous day, Elisa got up around nine, dressed quickly, and went out. Her destination was the same, the Metropolitan Museum. And again she disappeared in front of my eyes.
    She did not come to see me at work Thursday or Friday. On Saturday I got up early, determined to find her. I must add that, independent of all the mystery surrounding her person, which fascinated me, I felt the urge to go to bed with her immediately.
    I took a taxi to the Metropolitan. Evidently there was a relationship between Elisa and that building, and I thought it was sort of stupid of me not to have realized before that she must be a museum employee, which explained why she was so interested in getting there at ten o’clock, when the doors opened to the public. My mistake had been to search for her among the visitors instead of in the offices.
    I searched for her everywhere. I inquired at the information desk and in the staff office. There was no employee named Elisa. Of course, the fact that she told me her name was Elisa did not mean that was really her name; quite the contrary, perhaps. Anyone who worked among so many valuable objects (which for me, by the way, didn’t mean a thing) and carried on sexually as she did, had to take precautions.
    So I tried to find her physically among the numerous women who worked at the museum. While I was looking over the female guards, I noticed in one room a large group representing many nationalities (Japanese, South Americans, Chinese, Indians,