represented absolute good? If you want I’ll say it; maybe I’ve already said it. And it may be true. But do me a favour: don’t ask me for explanations; ask me for facts.’
‘Agreed. Let’s get back to the facts. The robbery in La Montgoda was the first in a series of robberies you participated in with Zarco. You told me before that when you got to Gerona that day you went to sell what you’d stolen. Where did you sell it? Who did you sell it to? Because I can’t imagine it would have been easy.’
‘Selling it was easy; what wasn’t easy was getting good money for it. There was only one fence in Gerona, or at least only one serious fence, so since he had practically no competition, he did whatever he wanted. He was the General. They called him that because he bragged about having been an officer in the Spanish Foreign Legion; also because he wore long bushy sideburns like a comic-strip general. I only met him three or four times. He lived in an Andalusian-style house in the middle of an open field in Torre Alfonso XII and he was a peculiar guy, although maybe the peculiar thing was him and his wife as a couple. I clearly remember the afternoon we went to sell him the loot from La Montgoda, which was the first time I saw him. As I told you before, it might have been the same afternoon as the robbery, but it might have been another, because we often stashed what we stole and took a few days to sell it. As a precaution. The thing is that day we – Zarco, Tere, Guille and I, the same ones who’d gone to La Montgoda – went that day, parked the car in front of the General’s house and Zarco went to the door and soon came back and announced that the General was busy although his wife said he’d soon be finished and we could go in shortly. They want to fuck with the guys who are with the General, Zarco said. Guille and Tere laughed; I didn’t get the joke, but didn’t think anything of it either. Between the four of us we carried all the stuff into the house guarded by the General’s wife, a skinny, scraggy woman, with vague eyes, messy hair and a grey housecoat. When we went out to the yard we saw the General and a couple of men at one side in front of a large cardboard box with a radio-cassette player sticking out of it. The men looked angry when they saw us and immediately turned their backs. The General seemed to be trying to placate them; he greeted us with a slight nod. We left our load in the middle of the yard (at the other side there was a jumble of bed frames, bicycles, scrapped motorbikes, furniture and appliances), and waited for the General to finish what he was doing. He soon did, and the two men left in a hurry without even looking at us, accompanied by the General and his wife.
‘We were left alone in the yard, and Zarco amused himself by looking through the big cardboard box with the radio-cassette sticking out of it while Guille, Tere and I smoked and talked. A while later the General came back without his wife. He seemed cheerful and relaxed, but before he could say a word Zarco pointed to the gate. Who were those guys?, he asked. The ones who just left?, asked the General. Yeah, answered Zarco. Why do you want to know?, asked the General. Zarco shrugged. No reason, he said. Just wondering what that pair of dickheads were called. The answer didn’t seem to annoy the General. He looked at Zarco with interest and then turned for a second towards his wife, who’d come back out to the yard while they were talking and was standing a few metres away, with her head leaning on one shoulder and hands in the pockets of her housecoat, apparently oblivious to the conversation. The General asked: What’s up, Zarquito? Did you come here to piss me off? Zarco smiled modestly, as if the General was trying to flatter him. Not at all, he said. Then would you mind telling me what you’re talking about?, said the General. Zarco pointed to the cardboard box he’d just looked through. How much did you pay
‘Agreed. Let’s get back to the facts. The robbery in La Montgoda was the first in a series of robberies you participated in with Zarco. You told me before that when you got to Gerona that day you went to sell what you’d stolen. Where did you sell it? Who did you sell it to? Because I can’t imagine it would have been easy.’
‘Selling it was easy; what wasn’t easy was getting good money for it. There was only one fence in Gerona, or at least only one serious fence, so since he had practically no competition, he did whatever he wanted. He was the General. They called him that because he bragged about having been an officer in the Spanish Foreign Legion; also because he wore long bushy sideburns like a comic-strip general. I only met him three or four times. He lived in an Andalusian-style house in the middle of an open field in Torre Alfonso XII and he was a peculiar guy, although maybe the peculiar thing was him and his wife as a couple. I clearly remember the afternoon we went to sell him the loot from La Montgoda, which was the first time I saw him. As I told you before, it might have been the same afternoon as the robbery, but it might have been another, because we often stashed what we stole and took a few days to sell it. As a precaution. The thing is that day we – Zarco, Tere, Guille and I, the same ones who’d gone to La Montgoda – went that day, parked the car in front of the General’s house and Zarco went to the door and soon came back and announced that the General was busy although his wife said he’d soon be finished and we could go in shortly. They want to fuck with the guys who are with the General, Zarco said. Guille and Tere laughed; I didn’t get the joke, but didn’t think anything of it either. Between the four of us we carried all the stuff into the house guarded by the General’s wife, a skinny, scraggy woman, with vague eyes, messy hair and a grey housecoat. When we went out to the yard we saw the General and a couple of men at one side in front of a large cardboard box with a radio-cassette player sticking out of it. The men looked angry when they saw us and immediately turned their backs. The General seemed to be trying to placate them; he greeted us with a slight nod. We left our load in the middle of the yard (at the other side there was a jumble of bed frames, bicycles, scrapped motorbikes, furniture and appliances), and waited for the General to finish what he was doing. He soon did, and the two men left in a hurry without even looking at us, accompanied by the General and his wife.
‘We were left alone in the yard, and Zarco amused himself by looking through the big cardboard box with the radio-cassette sticking out of it while Guille, Tere and I smoked and talked. A while later the General came back without his wife. He seemed cheerful and relaxed, but before he could say a word Zarco pointed to the gate. Who were those guys?, he asked. The ones who just left?, asked the General. Yeah, answered Zarco. Why do you want to know?, asked the General. Zarco shrugged. No reason, he said. Just wondering what that pair of dickheads were called. The answer didn’t seem to annoy the General. He looked at Zarco with interest and then turned for a second towards his wife, who’d come back out to the yard while they were talking and was standing a few metres away, with her head leaning on one shoulder and hands in the pockets of her housecoat, apparently oblivious to the conversation. The General asked: What’s up, Zarquito? Did you come here to piss me off? Zarco smiled modestly, as if the General was trying to flatter him. Not at all, he said. Then would you mind telling me what you’re talking about?, said the General. Zarco pointed to the cardboard box he’d just looked through. How much did you pay
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