The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño Page B

Catalan.
    "Okay then, Quim," I said with a smile of relief, even happiness. "My name is Juan."
    "No, I'd better keep calling you García Madero," he said. "That's what everybody calls you."
    Then he walked partway through the yard with me (he had taken my arm). Before he let me go, he said that María had told him what happened yesterday.
    "I appreciate it, García Madero," he said. "There aren't many young men like you. This country is going to hell, and I don't know how we're going to fix it."
    "I just did what anyone would have done," I said, a little tentatively.
    "Even the young people, who in theory are our hope for change, are turning into potheads and sluts. There's no way to solve the problem; revolution is the only answer."
    "I agree completely, Quim," I said.
    "According to my daughter, you behaved like a gentleman."
    I shrugged my shoulders.
    "A few of her friends-but there's no point getting into it, you'll meet them," he said. "In some ways, it doesn't bother me. A person has to get to know people from all walks of life. At a certain point you need to steep yourself in reality, no? I think it was Alfonso Reyes who said that. Maybe not. It doesn't matter. But sometimes María goes overboard, wouldn't you say? And I'm not criticizing her for that, for steeping herself in reality, but she should
steep
herself, not
expose
herself, don't you think? Because if one steeps oneself too thoroughly, one is at risk of becoming a
victim
. I don't know whether you follow me."
    "I follow you," I said.
    "A victim of reality, especially if one has friends who are-how to put it-magnetic, wouldn't you say? People who innocently attract trouble or who attract bullies. You're following me, aren't you, García Madero?"
    "Of course."
    "For example, that Lupe, the girl the two of you saw yesterday. I know her too, believe me, she's been here, at my house, eating here and spending a night or two with us. I don't mean to exaggerate, it was just one or two nights, but that girl has
problems
, doesn't she? She attracts problems. That's what I meant when I was talking about magnetic people."
    "I understand," I said. "Like a magnet."
    "Exactly. And in this case, what the magnet is attracting is something bad, very bad, but since María is so young she doesn't realize and she doesn't see the danger, does she, and what she wants is to
help
. Help those in need. She never thinks about the risks involved. In short, my poor daughter wants her friend, or her acquaintance, to give up the life she's been leading."
    "I see what you're getting at, sir-I mean Quim."
    "You see what I'm getting at? What am I getting at?"
    "You're talking about Lupe's pimp."
    "Very good, García Madero. You've put your finger on it: Lupe's pimp. Because what is Lupe to him? His means of support, his occupation, his office; in a word, his job. And what does a worker do when he loses his job? Tell me, what does he do."
    "He gets angry?"
    "He gets
really
angry. And who does he get angry at? The person who did him out of a job, of course. No question about it. He doesn't get angry at his neighbor, though then again maybe he does, but the first person he goes after is the person who lost him his job, naturally. And who's sawing away at the floor under him so that he loses his job? My daughter, of course. So who will he get angry at? My daughter. And meanwhile at her family too, because you know what these people are like. Their revenge is horrific and indiscriminate. There are nights, I swear, when I have terrible dreams"-he laughed a little, looking at the grass, as if remembering his dreams-"that would make the strongest man's hair stand on end. Sometimes I dream that I'm in a city that's Mexico City but at the same time it isn't Mexico City, I mean, it's a strange city, but I recognize it from other dreams-I'm not boring you, am I?"
    "Hardly!"
    "As I was saying, it's a vaguely strange and vaguely familiar city. And I'm wandering endless streets trying to find a hotel or a