The She-Devil in the Mirror by Horacio Castellanos Moya Page B

that Ramírez priest who sometimes says mass at that church. Everybody was
there, even José Carlos, who’s a committed atheist. Only papa wasn’t there,
there’s no way to get him to church. I’ve never seen anybody who hates priests
as much as he does—he doesn’t care if they’re communists, like those Jesuits, or
good ones, like that one Olga María got; as far as he’s concerned, they’re all
the same. My mother always feels sad when she arranges to meet her friends at
church, and she shows up alone, while they all come with their husbands. Did you
see Kati, my dear? She’s gained weight. It must be because of her breakup with
Yuca. I’ve heard they’re getting a divorce, but that’s yet to be seen. I’ve
spoken to Yuca only once since he got back from rehab in Houston. He called me
to ask about Olga María. She refused to take his calls, and that’s how she left
it when she died: once she got an idea in her head, there was no way to make her
change her mind. The poor guy returned with high hopes that Olga María would get
back together with him. He kept at me to convince her that he’d turned over a
new leaf—he was a new man, he said. I didn’t want him to despair, but I told him
it was going to be rough, and he knew how Olga María could be. Then I didn’t
talk to him again until her funeral, and we barely had a chance to say hi. He
was devastated. I’m pretty sure his relationship with Kati has no future, but I
don’t think they’ll divorce. Can you imagine the scandal!? And what Don Federico
would say? Yuca has too much to lose. Kati is Don Federico’s favorite daughter.
I think that’s what’s driving Yuca crazy, why he got so addicted to cocaine—it’s
horrible to have to live with someone you can’t stand. I should know, I’ve
experienced it in the flesh. Luckily I got rid of Alberto as soon as I could.
But poor Yuca, in his political position, with his economic interests, and
everything so tied up with Don Federico, he can’t just tell Kati to get lost,
even though he’d probably like to. I think he already had that figured out and
that’s why he was pursuing the relationship with Olga María, as a kind of life
raft, and it would have been perfect, my dear: to have a mistress you love more
than your wife. Though I’m sure Olga María never dreamed of getting involved in
anything so serious; of that much I’m certain. But now all that’s in the past.
But for Kati it must be horrible, too. If I were her, I’d open my heart to Don
Federico, make him understand that the marriage simply isn’t working out, tell
him once and for all that his relationship with Yuca—his economic and political
support for Yuca—is one thing, and his daughter’s marriage is another thing
altogether. But they say that Don Federico is very domineering, very stubborn,
so probably Kati’s only option is to eat, to calm her nerves, that is. The same
reason Yuca started using cocaine, Kati eats. That’s why she’s so fat. That’s
all I can think of, the only thing that makes any sense. Don’t you agree, my
dear? But Kati is no fool, either. Did you see that baggy dress she was wearing?
Super-elegant, and it did wonders disguising how fat she’s gotten. Why lie?
We’ve never gotten along. She’s too full of herself; all because she’s got so
much more money than somebody else. I also think she knows that Yuca was lusting
after my body. What bothers me most about her is that she never stops talking; I
swear I’ve never known anybody who talks as much as Kati. She thinks everybody
else needs to listen to all her nonsense. She just won’t stop: talk talk talk.
I’ll admit it: everyone talks more than they should sometimes, it even happens
to me once in a while, I get bitten by a talking bug, but I’m small-fry compared
to