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THE NEXT DAY I WENT straight into the matter and asked him:
—Do you know who Fon Franco is?
That day he was dead serious and looked like a college professor.
—Sure, who doesn’t know that, he is a famous writer, he won a Planeta prize.
—And Raul Pisces?
—Pisces is another famous writer who won the Planeta.
—And Roberto Bolaño?
—Coach of Atletico Madrid.
—Very good. And Cesar Aira?
—President of the Dominican Republic.
—And Esther Bendahan?
—Another writer who won the Planeta.
—And Mois Benarroch?
—Another Planeta.
—And Adolfo García Ortega?
—Fan of Real Madrid.
—What’s the name of your wife?
—Pedales.
—What about your son?
—Magallanes.
—What’s your name?
—As always.
—And what is your name?
—Como, it’s an abbreviation of Giacomo.
—Surname.
—Siempre. Spanish for Sempervirens, the Cypress. Called Cupressus Sempervirens. It means always green.
—Capo Verde.
—That’s it. Very green.
—How long have you been here?
—Some time now, and I was just leaving, I have many chores to do, and I have the whole accounting of this institute on my shoulders.
He left. I went and did not see Eva. As I was passing through the main gate, the guard greeted me, saying Sir and Miss.
I walked a few steps and saw a woman standing next to me. Young, slim, athletic.
—Thanks, she said.
—That, well, that’s nothing.
—Thanks for helping me out.
—I did not help you at all.
—Yes, you did, the guard thought we were a couple.
—Maybe.
—He did. So thank you.
—We walked and talked, and she continued.
—As a reward for how good you are, if you want you can fuck me.
I thought that I did not understand what she had said. She looked very good, but at my age she was not the kind the women who was on my radar of sexual intentions. Maybe she was another psychiatric case. Seeing my surprise, she said.
—I am an alien.
—Then it’s a better reason.
—What? –She asked.
We were passing by the Aromatic and I could not decide whether to invite her for a coffee or not.
—I don’t know. How about having a coffee?
—Fine.
We sat in a noisy street corner coffee shop with its, cold modern decor. We sat inside, although it was a sunny day, in order to avoid the noise.
—Want some ice cream? –I asked.
—No, I want some coffee.
—We ordered two coffees.
—Have you heard of the guy I spoke to at the clinic?
—Just another crazy guy. Somewhat rude.
—But you are completely nuts too.
—No, I am an alien.
—From what planet?
—I was born here, thousands of years ago, but my parents come from another planet, well, my grandparents, but we scarcely reproduce, one descendant in a thousand years or so, and we live for thousands of years, nobody in our family has died since I was born.
—It must be hard. I know it because of my mother in law: there is no way to make her die and she is only 98 years old.
—Well, no, it’s a matter of getting used to it, you will see it when you start living for 300 years, I do not know whether we will let you, because we need you dead in order to survive.
—Good alien you are.
—Don’t you eat your chickens and cows? We also get our foods from humans, but don’t worry, we don’t eat you, what we need is your memories. We have no memory, so when someone dies we take his or her memories, that’s the reason we keep your race alive. Each of us needs one dead person per day, and that is why you keep multiplying. Such is nature.
—I am a vegetarian.
—Anyway, plants are not so different from you, but they have no memories, not like yours, and don’t be so sure man is so different from a chicken or a cypress.
—And how come we are not aware of your existence?
—Some of you are aware, but people cannot believe that we exist, so they do not see us. Well, almost never. I like to play with that, those of my race don’t like it too much, we do not mix much, we live in the sea, a hundred miles under the sea, I am the one who brings the memories, because I like talking to humans.
—But you have a human body?
—Don’t be so sure, I can make you see in me whatever I want, for example if I go to the woman who is there I can make her see the man of her dreams, would you like to see it?
She did not wait for my answer and went to talk to that woman. I saw two women talking, they exchanged about five sentences, and all I understood was that she was waiting for someone but she gave her mobile number and scratched her back and I could see at once she was a woman in love, very nervous, she played with her hair, and she touched her chest with her hands. At other times, we used to describe those girls with the words: ‘Ready for a fuck,’ I think Pisces likes that expression. It is something I never in my life was able to implant in a woman. I wish I could, but I have only seen it in other couples.
She returned to the table as the single woman’s date came in. She stared at us from time to time.
—You see, she is convinced that I am a man.
—Or a lesbian, or bisexual.
—None of that, you can ask her.
The Beautiful Brandy... suddenly I remembered the book of Pisces, Franco.
—What?
—It’s the title of a book. – I remembered the title.
—A little weird, right? She said.
—Do you read?
—A lot. It is a way of eating memories. When you read it is easier to digest and absorb human memories. It’s what you would call a catalyst.
—Oh yeah, I forgot that.
—Look, I have to go, I have to go through the morgue and hospitals and bring memories to my people. However, if you are interested - my offer still stands. She got up creating a triangle in which she saw me and the other woman, and facing us both of us at once.
—See you tomorrow.
I did not even ask her what her name was.