The family
Federico hastened to shave and dress. He put some special effort into his outfit because he wanted to reverse the impression he had given the previous weekend before Cristelle´s friends when he had left in an untimely way after being nearly caught red-handed in the middle of a raw scene of oral sex. In addition, the degree of excitement he had at that time had not allowed him to greet the girls properly.
Cristelle had called the day before to inform him that Chantal, Anabelle and she had decided to invite Federico to dinner that Saturday. That weekend promised to be more formal than the previous one, although from the point of view of Federico´s expectations perhaps less interesting.
He rang the bell on the fifth floor and was responded by the intercom by a voice he recognized as belonging to Chantal. She spoke in French but as she recognized the young man´voice she turned immediately to Castilian.
“I´ll be right down to open up.”
When the woman opened the door Federico noticed that she was well dressed and groomed. He wondered if she would have to leave afterwards or if it was only in honor of his visit. With her hair dress leaving her face clear, the boy saw that Chantal had a very beautiful, intelligent face. Federico gave her a kiss on the cheek and said.
“I brought this bottle of wine, it´s a Cabernet Sauvignon.”
“Well, now we leave it in the kitchen. We shall drink it today.”
Upon entering the apartment the man saw that the three women were in the kitchen. Lourdy was in the living room watching a children show on television. The girl looked at him with her big eyes and smiled.
“Mom says you're coming for dinner tonight.”
“That´s right, I have been invited. Does that makes you happy?”
“Yes. We receive very few visitors at home.”
“Well, being a visitor is better than nothing.” Said the young man to himself. When looking back to the girl he saw that she was swinging on the couch in incredible contortions, showing the flexibility of her slender body.
“Take care! You can fall and get hurt.”
“Do not worry; I'm used to doing exercises here”.
“ Don´t they take you to a park or to a club to do gymnastics?”
“ Mom and Aunt Anabelle are always working.”
So the girl started telling Federico her daily activities on weekdays, reduced to double shifts in school, then doing her homework when she returned to the apartment.
“Are you going to a French school?”
“Yes.”
“ Teaching is in two languages, right?”
“Yes. French in the morning and Castilian in the afternoon.”
“What subjects do you like best?” Asked Federico waiting to receive music or physical activity for an answer.
“History and Geography.” was the unexpected response. At that time Chantal came in the room from the kitchen; she simply proceeded to remove the apron of her elegant attire.
“Lourdy. Lower the volume on the TV. You are deafening Federico”.
The girl turned off the TV, took a tablet that was on the table of the apparatus and went to her room.
“Sorry.” Said Chantal as she sat in the armchair opposite the boy. He could appreciate her sleek silhouette and beautiful legs. “When someone comes to visit us Lourdy takes him or her by assault.”
“ I did not feel it that way at all. She is very entertaining.”
“You are used to dealing with children, right?”
“Yes, I have several nephews, and there in the field we are always in regular contact with neighboring families. Not so in Haiti?”
“ It is a small country and towns and villages are overcrowded. There are no prairies or woods left. Particularly in Cap Haitien, where we come from.”
“ Tell me how are things there.”
Chantal began her narrative with sadness and obviously as she moved on her anxiety increased so that Federico decided to change the course of the conversation.
“I know there are Argentine peacekeepers in Haiti for many years.”
“Yes, but they are in Port au Prince and especially in Gonaives, a troubled place. They are very dear to the people because of the work they carry out. In Cap Haitien there Ecuadorian, Colombian and Chilean soldiers. They have to come from everywhere to prevent Haitians killing each other.” Her voice faltered again so Federico stood up and placed his hand over hers; physical contact calmed her down.
“You're a good man, Federico.”
Determined to change the subject to less depressing things the boy started talking about his own work. At one point he asked.
“I know that you also have a job.”
“ Both Anabelle and I work in international chain hotels to meet contingent of French, Belgian, Canadian tourists as well as from French-speaking African countries. Language is our tool.”
“You both work together?”
“No.” Chantal mentioned the hotels in which each of the girls was working; they were two of the leading hotels in Buenos Aires. “We work long hours, Lourdy spends most of the day alone. I would like to change that.”
She thought for a moment and said.
“But I do not want you to think I'm a depressive person. I have to admit that since we arrived in this country things have improved a lot to us, beginning with Lourdy´s birth. Argentineans do nothing but complain because they do not know how things are elsewhere.”
The conversation then drifted to the subject of the girl´s education and Federico confirmed that it was an expensive school requiring a significant financial sacrifice.
At the time Anabelle entered the room, Chantal excused himself and returned to the kitchen.
“It's my turn.”
'Don`t you feel in the need to take turns to entertain me. I can be all my myself.” He expressed with an ironic tone.
“Is not that. What happens is that if there are many women in the kitchen they end fighting.” Chantal replied with a smile as she was retiring, the first smile the man saw in her lips.
The chat with Anabelle followed an absolutely different course than the previous. Instead of a reserved manner and a little gloomy mood of his sister she was a really outgoing and enthusiastic character. Anabelle spoke Castilian with very little accent and her memories of Haiti were apparently minimal and diffuse. Her interests turned definitely around music, artists and boys in general. Federico recalled a reference Cristelle had made about her as something like a hive of hormones. The boy shrugged and thought.
"Exactly what you would expect of a teenager at this time."
Anabelle repeated a question that had apparently done before and Federico had not heard for being lost in his own thoughts.
“Oh yeah! My musical preferences.” Replied the young man. “Well, as I am from the provinces I like the national folklore, tango and rock. I do not like cumbia and tropical rhythms in general.”
“And electronic music?”
“I don´t know much about it.”
Predictably the boy had to repeat the explanations given to Chantal and prior to Cristelle about his childhood in a provincial town, his move to Buenos Aires and his current job.
“And what do you like most about your work in the hotel.” He asked in turn.
“The contact with people from very diverse backgrounds and interesting experiences ... well, at least compared to others I know. In addition, the luxury and sophisticated atmosphere of the hotel. Everything looks, tastes and smells well there.”
Federico smiled sympathetically by the spontaneity and transparency shown by the girl. On a hunch he asked.
“And ... what do you think of Cristelle?”
The girl attitude shifted from expansion to respect.
“She is very intelligent. She decides what we all do. Were it not for her advice we would be ... lost.”
“And how did you manage to survive since you arrived to the country until you met her?”
“We were drifting in a society so different without knowing what to do.”
Federico was satisfied with the answer, which agreed, although from a different point of view, with what Cristelle herself had expressed and with his own personal observations. The boy thought that the behavior of all players was highly consistent and had no doubt that the resulting image was that of a family, with clearly defined roles. Of course, this included complaints and dissatisfactions. Federico came from a classic rural family, with a clear and strong sense of belonging, that as he migrated to the big city had somewhat faded, but he could recognize it when he saw it in others. In the case of the three women the family consisted of elements not bound by blood but by mutual support. For a moment the desire to belong to this small group of people crossed his mind.
Then finally Cristelle showed up calling to eat. She was dressed in a blouse and shorts with warm colors that enhanced her exuberant thighs and calves. She contrasted with the more demure dress of the Haitian sisters, but Federico reflected that her friend would be sexy with any outfit. He struggled to conceal a rebellious and untimely erection.
After he said goodbye to the family Cristelle accompanied again the boy in the elevator. When she opened the front door the boy happened to watch an empty taxi that was passing by. Without thinking a moment he motioned to stop it, opened the door of the house dragging behind a bewildered Cristelle who still had the building keys in her hand.
“But what are you doing? The girls are waiting for me to go up and will be alarmed if I do not.”
Federico merely give his cell phone telling.
“Here, call them and tell them we went for a walk and you will return in a while.”
The boy gave an address to the driver and after no more than ten blocks the taxi stopped in front of a very discreet hotel for hours. After a quick entry they entered the room allocated to them, and immediately they began to undress each other, with much haste and without unnecessary words. They lay on the bed completely naked and the man entered his lady. Both moved frantically until they came to a stormy climax. The lovers were exhausted and bathed in sweat but remained sexually united. Federico began to caress and kiss the blackened body of the woman to revive the desire in both, culminating in a new exquisite union, without the burn of the first but with more complete sensory stimuli.
“I could finally have you.” Federico exclaimed in a whisper.
“Fool. Who owns whom? “ Saying this she pulled the man off her, placed his head between her thighs and whispered.
“You know what you have to do.”
“But now we have...”
Cristelle simply pushed his head inside her. Federico realized he was being admitted to the family because he was just one more obeying the mandates of the African woman.