It must have been around seven, the soap opera had finished on a note of suspense, relating, of course to Esmeralda’s reproductive system (if she could be said to have one since, in a sense, she was an exquisite and luxurious reproductive system), and they had switched off the television, when they heard a din rising from below. Someone’s coming, said Elisa, announcing only one of the possibilities, although it was rather early for the guests to start arriving. But as the old saying goes: “Evening’s guests arrive by day.” If they do, she remarked, they’ll get a splendid reception, with half the family asleep. Within seconds she recognized the voices of the children, who didn’t even give them time to get up from their chairs: Juan Sebastián came running in shouting: Look what Aunty Inés brought me, one for each of us, this one’s mine, etc. etc. With urgent sign language Elisa implored him to lower the volume. It was as if the kid had a megaphone in his mouth. Can’t you see the others are sleeping? Yeah, yeah, OK, he conceded impatiently; but they had to understand, he was thinking about the presents. He had already put four toy cars on the table; they were made of plastic and all the same, down to the color: red. Blanca Isabel came in like a whirlwind and pounced. This one’s mine! They started shouting again, inevitably. The eldest child had of course taken the initiative of opening the packet. Each of them seized a car; although the cars were identical, there was an obvious advantage in being able to choose while the other two children were asleep. What a surprise they would get, poor suckers, when they found they could only choose between the two remaining toy cars, which where indistinguishable from the others! Juan Sebastián and Blanca Isabel reveled in their triumph. Elisa went to the door, which had been left wide open, and waited for her sister-in-law, who, influenced somehow by the soap opera’s delaying tactics, or simply because the children had come rocketing up, seemed to take forever to appear. Elisa’s curiosity was particularly piqued because her sister-in-law had arranged to come with her boyfriend, who still hadn’t met the family. If he had come too, it was odd that she couldn’t hear them talking. Or maybe they had stopped to look at the apartments? Maybe she had come early to help, and he’d be turning up later.
At last the extraordinary Inés Viñas made her appearance. Predictably, she had climbed the stairs at a leisurely pace and wasn’t even out of breath. Are you on your own? said Elisa as soon as she saw her. Roberto’s coming later, dear, I came early to give you a hand. But you didn’t need to bother, etc. etc. They gave each other a kiss without interrupting their conversation. You couldn’t find two more typical Chilean women. And seeing them together, it was striking the way they realized the type, almost to the point of caricature. The coincidence was especially notable because they were so physically different. Inés Viñas was quite short and petite. Her skin had a more olive tone; her hair was a shinier black, and her cheeks were sunken (while Elisa Vicuña’s were round and somewhat childlike). She was quite pretty and rather flamboyant, within the demure limits imposed by her family and nationality. She was wearing stylish white sandals, an Indian skirt and a blue cotton tee shirt. And long earrings. You look really well. Not as well as you. No you do, really. Come off it, can’t you tell I had a cough? What do you mean, a cough? Like I said, one of these days I’m going to catch pneumonia. She’s so funny this girl, she kills me! Hi Patri! Patri was extraordinarily Chilean too. Seeing the three of them together made it even more noticeable. You washed your hair? See how awful mine is? Come on, mine’s much worse. I told you to be quiet, you kids! The older children wanted to make off with the toy cars that belonged to the others. No, said Elisa Vicuña, You leave them there. Oh, poor things, said Inés Viñas, I’ll wrap them up again. No, don’t, this little devil ripped the paper. It was already ripped, shrieked the boy. Are they asleep? asked the guest lowering her voice, which, since she was Chilean, was already very soft. Your brother too, said Elisa. The three of them put on highly stylized laughing expressions. They found it seriously funny. Still napping at seven! All right, off you go, said Elisa. Silly of me, wasn’t it. Four exactly the same. I didn’t know what to get them. You shouldn’t have bothered, dear. It wasn’t much of a bother: the same thing for all four! Inés dear, it’s perfect. Before I forget, I brought something for you too, Patricita. For me?! Listen, Elisa, Roberto is going to bring some bottles of wine…. That’s too kind! But you don’t have to, you know, I’m not a little girl any more. Look, it’s just something small. Patri removed the gift with great care from the little paper envelope: it was a bracelet of colored beads. Her pleasure and gratitude soared to indescribable heights. She put it on straight away, and it looked very nice on her. What a cute bracelet! They moved on to more general topics. How about this heat? said Inés Viñas. It doesn’t let up, does it? asked and confirmed her sister-in-law. There must be a bit of breeze here, though. Don’t you believe it. Isn’t there? Well, yes, but only sometimes. That was understandable. What I can’t understand, said Inés, is why you came to live in this birdcage. They laughed.
Meanwhile, the children had woken up. A bit of crying and moaning: here we go, said Elisa Vicuña. She went into the bedroom and came back with the two little monsters, one under each arm, naked and crying, covered with perspiration. Their aunt gave them a kiss, laughing at the way they were carrying on. She had an easy manner with children, which calmed them down, and even these little ones were alert to the word “present.” The two toy cars had been wrapped up again, and the parcel was on the table. A little bath first, said Elisa. I’ll give you a hand. No, don’t worry, it won’t take long…. you’ll see…. I’ll just give them a splash…. She went into the bathroom and poured some water over the children, which woke them up properly. Patri, she called from the bathroom: Go and tell the others to come for their snack. Patri went out. Hey, is Javier coming? In a minute, said Elisa. With the whole family. The two children, with wet hair, were deposited on top of the table, and Ernesto began to open the parcel. Aunt Inés cuddled them. The little girl was so tiny and sweet. She’s always smiling, isn’t she! She’s lovely! Elisa was preparing something in the kitchen. How can I help? asked her sister-in-law. I’m fine, in a minute I’ll give you their shoes and you can put them on. Where are they? Hold on, said Elisa, heading for the bedroom, I’ll get them for you now. As she took the children’s shoes, Inés said: And that man is still asleep, is he? Uh huh, like a log, takes a fair bit to wake him up. The two older children came in. You haven’t gone and broken the cars already, have you? said their mother. No, no! See! They displayed them, intact. Patri had come in quietly and was looking at the bracelet on her wrist. Inés Viñas finished putting on the children’s shoes, and told them each to sit on a chair, with their red toy cars, if they liked (but the best thing, said Juan Sebastián, is crashing them), while their mother poured them each a big glass of milk. So you must have bought a fridge, said Inés, looking at the glasses…. No, no. They’re going to lend us one. This is special milk, it keeps without a fridge. Oh yes, I know, said Inés.