LA CHUNGA: Then don’t you insult me.
EL MONO: Take no notice of him, Chunguita. You’ve got to make allowances. He’s from the Gallinacera, remember.
JOSE: It’s a pity you’re always so bad-tempered, Chunga. Specially with us, who are so fond of you. You know you’re our lucky mascot.
(EL MONO gets up without his friends noticing and approaches LA CHUNGA.)
EL MONO: These tykes are always getting under your skin, aren’t they, Chunga? You’ve got to forgive them — they’re just a bunch of ignoramuses. But I always behave myself, don’t I? I hope you’ve noticed that. I don’t upset you, or make fun of you — and I don’t join in when they’re annoying you either. I love you very much, Chunga.
LA CHUNGA: (Looking at him compassionately) You don’t have to put on that good-little-boy act with me. What’s the point? I’m going to give you a good time, whatever you do. Come, give me your hand.
(She takes his hand and leads him to the staircase. She goes up with him. He looks happy; his eyes have lit up, like a child who’s about to satisfy a burning ambition. The superstuds carry on gambling with El Mono’s ghost.)
A naughty little boy
MECHE: Hello, Monito.
EL MONO: Hello, Meche.
LA CHUNGA: Come in, don’t be afraid, we’re not going to hurt you.
EL MONO: I know you’re both very kind.
MECHE: Come and sit down here, beside me.
(EL MONO sits on the bed, next to MECHE. LA CHUNGA sits on the other side. The two women treat EL MONO as if he were a spoilt child, and he too, in his expression and behaviour, seems to have regressed to childhood. A sigh escapes him. And another. It would appear something is preying on his mind, something he would like to share with them, but doesn’t dare.)
LA CHUNGA: Relax, make yourself at home. Now what’s on your mind? Don’t be shy, you’re the boss. Your wish is our command.
MECHE: We’re here to please you in whatever way we can. Now, what turns you on?
LA CHUNGA: Do you want us to do a striptease for you, Monito?
MECHE: Want us to dance together naked, just for you?
EL MONO: (Hiding his face in horror) No. No. Please.
LA CHUNGA: (Pointing at the bed) Would you like us to go to bed together, the three of us, with you in the middle?
MECHE: Like us to stroke you, until you shout, ‘Stop, stop, I can’t stand any more?’
LA CHUNGA: Do you want us to pose for you?
EL MONO: (Laughing, very nervously) Don’t joke like that, please, it embarrasses me. (Overcome by a sudden attack of melancholy) You’re such good people, Chunga, Mechita. I’m sorry I’m behaving like this, but I’m not like you. I … I’m a shit.
LA CHUNGA: Don’t say that. It’s not true.
MECHE: A bit of a clown, perhaps. But you’re a good boy really, Monito.
EL MONO: You’re wrong. I’m not good at all. I’m one of the worst, filthiest little boys around. And don’t try and tell me I’m not. You see, the trouble is, neither of you really knows. If I were to tell you …
LA CHUNGA: Come on then, tell us.
MECHE: You want us to comfort you? Is that what you want?
EL MONO: I don’t want to force you into anything. Only if you insist …
(LA CHUNGA makes him rest his head on her lap. EL MONO curls up like a frightened child.)
LA CHUNGA: Come on, rest your head here. Make yourself comfortable.
MECHE: (In a soft, caressing voice) Tell us, Monito.
EL MONO: (Nervously, and with great difficulty) I didn’t even realize what I was doing. I was very young, a little boy in short trousers.
LA CHUNGA: Are you talking about what happened with the little girl next door? Don
a Jesusa’s daughter.
EL MONO: I was only a little boy. Do little boys act sensibly?
MECHE: Of course not, Monito. So, carry on. I’ll help you. You were keeping watch — waiting for Dona Jesusa to go out to the market, to her vegetable stall …
LA CHUNGA: And when she came out, you went into her house without anyone seeing you. Jumping over the bamboo fence by the banana plantation. Wasn’t that it?
EL MONO: Yes. And there she was, squatting down, milking the goat. She was squeezing its teats. Like this. And she wasn’t wearing any knickers, Chunga! I swear it!
MECHE: Don’t worry, we believe you. So you saw everything.
EL MONO: Or rather she showed me everything, Mechita. Why else would she be knickerless? Why else would she be? So that people would see her little thing, so that she could show it off to the men.
LA CHUNGA: Do you mean that she provoked you, Monito? Then you’re not to blame for anything. She was asking for it, the dirty brazen little hussy.
MECHE: Is that what you wanted to tell us? That it was all her fault?
EL MONO: (Sadly) Well, no. I was a little bit to blame, too. I mean I did sneak secretly into Dona Jesusa’s house, didn’t I? That’s what burglars do, isn’t it?
LA CHUNGA: But you didn’t go in to steal anything, Monito.
EL MONO: No. I just went in to see the girl.
MECHE: Did you want to see her naked?
EL MONO: I was only small, you understand. I didn’t know what I was doing. I couldn’t yet tell the difference between right and wrong.
LA CHUNGA: But you had a knife, this long, Mono. Remember?
EL MONO: I remember.
MECHE: Didn’t you feel sorry for the girl? Not even when she smiled at you, thinking that it was just an innocent little prank.
EL MONO: It was an innocent little prank. But she had no knickers on, Meche. She provoked me. She led me on …
LA CHUNGA: (Admonishing him, not very severely) Come on, tell us the truth, Monito. She did have knickers on. You made her take them off.
MECHE: By threatening to kill her. Yes or no, Monito?
EL MONO: Well, perhaps. It’s a long time ago now. I’ve forgotten.
LA CHUNGA: Lies. You haven’t forgotten. You tore off her dress and ordered her to take down her knickers. And when she did, you saw what you wanted to see. Isn’t that it, Monito?
EL MONO: (Ashamed) Yes, Chunguita.
MECHE: And you fondled her, didn’t you? And you felt her all over. Yes or no?
EL MONO: (Distressed) But I didn’t rape her, Meche. I swear to Almighty God I didn’t rape her. Not that.
LA CHUNGA: You didn’t rape her? Well, what did you do then? Doesn’t it come to the same thing?
EL MONO: (Laughing) How can it be the same thing! Don’t be silly, Chunga. (Lowering his voice and lifting a finger to his lips, going shhht! shhht! as if he were going to reveal a great secret) I put it up her little one, don’t you see? But she remained intact where it counted. There wasn’t a blemish, not even a scratch, it was all in one piece for her husband to break on the night of his wedding. It’s a very important distinction. Ask Padre García if you like. ‘If the hymen isn’t broken, I’ll absolve you. But if it is, there’s no excuse, you little so-and-so, you’ll have to marry Jesusa’s little girl.’ Well, she didn’t marry me, in other words … You women keep your honour in that tiny little treasure chest — that’s why you must protect it, tooth and nail. But we men, on the other hand, keep our honour round the other side. And woe betide anyone who gets it up his little one, because bingo, he’s buggered for the rest of his life. (LA CHUNGA and MECHE look at him, teasing and silent — and he becomes sad and remorseful. He sits up.)