The Boys. Toni Sala

time staying with any one woman? I must’ve had bad luck. Maybe I needed something special. Like a South American chick. That one’s a total fox. A little short, but grade A stuff. Cindy. Just her name gets your motor running. I’m a good catch . . . well . . . I’m a good catch for her. Where’s she from? Bolivia? Paraguay? Exotic, half Indian, with that accent that . . . She talks like us, but she came from the other side of the world. Who knows why. That’s the problem with chicks. You think two guys could ever be as different as a guy and a girl are?”

      “Look at us.”

      “What’s wrong? I forgive you for being a banker.”

      “Don’t count on ever seeing me again.”

      “Does she have a boyfriend, Cindy?”

      “Cindy is a child.”

      “She’s a fox.”

      “Leave her alone.”

      “Shit. You bankers think you own the world, huh? You’re like civil servants, living like kings at the expense of poor stooges like me and my dad. I bet you have kids. Fuck, I guess you guys have to fill your time somehow. And that potbelly. And that jacket. And deciding who gets close to Cindy and who doesn’t. Unbelievable. What’s wrong, you saw her first or something? My ass. You didn’t even notice her. You have to know how to see girls. It’s not as easy as it looks. It’s something you learn. Now that I’ve spotted her, she’s got you all hot under the collar. Your wife not enough for you, huh? You’ve got some balls. I feel sorry for you, I have to admit. If I were you, I might do the same thing. When I leave here I’m going to see some girlfriends. You wanna come with me?”

      “I can just imagine your girlfriends.”

      “What’s wrong with my friends?”

      “No, thanks.”

      “You haven’t seen them. Don’t be in such a rush. You aren’t made of stone. Look how worked up you got over a little spic piece of ass. They’ve got us by the balls, that’s what I always say. They should teach it at school. Strategies for resisting them. Just like you learn not to piss the bed. They should’ve prepared us when we were little.”

      “Those girls are kidnapped from their countries. Everyone knows that. They drug them, they beat and rape them, they kidnap them, they threaten to kill their families. They’re found dead on the side of the road and they can’t be identified, nobody knows anything about them. They find them destroyed, twenty-year-old girls, on this highway right here.”

      “And if you screw them your dick falls off. You’ve seen too many movies. I’m telling you, none of that is true. It’s not against the law.”

      “Because we pretend they don’t exist.”

      “Well, if they do exist, I guess they have to eat. It’s a business like any other; life is rough for everyone, except the bankers. Don’t look at me like that. I’m a good guy. I’ve never left without paying. I’ve never hit any of them. Now you’re gonna say that other businesses are different. And that, coming from a banker, for fuck’s sake.”

      “Let’s forget about it. But I’d prefer not to see you in Vidreres again.”

      “Now you’re the sheriff again. When I’ve got my shotgun, you want me to lend it to you, or what? You’ve got some balls. You’re threatening me, right? You’re threatening me, right, banker? A fucking coward, threatening me? What the hell were you doing there at the tree? Do you talk to the dead or what? Didn’t you say you didn’t know them? That’s spineless. You think about them to avoid thinking about your own fucking life. I know a few guys like you. Starting with my father, or that old guy by the tree. There was a war, poor him! When he was a kid! And he’s still not over it! Shit, what a good deal. Eighty, ninety years later and he’s still thinking about it. My mother died when I was this tall. You see me crying? Do you? No, we won’t forget about it. Come with me to see the girls. Grow a pair, man. It’s all very well that you want to have balls, banker, but you can’t just talk. Come on, shake a leg. You’ll be a big hit in that suit. Let’s go see them. Right after lunch is a good time. You’ll see, all your hang-ups will disappear, just like that.”