Chapter 5: Joachim’s visit to the valley

Saturday 27.07.2019

The next few days were particularly busy. In addition to our daily lessons for the students, there was a lot to harvest and plant. Winter was very pleasant this year. We did have a single day of frost. We emptied the last of the containers at the ore processing plant. Some of the tinned food that was stored had been already past their sell-by date but could still be used. One shrink-wrapped pallet contained several boxes of white asparagus, red cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. We were well supplied with fresh vegetables, but these tins could add to the kitchen if they were still edible.

In another container we found toy cars, small three-wheeled scooters for children aged 2 and over, trucks with trailers, pedal cars and much more. Three years ago, we didn’t need these things and stored them in the container, but now they have been very useful for our kindergarten.

Later I sent for Luisa and Alejandra. The supply of pots, pans, cutlery, and kitchen utensils that we found was enormous. After the two cooks had covered their needs, I wanted to distribute the rest to the villagers. Luisa just said, “Make sure there are no arguments. Even if you don’t believe it, everyone is jealous of each other when it comes to these things. Everyone wants the best”.

Following her advice, Priya and Mayari devised a special distribution system. We put one copy of each item on three boxes arranged like a table. We had ten of some and only a few of others. Alejandra had brought all fifteen women from the village to the container warehouse. Priya had prepared little pieces of paper with the numbers 1-15 on them. Each woman was allowed to pick a number. Then the distribution began. It was childish really, but the women were excited and looked greedy. They hadn’t seen so many treasures in a long time.

Coincidentally, it was Luisa’s mother, Djamila, who had the first choice. She took a large cooking pot. Each item was immediately put back on the display until the supply was used up. The five pots were distributed first. Then came the large woks, several sets of cutlery, sieves, ladles, scoops, knife sets and other utensils. In the end, each woman had received five items. Even though they were for free, some looked grumpy. Everyone would have liked a big pot or one of the big pans. I had not expected so much jealousy, especially as they could borrow the utensils from each other in the future. Fortunately, Luisa had pointed out to me that I should make everyone feel that the distribution of the gifts was fair.

Priya had made a note of all the items that had been distributed. We now knew what the Indio women valued most and planned to add any missing items later. Nevertheless, we had fun after the women had brought their gifts to the village. Priya grinned. “Djamila can cook for everyone with that huge pot, but she lives alone in her hut.”

And Mayari added, “Now we can always eat at Emma’s. She is alone, but she has stainless steel cutlery for six.”

When the fun seemed to never end and the stupidity got worse, I had to step in. “Guys, the women didn’t have anything new for three years. Don’t laugh at them. They have suffered as much as you. They often lacked the most basic necessities. I understand how horny the women were after each piece.”

The teenagers understood immediately, but they had to suppress a giggle here and there. It was also funny to see how the women didn’t allow each other anything. One thing was clear to me: when we distribute things in the future, we should buy the same thing for each hut. Fortunately, we had kept some kitchen utensils in case more families came down from the mountains. I had reserved two sets of cutlery and a set of plates for Enzo and Juan’s families. They simply needed a few more things for their large families than the single widows.

Olivia had taken on the task of compiling a complete list of all the inhabitants of the valley of Peruvian nationality. When she proudly handed me the complete list, she rewarded me with a passionate kiss. It was almost like a courtship for a future partnership. Olivia had given birth to our Nicolas on 28 February. Another pregnancy would be too much for her body. Besides, I wasn’t ready, but how could I tell her that in a loving but firm way? I just said, “Please, Olivia. You turn me on. Men are terribly easy to seduce. But I will have no more children, not with you, you lovely little devil, and not with any of the other girls.”

She just laughed. “We’ll see. As you always said, ‘Children are the best thing we do, and it’s a lot of fun to do it, too,’ right?”

She got a light slap on her sweet bottom. “Don’t make me emasculate myself,” I laughed. “After Heidy’s and Willka’s births, we’ll soon have forty little ones in the valley. How are we going to look after any more children?”

“You’ll see, everything will be fine. The ten new ones alone want to have a baby soon, and of course I want one too, almost all of the ten new ones and the girls from the mountain village want a child, even little Ana is talking about it, and four of our young mothers have admitted to me that another child should follow. Maybe there will be more, you will see, our group is so strong. We can do it”.

“You’re driving each other crazy. I have completely different plans, Olivia. It would be very important to me if we could send three to six of the older students to Trujillo for their high school diploma. Later, they will study and help you to create a better country for the Indios. You will work as Carmen’s assistant; get to know the administration and later work in the provincial administration. What is more important: having more and more children or a better education and a better future for all the people of Peru?”

She looked at me thoughtfully. “You meant it when you promised to help me make a better life for the Indios, didn’t you?”

“When I speak to you, dear Olivia, I always mean it seriously, only sometimes do I allow myself a bit of fun. You won’t believe it, but I dreamed that in eleven years you would win the presidential election in your home country. Olivia, you as a descendant of the Incas, incredible, you could be the first female president of Peru, I’m almost sure of it”.

First, she stared at me thoughtfully, and then she tapped her head in a European manner. “You’re crazy, Michael. I never will. I don’t want to either.”

“Then nothing will change here in the country. Almost the entire administration is made up of descendants of the Spanish conquerors. They despise you; after the military conflicts with the ‘Shining Path’, many people hate all Indios. In addition, many officials are corrupt and look after their own interests. Something fundamental has to change, otherwise nothing will change. The poor will remain poor, the Indio will remain a second-class citizen unless you intervene and become president.

“You’re probably right, but I’m still a teenager and I don’t have a good education. I can’t do that. No, it’s not possible.”

“Olivia, think of your singing and your speech in the park. People recognised you immediately and loved you. You have no idea how much strength there is in you, in our ‘Mama Olivia’. Trust me. A great time is coming for all of us.”

As she continued to shake her head in doubt, I kissed her briefly, pulled her close and whispered in her ear: “Mama Olivia! - Mama Olivia! - That will be our rallying cry. We can make it. Start dreaming about it.”

Leonie had taken new photos of the Inca treasure for me with my cell phone somewhere high up in the mountains. There were five small, intricately carved wooden poles with knotted cords attached to them that she had taken from the shrine. There were other knotted cords, but the real treasure was the many cords in the shrine. At my desk, I prepared a few sheets of paper describing Nuria’s legacy. I planned to present this declaration to the provincial government of Trujillo next week. As a first special gesture, we wanted to show our willingness to hand over ten of the remaining knotted cords for scientific purposes on behalf of the Indios.

We also needed an overview of our residents in the palazzo. With Ramona’s permission, Esther prepared the lists of those born in the valley. Esther made a separate list for each year and discussed with the mothers what third name, i.e. middle name, the children should be given, as was customary and perhaps even mandatory in Peru.

Just as we were discussing and checking the lists, the siren went off in the village. Soon all the sirens were blaring. What was going on again? I immediately grabbed a submachine gun. Sula ran to our jeep armed, while I tried to find out the reason for the alarm over the radio. Olivia finally told me that a young man on a motorcycle was standing at our driveway. She had stayed in cover, but it could be the tall boy from the German consul.

And that’s exactly how it was. I greeted Joachim in a friendly manner. His first question was whether we had any petrol. In San Huano there was only diesel. He would have covered the last two kilometres downhill to us without any petrol. Unfortunately, we couldn’t help him. We only had diesel in stock.

“What are you doing here, Joachim?”

“You invited me, Mr. Berthier. Here I am. Where can I find Babette?”

“She works in the guesthouse. Did you come especially for her?”

The consul’s son nodded, blushing slightly. I went to the Casa with him. Babette was working with Ananda in the potato field today. Later they were going to pick tomatoes. The boy’s greeting to Babette was almost worthy of a couple in love. The kiss showed me that they must have practised at the consulate that evening. There was obviously a modern day Romeo and Juliet drama going on here, hopefully with a happy ending.

After a few minutes I found out that his parents didn’t know he was visiting us. After some hesitation, he agreed to let me tell his father. His mother answered the phone and was taken aback. I quickly explained that Joachim had run out of petrol and hadn’t been able to get any from us. Eventually, we agreed that he could stay with us for the night. His parents would pick him up the next day. Joachim thanked me politely but was deep in thought. Perhaps it was only now that he realised the trouble he had caused his parents.

I had given Babette time off work after seeing what the visit meant to the two young people. She could hardly wait to take him around and show him everything. I joked, “Don’t be unfaithful to me, Beth.”

She quickly said, “I’ve thought about it several times. Joachim is going to be my husband.”

When he nodded in agreement, pulled her towards him and kissed her passionately in front of me, I was completely taken aback. They had only seen each other once, perhaps twenty minutes alone in his parents’ garden, and that must have been when a great love had developed. But they were a perfect match in height and character. His eyes had lit up with joy when Babette solved all his maths problems effortlessly, even though she had never attended a proper school.

Babette first took him to our kindergarten, where her son Felix was being looked after. Fahsai later told me how excited Joachim was about Babette’s really great son. Felix was only one year old, and he pulled himself up into the playpen and walked upright. He made a lot of noises and also imitated some of the other children’s noises. He could say ‘mama’, ‘papa’, and ‘meow’ quite well. He still wore nappies, but his nappies rarely got wet. He made a point of being noticed when he needed to go potty. He was a really good fit for us.

Babette came back for lunch with her Joachim. She introduced him to all the girls. Her voice and eyes told me how happy she was. I had to try to make sure she wouldn’t be disappointed in the future. The son of a German diplomat was certainly not destined to marry a young mother of two, but I was happy for Beth to have this weekend together.

On Saturdays at around four in the afternoon, Luisa and Ramona almost always drank coffee with me on the terrace. Today I had invited the young love to join us. Qesra served us brilliantly. Joachim was a miracle to her. She kept looking at him in awe, then kissed Babette on the cheek and whispered something to her about happiness. Joachim spoke admiringly words about our life here. Everyone was so nice and happy. He would love to stay with us.

I gave Babette the task of preparing room 9 in the Casa for the visitor. “Can I make both beds?” she begged me.

“That’s no problem. Of course you can sleep in the room with him. But I have two conditions: 1. You talk to Dr Liebknecht beforehand about what you should take into account, because you’re almost six months pregnant. And 2. I’d be very grateful if Mr and Mrs Schmidt didn’t find out tomorrow that you’re sharing a room. That would certainly be a problem for Joachim and all of us.

Before I could even look, she jumped up to me full of gratitude and kissed me on the mouth.

I suggested that they go to the village before dinner and watch the girls play sports later. After two hours, I realised with a smile that they had only just managed to see the end of the sports lesson. Who knows where they had been hanging out in love? Babette told me that evening that they had been to my old favourite place and had missed the time there. I didn’t even know that the girls had rebuilt the place, which had been washed away by the flood.

But Babette worried me. When I tried to explain to her that she had to be careful with Joachim, because he certainly had no sexual experience, she laughed at me. “I have discussed this with Mrs Liebknecht. I’m not going to overpower him, but I want to bind him to me in a loving way. I hope that cleared everything up.”

After dinner, I called Joachim into my office. “Is everything all right, Joachim?”

“Great. I’m really impressed with you.”

“That will definitely change now. We need to call your parents again.”

“Sure. It definitely has to be.”

“You speak. But we only have 2 or 3 minutes left to talk.”

This time his father replied. “Hello. It’s me, Achim. I’m in paradise. It’s fantastic here. Can you please bring some petrol? There was no petrol for my motorbike anywhere”. This is how I understand his German words.

When his father simply said that it wouldn’t work the way his son had done it, Joachim gave me the phone. He didn’t want to argue. We explained that they had to ride carefully, especially on the last steep stretch. Mr Schmidt thanked me. They would arrive here tomorrow shortly before noon, and the call was cut off. Unfortunately, the day’s telephone time was up.

The boy looked at me. “That didn’t sound good. My father is really angry with me.”

“I would be, too. Imagine if you had gas and ran away from here with Babette. I would be terrified for both of you, but especially for Babette.”

He looked at me firmly. “Neither of us would ever do that.”

“So thought your father. Diplomats’ children are often taken hostage in order to extort money or other things.”

“Hmm. Maybe that’s true. Unfortunately, you adults are almost always right.”

“Joachim, you’re not a child anymore. You have to realize that yourself and act accordingly.” He nodded sheepishly.

“Come on, let me hug you. I’ve never hugged a young man before. You’re a great exception. I like you and am happy for Babette, even if your relationship won’t last.”

“Yes, it will. I’m very serious, and so is Babette. She’s so smart and so sweet. I can’t imagine anyone else as my girlfriend.”

“You’re very well suited to each other. But your parents will have something against it.”

He nodded thoughtfully again. “Somehow, I’ll tell them that I’ll stay in Peru if my father leaves here.”

“Joachim, you are such a smart young man. You have to finish your high school diploma first and you should definitely study. We just don’t know if we will be tolerated in Peru in the long term. And then what?”

We shook hands and wanted to talk about it tomorrow, preferably with his parents.

“Joachim, you know, Babette is in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Please don’t do anything stupid that could harm her or the child. I trust you.”

This time he hugged me. “Don’t worry. We just want to be together.”

Shortly after dinner, Olivia and Willka told me excitedly that Babette had taken a shower with her visitor in the guesthouse. Then they had snuck into a room. “And?”

Olivia was stunned. “Babette is having a baby with you. She can’t sleep with a stranger. This is not normal.”

“Stop talking, Olivia, what is normal and what is not? When you were pregnant with Rus, we slept together, too. And I think you enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

Olivia looked at her friend unsure. Willka simply said, “I was so happy that Mr Berthier showed me true love, even though I am pregnant with Claudio. As long as our boss knows, everything will be fine.”

While I was having a beer on the terrace, I saw the two young Indio women still talking excitedly to each other. Finally, they came over to me. Olivia asked if they could both sleep with me tonight. “No, Olivia. Mrs Liebknecht told me that you still need a cycle, until you are protected against pregnancy. We are sticking to that. Besides, two young women are too much for me.”

“But one goes? I would be very happy.” Willka looked at me uncertainly. Once again, she had jumped over her shadow, overcome her shyness.

“Willka, please. I know you have one more promised night, but I don’t know what the others will say.”

Olivia supported her friend. “Willka is right. Can she stay with you?”

Willka accompanied me to Luisa and Ramona. Their four children were just listening to a slow Indio song sung by our cook. Of course, they gave us their blessing for the desired night.

We used my shower together. Willka was happy to let me dry her off afterwards. Her youthful body gave me my first feelings of happiness when I gently dabbed the drops of water from her breasts. She obviously enjoyed it and pressed her upper body against my hands. While I was rubbing her legs, she pushed my head to her right breast. The nipple, plump as a magnificent pearl, literally crying out to be caressed. It took only a few seconds until a first excited moan signalled her surging feelings to me.

Tenderly, I laid the beauty on my bed and quickly rubbed myself dry so that the desired game could begin. First, I kissed her belly, which showed little sign of her four-month pregnancy. My warm breath warmed my face as I caressed her navel. My hands wandered over her legs, caressing the insides of her thighs and playfully running over her shame.

Willka gasped loudly as I stroked the front of her vaginal opening for the first time and my middle finger parted her labia. She lifted her body, visibly aroused, where her swollen clitoris now protruded, begging to be touched. At first, I wanted to wait a little longer, knowing how sensitive her pleasure nerve was, but Willka directed my mouth to her most sensitive spot. She was longing for pleasure, for her first climax. When my lips and tongue touched her there, caressing the impressively large tricker point, it swelled even more, loosening itself from its sheath, stretching towards my mouth.

Now it was a piece of cake to give her a first orgasm. Willka put a pillow over her face so as not to make the whole house share in her pleasure, which made her even more out of breath. Of course, I gave her time to recover, but I kept one hand on her vagina to enjoy the vibrations of her body. It was as if she was breathing with her vulva. Her belly rose and fell in pleasure as you rarely see in a woman.

When she removed the pillow from her face, she was gasping for breath, as if she had just completed a long sprint. I tenderly kissed a few drops of sweat from her forehead, stroked her hair, and enjoyed her sweet smile. Yes, that wonderful smile had enchanted me the first time we met, but today it was even more intense, extremely loving. At that moment, I was proud of myself, how this woman gave herself to me, to me, an old man, who could have been her father. For a moment, I was annoyed with myself, I felt an inner superiority, a certain arrogance that probably only a man is capable of.

Immediately, I realised how inappropriate this feeling was, I was even a little ashamed, but these dull thoughts were lost at the sight of her body stretching and stretching, longing for more love, offering herself to me for the real act of love. “You are so sweet, Willka, so incredibly wonderful,” I whispered to her, as if to apologise for my inappropriate thoughts.

She closed my mouth with her lips, gnawing briefly on my lower lip. Her tongue searched for an affectionate partner and quickly found one. During an intimate kiss, she pressed her upper body more and more against me. Suddenly, she spread her thighs, apparently wanting to join me in this way, but I was afraid to penetrate her too deeply. At first, she did not understand my intention when I tried to turn her on to me, but soon she was lying with her back to me. I leaned my body against the headboard of my bed and pulled her up. Of course she took my erection, needed it, closed her legs so she could feel me inside her even more. Too much movement was not possible in this position, although my partner tried very hard.

My hands had free rein. I let my fingertips dance over her breasts, my palms circling over her excited nipples now and again. My Willka was getting hot again. Her hip movements became stronger, her buttocks tightening with each movement. She was clearly enjoying the way I was now involved, supporting each of her up and down movements. My mouth stroked her neck and shoulders. She accidentally got a hickey on her neck, but her hair would cover it the next day I hoped.