Chapter 4

In March we had three birthdays in a row, Carmen on the 14th, Zarina on the 16th and Esther on the 17th of March. It was the coldest day so far on which we wanted to hold the joint celebration, on March 17th. Actually, it was autumn in the Andes, normally the best weather conditions, but the wind whistled icily from the icy mountains through the valley. In the morning there had been hoarfrost in the back of the valley. Now a few isolated snowflakes were dancing in our garden and in front of the house.

According to our previous experience, it made sense to celebrate on Saturdays, but we had not expected a temperature of perhaps only 12° C in the house. There were no heating or heating appliances. We also lacked jackets and long-sleeved sweaters. Everyone froze. The best place for everyone was the bed, to feel a little more comfortable under the warming duvet.

In the Palazzo basement there were two washing machines working and a tumble dryer for cleaning the underwear of the girls and women. The temperature down here was more pleasant anyway due to the exhaust air of the cold rooms, and with now 22° C it was much more suitable for the stay of the girls and ladies. But how should we celebrate down here? There was little space and not exactly clean. Four girls nevertheless brought the music system and the speakers down, reinstalled them. Already the desired rhythms were running, while everyone was making order.

In the meantime, I had brought a hot air blower from the container warehouse. If we were to leave the cellar door open later, the warm air from the cellar could perhaps warm our house a little. However, I had no idea if this could have any effect. Anyway, we were all pleasantly warm down here for the first time in days.

Isabella fetched two hotplates from the unused village huts. So, Luisa was able to warm up the prepared soup and sausages and thus make the large cellar room even more comfortable.

Eight of my young ladies had rearranged the food still stored on the pallets behind the stairs, sugar, and salt to the kitchen warehouse on the ground floor, the rest were taken to the empty shelves in basement 3 and 4. Everything was wrapped and scrubbed. The basement floor was extremely well coated with epoxy resin and was smooth and luminous light blue with incorporated dark blue grain. It was shining now. Immediately Mayari came to me with the proposal to use the basement like a sports hall in bad or too cold weather. For this, only the two extra-long shelves would have to be dismantled. She was right, and we also needed a larger room for future celebrations if it was too cold upstairs.

In no time Priya, Mayari, Babette, and Sula were there, distributing the now few goods to the other shelves, unscrewing the screws and carrying the shelves to the terrace. Priya had made the suggestion to use one of the shelves for the mostly dirty shoes. Under the canopy of the terrace in the future, everyone should change her shoes. Said it, done it.

Why am I telling this in such detail? My thirteen-year-old companions had developed into young workers and managers. The girls always had new ideas and diligently realized them. Every week there were suggestions on how we could improve our lives. I even agreed with some of the suggestions, although I doubted their meaning. The young ladies were very critical, but also self-critical, and corrected things that turned out to be not practical.

Now it was time again. Smiling, I watched the eagerness of the girls and some excited discussion about how what would be best or succeed. I would have liked to push and cuddle everyone. When Ramona and Luisa came to us in the almost finished cellar, I whistled loudly as before during an upcoming house tour. Everyone immediately looked at me, some even a little scared.

“You don’t know how much I love you. You have conquered my heart again today. On behalf of you, I express my thanks to our two expecting mothers.” This was not in the interest of the girls at all. Confident, expectant, full of pride in the created, they stood around us as I pressed and caressed the women. Eventually I had to give in. Each one felt the need to pick up a hug.

Lenya voiced, “We shall overcome”. Almost everyone knew this song by now, but how it sounded here in the basement, unbelievable. We had discovered a concert hall for ourselves. As if by magic, everyone had clasped hands again, as we had done on our second day together, and looked at each other in a circle. Sixteen happy or satisfied faces were beaming here in the warm new ‘festival room’. The cold and freezing of the morning were forgotten.

When Ramona started sobbing, there was no stopping her. I wanted to show strength in contrast to the girls and women, but after further new hugs, the tears also culled in my eyes. We didn’t have to be ashamed of that. We had achieved more together than many Olympic champions, who were moved to tears during the national anthem. They were taken by themselves; we were proud of everyone in our team. Soon we were sitting on the empty pallets and singing songs together, as they came to our minds. Daja and Ananda had the cold sniffles and I was to send to bed. Cara immediately ran into the kitchen and again prepared hot tea for both of them. The previously somewhat sluggish, slow-moving Italian, who was slightly overweight due to working in the kitchen, was also such a fantastic piece of gold for our team, she immediately wanted to help. Cara was now in rapid growth. Her figure looked increasingly slim and sporty. In sports, too, she had recently proved that her physical development also helped her to perform better.

A short time later Carmen, Alejandra, and Olivia arrived from the casa. They had brought Luisa’s mother Djamila, the pregnant Florence, and the hopefully pregnant Leonie from the village. She asked Ramona for a further examination. Looking for help, she looked at me several times. Despite her age, she seemed to be craving for a child of her own with all her fibres. Later, Ramona had to deny pregnancy again, although two attempts at artificial insemination had already been made. Leonie was looking for my closeness that evening. It didn’t turn me on how she tried to take care of me, but I got respect for how she tried to take advantage of her last chance to have a child. Luisa agreed with me that I would have to help physically at some point. The only direct descendant of the Inca priests, except for the decrepit Nuria, had taken it into her mind to pass on her inheritance, albeit unusually with a white man. There was no alternative for her here in the valley, we both knew.

The evening turned out to be rather nice than especially beautiful. The three birthday ‘children’ were honoured. There were a few games; more such for smaller children, but the shouting was great. Then came Isabella’s appearance. She had practiced a fancy break dance number with Mayari’s help. How her limbs flew through the air, sensational. In addition, there were robot-like dance performances by Mayari. The girls were delighted. First Olivia, maybe already in her last month of pregnancy, imitated the jerky body movements of Mayari, then Leonie. After all, all the girls around us were twitching like remote-controlled machines. Sula and Kira got tips from Isabella for break dancing. Of course, Sula overdid it again and lost a large strand of hair when she wanted to spin on her head. But her tears were soon stilled.

When I hugged the six Peruvian women who had joined me and tenderly kissed the two pregnant women, some of the girls looked jealous again. But Leonie literally threw herself into my arms. Her caressing words she whispered in my ear, I could not understand, but her body was courting me. Leonie smelled of good soap and some lotion. Olivia had done all the work again. Of course, my heart was not made of stone. That’s why I asked Olivia if she wanted to show something at the casa to Leonie, who was helpful in finding herbs, and if room 13 was prepared. Immediately the little Peruvian understood the ruse and asked me to take Leonie and her to the Casa. You would have to clarify a few important things about the plants. The girls probably hadn’t noticed the trick, but Luisa and Ramona smiled benevolently when I left the party.

It was even colder in the Casa than in the Palazzo, but I quickly managed to warm Leonie under the blanket and give her the oh-so-much-desired gift. Although it was her very first time, her body stretched out to me in a longing way. Our doctor had prepared everything well and Olivia had explained the most important thing to Leonie. Even after a short caress, contrary to my fears, the way was clear and slippery; we were united and full of energy. She had given herself to me wonderfully, she did not cry, but her body seemed to sob differently. Or was that her kind of climax? Awkwardly she kissed me and clutched me for a little eternity. How easy it is to make a woman happy, I thought. Hopefully, our act had also been helpful.