Chapter 17

Saturday 31.12.2016

The preparations for the first joint New Year’s Eve celebration were still in full swing. Lenya had repeatedly tried to find a time to speak to the doctor and me. The girls were looking to our doctor, their maternal friend, for support with preparing for the evening. It wasn’t just the guitarists who needed help; Isabella also wanted to perform a saxophone solo and had some questions about it. I had no idea how I could contribute to the evening. What had I enjoyed most at previous social gatherings? Actually, I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to a real party. The last big celebration I attended was at the end of my studies, more than ten years ago. The highlight was the ‘Sirtaki’, a slow dance that turned into a wild staccato of moves. I held my neighbour on my right in my arms. It was the alcohol, the dance, the joy, and the heat of the night that brought us together. We had a passionate encounter behind the rose bushes near the canteen. The very next day, I left. I never saw the young woman again, I didn’t even know her name — but that evening was unforgettable. It is only today that I have had a twinge of conscience about whether the young student had perhaps received an ‘eternal gift’ from me back then. We were young, passionate and didn’t have any condoms.

Of course, with a Sirtaki for New Year’s Eve, I did not want to recreate the scene behind the rose bushes; rather, I wanted to share the joy I had experienced at the repeated dances of that time with everyone. I knew I had seen a video on the architect’s tablet. It took me forever to find it. Esther helped me edit the song. We copied it onto a USB stick three times in a row. Although it had nothing to do with the days spent in the valley so far, as I had originally planned, the dance could certainly make everyone happy.

After dinner, I asked Babette, Ananda, and Esther to accompany me to the village. The girls were all around 1.60 metres tall, almost the same height. That could work. They kept asking what it was about, but I just smiled and said, ‘Surprise!’ The saloon was empty. I quickly plugged in the stick and turned on the TV. The three girls looked amazed at the song and dance. “Shall we?” The girls nodded eagerly. At first, the three of them tried. The third attempt was excellent!

Several women from the village came in and watched with interest. Meanwhile, Florence, Leonie, and Cristina practised on the other side of the large table. The girls were really getting into it. Full of exuberance, they finally crashed into two chairs that had been placed to one side, but they were delighted. My three lovely girls danced again and again. I danced with the village women. There were already ten of them. We had a lot of fun. Leonie and Cristina were about the same size as Babette. I persuaded them to dance for minutes. Things became a little more settled, but even more beautiful. Finally, we formed a large circle around the table. Now everyone was dancing except Alonso and Nuria. The villagers were on fire. I hadn’t realised before how funny and exuberant they could be. The eldest looked on longingly. I gladly took her by the hand and we moved slowly to the music. She beamed with happiness, despite the fact that it hurt her old bones. I gave her a loving kiss on the forehead when she stopped breathing heavily. I stroked her cool cheeks and pulled her towards me.

Alonso had been sent to the Casa to fetch Carmen. People wanted to know why we had practised the dance with them here. The village had never celebrated New Year before. I gladly invited all the villagers to join us for the evening. Carmen felt the need for a few caresses. She tried to take me out of the saloon. I pulled her close for a special hug so that the villagers could see how a man caresses a pregnant woman. Florence looked on longingly. She had not forgotten our time together. I beckoned her over, caressed her, and Carmen told those present that Florence was also pregnant with my child. A peculiar exultation burst forth, a mixture of joy and sorrow, as I felt it. Florence snuggled up to me, facing away, so that I could embrace her. She was clearly comfortable with me.

On the way home, the girls hummed the tune and clapped along to it. They promised to keep the surprise a secret. Finally, Esther asked me if I had nothing else to do at the warehouse. Practising for the surprise would also be done at the headquarters. Of course, I had something to do. The girls took the buggy. They should send Sula to us at the ore processing plant as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, I showed Babette the treasures in the ammunition box. That evening, I sorted three signal pistols, each with five differently coloured cartridges, into a small ammunition box. While I was showing Babette how to use the pistol, Sula arrived. They both knew the term ‘fireworks’ and were looking forward to putting on a display. Sula quickly grasped how to load the gun and the correct angle at which to fire it. We were well prepared for the evening.

The girls took me to see Olivia and Alejandra at the Casa before quickly driving me to the Palazzo. I had secured the box containing the pistols and ammunition with a lock to prevent the girls from causing any trouble when they took the three pistols to Ramona. I wasn’t sure about Sula though; she might try the light signals. On reflection, I realised that she was somehow more balanced. Had the tea worked? It couldn’t possibly have had an effect on Sula after only four days, could it?

Olivia hugged me tightly. We were still kissing when Alejandra came over to us with a huff. Olivia’s eyes sparkled. She was apparently going through a phase of needing a lot of love, but, in my opinion, it was too late for room 13. Olivia made it clear that she disagreed. Alejandra just shook her head as Olivia pulled me up the stairs. Of course, I took a shower first to clean up before approaching my beloved pregnant woman. I wanted to give in to her need only a little, but she took everything and was active despite her visible bump. We were happy together then. “It will be your child. Only you slept with me out of love.” Olivia said. I kissed her approvingly. The little Peruvian was simply the most precious pearl in my beloved’s diadem. Everything felt natural when we were together; we always enjoyed moments of absolute wellbeing, and apparently she did too. Under other circumstances, I would have proposed to her now. My feelings for her ran deep. We dressed, kissing and caressing each other the whole time. It seemed absolutely impossible to me to prefer one woman to another in public, and that was right and important. But with Olivia, I liked to show her how special she was to me.

Olivia stopped on the stairs down. She placed my right hand on her body. Either the foetus liked it or it was protesting. I could feel the commotion, which was considerable. But Olivia looked adorable. She had somehow made peace with herself and the baby.

I walked towards the Palazzo. It was still raining, but I wasn’t bothered. The rain was warm and pleasant. The seeds had grown well everywhere. The trees and shrubs were lush and green. The road was well paved. Rainwater ran off to the left and right of it. However, if the rain did not stop, our celebration would remain indoors, in the house.

The sound of music was coming from a distance. It sounded like ‘By the Rivers of Babylon’, an old song that my mother liked very much when I was a child. Smiling, I opened the secure gate. What did my girls and women have in mind for tonight? I was glad that they were all willing to take part in order to make our lives here varied and joyful. The music fell silent; my arrival had certainly been noticed.

I quickly fetched my box of signal pistols from the doctor’s room. In my office, I looked at the numbers again, trying to make sense of them, but I couldn’t think what they meant. Maybe I’ll make a riddle out of it, or maybe we could count up together when midnight comes?

Dinner was Spartan today. About two hours before midnight, I arranged with Luisa that there would be fried potatoes and sausages. A few days ago, we also found mustard and ketchup in a container, which certainly enhanced the meal. Luisa’s speciality was the great salads she added to it.

Ramona told me that she was going to dress more festively today. “Finally wearing a nice dress makes me happy.” It was almost like a request for me to dress well, too. I didn’t want to wear the same tuxedo I’d worn to the dance competition, but I found a wonderful dark blue velvet suit among Rus’s things. I realised at that moment that I had not yet looked through the four suitcases belonging to the construction manager and the architect to see if there were any clothes, and especially any shoes, that suited me. ’Next year,’ I thought. I laughed out loud. However, since I couldn’t find any suitable shoes, I opened the first suitcase in the former bedroom of the site managers. I found a pair of black shoes in very good condition that fit well.

Today, I applied shaving lotion to my freshly shaved face. It smelled lovely, but I had only used it twice before. The food gong sounded outside. Still without a tie, I shuffled through the door. What was that? Priya had beaten the gong. Through the microphone, she shouted, “Please take your seats. Five more minutes until the start.” I was curious to see what was going on. It was just like being in a theatre. I quickly got ready and picked up my dear friend, Luisa. She had made wonderful arrangements, too. She had been with our star hairdresser that morning. She was wearing a wine-red dress for pregnant women, which was still a little too wide, but suited her well. She proudly showed me her gold necklace. It was clearly special for everyone today. Priya led me to four chairs on the terrace, facing the staircase to the upper floor. The staircase was covered with a large piece of fabric, like a curtain.

Then Carmen and Alejandra appeared. Carmen wore a beautiful, slightly gathered dress with her gold chain. Alejandra was dressed in traditional Inca attire. I rose to greet the two ladies. Sula had let them in and was already flitting back to the gate, the villagers were arriving. I quickly helped Priya and Sula arrange the chairs around the dining table so that all the guests could sit down. I gladly extended my hand to each visitor and showed them to their seats. Then, at the beginning of the performance, the last gong sounded. A loud fanfare sounded from the speaker. Isabella stepped out from behind the curtain. She played a blues song on the saxophone that I did not know, full of fervour and love. The room was filled with a special sense of solemnity.

Priya thanked Isabelle and wished us all a good time. She then quickly disappeared behind the curtain. The speaker switched from soft music to a countdown. After ‘3–2–1’, there was a loud thunderclap. The curtain fell. Fourteen girls, including Olivia, stood on the stairs in beautiful summer dresses. They clapped to the rhythm and shouted, “Happy New Year!” This was followed by a dance performance by Mayari, Ananda, Kira, and Daja. Unfortunately, Isabella was unable to participate due to her arm injury from the alpaca hunting. However, Kira and Daja sailed through the air several times and Mayari and Ananda performed some impressive moves. Finally, Ramona and Lenya played a few bars of the song ‘By the River of Babylon’ on the guitar, and all the girls hummed along solemnly: ‘Hmmmmm’. After about half a minute, they began to sing: