B004L2LMEG EBOK Read Free

apathy.”
    “We’ve got to give these starving men something to eat, Pantoja,” Tiger Collazos is looking him solemnly in the eyes. “Here’s where you come into the picture, here’s where we’re going to use your organizing brain.”
    “Panta, why are you sitting there so quiet and mixed up?” Pochita puts the ticket in her wallet and asks where the gate to the plane is. “There’ll be a big river. We can go swimming, take walks to see the Indians. Cheer up, honey.”
    “Son, what’s making you act so strange?” Mother Leonor is watching the clouds, the propellers, the trees. “You haven’t opened your mouth the whole trip. What’s bothering you so much?”
    “Nothing, Mama. Nothing, Pochita,” Panta is fastening his seat belt. “I’m all right, nothing’s the matter. Look, we’re landing. Isn’t that the Amazon?”
    “All this time you’ve been acting like a dumbbell,” Pochita is putting on her sunglasses, taking off her coat. “You haven’t said a word, you sleep with your eyes open. God, how hot it is. I’ve never seen you so changed, Panta.”
    “I was a little worried about my new assignment, but that’s all over with now,” Panta takes out his wallet and hands a few bills to the driver. “Yes, that’s right—number 549, Hotel Lima. Wait, Mama—I’ll help you get out.”
    “You’re an officer, aren’t you?” Pochita throws her travel bag on a chair, takes off her shoes. “You knew they could send you anywhere. Iquitos isn’t bad, Panta—can’t you see it looks like a nice place?”
    “You’re right. I’ve been acting like a dumbbell,” Panta opens the closet, hangs up a uniform and a suit. “Maybe I’d grown fond of Chiclayo. I promise that’s all over. All right, let’s unpack. Can you believe this heat, babe?”
    “As for me, I could live here in the hotel for the rest of my life,” Pochita is lying on her back on the bed, stretching out. “They do everything for you. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
    “And would it be right to have Cadet Pantoja in a cheap hotel?” Panta is taking off his tie, his shirt.
    “Cadet Pantoja?” Pochita opens her eyes, unbuttons her blouse, leans an elbow on the pillow. “Really? Can we take care of that now?”
    “Didn’t I promise you we would once I got my third stripe?” Panta shakes his trousers, folds and hangs them up. “He’ll come from Loreto—how does that strike you?”
    “Great, Panta,” Pochita is laughing, clapping, bouncing up and down on the mattress. “Whee, I’m happy—the little cadet, Pantita Junior.”
    “We have to take care of this right away,” Panta opens his hands, comes closer. “So he gets here soon. Come over here, babe—where are you running to?”
    “Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Pochita jumps from the bed, runs toward the bathroom. “Have you gone crazy?”
    “C’mon, c’mon, for Pantita’s sake,” Panta stumbles over a suitcase, knocks over a chair. “Let’s take care of it right now. C’mon, Pochita.”
    “But it’s eleven in the morning. We just got here,” Pochita spars, pulls back, shoves, gets mad. “Let go; your mother’s going to hear us, Panta.”
    “To break in Iquitos, to break in the hotel.” Pantita pants, fights, embraces, slips. “Come here, beautiful.”
    “Now you see what’s been gained by so many threats and dispatches,” General Scavino is brandishing a written communiqué covered with stamps and signatures. “You’re also to blame for this, Commander Beltrán. Look at what this guy’s beginning to organize in Iquitos.”
    “You’re going to tear my skirt,” Pochita hides behind the wardrobe, throws a pillow, begs for a truce. “Panta, I don’t recognize you. You’re always so…so formal; what’s happening to you? Let go—I’ll take it off myself.”
    “I wanted to cure a disease, not cause one,” Commander Beltrán reads and rereads General Scavino’s flushed face. “I never imagined the medicine would be