In the Beginning Was the Sea

9

GILBERTO BEGAN to do the weekly shopping at the market in Severá, usually on Sundays. He would set off early on horseback, with a second horse on a leading rein. Every Saturday night, Elena would give him a list of what he was to bring back and lecture him on brands of soap, the quality of the rice, and so forth. This was the only time when the two had anything that might be called a conversation; for the rest of the week, she simply gave him orders — almost always relating to odd jobs around the house — and occasionally enquired about the weather. Whenever she spoke to Gilberto, her voice became brusque and sharp. If there were any problem with the groceries — impurities in the sugar, weevils in the black beans — she would reprimand him twice: once when he got back from the market and a second time the following week while she was giving him the new shopping list.

“If we’re not careful, that man will be bringing back whatever he feels like,” she explained to J. once, when she saw that he was uncomfortable with her curt manner.

Gilberto would set off at first light and come back at dusk, usually stinking of booze, half a bottle of aguardiente tucked into the back pocket of his trousers and a certain awkwardness to his movements. He was never falling-down drunk. His eyes shining and a little glassy, he would take the groceries from the packhorse and carry them into the kitchen, then unsaddle his own horse and lead both animals to the stable where he had a few quick shots while doling out their feed. Then he would go into the house to listen to any complaints from Elena who, by then, would have unpacked the groceries while lecturing Mercedes on how to judge the quality of the produce, how certain things should be cooked and others preserved…

In the early days, J. got drunk only once a week. Every Sunday, at about three in the afternoon, he would go out to the paddock and pick a few green mangoes from the tree which Mercedes would peel and slice. Then J. would settle himself at the dining table, sometimes with Elena, setting the fruit, a salt cellar and a bottle of aguardiente next to his chair. By the time Gilberto arrived, the bottle would often be half-empty. When Elena was not with him, J. was delighted by Gilberto’s arrival, knowing that as soon as he had carried in the groceries, he would come out and join J. on the veranda, take the bottle from his back pocket and offer him a drink. Between them, they would finish off Gilberto’s flask of aguardiente while discussing any work that needed doing — though more often in silence — then they would drink J.’s bottle.

When Elena was out on the veranda, Gilberto would stop by only for a moment, offer them a drink and then take his leave.