#7 WANTED... Walls Into Scraps Ch IV - 3rd. Part

7/30/2019 #7 WANTED... Walls Into Scraps Ch IV - 3rd. Part

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Wanted Executioner: The Tragicomedy Of Archimedes 2013 Jacqueline Petingi Labastie

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(Chapter IV - Third Part)

- WALLS INTO SCRAPS -

A door bursts open, wide open and without delicacy. Still holding the latch, a humanfigure exhibits a disturbing presence composed of disparate elements. Right in thecenter, within the doorframe, stands this presence mounted on a pair of white clogs,wearing straight skirt and light blue jacket faded to dirty white. The jacket unbuttonedshows a blouse of ordinary fabric with grotesque prints, very suitable for a kitchencurtain. Pale complexion and brown eyes, the female human being does not simplylook, but also can almost be heard her thinking: "I'm watching". Her general attitude isrelentless. The head thrown back reinforces the arrogance of her angular face, showinga severe rictus by keeping tight lips. Frowning and eyes narrowed under eyebrowsshaped as circumflex accents, these traits add to her expression the accurate steady gazeof a sniper. An alarming note of loaded shoulders like a shade out of context, makes herlook ungainly, even giving to her appearance a sinister touch. However, she stays rigidas a marble statue for about ten seconds.

After such appearance, and without previous notice, she introduces herself into theroom as if programmed beforehand. Leaving the door open, she moves with the style ofa matron and the sensitivity of a colonel. The relatively professional aspect looks out oftune by the way of wearing her long hair loose and uneven, with split ends and someclumps of frizzy hair. An opaque coppery color reveals old dye, judging by the twoinches of gray hair growth. As she gets closer, on her rather thin skin type is noticeablethe passing of years and how she really represents her sixty-two years old.

In a typical style night-duty staff of any hospital, besides her disheveled look, it

seems as if she had just woken up, and expressly gotten out of bed, to enter this room.She crosses the room in three elongated steps until reaching place to one side of the bed

placed in the middle.

In bed, curled up under the covers, a very petite lady, almost childlike face and a sparsewhite hair, sleeps peacefully. The deep wrinkles that fit in a face so small does notinterfere at all with her angelic expression. It is difficult to estimate her age in theseconditions, but in reality, it is a little girl-old woman of seventy-seven.

Lulu. -Weeell...! Time to get up. Up! Up!

With the touch of a one-armed, she takes the beddings off, suddenly uncovering theold lady.

Amelia (Opening eyes with quick winks.)-I don't know this lady... Are you new?

Lulu (Lifting the edge of her nightgown.) -So, Amelia ... (Brow furrowed evenmore) Oh ... but, is it possible? ... Agaaain?! ... we did it again? ... How nice, eh! ...

Amelia (Extending her arms, happy.) -Ahhh ... Today ... I woke up with a desireto make "the dirty thing"! ... Hee hee hee! ...

Lulu. -Yeah, right! As if it was exactly what we needed... Yeah... What if you getpregnant now...? you eeeh?! Amelia...?

Amelia (Contorting herself.) -Seora ... Can you get me some Rendel ovules?Because, if not... I will go as before, have you seen? When I was fourteen..., let's

see...? yes... No, because I did not turned fifteen..., no, no. At fourteen, it was...


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(Turning to Lulu) You don't know what happened! I did put myself in "interesting"condition! Aaah... you have no idea the shame that gave me...

Lulu (Indifferent.) -Yeah, yeah... I can imagine... Let's see, turn around...

Amelia (She gets her back to Lulu.) -Oh ... well, it's all right... I want the otherwoman to care of me, the one who looked after me before... (She turns to Lulu again)What a thing! Fortunately ..., fortunately ..., yes.

Lulu (Very concentrated on her own task.) - ... good Lord..., yeaah ..."fortunately"..., what?

Amelia (Giving her back to Lulu again.) -I did not have children ..., do not knowwhy... (Turns back facing Lulu) But look, oh, what a danger! ... if I go back to"delicate" condition... Will you remember? Rendel ovules ..., that one puts it priorto...

Lulu. -Mom!!! Stay still, I'm trying to not to spread the shit more than it alreadyis, will you?! ... Rendel ovules... I'll give you...

Lulu goes to the door out to the hallway. She is standing there with both hands raised inthe air.

Lulu. -Let's see, you ..., Pelopidas ()! Come and help a little here, do me a bigfavor!

Lulu turns back to get inside the room and stands facing the door. Immediately appearsArchimedes, with a zalea. Lulu snatches out of Archimedes hands and opens the zaleaon a single jolt. The boy goes to stand at the other side of the bed.

Lulu. -Grab her by the shoulder and buttock ... and move her sideways, riiightsideways... poufff...

Archimedes does so, and she extends the zalea beneath Amelia, proceeding without

delay and with skill. Within seconds, Lulu carries a garbage bag to the bathroom andopens a tap with rather powerful jet. Closes the tap quickly and returns with a bottle ofalcohol gel, which is already pouring into her hands on the way. Leaves the bottle onthe table, and rubbing her hands with alcohol, goes around the other side of the bed.Amelia is now sitting, and Archimedes is shimming slippers to her.

Both flank the tiny old woman and lead her to the kitchen. They make her settle in herplace at the table, bringing the chair closer, as to not come out easily. Sitting at the sametable, is Parmenides.

Archimedes' brother, nearly five years older than him, looks very thin. He does not looklike a young of twenty-nine, but rather represents about ten or twelve years younger

than his age. Looks pretty engrossed, watching television without blinking, while stilltaking a glass of cocoa with absolute confidence. Nothing seems to disturb him, novoices, no noises of dishware, nor the stirring of dragged chairs; nothing makes himstartle in the least. Not even the rattle of the wheelchair in which the other lady moves

back and forth from the kitchen mount to the dining room table.

Although she remains seated, this other woman gives the image of being a person withfeatures of high enough stature and bone structure of large proportions. Her clean look,with brown and well-kept short hair, and everything about her denotes a certain air ofdignity and good manners as if she had some trace of nobility or some specialdistinction. Is admirable to see how she handles with such skill, accommodating jarsand bottles, arranging them on the kitchen counter and some lower shelves of the

Pelopidas. - (420 to 364 BC.) Son of Hipoclo, was a Theban politician and military. "Pelopidas"however, can be used as a derogatory allusion rather than "pelotudo".


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cabinets. Her agility in handling every utensil is really quite remarkable for a person inher condition, but even more to be a woman of eighty-four years old.

In her comings and goings, she puts more bouquets of parsley and garlic heads, morethan already are on the dining room table, and that obviously she has been processing,as seen on the cutting board.

Undisturbed each other, Lulu intersects with the woman in the wheelchair, to serve in abowl some of oatmeal with milk. She brings the bowl to her mother sitting at the tablewith spoon in hand, and in a trice arranges for Amelia's breakfast. Lulu serves water in aglass and begins a count of pills, the morning pills.

Lulu. -Before, take this, Amelia. (She is giving tablets one by one, placing them inthe palm of her hand) This one too..., and this other also.

The little old lady makes the typical gesture of drinking a sip of water for every pillswallowed.

Lulu. -No! Not that way. Put them all in the mouth, and when I give the order,you must drink all the water. All in one big gulp, eh...

The other lady is coming to the table at great speed, with a bottle and a glassaccommodated in the lap. Leaves the bottle and the glass on the table, and sets out tocontinue her task of chopping garlic and parsley in the same table where breakfast is

being served. Then she opens the bottle and pours some of the content in the glass.

In front of her, Amelia ignores the directions of Lulu and takes all the tablets at once,but she is not finished drinking all the water. Staring at the bottle with exorbitant eyes,she is almost choking and coughing up convulsively with audible rales.

Amelia (Between coughs.) -Yea... cough-cough..., bu-cough-cough, but look...(hack!) look that I (ahek!) I'll have to... I'll have to go out... I'm going out with myboyfriend. Today he comes for me, eh... Today yes. (Takes another sip of water)Yeah, yeah ... I'll go with him, so that I am going to take the trolley, and I go to themovies... with my boyfriend, hee hee!.... Ah, today at last.

Lulu goes to the kitchen counter, takes a glass and returns to the table.

Lulu (Without looking at her.) -Oh, yes, Amelia... Youll go to the movies withyour boyfriend, and I become a Discalced Carmelite.

The lady in the wheelchair looks up at Lulu, giving her a sidelong glance. Opens hermouth and seems poised to say something, but suddenly lowers her head and continueschopping parsley very quickly.

Amelia. -You will not forget about ovules ... Rendel ovules.

Aunt Nora (Finely chopping the leaves of parsley.)-And, for what? If here we

have parsley to spare!... (Laughs sarcastically) Who needs Rendel ovules? ... Ha ha! ...

Archimedes. -Aunt, is there water for mate()?

Aunt Nora. - Ah, I don't know ... I am not handling hot liquids. I do allnecessary, except going around boiling water. Oh no, sir. Whoever drinks mate ortea, will have to fend for himself.

Amelia (Looking at Archimedes.) -And this young man has not gone yet? Aaah ...If care should be taken ... Ah, no, look, seora, I do not know if parsley helps, butI ... I think I will have to go readying... I have to go now.

Mate. - (noun) A traditional beverage from South America, mostly in Paraguay, Uruguay andArgentina. It is an infused drink prepared from steeping dried leaves of an herb called "yerba mate" (mateplant or llex paraguariensis) in hot water.


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Archimedes has changed his mind and now he is preparing a coffee with milk.Suddenly, he turns and faces grandmother.

Archimedes. -Grandma, do you need I accompany you to the bathroom?

Amelia (To Aunt Nora.) -Tell the sir that I am already accompanied, hee hee!...

Lulu bends over the table to take the bottle, but Aunt Nora, in a quick movement, holdsthe bottle by the neck.

Aunt Nora. -Do you like it with orange or Butia?

Lulu (Suddenly away.) -I thought it was cane liquor with Butia. Where is it?

Aunt Nora. - There it is, look ... (Turning around to point at the kitchen counter),next to the oatcake. And for you, Amelia ... (Laughs) we will prepare a special one...with parsley! ... (Looking at Lulu) Do you remember, Lulu?

Aunt Nora continues laughing while she is still chopping parsley very quickie. Lulu, bytaking time to respond, pours the "shot" of cane liquor with Butia in the glass, and thenshe turns walking with menacing steps. She stares at Aunt Nora while drinking a sip ofcane.

Lulu. -What is supposed that I have to remember?

Aunt Nora. -When you got pregnant with your son, the second one ... and youhad of such binges... what a way of eating parsley... Salads! Ha! Ha! Ha! ...Omelettes, fritters, from all sorts! Anything with parsley! Even once I came to see

you eating it raw, uncleaned! The whole bunches... Haaa! ... Ha, ha, ha... she seemeda ruminant eating grass, ah...

Lulu looks sideways at Archimedes, who comes to sit and drink coffee with milk.

Lulu (Takes a big gulp and look at Aunt Nora.) -It was a craving. A CRAVING!

Aunt Nora.-So, now they call it "craving...

Lulu (Defending herself.) -First, I did not know I was pregnant. And second, Iwas taking care with contraceptives. But of course ... you gave it to the baby(Looking at Parmenides, who remains undeterred watching television.), poor angel! ...

Aunt Nora. -Wait a minute! ... What do you want to imply with that? You knowperfectly well that the boy used to be very annoyed when you were not at home.And I have always cared for him, as if he were my own son! More than the son ofmy brother ... As the son I never had! look... Besides ... (Changes the pitch), let us tellthings as they are, Lulu ... The kid, poor baby, was a tremendous nuisance. Therewas no way to have him still, and I did what I had to do: I just wanted to give him a

fluoxetine, which leaves me sooo well! ... But, mind you, that we all ended uptaking your birth control! ... And, why? because you mistook the boxes, and thenyou did not even remember which one was which, so you took antidepressantsrather than contraceptives. It was a distraction on your part, Lulu. Nobody is at faultthat you've saved your pills in a box of antidepressants, what do you want me tosay? So, don't even make the attempt to transfer all the blames on me for anything,because I..., I ... I gave my life to you all! ... to you, to my brother, rest in peace ...and of course, ... to the whole family ...

Amelia (Looking at Lulu from top to bottom.) -Aaah! ... Now I remember! ... Iknow who you are ... You are that one ..., who got confused with the doctor whobecame blind ... Oooh, an eminence, that doctor! What a knowledgeable doctor!...

He knows so much... Only, what I do not understand is ... why it took so long tohim realize that the child was mentally retarded...? ... Strange, no?


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Lulu. -Mom! Take your oatmeal with milk and shut your mouth! (Down in onewith her liquor) Come on, hurry.

Meanwhile, Archimedes is finished his coffee and milk, and gets out of the table. Heputs the bowl in the sink with some water, and prepares to leave. As this happens, thephone rings. Archimedes turns and goes to the phone while Aunt Nora moves in that

direction. She hurries, coming before him, to answer the phone.

Aunt Nora. -Hel-looo? ...

For a few seconds, her countenance becoming stiff and takes on a grim expression whileis gaining more and more color, second by second, until she explodes.

Aunt Nora (Emphatically.) - This is the residence of Professor Eleonora Sa ...(They do not let her end)? WHA-AT?! ... In this house, no time is lost in viciousdistractions! Besides ..., what do you care, what TV channel we are watching? Whatinsolence! ... What?(Another silence and moderating the tone) That is what it mightseemed to you ... Well, no, Miss. You are wrong.

She hangs up the phone and returns to her cane, her garlic and parsley, with a look ofindignation.

Aunt Nora. - There you see... There are people who have nothing to do, butmaking silly jokes by telephone at the holy button.

Archimedes. -Aunt ... You...? Did you take the insulin, today?

Aunt Nora (With a sidelong glance at him.) -Yes(Looking down to parsley), thatwas the first thing I did: the glucose and insulin. As always.

Lulu. -But how, of it's over?(Looks at Archimedes) Will have to go to get more

Aunt Nora. -It is the same that ... Orestes used to inject to himself. We are notgoing to waste it..., as expensive as it is. And as if it were not enough having stoppedusing a left shoe, then you can figure I will not! ... remain as him, poor little ... MayGod rest his soul ... I endured enough already, aaall of my life having to live with

you ... And all for a cup of hot tea. Never again, I say, eh, neeever again! I still have alooot , a lot ... to do ... Oh, yes. Orestes might have been weak, but I? No, sir... I amnot that easy to beat. Not just like that, the thing, with me...

Amelia. -Oooh ..., Orestes! ... How handsome he is! ... What a man! ... Weeell ...I better huuurry ... I have to go to take the trolley, and do not want to miss it. Donot want to be late to the Censa cinema.

Lulu. -Amelia, there are no more trolleys, there are buses now. And the next,takes you right to the door of your bedroom.

Archimedes.-Ah, Mom ... Can I have money for the bus?

Lulu (Looking at him questioningly.) -To go ... where?

Archimedes. -To Parque Batlle area ..., yes.

Lulu. - I guess ... to seek employment, no? Hum! (She makes a typical gesturemoving two fingers pointing down) To Parque Batlle? A man of twenty-five years?Mmm ... the two ducklings. Use your feet.

All of a sudden, Parmenides leaves his abstracted state, and all at once, they look athim.

Parmenides. -I want a popsicle, peach and kiwi.

Lulu (Making a little hop.) -Buuut ... yes, my love!


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Lulu jumps headlong out to the fridge. She opens it, putting both hands inside to clearsome zippered plastic bags containing various food plants, until finding the ice creamstock. Takes one, and then she closes the refrigerator. Approaching to Parmenides, Luluunwraps quickly the ice lollipop; she leans a bit and gives it to him.

Lulu (In motherly tone.) -Here you have: peach and kiwi. (She looks at him and all

the fine lines appear on her face at once. She is smiling) So? Is it yummy-yum?Archimedes. -Well ... uh ..., bye, I'm leaving.

Archimedes makes a general greeting, not registered by anyone, and leaves.

While still sees himself leaving the kitchen and heading towards the bathroom,Archimedes has stopped listening to his voice. He could tell, for example, that just after,he filled the hand basin and put his head in cold water. But he has stayed his gaze fixedat the calendar year 1992 carved wooden from Dr. Jaracosoli, without knowing why hefeels that chill

.............................

Dr. Jaracosoli. - Aha ... Yes, yes ... I understand. (Checking his recent notes)Now ... You say that before there were six members in your family, and currentlythere are five. Right?

Archimedes. -Uhh ..., ermm ... umm, yes.

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Well. What happened in between?

Archimedes. -Uhm ... In between ... How? Between what?

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Between that there were six family members and now there arefive. I mean, between one thing and the other. What happened?

Archimedes. -Oh ... that? Ah! No, no ... Yes, uhm ..., ermm... So, ta. No ..., itturns out that ... one night I came home late, no? And that time, I walked into myhome through the door, and...

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Ah, because can you enter in some other way?

Archimedes. -Well..., usually I come in by the window ... the window of myroom, right? ... to avoid problems ..., erm, yesss ... But at that time, my brother wasalready in bed. And the window was locked from the inside ... So I had to use thekeys...

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Aha..., yes. Aaand...?

Archimedes.

Anddaa I walked slowly. And, well, ta..., my mother was stillin the office. My aunt and my grandmother, I heard them, more or less, I mean ...,like they were in the kitchen, no? Right there, I think to myself ... Ta! ... Thecoast is clear phew! a hell ass of fluke, I had, ta. And then I heard somenoises..., eh? Some strange noises ... in my parents' room...

Dr. Jaracosoli. -So, let's see ... How is that...? I did not quite understand. You sayyou came home late at night, isnt it? Right. Start there. You came, and...

The above story might well have been the button sample about everyday life that Dr.Jaracosoli had asked, and as such, should have provided sufficient. However, the doctorstill wants more. Well, perhaps Dr. Jaracosoli is a vocational psychiatrist, after all.

Archimedes makes a little more effort, and keeps talking. At this stage of the interview,he can hear his own voice, but he does not recognize himself while talking. His mouth


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moves by itself and for a moment he fears not being able to control it. Thankfully, theanecdote can be told in less than five minutes. Even, it is possible shorten it up a littlemore.

..............................

It is a late hour of a spring night, though quite fresh, one of those typical earlyNovember nights. The sky looks starry through the branches of a plane tree near thefront door of Archimedes home. However, the sound that accompanies such evocationis not consistent with any night breeze nor noises of branches, but rather a strangeunderwater echo. A face appears red and swollen as a distorted version of himself,suddenly leaning against the door frame street. As a ghost out of nowhere, Archimedesseeks the keys in his pocket, his eyes as two red balloons, amid which his long, darkeyelashes seem to have disappeared.

Oozing alcohol, a demoralized Archimedes strives to introduce the key in the lock, andthen pushes the door with his shoulder. Despite having arrived like a train wreck, some

mysterious mechanism makes him straighten himself. Right after entering the house, asclosing the door, he is suddenly wide-open eyes. In his notorious exhaustion, still makesthe effort to measure the impact of footsteps in the corridor, although he cannot hear itclearly. His focus is toward the closed office door of his mother, showing a ray of light

passing through a slit under the door to an empty waiting room.

He feels like his head was going to explode, as if he were inside a water tank. Comingout of the gloom of the corridor, his photophobic look goes toward the back, where thekitchen is the origin of some sounds of ordinary life. Such fanfares coming from thekitchen seem to him as inconsequential as reassuring, since fortunately nobody hasnoticed his arrival in this state of intoxication. His aunt and grandmother are still in theirchats, and that's a good thing for him. Trying to conceal his staggering walk, aware of

his drunkenness, he goes to next corridor, in the straightest line possible to his room.Just before having completed this course, he does something unexpected: he stops.

An unusual noise coming from an area near the room of his parents makes him stand inthe middle of the corridor. In an effort to detect the nature of the noise alien to thefamily routine, he turns and waits a bit. However, no repetition occurs. He strives a littlemore on focusing the eyes at the door of his parents bedroom.

At least aware of the unusual noise that has caught his attention, frowns upon hearinganother sound more common in everyday life: the coughs of his father. He is stillawake. Archimedes changes the direction of his steps, without a decision, at least notconsciously. Simply, he approaches the bedroom door where his father is obviouslyvery awake. He leans against the door frame and prick up his ears. Slowly, he puts hishand on the doorknob and finally opens. He peers into the bedroom and sees his fatherin bed, lying all alone, with the light still on.

The boy comes in and closes the door. It looks like he makes a common question,maybe something stupid like "Are you awake?" or something by way of greeting. Thefather, who is still with the glasses on, despite lying on his back and covered halfway,says something very tersely, judging by his irascible expression, a quite grumpyaffirmative answer. Makes some grimaces of disgust tilting his face contemptuously.

Archimedes does not look, and sits on a couch placed at the left side of the bed and theold man, who in turn takes the same side of the bed. He drops in the old style Bergrearmchair, regardless of clothes lying on it. Sensing him, his fathers facial expressions

of disgust go from bad to worst, reinforced now by sudden right forearm moves, puttingemphasis to whatever he is saying. It seems that the reason for this hostility is that the


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old man has learned indirectly about job loss. Archimedes, rolling eyes, does notanswer. The old man stops his exasperation for a moment and barely raises his head inalert to the movements of the lad, who is still there. At any other time, Archimedeswould have already left. But this time he stays there, sitting very still, staring at a fixed

point on the wall above the furniture, as if nothing happened. As soon as all is silent

again, Archimedes makes a breath, like a weary sigh. After that, the boy starts to speak,without expression, without intention and without stopping until finish his short speech.Archimedes just moves lips letting out a few sentences.

As long as Don Orestes may take to react, something a few seconds, the air fills withreproaches of daily use. Judging by the broad gestures of his right hand and facial jerkymovements, he is muttering words in attitude of frank rebuke. Archimedes continues, ashe has something else to say, while unconsciously raises his right hand as a sign of"Stop!". A new wave of recriminatory responses from the old man comes again, thistime accompanied with strong coughs. The boy does not blink; just simply wait for hisfather to stop breathing. Then he resumes his speech, while vocalizing the phrase:

"- I left ... studies, ALL studies.", which gives rise to a new outbreak of gestures and

violent shaking, and coughing spells mixed with an eloquent roughness to pronouncewhat is clearly a bunch of insults . Archimedes replies briefly, this time gesturingsaturation, to say what appears to be a no-brainer. What it would not be worthwhile ananswer becomes the subject of a new scolding from the old man, who is yelling withgrand gestures, as if he had a large auditorium. Some denial movements of his head arealternating with loose words that sound like insults. The shake of his forefinger in theair, and some more contortions, definitely portray this old man as an intolerant being,riled beyond of all proportion. His facial language speaks clearly of a visceral disdain

bordering on repugnance.

Archimedes goes into his fifth statement, which is determined, brief, stripped, andleaves no scope for more exchanges. This time the old man raises his arms to the sky in

despair, and then drops them suddenly. Remains silent, his brow and mouth pursed,trying to put together a proper response to assail his son, but in vain, as he is bewilderedand also exhausted all the possibilities of the slang dictionary.

In case the old man had found something else to say, Archimedes could not evenremember, because despite all this great tension, the boy starts to nod off, and fallsasleep. He snoozes in the Bergre for a short time, some time he could not knowquantify. It might have been a couple of minutes, or half an hour, maybe more. He doesnot know for how long he slept, but that little sleep allowed him to download a huge

part of lethargy that had been plaguing him. Some persistent coughs from the old mansuddenly awake him. Obviously, he needs to go to bed urgently.

Then he sees his father raise half of the body on the bed to drink some water. Despitesuch size of drunkenness as he is having, Archimedes keeps some awareness, and hefears have seriously upset his father, so he gets up from the chair slowly. Through it all,he still can think reasonably; and given the diabetic condition of the old man, he decidesto take some steps before going to his bedroom.

Holding on to the armrests of the Bergre to take momentum, Archimedes rises by asharp movement to a standing position, so he has to make a bit of balance until stabilize.He is quite coherent, even standing, in spite of that lingering resonance that stuns him,

blunting his head as if underwater. But not a bit of this prevents him from observing thestatus of his father. Meanwhile, something slips from his pocket, falling down to thesmall rug. He cannot remember this, though, because he neither sees nor hears it fall, he

does not even remember having a cell phone, and he is still with his father at sight.


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Archimedes crosses the space between the small carpet and the bedside table. Affirminghis cautious steps as best as possible, he goes treading on socks, shoelaces, and a sliverof broken china cup lying on the floor. Unwittingly he shatters it by a footstep, but hedoes not hear the sound of broken crockery on the floor, and continues to get where hisfather is.

Just told his father that has left the university, and that he does not want to continuestudying this nor any other university career. Now behaves as always, so helpful andcompassionate. Soon he reaches a place beside the old man, and proceeds to take someroutine precautions. Helping him to lay back again, he clearly offers to his father toremove his glasses, but the old man makes him stay away, rejecting his help.Grumbling, the old man ends up taking off his glasses by himself, and gropes for the

place on the bedside table where leave them. Archimedes puts the specs in safest placeon the surface of the table, tidying the rest of the things over there.

Carefully, he moves back the plate with the spoon and brings forward the glass of water.Then opens the drawer and pulls out the chocolate alfajor () that every insulindependant diabetic should always keep as close as possible in case of emergency,

leaving it right within reach. Accustomed to living with diabetics, Archimedes knowsthat before a sudden decrease of glycemia, best thing would be to take a dose of

polysaccharides, and in this regard, there is nothing faster and more effective thancomplex sugars containing an alfajor. In a case of force majeure, it could prevent adiabetic coma for its paradoxical effect.

Therefore, Archimedes ensures to cover every precaution, leaving his father in the bestway as possible. Makes a gesture to cover him, but the father frightens him away, in aneloquent gesture of scare away insects. Archimedes suggests him to turn off the light,showing signs to touch the switch, but clearly, the father does not want, and asks him togo once and for all. Archimedes moves away, taking a few steps backwards while stilllooking at him. Then, giving a quarter turn, he seeks support in the arm of the chair, and

then holding onto the railing of the foot of the bed, until he finally leaves the bedroom.

Upon leaving the room, he closes the door and goes right down the corridor to thebathroom. The old women are still with their mindless prattle, very animatedly in thekitchen. So that, for not to betray his presence, he decides not turn on the light. Heleaves the bathroom door ajar, and doing what he has to do, he does not even flush thetoilet. Simply opens the tap of the washbasin and wets a bit hands and face. WhatArchimedes cannot remember is that in that moment in his father's room, the cell phonefallen from his pocket was ringing. As hard as he tried, he cannot remember when helost the mobile his mother had given to him in very special exceptional conditions,solely for seeking employment. While he is soaking his face, in the old mans room, onthe carpet, among small pieces of broken cup, a cell phone is vibrating with rhythm

lights. The tap of the washbasin is closed, and Archimedes takes a hand towel to dryhimself. The phone stayed with the light on and inexplicably, without needing anyone to

press the "Menu" key, the screen is showing a text message, in which clearly says:

I dont deal with cowards

U know what U have to do

Bring me 1 final solution, or

dont contact me again

Alfajor. - (Noun) Is a snack very popular in South America, specially in Uruguay and Argentina,consisting in two round sweet biscuits joined to each other with jam, usually dulce de leche or mousse.


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Of course, that Archimedes did not come to read this message. Regarding his report tothe doctor, he just went to sleep, and for once managed to sleep several hours, since heslept until the next morning.

..............................

Archimedes. - ... and the next morning, I woke up with my mother in my room,crying like crazy...

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Your father died that night?

Archimedes -Yes.

Dr. Jaracosoli. - Well. My condolences

Archimedes. -Thanks.

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Two months ago, right?

Archimedes.- Umm. .. almost, yes ... Two months are going to make on

Tuesday the 13th ... ehm yesss ... next ... Tuesday ... that is, yes.

Dr. Jaracosoli nods and finishes writing something in the medical record. Then he takesthe block of green paper, the one used to prescriptions for controlled drugs, seals it andsigns it. Suddenly, he lifts his head, and looks straight into Archimedes eyes, beforeasking a question.

Dr. Jaracosoli. -You ... got drunk, with ...? How much? How many whiskeys didyou drink? Six? ... Maybe more?

Archimedes. - Umm ... eeeh ... no, erm ... I ... had two. Well, actually, less,becauseee ... the second one, I did not finish to drink ..., err, yeah ...

The doctor looks at him with expectant face, as if waiting for the boy to say somethingelse. Then he looks down and writes the prescription in green recipe. Pulls it out fromthe notepad and extends it to Archimedes.

Dr. Jaracosoli. -This will help you sleep better.

Archimedes. -But, doctor ... What about the nightmares?

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Tell me something Were you beaten as a child?

Archimedes. -Huh?! ... Umm Yes, I dont know ... Yeah, maybe ... Why ...?

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Aha ... And so?

Archimedes.-And so , what?

Dr. Jaracosoli. - It soothed you? Did you feel any better? How did you feel aboutit?

Archimedes (Bewildered.) - But ... What?! How, if it soothed ...? What do youmean by that?

Dr. Jaracosoli. -One might say that you hate yourself.

Archimedes. -Huh?

Dr. Jaracosoli. -Yes, it's like you consider yourself as unworthy. And, besidesof being so scared of women What else are you afraid of?

The face of Archimedes is the living expression of a thunderstorm night in a hauntedmansion. This psychotherapist is the "bonus" of all his gloomy ties. It comes to be the


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"Bingo" of the most significant findings in response to his fruitless searches. It is,indeed, the most conclusive answer from the Universe about the unknown clue of a wayout that seems not to exist for him.

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Portrait of Archimedes


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Documents

#7 WANTED... Walls Into Scraps Ch IV - 3rd. Part