STRANGE Pitonines Fried, and found her at last onthe tourist deck, jus as we were shout ro leave without saying good-bye. She t00 had taken a ses, “dreamed about the pot,” she said. In astonishment I asked her to tell me her dream. “L dreamed he was dreaming about me,” she sai, and ‘my look of amazement dsconcerted her. “What did you expect? Sometimes, with all my dreams, one slips in that fas nothing to do with eal life” {never saw her again or even wondered about her until heard about the snake ring on the woman who died in the Havana Riviera disaster, And T could not resist the temptation of questioning the Portuguese ambassador ‘when we happened co meet some montis later ata diplo- matic reception. The ambassador spoke about her with great enthusiasm and enormous admiration. “You cannot {imagine how extraordinary she was,” he said. “Vou would have been obliged co write a story about hee.” And he ‘went on in the same tone, with surprising deals, but without the clue that would have allowed me to come t0 4 final conclusion, “In concrete terms," Tasked at last, “Nothing.” he “She dreamed hat did she do?” ‘with a certain disenchantment, 70 "I Only Came to Use the Phone” Or nanan regen hs Nah eee Piha was ru, andshe needed only tether husband aSrmance Piiorins ‘now that she would no be home before seven, Wearing ‘stadene’ coat and beach shoes in Apri, she looked like 8 bedeaggled liele bird, and she was so distraught after her mishap that she forgoe to take the car keys. A woanan witha miltary ae was sitting next tothe driver, and the fave Maria « towel and a blanket and made room for hier on the seat. Maria wiped off the worst of the rain and then sar down, wrapped herself in the blanket, and tied to light a cigarette, bue her matches were we, The ‘woman sharing the seat gave her ight and asked for one ofthe few cigarettes that were sill dry. While they smoked, Mara gave in toa dese to ven her eaings and ‘ised her voice over the noise ofthe rain and the clater ofthe bus. The woman intecrupted her by placing afore finger to her lips, “They're asleep,” she whispered. Maria looked over her shoulder and saw thatthe bus was full of women of uncertain ages and varying con Aicions who were steeping in blankets just ike hers Their Serenity was contagious and Maria eucled up inher seat and succumbed to the sound of the rain. Whenshe awoke, 4s was dark and the storm fad disolved into an icy dria ile. She had no idea how long she had slept o what place in the world they had come to, Her seighbor looked watchful Where are we?” Maria asked “We've arrived,” answered the woman, ‘The bus was entering the cobbled courtyard of an enormous, gloomy building that seemed to be an old convent ina fores of clos trees. The pasengers, just isle in the dim light ofa lamp in the eouryard st n “1 Only Came to Use tbe Phone” c ssery school. They were all older women, an sey hom arth done ofthe bus pulled the Bank to give the blanket co the woman whose seat cs Ley me ” a. vara faria gave her building, A mateon td © op He i se eee lap of the hands, but had to resort to an imper = anda api of ey ees and an nepal forge BStRaNce Preaaiats pore whee the elon wat. One of th ‘tumed her to the line with little pats ‘en the shou ee whi she mid na sechaine wie elt “This way, bewifl, the epoch way.” Maca vale with he ther women Soni Fron they came toa communal dairy eh ‘the matroas collected the blanke ean Se Another maton, who semed mre hee an higher rnk Mar, waled down the foe conga 2 tof ames wih hse writen on edn te hed he is ote new aie: When se ‘wearing her identification, " Heese wes oe “only came w we the hong ‘= the phon” Mara ld ee cS piel wih rr agency ter Shad token down on te hig. er hae formed magic wisks at unig, wes where es whe pe asclon bene they ha thee sapere ten dig, and she waned or hin ko she mel ee be thre in tie vo go with hin, Te war slows se o'clock. He had to leave home in ten minutes, and sh = sf he wold canes exeryhing bean shee The maton appeared ote to her with “What's your name?” she asked. sen Maca mid her mane with of eb the wom sn didnot nde afc guig oe the he peed Wich some alarm she qucioned anther ston as Sa nothing os and shrogged her ae “Bue oly cameo se the phone “are, tony. ‘ober ted wits vec estore ee % “1 Only Came to Use the Phone” “ pny for the rented car ealled and asked for Maria," dlon’t know anything,” said Saturno, “Look for hes in “Zaragoza.” He hung vp. A week later a police ofcer ame tothe house to repore chat the car had been found, stripped bare, on e back road to Cidiz, nine hundied Kilometers from the spot where Maria had abandoned it. ‘The officer wanted to know if she had further duals re, sacding the theft Saturno was feeding the eat and he did ot lok up when he told him straighe out thatthe police shoulda’e waste thee time because his wife ha lek hina and he did't know where she had gone ot with whom, His conviction was 20 great thatthe officer fele uncom Bo 1 Only Came to Use the Phone” fore and aploied forts questions. They deed thea coed. . he piso tha Mai mig Keven gin ad sot Sten at Een rng we Hom Re {Sta ted olin Mar rowel rl arf gn die ing te Tiel Frc wen ofr wee eed ether od one of hae woonghtron els tat a nly for sic After she moked Ber Second puck of cis teres hey, Mara an earache Ahn doviny in wearing 2 Roman bronze bracclet made ay Meoogh i the table and gave her a light, thro he cy row er Si hn yoni on cnking, bt Suro te Magicians in bon, vests eee Sock pone ang dv aie, The winders Er the bar just managed to wind the fry {png tommorow bbe wore » Kd eet Bjamemade ofawcorton ada pif far aa * They did not see him again until late som, 4 tonar ina roe wen tee pin coon Sanda nga senate prea He ee Shon hrs they were ld ds nd he wy Be Se i wy he Hed i Bc sk rn with ee spn tha hy al en sng aes Days ler he happened fo coe = ‘and phone number that Maria fa ‘Seine in thi ho and the unmerei renin thi bel ares book lle y revealed to him whose they were. al lcd felony reveled - ‘Tener cou’ he fal rot He BrSraance Pru. sud donor of fabio sap nna sey fll cmfoner med wee ay gl rein ina wa gi same hoe. Then he bg lagi eh hemi to ao cry he hu Ba tal he ese ‘was near a telephone. The fact that no one answered i tensified Saturno’s martyrdom, “— On te orth ay th jt chan picked y fore my she if Sefiorea Maria was in by any chance him. “The gentleman is a bachelor “ “Vb he el thay” confimaton of wha for hin was wo lange s sepa “She doesnt live there, but some alphabetical order. No one cou coh call espn ise {it bseame amo anon the nepentan nigh owl the gavche dine, and hey responded with any Kad of joke that would make him surfer. Oly then did he sealing id el im anything, but because his ealons frenies 82 “Only Came to Use tbe Phone” hhow alone he was in that besutfel, lunatic, impenetrable city, where he would never be happy. Ac dawa, after he fed the cat, he hardened his hear o keep from dying and resolved to forget Mara. ‘After two months Marfa had not yer adjusted co life inthe stnatotium. She survived by just picking at the prion rations with fatware chained to the long table of Lnfinished wood, her eyes fixed on the lithograph of Gen zal Francisco Franco that presided over the gloomy medieval dining room. At frst she resisted the eanonical hours with their mindless routine of matin, laud vespers, 1 well asthe other church services that took up most of the time. She refused to play ballin the recreation yard, ‘or to make artificial flowers inthe workshop that a group ‘of inmates attended with frenetic dlgence. Bucafter the third week she began, litle by ltl, eo join inthe fife of the cloister. After all si the doctors, every one of chem started out the same way, and sooner or later they became Snegrated into the eoxamanity “The lack of cigaretes, resolved in the fist few days ‘byamatton who sold chem forthe price of go, reeurned to torment het aguin when she had spene the litle money. she had with her. Then she took comnfore inthe newspa- per cigusetes that some inmates made with the butts they picked out ofthe trash, for her obsesive desire to smoke had become as intense as her fixation on the rle- ‘phone, Later on, the few pesotas she earned making ari- ficial flowers allowed her an ephemeral consolation. “Hardest of all was her loneliness at night. Many in- sates hy awake in the semi-darkness, as she did, not dar~ 834 , STRANGE Pricurnts door secured with shan and padlock ws svake oy Febrile rprorte “a the pit of hell” “s “st there'sa moon, you ean hear the dogs barking atthe sea” gurdian, the only creature who seemed alive ne ‘stantaneous silence, began walking from one enc the ‘and only she knew wy. . for whacrer ke waned, “oul ave rer he breaking rgeney that could have moved eames Gries ‘month that she had seemed resigned to defeat. 8 “1 Omly Came to Use the Phone” “When she was certain the other inmates were asleep, the matron approached Mart’s bed and whispered all Kinds of tender obscenities in her ear while she kised her face, hee neck tensed wih tercot her rigid arms, her ex Ibausted legs. ‘Then, thinking perhaps that Maria's pa- ralyxs stemmed not from fear bu from compliance, she dared to go furthee, That was when Mara hither with the back of her hand and sent her erashing into che next ‘ed. The enraged matron stood up in the midst of the ‘uproar ereated by the agitated inmates. rou bitch! she shouted, "We'll ot together in this helhole until you go erazy for me.” ‘Sammer arsived without warning on the frst Sunday in June, requiring emergency measures because during [Mass the sweltering inmates began aking oftheir shape- Tess serge gowns, With some amusement Maria watched the spectacle of naked patients being chased like blind chickens up and down the aisles by the matrons. In the ‘confusion she tried to protect herself from wild blows, tnd she somehow found herself alone in an empty ofce, ‘where the incessant ring of «telephone had a pleading tone. Marfa answered without thinking and heard a dis- tant, amiling voice thae rook great pleasure in imitating the telephone companys time service: “The time i forty-five hours, snety-two minutes and ‘one hundred seven seconds.” “Asshole” sid Maria, She hung up, amused, She was about to leave when she realized she was allowing « unique opportunity to slip sway, She dialed sc digits, with so much tension and so 8sSTRANGE Pricrims smc hase she war aot seit was Br ome be, She wed er eran she bard the ayo sound ofthe fama ig once, tie, he nes sd st the beard the vie ofthe man sh loved te se witout er “tele? Stead co wai for the kno of es that forme ar trond "aby, ecto” she igh, Her teas overeat. On the cher end ofthe Hine there wasabi, hated lene and oe boning Sih jlo spot the words “Where” And he slammed down the recive hac night nan stack of rape Mav pled down the lchopraph of the Genelia the rete, coed ic withall her stage inc the siege wow tat led the garden and threw herself othe Bor covet Jablod. Shes denn fry keto esi oes of themaroes who rid wth no mace to etic, ‘ol se saw Hereloswanding nthe doory. wit trams fled, staring a er, Main gave Up, Never tle, hey dragged fee the wd for vile pas bed he wits ie paring ey wae ad ace Cupenine ino er les. The sweling tht wonted po ‘ented her from walling and ac rend the as tothing inthe world abe woud not do to exape tae hell The fllowing wee, when se war tachi the dormir, she epee co the nigh maton sons sed necked he door 86 “1 Only Came t0 Use the Phone” c's price, whch she demanded in vance, was cate tes wd mange wher haben, The tmaton aed, onthe concton tat tse deatigs be Tepe sbette wre. And sh pied an neoble forefinger ser af they ever nd ov, yond” Ann ene long Sry, Sane Ma San dove the asym for women athe ccs vn ‘hich hd prepared ocelot Mar’ rm The Sete hime received i i his fe which was fo ean and ell ordered a atshp and mde an Secoate report on hs wifes cndon. No one bed Tron where he came rm Row o whe, Since he ne infonaton ering hes al war he fla farm en ved afer ewig ‘hn ovesigadon began tn se hy ba proved con Glave In any eves, lot mo iigud the decor fe ow Sarno fad earths es wherebous Saturno prot the arn, “The pounce company eld me” Be id ‘The deter ned ssid "don't know Row n= surance compo manage to find ov everything” be Bil Te looked over te le ying on hs ese desk tod conloed “re ony cern i he serine of ber cond sion” Tie was repre co autho ve witha he nee sary pectin f Sarno the Magic would prom forte good of hb wie co ahee with queion fo the rls of Dba hx he wou ndtv ll %StRaxcE Piers ih foe ode in rw ae Treienc af hes ge tht were becoming er andre frequent nd danger “emo ow aug” Sane, “She always was quick epee bt ads of sonra” Us he decorates ered nn’ ges. ned nat ger. “Three shaven lat nan ey and hon day they ea he i “Al mah rome he happened ce he, brmve we seinen eee autings fan” Then he ware him bw Mar strange obsession with the telephone ° Hor hn” he ‘Dont we air, “That's my special Soi chee night have expected. Mac stdin te mil fe ‘empty of flowers. It was obvious she was ready to k <3 with her lamentable srawberry-colered coat tnd 2 pal of depeche geno ot of cy. He and her face, sill marked by the shattered window gla, showed no emotion. They exchanged routine kisess Msi told hin about the mts of the clr, the 88 “1 Only Came 10 Use the Phone" rualicy of the matron, the food not fit for dogs, the dies nights when rerror kept her from closing he Yes "i don't even know how sany days Tve been hess of how many months or yeas, all I know is that each one fas been worse chan the last” and she sighed with all ber soul I don't think T'l ever be the sme.” “rThav’s all over now,” he sid, caressing the recent scars on her face with is fingertips. "Vl come every Sat= tarday, More often chan tat, if the direetor lets me, You'll sc, everything will urn out just fine.” ‘She fed her terrified eyes on his. Sarurno tried 0 use bis performers charm, He ol he, nthe puerile tone of til geeae less sweetened version of the doctor's prog fos, fe means,” he concluded, “that you still need a feor more days to make 2 complete recovery.” Marla understood the ecuth “For Gad!’ sake, baby,” sme you think I'm erazy too “2e things you think of!” he sad trying to lngh “spot i really will be much better for everybody if you stay here a while. Under better conditions, of course” “Tpur I've aleeady told you 1 only came to use the phone! said Maria, “He did noe know how to react to her dreadful obese sion, He looked at Herculin She cook advantage ofthe Copporenity Co point ax her wristwatch a a sign dha it cee time eo end the visit, Maria intercepted the signal, anced behind her, and saw Hercolna tensing {06 a8 peyninent attack. Then she clung co her husband's neck, fereaming like a ral madwoman, He freed himself with se tauch love as he could muster, and left her to the ssid, stunned, “Don’t tll 89StRancr Pi.erims ina, who jumped her from behind. ‘Without giving Maria time to react, she applied an arm- Tock with her let hand, pue hee ther iron arm around her erat, and shouted at Satueno the Magician: “Leave!” Sararno fled in terror. ‘Bat onthe following Saturday, when he had recovered from the shock ofthe vist, he returned tothe sanatorium, withthe cat, which he had dressed in an outfit identical to his: the red-and-yellow tights ofthe great Leotardo, cop hat, and a swiding cape tae seemed made for fying. ‘He drove the circus van into the courtyard ofthe else, and there he pat on a prodigious show Isting almost three hours, which the inmates enjoyed from the bal= cones with discordant shouts and inopportune applause, ‘They were all there exeept Maria, who not only refused to receive her husband bur would not even watch him from the balconies. Satorao fele wounded to the quick, “Feisa typical reaction,” the diector consoled him, “It will pase! Bart never passed. After attempting many times to see ‘Mara agen, Sarano did all he could to have her accept a Teeter From him, but to no avail She returned ic four times, unopened and with no comments. Saturno gave up but continued leving a supply of cigarettes at the porte’s office without ever finding out i they reached “Marfa, until at last reality defeated him. 'No one heard any more about him except that he married aguin and returned to his own country. Before leaving Barcelona he gave the half-starved eat co a sual “1 Only Came to Use the Phone” ces co Ma tend, who a pombe oak ii Seite npr to os Rep eared eng a ee Come Ingles deparemene store aboot eee ee Fathead ad aod ornge obs of 86 Bas and very progmae She cal Ros se had he eigen as cost and eran unforseen ergs fr bey nt one dy “he Cond nly he uns ofthe Bsa wie ad been Sone ed may of ow ech ie Ha eed very lo es ln it de oe wean emene withthe peace af the ler Tha meee May ate ao brouge ara hee Boose se wer stetahane money he Seto had ven es ors food ape 97 o