by Diane Baumer
Belén died on a lovely spring morning. Her daughter, Sergio, and Lina were with her – he was standing, while both women were holding Belén’s hands.
At that moment, the pianist felt a small electric shock in her fingertips, as if Belén had tried to bequeath her the little energy which she had left.
Lina said goodbye to the small bones in her friend’s hands, one by one. She had first touched those as a kid, while they attended Music School.
Eight carpal ones – scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, and pisiform; trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, and hamate. Five metacarpal ones – first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. Fourteen phalanges, including the proximal, intermediate, and distal ones.
Next to her bag was a package with the last book that Belén had given her – Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
No one but my dear friend could have come up with something like that. How am I supposed to read this in my current state of distress?
She could not even think about starting to read it. However, fifteen days after the funeral, she was missing Belén so much that she opened the book, trying to look for a way to communicate with her through its pages.
Once she finished reading the book, she started over. That she would do again and again, day after day, until she eventually understood that Belén had commissioned a character, Mina, to show her friend a world in which a brave intelligent woman had overcome a vampiric curse. Then, she would sit at the piano and begin to compose music. She had promised Belén that she would be strong and carry on for the two of them. As she was writing the first notes, she was seized by an unaccountable peace – apparently, Belén’s soul was resting a little more calmly.
Every morning at twelve o’clock, Lina would open the box in which she kept her heirlooms and go to the garden outside. There she would carefully place the objects next to specific flowers. For her friend’s ring, she would select lilies – these were her favorites.
Rosario was concerned about Lina’s constant delusions of love for the deceased. The caretaker only stayed at home during the daytime, since Lina would be able to perform most of her activities on her own. Every afternoon Rosario would leave the house on tenterhooks, fearing that the pianist would completely lose her mind and do something crazy. If she gets worse I’ll call a doctor – it’s okay if they need to admit her to the hospital. I hope she’s just going through a transient state of mind. Overcoming mourning takes time. She says she likes to read at night and stresses that this is perfectly normal. I never thought it wasn’t; however, it depends on what one reads. When I asked her what book she was reading, even if she is aware that I already know, she naïvely replies, ‘Dracula, a magnificent novel – don’t you think?’ ‘Sure,’ I replied before I continued to speak sarcastically, ‘It’s certainly great to read it once, twice…, probably three times, provided one is a fan or often falls asleep with the book in their hands. However, reading it from cover to cover, again and again, that seems to be a different matter… Dracula has turned you into a vampire yourself – besides the fact that you feed on words instead of blood.’ I truly meant it, yet she laughed.
“The sentences in the book get into me, and that’s good for me. They are my medicine.”
“Lina, listen – you’d be better off if you let Doctor Ledesma get into you instead. He’s such a dream guy and melts every time he sees you.”
“Rosario, you’re just too subtle!”
“I can be even subtler – spread your legs well to him, and you’ll see how soon all those vampires in your mind are gone.”
Lina guffawed.
“Rosario, have you been drinking wine?”
“No, but I'll need to do it if you don't stop talking nonsense. Let’s go home, please,” the caretaker said, lifting Lina off the ground.
“I wish I had some object belonging to Brother Lucas – if I did, I could add it to the other objects among the flowers...”
“If he was dead, his body would have been found by now.”
“That’s just a matter of time.”
At lunchtime, they argued again. Lina had insisted on putting the heirlooms on the table. Rosario had become serious.
“Doctor Ledesma is coming back from Ethiopia next week. Would you really like him to find you like that, talking to a box all day?”
“I already told you I don’t want to see him. If he calls, just tell him I’m on a trip.”
Álvaro Ledesma returned for the trial. He was acquitted on all charges. The test results he had seen prior to the surgery were not those of Gebre. The person responsible for the mistake was afraid and...
Lina refused to meet him. No... This time I won’t fall into the trap. I need to keep him away from me for his own good. I just want to protect him. Nobody else will be part of my life. Never ever…
Accustomed to the strict discipline of the piano practice, Lina had unconsciously created a daily routine – she would get up early, read for a while, and, once the morning already felt warm enough, go for a walk with Cinnamon. Before lunchtime, she would compose some music for her deceased, playing slowly – she no longer had the mastery she had prior to the accident, but it was enough to write some music. After eating lunch and taking a nap, she would resume her composing. At dusk, Cinnamon would invite her to a stroll. Sometimes she would cry as she contemplated the sunset and recalled the afternoon in which the dog had found her for the first time, in the middle of a Patiniresque scenery.
One morning, she was outside taking a walk with Cinnamon when Rosario approached looking troubled.
“You need to come into the house,” the caretaker said hurriedly.
Lina was paralyzed by the fear that Doctor Ledesma might have died.
“What’s wrong?”
“You won’t believe this! Go pick up the phone. It looks like we’re getting some good news, at last!”
“Who called? If that’s Álvaro, I’ll just...”
“Trust me. You won’t regret it.”
Lina got up and headed for the phone as fast as her legs would carry her. Why does the way back to the house feel so far? I probably walked too much, so I’m exhausted now.
“Hello?”
She recognized his voice almost before he finished pronouncing his first word. Few feelings were as special as coming across a tragedy survivor when that missing person was already presumed dead.
“It’s me, Lucas. I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch with you sooner. I’m leaving for Mexico. I just wanted to say goodbye to you.”
54. The end
Lucas went to visit Lina. If the pianist had run into him on the street, she would not have recognized the young man – he was no longer a friar. The mexican had grown a beard, and his hair looked messy and much longer. His outfit had a hippy feeling to it. As he caught sight of the Mexican, Cinnamon started to howl like a wolf, which proved how much he had missed his friend. Lucas crouched to hug him, not being able to contain his feelings.
“Oh, Cinnamon... I curse this life, which makes even dogs suffer. You were constantly in my thoughts!”
Lucas told the pianist that, after he left the monastery, he had moved to Asturias and searched for a job. He could not reveal the hitman’s attempted kidnapping. Fortunately enough, a truck driver had seen the hired killer putting him inside a trunk and had reported it to the police.
“I was able to save enough for the plane ticket, so now I’m going back to Mexico.”
I hope the murderers will let me enjoy my country for a while before they come and shoot me dead.
“You could have asked for help.”
“Thank you. It’s over now. Don’t worry. I’ve learned a lot by living without the protection of the Church.”
Now I'm alone in the world.
The Mexican did not know anything about what had happened since his departure. He was sorry to hear of Belén’s death, whom he considered to be a one-of-a-
kind person.
“What about your hands?”
Lina still was not able to play as she used to in the past.
“What a shame. I just thought that...” the Mexican said in distress.
“Well, I’ve been making a lot of progress lately. Also, I sit at the piano and compose every day. I made a promise to Belén. Would you like to take a look at my recent compositions? I have some new lieder inspired by your voice.”
She sat at the piano to show him the new scores. Lucas knew that she would feel comforted by his singing. Thus, for the first time, they made music together – she played the instrument, while he used his voice.
During the first stanza some paper sheets were blown around, presumably as a result of air draft – Rosario had just opened the front door. Yet it had happened exactly as he had started singing. Rosario could have come in five minutes earlier; however, it was just when we were getting started, Lina said to herself in awe. This is a sign – I know!
Germán Santos had had an idea consisting of planning a tour and raising funds. With the money, they would be able to open some music schools in deprived areas to provide kids in need with a decent choice. Undoubtedly, everyone would agree to that.
They commissioned Diego to build the schools. He had been acquitted thanks to a prison recording from the day he had revealed his story to Brother Pedro. The agent appeared to be dead. The bishop’s public outrage was on the front page of newspapers around the world. The Vatican representative had been kept up-to-date with the facts since the day Brother Simón had handed the documents to the judge, yet he preferred to look the other way – he feared that such a thorny issue would be made public.
Lucas and Lina went to inaugurate a school near the monastery in Mexico.
At the conclusion of the event, Lucas went for a walk with Diego. When he heard the truth of his background, Lucas did not say a word. Instead, he grabbed his brother’s hand as he looked out on the unforeseeable horizon with his eyes swollen with tears. Mom... The devil hurt you so much… He reexamined the strange happenings that had been going on, the conflicting sensations which had assailed him since he was a child... My whole life... It all fits.
It was late in the evening when, after a long walk, he finally reached the monastery where he had been raised according to his mother’s wish. Lucas took a seat and watched the place until the break of dawn. As he saw the windows open, he knocked on the door. Brother Pedro opened it.
“Are you sure!?”
“I am. If you accept me here again, of course...”
“Welcome home.”
Brother Lucas raised funds by performing Lina’s music until he was murdered by a hired assassin paid by his unaware father. How many kids and young people had he managed to save from Satan’s clutches in his lifetime? How many women like his own mother had been among these? He had tried to protect as many people as possible.
He died knowing that his encounter with the pianist on the mountain had not been coincidental – instead, God had gathered together every Lina, Belén, Simón, Pedro, Ledesma, Benito, Diego, and Bartolo on earth in order to turn the world into a better place.
Lina confined herself to nodding as she learned of Brother Lucas’ death. She knew his version of God would not save him from an unfair death, like everyone else. There was no almighty being capable of assisting Earth dwellers. She just recalled a goldfinch singing on her windowsill last night while she was sleeping. Cinnamon, who could sense her sadness, curled up on her lap and starting sobbing so she would not have to go through this alone.
Doctor Ledesma combined his work at the hospital and his trips to Africa. One day, Gebre’s parents paid him a visit at his office. They apologized. The doctor showed them some pictures of children he had operated on back in Ethiopia. In every smile, Gebre’s mother could recognize that of her own son.
François gave Mai a child. The girl thought life had provided her with the opportunity to raise a man in a way that would prevent him from acting similarly to those she had unfortunately crossed paths with.
When William retired, Mai told Mercedes de Arellanos that she had decided to relocate to England with him.
“Why?”
“A frog living at the bottom of the well usually thinks of the sky as being as tiny as a pan lid.”56
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means William and I have a similar view of the sky. He is old. I need to take care of him so my father can enjoy old age wherever he is.”
The majestic Englishman would drool every time the child called him grandpa. The little kid bore a strong resemblance to François. His personality was however that of a kind, quiet child. Mai was tormented by the thought of becoming sick or dying and leaving him high and dry. William would not live forever, and she feared his son would become an orphan. When the boy turned five, they traveled to the home of François’ parents in Belgium. From the picture she had seen, they appeared to be nice people. They burst into joyful tears as they learned of their grandchild. From that moment onward, Mai lived carefree – if something was meant to happen to her, his son would be in good hands.
Actually she had nothing to worry about. The horrific canvas that Mercedes had given her –the Vietnamese only kept it out of respect– increased in value every day.
Endzela’s grandfather died a year after she was found in the forest. He was buried with a birch tree leaf. Vasyl said his farewells by reciting a poem by Vazha-Pshavela which his mother had taught him. As for Endzela, she was appointed as a literature professor at the University of Tbilisi. Endzela liked to combine this job and her translations.
As a result of her injuries, Lina never managed to play onstage the way she used to. However, she kept using her revenue to build music schools in deprived areas around the globe, so the underprivileged could still have a promising future. She sold her house and donated the money to her foundation.
Álvaro needed to gather a great deal of patience to resume his relationship with Lina. He would constantly come and go from Africa to Lina’s proximity. To avoid the curse, she never said she loved him. Also, she did not agree to any more paragliding. Every day the pianist would awake thinking that would be his last day. Twenty-two years later, her prediction was confirmed. She received a call from the embassy informing her that Doctor Ledesma had died of a viral outbreak in Sudan.
Lina Maldonado would live to the age of ninety-six. She had not ceased from composing music for her dead until she became blind.
On the day of her death, she momentarily regained her eyesight. She could catch sight of a tunnel with a bright light in the background. There were all her loved ones, including Brother Lucas and the two dogs. Whether that was a chemical reaction in her brain or how long her regained eyesight lasted, nobody knows – yet, for a moment, she had fallen prey to immense happiness. How many good people she had known throughout her life! She felt a very lucky woman.
That day, people in music schools and auditoriums around the world lit candles and held a floral tribute in her memory.
Ever since, rumor has it that, if pianists commend themselves to Lina Maldonado before a concert, her ghost will hide inside the piano to protect them. Still, no one knows if this might ever be proven…
* * *
1 A tempo mark used in classical music.
2 Endzela usually makes a few mistakes when she speaks. However, due to clarity purposes, not all of them have been specified.
3 Ecclesiastes 1:6.
4 This is the beginning of the so-called Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi.
5 Ecclesiastes 4:1-3.
6 19th century German Romantic landscape painter.
7 Suite Iberia is considered one of the most outstanding piano works of the 20th century. It consists of twelve pieces dedicated to Spanish regions and traditions.
8 Mystical piece by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
9 Christine de
Pisan was a medieval humanist, writer, and thinker. In her writings, she advocated for women’s rights, which makes her one of the forerunners of feminism.
10 Gothic novel by abolitionist feminist writer Louisa May Alcott.
11 Vivaldi, known as «the Red Priest,» composed most of his music for the concerts at the Pietà, which was a convent, hospice, and music school that hosted not only orphan or sick girls, but also single women who had decided to pursue a career in music as opposed to marriage. Vivaldi’s close relationship with the maidens at the Pietà gave rise to all sorts of malicious comments.
12 Psalms 10.
13 Mistakenly attributed to Caccini.
14 Breathtaking warrior dance from ancient Georgian folklore which usually leaves the audience in complete awe. Its performance demands high precision and agility.
15 ‘One, two, three, four, five, six…’
16 Beijing bookstore well-known for selling books in several different languages.
17 Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina is a composer born in the Republic of Tatarstan in 1931.