This novel consists of a prologue and seven chapters. You can find them in this same blog.

CHAPTER V: Knowing her House

The next day, Saturday, around 6 pm, Erasmus was at the second floor window of his house, guess thinking about who. He watched the cars go by and saw the bus line 61 in the distance, which did not pass by his house but turned a block before. He knew that this bus came close to Isaura’s house, and Erasmo thought about how nice it would be to go see her, as if it were something forbidden. But on second thought, he began to look for reasons why he couldn’t go, and he didn’t find any valid ones. He immediately got ready and we see him, very excited and walking quickly to the bus stop, so as not to miss the next bus.

Bus on line 61, in Lima, at the end of the 70’s

He arrived at Isaura’s house at night and rang the doorbell. It was precisely Isaura who opened the door and greeted him with a broad smile, saying “you came.” Now she did let him in, she sat him down in the living room and went to the kitchen to bring him a small plate of rice pudding, a very delicious sweet that is eaten a lot in Peru; she got herself a little plate too. She then played music, starting with a Rita Pavone song called “Amigos No” (you can also listen to it on YouTube). And they began to talk very happily. The song ended, and as it could not be otherwise, now she played the record that Erasmo had given her, the one by Roberto Carlos. And they continued with his lively talk; for them there was no past or future, only the present and they were enjoying it. They were alone because Isaura’s mother and sister were on the second floor and did not come down. The only being present, apart from them, was Laika, Isaura’s German shepherd dog, who had greeted Erasmo with loud barking.

Long play, with the song “Amigos No”, by Rita Pavone

Everything was smiles, Erasmo felt at ease and Isaura too. Erasmo commented that he did not understand his younger brother, because it seemed like he didn’t like it at all. How can that be, he told her, “if everything is so beautiful.” Isaura nodded, convinced of the truth of what Erasmo said. They finished their rice pudding, listened to some more songs and it was time to say goodbye. Already at the door Isaura told him that it was already late and that it was night. Erasmo replied that he didn’t care about the time and that he didn’t care if on the way he might encounter dogs that might bite him (as, in fact, it happened), as long as he could get to her house to visit her. And they said goodbye.

The delicious rice pudding with raisins

On Wednesday of the following week, Erasmo, leaving the university, was waiting for the bus to go home, when, guess what happened. Incredibly, Isaura was also leaving university, accompanied by her older sister, who was also studying there. They greeted each other very happy and Isaura introduced him to her sister Martha. Then they walked a block to take a bus, line 23, which was a new line, with new and more comfortable buses.

On the way, Isaura showed him a photo of herself that a co-worker of hers had taken the day before. This co-worker was a man, a little older, who, as Erasmo would later discover, was very in love with Isaura but he always treated her with a lot of respect. The previous morning, he had waited for Isaura where she was getting off the bus to go to work and he had taken her photo; a black and white photo that was the one Erasmo now held in her hand. In this photo you could see all the beauty of a beautiful twenty-year-old girl. Erasmo immediately asked to borrow it and Isaura obliged him without protest. Isaura told him “it’s a very small photo,” to which Erasmo responded “good things come in small packages.” Isaura would never see that photo again.

Photograph of a girl

They got on the bus and Erasmo, like a gentleman, paid the fare for the two sisters, who went to sit while he paid. The bus was empty because that was precisely his initial whereabouts. Erasmo finished paying and thought that he was not going to be able to sit with Isaura since his sister was present and the seats were only for two passengers, but as he moved towards where they were he saw something incredible: the little sisters had sat in separate seats, with Isaura behind Martha. Erasmo couldn’t believe it and, without thinking twice, he sat with Isaura, very grateful to Martha, because he never expected that a sister could be so understanding. And, for a change, the trip was very fun, with laughter and a lot of conversation.

Martha was, physically, very different from Isaura. Anyone who saw them couldn’t believe they were sisters. Martha was not as pretty as Isaura and she was shorter. But what she lacked in beauty, she made up for in personality. She was a very calm girl, she didn’t make trouble about anything and it was a pleasure to talk for her, because you knew that she was always going to tell you something positive. She did not let herself be carried away by emotions and she was the complete opposite of a violent person. Erasmo always held her in very high regard.

Two days later, Erasmo brought a light bulb to the university for laboratory work; he carried it in a little paper bag. He attended some classes and in the afternoon he met Isaura, and since he had to go to a classroom that was very far away, he asked Isaura to keep the paper bag for him. So now you see Isaura walking with the little paper bag from here to there. Lili, a close friend of Erasmo (close only in friendship, nothing more), who was not a friend of Isaura, had seen Erasmo early with the bag. And in the afternoon she saw Isaura with the paper bag. Months later she would tell Erasmo this, laughing heartily, because at that moment she wanted to know what was inside the bag. She thought it was very funny that the bag was passed from hand to hand and that they carried it with so much care. By then, Lili had already seen them together many times.

That same afternoon, Erasmo found out that he had gotten a 20 (the highest grade) in a graded practice in the Electronic Devices course. He told Isaura and she felt very proud of him.

Electronic Devices

Our lovebirds took three courses together: Mathematics V, Fluid Dynamics and Numerical Methods, and as we said, they always sat together. On Monday of the following week, late at the end, they had the Numerical Methods course and Erasmo arrived first. There were not many people in this course. He sat near a corner and a friend who was standing started talking to him. After a few minutes Isaura arrived; she had a nice hairstyle, a girl’s hairstyle that looked very good on her. Erasmo stood up from his seat and let her pass, all this without greeting each other because Erasmo continued talking with his friend. Isaura passed by and sat next to him. It was something unspoken; it was unthinkable that Isaura would sit anywhere else. The friend went to sit somewhere else and the two of them were “alone” again, to talk without anyone to interrupt them.

Bus line 23 to the right