The House of Bonmati Read online

  Then, something really strange happened.

  29

  Angels was installed in one of the two forbidden rooms. Juan had not been able to explore it yet, although it had no lock. Now Angels was sleeping soundly on the half-sunk mattress, and the door was bolted on the inside.

  That room was in front of Pili's bedroom, right beside the main window of the huge room. The locked room kept closed, even Angels didn't have the key.

  One day, after lunch, Juan and Pili watched their mum looking away in disgust while Angels was eating a cold soup and they decided that they would spy on the fat old woman from then on.

  Now they were behind her bedroom door, hiding like thieves, trying to peep inside through the crack of the door. Both tried to hold their nerves, taking control of their breath and withstanding the heat the best they could.

  Juan had told his sister that the old woman might be naked on top of the bed at that moment, with her bulging belly and her fat tits shaking like a bowl of jelly. Pili had looked disgusted and she had felt sick only thinking about it.

  Juan was trying to see something, but he could only see a wrinkled foot, the old woman's foot. He found out that she had long yellow toenails, they looked like claws. That was not nice to see, and it made his hair stand up on end, from head to toe.

  "I can see her very ugly nails. They are yellow and blackened, like animal claws." Juan whispered, keeping his forehead resting on the rough wood. Pili was holding her brother's hand, bent forward and wide eyed, looking around. "That toenails are rotten."

  "Ah"

  "Sister, she has swollen veins in her feet. They are blue and lumpy, they look like tree branches."

  "Aha."

  Juan started sweating, with his hand on the door. He was not pushing it or pressing. Sweat was running down his nose, and when one drop got into his eye, it smarted from the drop. He felt his heart racing.

  "My, my eye smarts!" He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. But then he felt a twinge and he stopped doing it. "Oh, my god"

  "What else can you see, brother?"

  "I can't see shit right now. I'll try with my other eye." And then he rested again his forehead against the door, but this time he was looking with his left eye. "She is moving." He said.

  A lot of sunlight entered through the window, even though it was September. The bedroom was lit up like a surgical table. He was still sweating. Pili's heart raced a bit when she heard something. She was moving.

  "Is she getting up?" Pili asked, still in a crouching position, which was absurd, as her back was starting hurting.

  "No. By the looks of it, she has only moved one foot. So as to show me how ugly her toenails are. They can be clearly seen now. They are rotten."

  "Yuk! That’s disgusting!" His sister said.

  "You bet" Juan admitted getting away from the door for a few moments. His back ached and he straightened, which made his bones creak. His sister was still stooping, like a wolf guarding the entrance to a burrow.

  Juan crouched down again and leaned his sweaty forehead against the door with a light tap that triggered her sister's fear, so she held his hand strongly.

  "You are going to wake her up"

  "Yeah, I might." Juan admitted. He really wanted to put his eye inside the holes in the door. The sun rays looked like flashlights in the middle of the night, surrounded by dusty clouds. But he focused on the foot that had moved out of the mattress. "I think she has woken up."

  "It's your fault! You are a brute" His sister reprimanded him.

  "There is not much to see anyway. I have just seen rotten toenails and swollen veins. I cannot see any other thing in the room, only the mattress at feet level and the bottom of the wall. There are no paintings but I could see some black hooks on the wall, and strange black chains dangled from them."

  "Did you see chains? Are they big?" His sister tightened his hand and was still in a crouch position. Now she was feeling an unbearable back ache and she hoped that something would happened soon, feeling that funny feeling called curiosity.

  "No. They are small chains, like the ones Mom uses when she goes out with about two gallons of makeup. Wait..." Juan was quiet for a moment, trying to move his eye to get a better perspective. "There is a black cross at the end of the chain. She is a nun."

  "Will she be Evangelist?"

  "I doubt it. She will probably belong to another religion."

  Suddenly he saw the other feet moving.

  “Gosh, I think she is getting up” said Juan withdrawing his forehead from the door quickly.

  “Keep on peeping.”

  “Bullshit! Do you want her to see us here?”

  “Maybe she is just moving to change position.”

  Juan peeped again.

  “Wait, do you hear that noise?”

  “Yes, it sounds like snoring.”

  “It’s like some kind of animal sound.” Juan got away from the door again and his eye looked like a loose marble inside his eye socket. “No wonder she snores like that, she is really fat. Her lungs must be trapped under those huge boobs.”

  “It must be a pleasure to see her naked.”

  “Yes, like seeing Mom.”

  Pili cracked a smile. She was still stooping but she had no back ache now. She was not aware of it. Her little heart was pounding.

  Juan turned again towards the door and peeped through another hole in the door. This time he used his right eye and he could see more or less the middle area of the bed. There were no legs there, and his heart skipped a beat, which made him sweat even more.

  “Can you see something else?”

  “No, that’s the problem. I can’t see her legs.” He was talking very quietly.

  “Why are you whispering?”

  “Because I think she is sitting on the bed. Elementary, my dear, if I can’t see her legs, it’s because they must be on the floor; thus, she must be sitting on the bed, although I can’t see her.”

  “Ah!”

  Juan tried through another hole and then he saw the walking stick leaning on the mattress, where her feet had been before. He wondered if the walking stick had been there before too. He thought it hadn’t. It hadn’t been there before. He moved to another hole, with his forehead stained with sweat, and leaving damp prints on the wood. He had a better picture from this position, but what he saw made him feel sick.

  “That’s gross!”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing, it’s just that I have seen her sitting on the bed, with her boobs on her knees and she’s got her pants up somewhere around her armpits. I think I’m going to throw up.”

  “Oh, my god, that’s disgusting. I don’t even want to think about it.”

  “What are we doing, sister? Have we become vicious?”

  “I think it is called Voyeurs or something like that.”

  “Damn, you know so much.”

  Finally Pili stood up and cracking noises came from her joints. It wasn’t painful, but she thought that the prank had already lasted long enough. Spying on the old woman was not right. She laid eyes on the locked door and did not see anything, but then she looked down, to the holes in the brick floor, and she saw her mother dancing with a glass on her hand. Where they called bricks or tiles? She did not know. Then, she looked towards the window. There was no disembodied face on the glass or behind it. Apparently everything was fine, it was a splendid sunny day and the light came through the window sweeping the rooms. But suddenly she heard something that made her get defensive.

  “Who is speaking?”

  “The old woman is. Apparently I am not the only one who talks out loud.” He cracked a smile that could only be seen by the wooden door.

  Pili came close to the door to listen in, something that was beneath her, she would have never have done that before. Juan looked at her frowning. She is awakening, he thought.

  “I’m ok, sister.” A voice said.

  It was Angels’ voice.

  Juan and Pili looked into each
other’s eyes, tight lipped.

  “Yes. It is a nice family. Do they take care of the house?” Angels’ voice sounded loud and clear. Pili thought once again that maybe they should stop it now, but her brother’s hand grabbed her T-shirt.

  “She’s going to catch us up, Juan.” His sister whispered touching her damp fringe.

  “She is talking to someone. She won’t go out. She looks like a freak.”

  Juan was still peeping through the holes in the door, but couldn’t see anything but the mattress and the walking stick. He assumed that Angels was sitting on one side, near the headboard.

  “I have had cold soup, haven’t you seen it?” Angels’ voice said. Right then Juan was certain that something wrong was going to happen.

  “She is talking to herself” Pili said frowning.

  “I don’t think so. I think she’s talking to somebody.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I just can feel it, I don’t know.” He had raised his voice. His sister shushed him putting a finger to her lips.

  “They are going to hear us.”

  “They are? Why do you use the plural?”

  Juan looked away from the walking stick that seemed to be staring at him like a poisonous snake, to look at his sister. His eyes were turgid with fear.

  “Ok, I made a mistake. She is going to catch us.”

  “You are scared shitless. She is only a mad old woman, not like those things we see on every corner. Those things can really make you crap your pants. But this is just a childish prank.” Then he thought how well those words fit in with the context. They were the ones who were just kids. He peeped again through the hole and some sort of force beyond himself made him look at the walking stick again. He was already fed up of watching saggy tits that looked like half empty water bottles.

  “I don’t think they are scared” Angels said somewhere from the inside of the bedroom.

  He felt as if a hammer had hit his heart, and he clutched at his temples. Pili felt something similar but she also felt the acid taste of some sort of liquid in her mouth.

  Suddenly the walking stick moved. As if an invisible hand had lifted it in the air, stiff as a board. It was a black stick, but it had a white grip. At that point Juan felt as if his heart was pulsing on his tongue.

  “The stick is moving. It is on the air.”

  Pili was covered in a cold sweat, and her stomach dropped. Her face went white, she could notice.

  “A firm hand?” Angels asked, most probably to the person who was holding the stick up.

  Now Juan’s heart beat harder. But he did not move away from the door. It was as if his forehead, his eye, and the door had melted.

  The stick hit the floor, which sounded like a door slam.

  “Fuck!” Juan stepped back and looked at his sister before running out terrified. His steps could be heard all around the house. The tiles cracked on the floor and her sister, after hearing a strange noise, said: “What was that?”

  Subsequently, she ran too as fast as she could, but without making any noise. When she got to the stairway, she heard two more strokes and the door opening.

  Panic made her forget.

  But she would remember later, because more things happened. They were not alone in the house.

  30

  “I haven’t heard anything, have you?” Angels asked peeping out her bedroom door. She was wearing her floral dress and her bare feet crushed the floor tiles. There was a dim yellow light in the room and Pili’s bedroom. Her boobs looked like two big water balloons hanging under her dress. She was leaning on her walking stick.

  “Those were screams, screams of pain. Someone has screamed up there.” Antonia pointed towards the attic stairs, which were in darkness then. The light didn’t even reach the first step.

  Pedro had put his trousers on, but Antonia was wearing only her pants. And they were an old woman’s pants, white and so big they would go up to the armpit. And she felt attractive with them on. Juan looked away.

  Pili was leaning out of her door, trapped between the light of her room and the big sitting room. She was wide eyed, as if she had seen one of those faces at the window. Except this time she had heard it, and no, it was not the rats’ or the cows’ fault.

  “Those were screams, mum.” Pili said, almost whispering.

  “I have just said it!” Her mother ranted, moving one of her legs nervously. Her pants were all wrinkled.

  “And they shall speak” Pedro said with an icy stare.

  “Who will, Dad?” Juan asked meeting his gaze.

  “Shut up!” His father roared.

  Angels moved around with her walking stick.

  “I have not heard anything.” She insisted.

  “The Lord is with us. We shouldn’t lose our minds, because He will protect us.” Pedro’s words resonated in the big room up to the attic stairs like a breath of air. When he stopped, a moan could be heard.

  Pili’s eyes opened a bit more. Her face started to change colors, turning into white.

  “What is that now?” She asked.

  All of them were quiet. The curtain that covered the attic stairs moved suddenly, as if the wind had risen.

  Pedro laid eyes on the sway of the curtains and his pupils dilated. Antonia moved again his feet and stood there with her legs open.

  “It is always windy here.” She said.

  Her husband looked at her then. But Antonia had bloodshot eyes, as if she was suppressing the anger that struggled to get out from her body. No, she wouldn’t do it in front of Mrs. Angels. Was she Mrs.? She remembered then that she was an old spinster.

  “They are here” Pedro said, looking now to the curtains that were dancing in the air like a blanket hanging on a clothesline. Pili’s heart started to race and the yellowish light did not help to make her face look better.

  Suddenly they could hear a cry. It was a baby’s cry. It lasted two seconds, the time needed to strike a match. Pedro frowned with a spark of insanity in his eyes.

  “I did not hear anything.” Angels said again.

  Has anybody asked you? Antonia thought, but she suppressed the urge to say it out loud. She curled her lips instead.

  “I can see them. They have come to take me...”

  “Can you see them at last, dad?” Pili asked him, getting some color back in her cheeks.

  “Shut up!” It was the second time he had yelled at his favorite girl, her little Pililla.

  Pili frowned and took a step back, barefooted. She made no noise at all. Her gaze turned cold and sad the same time. She could not admit what was happening to Dad. She had always been on his lap. She was the apple of his eye. She had always been protected from her mother by his father’s open hands and now he was yelling at her, in such a way that it was scary, because he seemed delusional, she could see it in his eyes. Something was changing inside him.

  “Man, I see you are finally awake.” Antonia said in a jocular tone of voice, briefly looking at him. Pedro was now walking towards the dark staircase. Towards the curtain that wouldn’t stop moving.

  Juan felt as if his heart had started to run like a frightened rabbit. He had not gone up to the attic since the attic episode with the draught, and his father was just going to do it. The light switch was right beside the locked door. He imagined his father going up the stairs with a black cloak and a candlestick.

  “Don’t go up. You won’t find anything.” Angels said raising her hand. One of her breasts moved towards one side of her body. Juan turned his head away, he felt disgusted. He didn’t even want to think about her naked body.

  Pili stood speechless. She still hadn’t understood her father’s shout and she was wrapping her mind around it. What was happening to her dad? Was it because of the house? She bit her tongue, but she didn’t complain.

  Bare-chested, Pedro muttered unintelligible words while he was getting close to the light switch. The curtain touched his shoulder and his face. It was rough and scratchy, as if it had thorns instead of l
oose threads. And when his fingers grabbed the switch, there was light.

  “I’m going to make you leave.” Pedro boasted.

  “I beg your pardon, there is no need for you to go up there” Angels said, in an effort to avoid ... what?

  Now Juan’s heart accelerated wildly. It was like a hammer in his temples. His mother was watching him with no expression at all, with a sneer that surprised Angels, though not Pili. It was a contemptuous face.

  Nobody replied to Angels, and then they heard a new cry that reached them. Some of them were shrinking with fear, some of them careless. His face felt the coldness. It was a frosty air and they could see his breath from the first step. Pedro had put aside the curtain, which remained inactive. It stood still, like a great lizard waiting, crouching on the wall.

  Juan saw the white mist coming out from his father’s mouth. But it was no mist, but vapor. It rose into the air and then disappeared like cigarette smoke. And then he felt his hands and face go numb. Juan’s teeth started rattling. His mother heard his teeth rattle and stared at him with her look of disdain. A look that was cold and distant.

  “There you go again.” Her mouth was tight-line and her lips looked as thin as a zip. He could see the evil in her gaze. She started raising her hand. Juan saw her open fingers, and thought, she won’t do it, no way; she wouldn’t do it in front of Angels. And then she restrained her impulse. Her hand went back to her waist and she started staring her husband again. She gave him a look of contempt.

  The fading light made Pedro’s face look weird, drawing disturbing shadows on his face. Then Pedro started going up the stairs, mumbling a Bible verse. He had goose bumps on his skin, but they had not been caused by fear, but by cold. His voice was a whisper that could barely be heard, and all of them let gasped, except Angels, who glared at him.

  “I have not heard anything.” Angels insisted for the fourth or fifth time. She switched hand to lean on her walking stick. Her tits kept on moving. Pili stole a glance at her. Her hands were white and she looked again at them later on.