TRAPPED IN THE DIRTY HOUSE

Karin could not believe how the house was looking!

Was she in Francis Bacon’s studio?

Was she in a chaos?

Was she in a dump?

Where to sit? There is not space.

What to drink from? No glasses, no cups.

How to move around in the house? It is a lot of junk.

Where to go to sleep? The mattress covered with a pile of clothes.

How to go to the toilet? No way!

Karin thought she was in Plato’s Cavern, instead of being full of Plato’s ideas; the cavern was just dirty and filthy.

Francois was her old friend since she had lived in France. He had invited her to his house in Paris to stay for a while.

Karin was exhausted after such a long trip from New York. Francois picked her up at the airport and drove her to his home. They chatted cheerfully on the way. She was looking forward to a rest.

− Oh! I’m going to sleep right now − Karin said.

− I’m not sure if you’ll be able to, because I need to tidy up your room. − Francois replied.

− Don’t worry, we’ll manage! − She assumed. She was thinking: as usual.

Every time she came to his house she knew she had to clean it. François did not care. He used to say the standard of cleaning in USA was higher, because all his North-American friends used to clean his house when they came, especially women. However this time it was worse than ever in François’ flat.

The next day she went to have breakfast in the nearest coffee shop. Then she started cleaning. There was a foul smell in the house, she opened the window to ventilate and the alarm went off!

Francois was upset, because this could annoy the neighbours.

She cleaned and cleaned and it never ended!

Francois did not help her at all; he was stuck in his room.

That day, the 29^th of October, was Karin’s birthday. Her friends started to phone her to congratulate her. They asked her what presents she had got. She answered:

‒ A set of cleaning products!

Karen tried to make fun of the situation on any chance.

The following days anytime Francois left the house, even though he was living in a very good residential area, he warned her about putting the alarm on or off, locking the windows and the doors! Also the security rules that she had to follow closely.

Karin tried to follow these rules, but she never was able to! Francois said always:

‒ Oh! Today the window was half-opened; you didn’t lock it properly.

‒ Oh! The alarm went off again.

On the fourth day Karin was so glad thinking how good she had been with all the stupid rules and told him this. He replied:

‒ No, you didn’t do it right. The door wasn’t locked with the second lock!

This got on Karin’s nerves, although appearing calm she answered back:

‒ Don’t worry that much about security, if the burglars come in you could be lucky, maybe they’ll tidy up for you!

Francois started to pull out papers, a shirt, some underwear, socks, towels, a pillow cover, a tie, toothbrushes, a magazine, cello- tape…from a press in the dinning-room. Finally he took out a glass lamp and he said proudly:

• Oh! Burglars can steal this expensive Waterford glass lamp I bought in Ireland a long time ago.

MARIA-JOSE ROIG-FABRA DUBLIN 9/11/2017

P AND B

You always liked that writing desk. It had a lot of style with the mahogany wood with inlaid mother-of-pearls and ivory and curvilinear shape. It was from late the 19^th or early 20^th century.

You used to see that writing desk in your grandmother’s house. You enjoyed yourself as a child looking at all the photos the writing desk had on its cover between the glass and the board, where you removed its drawers.

You always felt really attracted to this writing desk. For this reason your godfather, Eliseo, left it for you! You were so happy, you took it to your house, you started cleaning and taking off all the photos from under cover.

Suddenly you saw two capital letters inlaid: P and B, beautifully designed, they started to move like a snake. You were shocked, even more astonished when they started to talk!!

P: − Thank goodness you took out all these photos! We felt as if we had been in jail for such a long time!

B: − We have been in your family for at least three generations supporting the weight of the photos on our bodies.

P: − We couldn’t talk. We couldn’t tell our secret!

B: − Time goes on and nobody knows we are here and what is our purpose.

You could not believe what was going on! You thought you were driving yourself mad. P and B kept on talking and talking non-stop.

P: − Do you know our meaning?

B: − Sure she doesn’t know! Our names are P and B. P means Pilar and B means Benlloch.

P: − Yes, she was our former owner.

They asked and replied without expecting you to answer their questions, just chatting and chatting never ending.

B: − She was a very unfortunate woman, very successful in business, but not in her personal life. She cried tears over us many times. She had a sad life.

P: − Yes, she fell in love with the wrong man. He cheated on her and she also got pregnant.

B: − As you can imagine at the beginning of the 20^th century being a single mother was a tragedy. Like if you were a whore.

P: − Yes, Pilar was desperate! She wished to keep her baby from the man she had loved most.

B: − Pilar’s sister, Carmen, was married to a policeman and they didn’t have children. So they decided to bring up her baby. Pilar accepted this because it was the only way she could have her baby close to her.

P: − The baby was born, it was a boy. They called him Jose, the same as his father, and took his surname as Soriano for “his father” and Benlloch for “his mother”, Pilar’s sister.

B: − Pilar started to work very hard in a high quality furniture shop. She became wealthy enough to pay for her “nephew’s” studies. He went into medicine. Everybody called him Dr. Soriano. She was very proud of him!

P: − He was the most loved and kind person you could meet. He helped his patients as much as he could. He was always friendly, helpful and gentle. He got married. The couple didn’t have children either.

B: − Your family met him due to the fact that he was your family’s GP. They grew to be very good friends. That is the reason why the writing desk is in your family.

P: − Yes! When Dr Soriano’s aunt Pilar died he decided to sell all the furniture from her shop and communicated it to your family. As he appreciated your family a lot he wanted them to keep the writing desk from his aunt’s office.

B: − Of course! Your family bought it and they were very happy with the deal. They guessed our secret.

P: − Dr. Soriano never found out who was his real mother!

B: − I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that you may be right. However I’m a great believer that in his heart, he knew it!

P: − Perhaps you are right! …Remember what he used to say: “My aunt Pilar loves me more than my mother”

B: − Ah! Yes! And your aunt Filo always replied: “Oh! What a thing to say, Dr. Soriano”

P: − We both know how Pilar suffered without expressing her mother’s love to her son! The pressure of social convention at the time tied her down.

B: − We are relieved; at long last you know our secret both of us knew, didn’t we?

P: − Yes, you are right! We needed someone who would know who we are and why we were forever put into this writing desk.

After these final words you saw them lay down again on the cover. You remember it played out in 2003. P and B have been quiet since then!

Frankly, every time you notice something weird on the writing desk you start trembling fearfully by the chance P and B could tell another terrible story about the past!!

You never know what can be hidden in antique furniture.

Dublin 19/11/17 Maria Jose Roig Fabra