Tango

by Alan Judd

  ‘I don’t know,’ answered Ricardo. ‘At his house, I suppose. Wherever he lives, I don’t know.’

  ‘Where does he live?’ asked Box. No one knew. ‘Carlos will know.’

  The soldiers at the door were told that there was no one to arrest and that they should join the others. The colonel went with them to see that the prisoners were taken back to the palace. He tried not to go because he wanted to see the president but Box insisted. ‘Tell him he must be ready at the palace with more men to arrest Manuel and that Carlos will see him afterwards and give him a medal.’

  William stayed with Ines and Ricardo. ‘I’m sorry about all this.’

  ‘What is happening? What are you going to do with the president?’ Ines came close to him, unselfconscious, her big face angry.

  He put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Nothing, they are doing nothing to the president. He supports this, he wants it, it is on his orders. He wants a new government. He’s next door with Theresa.’

  ‘He will not be put in prison?’

  ‘Of course not. He will be head of a better government.’

  ‘Which government? Who will be in it? Will they free my father?’

  ‘I don’t know. That’s not my side of it. The president will choose people.’ He was about to add that Britain would be helping the new government but remembered that London had not replied. Perhaps London would disapprove of what they had done. It was presumably regarded as a serious thing, bringing down governments though to look at the two fat old men being shuffled off downstairs, it didn’t seem serious.

  Ricardo went over to his clothes. ‘You should have told me. I helped you, I told you things. Now you leave me out.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that, it wasn’t deliberate. You were very useful and the president is very pleased with you. And you can still help. There’s more to do.’

  ‘You did not trust me.’

  ‘No, it wasn’t that,’ William recalled as he spoke how little he had trusted Ricardo. ‘It wasn’t that at all. It wasn’t in my hands, you see. I played quite a small part.’ It was unpleasant how rapidly power involved one in deceit. He tried smiling at them both. ‘I am sorry you were interrupted.’

  Ricardo pulled on his underpants. ‘We were finished.’

  Carlos and Theresa were with Box in the corridor, dressed and surrounded by the other girls. The colonel had reappeared and was asking what should be done with the Mercedes outside. Carlos, who had been pleased at first, was now frowning and looking worried.

  ‘We must find him,’ he was saying to Box. ‘We must find him quickly. He is the most dangerous.’

  ‘But we don’t know where he lives.’ Box sounded as if he were repeating himself. ‘Or where the driver lives.’

  ‘He lives in several places. I remember the places but not the addresses.’

  ‘Can you describe them to the colonel? Then we’ll take soldiers to each.’

  Carlos stood like a sulky child. ‘I won’t feel safe until he is caught.’

  ‘Therefore we will go and catch him. If you can tell us where.’

  Theresa was whispering to the girls. Her eyes briefly met William’s but there was no message. The girls would not know she had been party to the plot all along, and she might not want them to.

  Box urged Carlos to return to the palace and make television and radio broadcasts. He had to ensure that the security police were either disarmed or accepted his authority. He must show himself. He must ensure that the television and radio stations were guarded by his own men. He must warn the newspaper editors.

  Carlos listened abstractedly. When he noticed William, he spoke across Box. ‘Herrera has escaped.’

  ‘We must find him.’

  ‘If I had known he was homosexual I could have got rid of him easily. They are not liked here. But now it is too late.’

  ‘Not too late,’ said Box. He went on talking earnestly. Carlos continued to look distracted.

  William already disliked the whole business. It had seemed like fun at first or, if not quite that, somehow not exactly serious, either. It didn’t even seem fully serious now, certainly not momentous, but it wasn’t fun. People were not happy. Ines looked worried. Ricardo was obviously resentful. Lies were already necessary. Carlos’s troubled face was reflected in the colonel’s. Only Box seemed fully engaged, to have any idea what to do or any desire to do it. They all began drifting downstairs.

  At the bottom they met El Lizard. His head now projected even farther forward and downwards from his shoulders. He rubbed his hands like Uriah Heep.

  ‘Señores . . .’

  Carlos, perhaps feeling himself on display, held up his hand with regal decisiveness. ‘Gracias, señor. You will be rewarded.’

  El Lizard bowed but as the party passed he looked anxiously among them. ‘My girls, Señor Wooding,’ he whispered. ‘They are all right?’

  ‘They are all right. Everything is okay.’

  ‘Only I did not know what was happening. I wish to run an orderly house—’

  ‘Sí, si, and so you shall. It’s all right. The president is grateful.’

  ‘Gracias, señor.’

  There was talk of getting back to the palace as quickly as possible. The Mercedes, minus Manuel’s car, was still outside. The remaining three drivers stared at their recent masters now wrapped in blankets and sitting glumly in the back of the army lorry. William caught Theresa’s eye again. They were all in the front hall of the club. Box and the president were talking, two soldiers had come in to listen, the colonel was saying something to one of the girls.

  ‘You are going to the palace?’ William asked Theresa, trying to sound matter-of-fact.

  ‘I think so.’ Her hair was still up and the edges behind her ears were still wet.

  ‘No one else left upstairs?’ he asked, pointlessly.

  ‘No.’

  The others began moving through the door. ‘I’ll see you later then,’ he said.

  ‘Yes.’

  Carlos turned to her and she followed obediently, bowing her head as they walked. There seemed no trace of the confident energetic woman who had massaged him. Either she was a superb actress, he thought, or she was remorseful. He wanted to take her hand and say something comforting but dared not in front of the others. Yet what if he had, he asked himself the moment after she had moved away. No one would have done anything, not even Carlos. Nothing would have happened. It would have been quickly forgotten amidst all that was going on. But it was too late.

  ‘Got a moment?’ Box was at his shoulder. They went out and walked a few yards along the road. It was dark but a dozen or so people were in the square, staring at the army lorries and the Mercedes. ‘What do you think?’ Box asked.

  ‘I think you were right in what you said to Carlos just now.’

  Box looked thoughtful. ‘I’ll get off to the palace with him. He needs his hand held. I don’t trust his resolution. He’ll bend with the wind. As soon as the news has broken – ideally before – I’d like you to tell the embassy so that they can tell London. If they can’t or won’t, use the EE(C). You remember how it works?’

  ‘What, get in the grave with it?’

  ‘Of course.’ Box pushed his chin into his chest. ‘Now, if anything happens to me I’d like you to tell London the full story so that they will know what to tell Mrs B. She doesn’t know where I am or what I’m doing, you see. And I’d like her to know if anything happens.’

  ‘Where does she think you are?’

  ‘Brussels. She thinks I work for the Department of Trade, negotiating tractor agreements, that sort of thing.’

  ‘Why did you tell her that?’

  ‘Cover.’

  ‘But why? Can’t you trust her?’

  ‘No, no, trust her absolutely. It’s just that she’d sit at home worrying. You know what they’re like.’

  They turned back towards the club. ‘But it’s not as if anything’s going to – likely to – happen, is it?’ asked William. ‘I mean, it’s a
lmost over with. So long as Carlos insists it will work it will, even if Herrera isn’t found straight away. I mean, there can’t be a Russian counter-coup overnight.’

  ‘If there’s one thing you know in this business, it’s that you never know.’ Box looked at the group of figures waiting for them and stopped walking. ‘If anything does happen to me, I’d like you to know that I’ve been grateful for your help and companionship and that I nominate you my successor. You are in charge.’ His pale face was serious. ‘I daresay it seems rather a lot to take on but I’m certain you’re up to it.’

  ‘That’s very kind but I’m not sure I know—’

  ‘Don’t worry, just keep going. Remember, we’re on the right side, the side of all the good things. That’s why we have to do it. No one else will if we don’t.’

  ‘No, but I still don’t see—’

  ‘You will find a list of your expenses with the EE(C). Make sure it gets to London. They’ll pay in full in any currency you like. Don’t forget to add anything you might incur as a result of tonight. We won’t shake hands in front of the others. Looks rather too final, bad for their confidence. So I’ll say cheerio.’

  ‘Cheerio.’

  Box rejoined the others, addressing them briskly and decisively. They all got into the vehicles and drove off. William remained. It would be terrible if he were never to see Theresa or Box again – or even Carlos, in an odd sort of way. But there was no reason to think he wouldn’t. Indeed, there was every reason to feel pleased. If it went on like this it would all work.

  El Lizard crept out of the club, still rubbing his hands. ‘I keep an orderly house, señor. Always, I have kept an orderly house.’

  ‘Yes, you do. You keep an orderly house.’

  El Lizard stared after the vehicles. ‘It is still an orderly house.’

  ‘It is.’ Through the open door William could see Ines, dressed now and talking to Ricardo and the other girls. She stood with one arm folded and gesticulated widely with the other. The girls nodded. Ricardo spoke, bunching the fingers of one hand together and pointing at himself with the other.

  ‘You like a drink, Señor Wooding?’

  ‘No, thank you. I’m afraid I have work to do.’

  ‘Good luck, señor.’

  Chapter 13

  Sally was in the bedroom when he got back, folding clothes. She wore a green jersey she had recently bought. He had the impression she had not been in long.

  ‘Do you mind if we have the radio on?’ he called. ‘I want to hear the news.’

  ‘Of course not, no.’ She came through, holding a white blouse by the shoulders as she folded it. ‘How’s the revolution?’

  ‘It’s started.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes. We – the army – have arrested the generals. We missed Manuel Herrera but they’re trying to find him now.’

  ‘At the bordello?’

  ‘Yes. Naked, in the massage rooms.’

  ‘I kept wondering if you were really going to do it. It didn’t seem serious.’

  ‘It still doesn’t.’

  ‘Do you want a drink?’

  ‘No, but I’d love a cup of tea. I’ll make it. Do you want one?’

  ‘No, thanks.’ She had folded the arms of the blouse flat against the back and stood now with it hanging over her arms.

  There was music on the radio. He turned it down so that it was just audible. She said something he didn’t hear because he was filling the kettle.

  ‘I said this is yours, you ought to have it.’ She pointed at a piece of paper on top of the fridge. ‘It’s the president’s appeal for help. You showed it to me earlier, remember?’

  ‘Oh yes, I’d forgotten you’d got it. The message was sent, though, or should have been. I suppose it’s of historical interest now.’ He picked it up. ‘That’s odd. It’s a photocopy.’

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘Yes.’ He looked at her. She stood just outside the kitchen, resting her back against the wall of the passage. The blouse still hung over her folded arms. Her eyes seemed slightly wider than usual.

  ‘I gave the original to Max,’ she said. ‘He must have returned the photocopy by mistake. I said you’d want it back, you see.’

  ‘You gave it to Max?’

  ‘Yes. He’s in the CIA.’

  William looked at her.

  ‘I gave it to him when he was here,’ she continued, speaking more quickly than usual, ‘when he turned up just after you’d shown it to me. That was why he left in a hurry. He wanted to take it to the embassy.’

  ‘You mean, when he called here to pick up that book?’

  ‘Yes, except that wasn’t really what he came for.’

  ‘Wasn’t it?’

  ‘No. I’m going off with him.’

  William stared.

  ‘He thinks he might have to leave the country in a hurry if your plan goes off at half-cock – which he thinks it will – and he’s asked me to go with him.’

  ‘To leave – you mean, with him?’ He felt heavy and stupid. ‘You mean, you want to leave me for him?’

  ‘Yes. Also, he says it would be dangerous for me to stay here with you if it all goes wrong. But that’s not really why I’m going with him. I’ve fallen in love with him and he has with me. We’ve fallen in love with each other.’

  ‘Have you?’

  ‘Yes. Are you surprised?’

  ‘Not at the moment.’ He felt nothing at all, a complete absence. The kettle boiled. ‘You’re sure you don’t want a cup?’

  ‘No, thanks – I mean, yes, I’m sure.’

  ‘When – how long has this been going on?’ There was no avoiding the cliché.

  ‘Oh, not long – but long enough for us both to know.’

  She remained staring, her back pressed against the wall, her eyes slightly widened, her arms still folded. She looked pale, though that might have been because of the harsh kitchen light. He waited for the tea to brew. It was odd how everything else carried on as normal. No doubt it was the same when you died: the alarm would ring at the time you set, the paper you had ordered would thump on the mat, the letters you had written would be answered, your voice on the answer machine would promise to ring back.

  ‘You don’t seem to mind very much,’ she said.

  ‘I don’t know what I think.’

  She went on nervously, as if he had said something quite different. ‘Yes, because it’s not as if you haven’t had your bordello girl to play with.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You’ve been having an affair with her, haven’t you?’ She laughed a short laugh.

  ‘Not an affair, no.’

  ‘More fool you.’ She laughed again. ‘I assumed you had.’

  ‘Is this why you’ve decided to go off with Max?’

  ‘No, it’s nothing to do with that. In fact, it began . . . well, I don’t want to go through it all but we became aware that we couldn’t live without each other. Neither of us intended to get involved at the start. It just happened. It was inevitable.’

  William wasn’t sure that love affairs were inevitable. People chose them. He would have chosen if he’d been allowed – had chosen, in fact, but had been prevented. He was tempted to unrighteous anger at her having taken advantage where he couldn’t, but he said nothing.

  ‘It can’t have come as a great surprise,’ she said. ‘It was obvious we haven’t been getting on for some time.’

  ‘Haven’t we?’

  ‘Well, no, not having rows or anything but just not . . . well . . . going anywhere. Our relationship wasn’t progressing.’

  William wasn’t sure about the linear view of relationships, either. ‘I’m sorry about that.’

  ‘Not that it was ever much anyway.’

  ‘Wasn’t it?’

  ‘I don’t think so, do you? We just got along with each other, that was all. It was a habit. We were a habit for each other.’

  ‘Which is now broken.’

  ‘Yes.’

 
They stared. There was an edge of defiance to her tone as if she were prepared for, perhaps even wanted, argument. He felt no jealousy of Max, none whatever. It seemed to have nothing to do with Max. If it hadn’t been him it would have been another. The essential fact was anterior to all that.

  ‘You love him?’

  ‘Oh yes. It’s like nothing I’ve ever known.’

  It felt as if he were talking to a born-again Christian. Even the thought of her making love with Max did not move him. It seemed to involve someone wholly other than the Sally he had last made love with, quite a time ago. Anyway, he had no right to jealousy. He poured the tea. ‘Are you sure you don’t want any?’

  ‘Yes. I’d better get on with my packing.’

  She went back into the bedroom, refolding the blouse. There was a change in the muted tones of the radio. He took his tea into the sitting room and turned up the sound. It was martial music. When it stopped an announcer slowly read the repeat of an earlier statement. There had been an attempt to overthrow the government but it had failed. The president was safe and the two generals who had been temporarily imprisoned were free. The conspirators had been arrested by the security police. Investigations were continuing but foreign elements were believed to have been involved. The president, who would shortly appear on television to make an announcement to the nation, had already issued a statement deploring the attempt, promising a full investigation and retribution according to the law, and thanking Colonel Herrera for his prompt and loyal action. The music resumed.

  Sally stood in the doorway. ‘It hasn’t worked, then?’

  William said nothing.

  ‘Max said it wouldn’t. He said something much bigger would be needed. What’s happened to your friends?’

  ‘They’ve been arrested.’

  ‘Will they come and arrest you?’

  ‘I suppose they will.’

  She came closer to him. ‘I don’t like to leave you if you’re going to be arrested.’

  ‘There’s not much to be done.’

  ‘No, but I do care about you. I love Max but I care for you.’

  ‘Perhaps I should go into hiding.’

  ‘I hope you’ll go on caring for me.’