The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa
“Fernández?” It was the same voice that jangled in the gray air when the cadets drilled in the stadium, the highpitched voice that kept them on and on in the assembly hall, lecturing them about patriotism and the spirit of sacrifice. “Fernández who?”
“Fernández Temple, Sir. Cadet Alberto Fernández Temple.”
The colonel studied him. He was a plump little man, impeccably uniformed, with his gray hair neatly combed out and plastered to his skull.
“Are you related to General Temple?” he asked. Alberto tried to guess the colonel’s mood from the tone of his voice. It was cold, but not threatening.
“No, Sir. I think General Temple is from Piura. My mother was born in Moquegua.”
“Yes,” the colonel said. “He’s from the country.” He turned his head, and Alberto, following his eyes, saw that the commandant, Altuna, was sitting in one of the armchairs. “So am I. So are most of the officers in the army. It’s a known fact that the best officers come from the villages. By the way, Altuna, where do you come from?”
“I was born in Lima, Sir. But I don’t think of myself as a Limeño. My family comes from Ancash.”
Alberto tried to see Gamboa’s face, but the lieutenant was sitting with his back to him, and all he could make out were his arm and his gently tapping foot.
“All right, Cadet Fernández,” the colonel said. His voice had become solemn. “Now we’re going to talk about more important things, more serious things.” Earlier, the colonel had been leaning back in his armchair; now he perched on its edge, with his stomach bulging. “Are you a real cadet, a sensible, intelligent, educated person? We’ll assume that you are. Therefore, you wouldn’t bother all the officers in the Academy with something trivial. And, in fact, the report Lieutenant Gamboa has submitted is not a matter for the officers to handle alone. I’ll have to send it on to the Ministry of War. And they’ll have to take it up with the Ministry of Justice. If I’m not mistaken, you accuse one of your comrades of murder.”
He coughed briefly, with a certain elegance, and was silent for a moment.
“It occurs to me,” he said, “that a cadet in the Fifth Year isn’t a child any more. After three years in the Military Academy he’s had more than enough time to become a man. And if a man, a rational human being, wants to accuse someone of murder, he’ll naturally have absolute, irrefutable proof. That is, unless he’s out of his mind. Or unless he’s ignorant of judicial matters and doesn’t know what false testimony is, doesn’t know that slander is clearly defined by law and severely punished. I’ve studied this report with the closest attention. And unfortunately, Cadet, there’s not a shred of evidence anywhere. That caused me to say to myself, this cadet is prudent, cautious, he doesn’t want to disclose his evidence until the last moment, that is, to me in person, so I can present it to the court-martial. Very well, Cadet, that’s why I’ve summoned you. Tell me your evidence.”
Alberto stared for a moment at the colonel’s tapping foot. It moved up and down, up and down, up and down.
“Sir,” he said, “I only…”
“Yes, yes,” the colonel said. “You’re a man now. You’re a cadet from the Fifth Year at the Leoncio Prado Military Academy. You know what you’re doing. So let me hear your evidence.”
“I’ve told everything I know, Sir. The Jaguar wanted to get revenge on Arana for having accused…”
“We’ll talk about that later,” the colonel broke in. “Your anecdotes are very interesting, and your theories show you have a creative spirit, a captivating imagination.” He paused, and repeated with relish, “captivating. But right now we’re going to review the documentation. Give me all the necessary juridical material.”
“I don’t have any evidence, Sir,” Alberto admitted. His voice was weak and unsteady. He bit his lip and then said, “I only told what I knew. But I’m sure…”
“What?” the colonel said with a gesture of surprise. “Are you trying to make me believe that you don’t have concrete and authentic evidence? Be a little more serious, Cadet. This is no moment for joking. Do you really mean that you don’t have even a single valid document? Come, speak up.”
“Sir, I thought it was my duty to…”
“Ah!” the colonel said. “So it is a joke. I don’t disapprove. You have a right to a little diversion, and besides that, a show of high spirits in the young is a healthy thing. But there are limits to everything. You’re in the army, Cadet. You can’t make fun of the armed forces. And it isn’t only a military matter. In civilian life, too, you have to pay dearly for jokes like this. If you want to accuse someone of murder, you have to base your charge on something—how shall I say it?—sufficient. That is, on sufficient evidence. And you haven’t got any evidence at all, sufficient or otherwise, yet you come here to make this gratuitous, this fantastic accusation, one that slings mud at one of your own comrades, not to mention the Academy. Don’t make us think you’re a dunce, Cadet. And what do you think we are, eh? Imbeciles, or lunatics, or what? Don’t you know that four doctors and a group of ballistics experts all agree that the bullet that killed the poor cadet was fired from his own rifle? Don’t you realize that your superiors, who have more experience and more responsibility than you do, made a thorough investigation of the cadet’s death? Stop, don’t speak, let me finish. Do you imagine we’d sit still after that accident and wouldn’t investigate, make inquiries, try to find out what errors and failures were the cause of it? Do you think we earn our ranks as officers by sitting around wishing for them? Do you think the lieutenants, the captains, the major, the commandant, I myself, are such a pack of idiots that we’d simply fold our arms when a cadet died under those circumstances? This is really disgraceful, Cadet Fernández. I say ‘disgraceful’ to avoid using a stronger word. Think for a moment and then tell me if it isn’t disgraceful.”
“Yes, Sir,” Alberto said, and immediately he felt relieved.
“Too bad you didn’t realize it earlier,” the colonel said. “Too bad it required my personal attention to make you see the consequences of your adolescent prank. Now we’re going to talk about something else, Cadet. Because without knowing it, you’ve started an avalanche. And its first victim will be you yourself. You have a lively imagination, right? You’ve just finished giving us a convincing demonstration of that. Unfortunately, your murder story isn’t the only proof. I have other evidence of your fantasies, your inspirations. Will you please bring us those papers, Commandant?”
Alberto saw Commandant Altuna get to his feet. He was a tall, fleshy man, very different from the colonel. The cadets called them Fat and Skinny. Altuna was a reserved and silent person who rarely entered the barracks or the classrooms. He went to the desk and came back with a handful of papers. His shoes creaked like the boots of the cadets. The colonel took the papers and held them up in front of Alberto’s eyes.
“Do you know what these are, Cadet?”
“No, Sir.”
“Of course you do. Take a look at them.”
Alberto read a few lines, and only then understood what they were.
“Now do you recognize them, Cadet?”
Alberto saw a head appear over the back of a chair: Lt. Gamboa was looking at him. He blushed violently.
“Obviously you recognize them,” the colonel said, almost with a laugh. “They’re documents, they’re concrete evidence. Now, then, read us a little of what they say.”
Alberto suddenly thought of the initiation of the Dogs. For the first time in almost three years he had that deep feeling of impotence and humiliation that he had experienced when he entered the Academy. But this was even worse, because he was suffering it alone.
“I told you to read something to us,” the colonel said.
Alberto forced himself to start reading. His voice was weak and at moments it broke. “She had big, hairy legs, and her ass was so enormous that she looked more like an animal than a woman, but she was the most popular whore in the fourth block because all the worst characters wanted her.”
“Return those papers to me,” the colonel said. Alberto handed them to him. The colonel leafed through them slowly. His lips moved and he murmured some of the words and phrases. Alberto could see portions of titles he hardly remembered, some of them written the year before: “Lulu, the Incorrigible Flirt,” “The Mad Woman and the Burro,” “The Whore and the Whoremaster.”
“Do you know what I should do regarding these papers?” the colonel asked. His eyes were half closed and he seemed crushed by some painful but inescapable obligation. His voice sounded weary and rather bitter. “I shouldn’t even order a court-martial, Cadet. I should expel you this very minute, for being a degenerate. And I should talk with your father so that he could take you to a clinic. Perhaps the psychiatrists—do you understand what I’m saying, Cadet?—could cure you. This is a scandalous affair, scandalous. Only a twisted mind, a diseased mind, could write this sort of filth. These papers are a disgrace to the Academy, a disgrace to all of us. Have you anything to say, Cadet? Speak up, speak up.”
“No, Sir.”
“Of course not,” the colonel said. “How could you defend such disgusting documents. You couldn’t. Now answer me frankly, man to man. Don’t you deserve to be expelled? And shouldn’t we inform your parents that you’re a degenerate who also corrupts others? Yes or no?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“These papers have ruined you, Cadet. Do you think any school is going to admit you after you’ve been expelled from here as a delinquent with a perverted mind. You’ve ruined your career. Yes or no?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“What would you do if you were in my place, Cadet?”
“I don’t know, Sir.”
“But I know what I should do, Cadet. I have a duty to perform.” He paused. His expression became less belligerent, became almost kind. He settled back into the armchair again, and his stomach contracted and seemed more normal. He scratched his chin as he glanced about the room; it was as if he were debating a number of conflicting ideas. The commandant and the lieutenant were silent and motionless. Alberto waited for the decision, concentrating his attention on the colonel’s foot: the heel of his shoe rested on the polished floor, but the toe was raised. He was afraid that at any moment the colonel would start tapping his foot once more.
“Cadet Fernández Temple,” the colonel said in a solemn voice. Alberto raised his eyes. “Are you sorry about what you’ve done?”
“Yes, Sir,” Alberto said without hesitating.
“I’m a sensitive man,” the colonel said. “And I find these documents extremely painful. They’re a blatant insult to the Academy. Look me in the eye, Cadet. You have the appearance of a real soldier. You’re not like the riffraff we usually get. So I want you to behave like a man. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“And will you turn over a new leaf? Will you try to be a model cadet?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good. But seeing is believing,” the colonel said. He paused again. “I’ve decided to forget my duty. Just for this once. My duty is to expel you right now. But I’m not thinking about you, I’m thinking about the Academy. To me, the Academy is sacred. I like to think of the Leoncio Prado as one big family. Therefore, I’m going to give you a last chance. I’ll keep these papers, these incriminating documents, and I’ll also keep a sharp eye on you. If your superiors tell me at the end of the year that you’ve earned the trust I’m giving you now, that your record is completely clear, I’ll burn these papers and forget the whole sordid story. But, Cadet, if you commit a single misdemeanor—and one will be more than enough—you’ll be expelled in disgrace. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.” Alberto lowered his eyes and added, “Thank you, Colonel.”
“So you realize what I’m doing for you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“That’s all, then. Go back to your section and behave yourself as you should. Be a true Leoncio Prado cadet. Respect your superiors and yourself. Dismissed.”
Alberto saluted and started to walk toward the door, but he had only taken three steps when the colonel’s voice halted him.
“One moment, Cadet. Naturally you’ll keep absolutely quiet about what we’ve been saying. I mean, about these papers, and the imaginary murder, and everything. And from now on, keep your fantasies under control. The next time you feel like playing detective, remember that you’re in the army, that your superiors make sure that everything is carefully investigated and carefully judged. That’s all.”
Alberto saluted again and left the room. The civilian did not even look up as he went by. Instead of taking the elevator, he walked down, thinking. The stairs glittered like all the rest of the building.
It was not until he was outside, in front of the statue of the hero, that he remembered his bag. It was still in the guardhouse, along with his dress uniform. He walked slowly over to the guardhouse. The lieutenant on duty nodded to him.
“I’ve come to get my things, Sir,” Alberto said.
“What?” the lieutenant asked. “You’re still a prisoner. Gamboa’s orders.”
“But they told me to go back to my barracks.”
“No, Cadet,” the lieutenant said. “Not a chance. Don’t you know the regulations? I can’t let you go without written authorization from Gamboa. So you go back in.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Put him in the cell with that other cadet,” the officer told the sergeant. “I’ve got to make room for the soldiers Capt. Bezada wants to punish for whatever it was they did.” He scratched his head. “This place isn’t an Academy, it’s a prison.”
The sergeant was a solidly-built man with Oriental features. He opened the cell door, kicking it back with his foot. “All right, get in, Cadet.” And he added in a low voice, “Don’t worry, I’ll bring you something to smoke when they change the guard.”
Alberto entered. The Jaguar was sitting on the cot, looking at him.
Then there was the time Skinny Higueras hung back, he didn’t want to go with us, it was as if he suspected that something was sure to go wrong. A few months before, the Bull sent him a message saying, “Either you work with me or you stay out of Callao if you don’t want to get your face pushed in,” and Skinny said to me, “He’s back, I knew this’d happen.” He’d worked with the Bull when he was a kid, in fact it was the Bull who taught Skinny and my brother how to be crooks. Then the Bull got caught and the two of them went on by themselves. Five years later the Bull got out of jail and formed another gang. Skinny kept ducking him but one day two toughs from the gang ran across him in a bar and made him go with them to see the Bull. Skinny told me they didn’t do anything to him, the Bull put his arm around his shoulder and said, “I love you like a son.” Later they got drunk together and said good-by like old friends. In about a week, though, he got that message. Skinny didn’t want to operate in a gang, he said it was bad business, but he also didn’t want to have the Bull for an enemy. So he told me, “I’m going to join up. After all, the Bull doesn’t cheat. But you don’t have to go with me. If you want my advice, go back home with your mother and study to be a doctor. You must’ve saved plenty of money by now.” I didn’t have a single centavo and I said so. “Do you know what you are?” he said. “You’re a whoremaster, that’s what you are. Did you spend all your money in the brothels?” I told him yes. He said, “You’ve still got a lot to learn. It isn’t worth it to spend all you’ve got on the whores. You should’ve saved at least something. Well, what do you want to do?” I told him I’d stay with him. That same night we went to see the Bull. He was in a real dump of a bar, and the waitress only had one eye. The Bull was an old man, a halfbreed, and he hardly knew what he was saying because he k
After that, I fought with the half-breeds and Chinks and peasants in the gang for any reason at all. Sometimes I took a beating, but sometimes I held my own and even got the best of it. Every time we got drunk we ended up fighting. And we fought so much we finally got to be friends. They invited me to drink with them, they took me with them to the whorehouse or the movies. I remember we went to the movies the night before it happened. The Bull was waiting for us outside, and he was more excited than I’d ever seen him. We went to a bar and when we got there he said, “This is it, this is the best deal yet.” But then when he said that the Priest had looked him up and suggested a job, Skinny interrupted him. “Not with those guys, Bull. They’d screw us for sure. They’re big-time operators.” The Bull didn’t pay any attention to him, he went on explaining the setup. He was very proud that the Priest wanted him, because he had a large gang and everybody was jealous of them. They lived like respectable people, they had good houses and they all owned cars. Skinny wanted to argue about it some more but the others made him shut up. It was set for the next night, and it sounded easy. We met at the Quebrada de Armendáriz at ten o’clock at night, the way the Bull told us to, and a couple of the Priest’s men were there waiting for us. They both had mustaches and were very well dressed, they smoked imported cigarettes, it looked as if they were going to a party. We waited there till midnight and then went to the streetcar line, walking in pairs. Another guy from the Priest’s gang was waiting. “It’s all set,” he told us. “The house is empty. They left just now. We can start right away.” The Bull showed me where to be a lookout, off at one side of the house behind a wall. I asked Skinny, “Who goes in?” He said, “Me, the Bull and the Priest’s men. The rest of you are lookouts. That’s the way they work. This is what you call a sure thing.” I couldn’t see anybody from where I was, not even any lights in the houses, but before we got there, Skinny stopped talking and looked pretty worried about what was coming. Pancracio showed me the house as we went by. It was enormous, and the Bull said, “There should be enough money in there to make a whole army rich.” Quite a while later I heard the whistle blasts, the shots and the yells, and I started running in that direction, but then I saw the three patrolmen on the corner. I turned around and escaped. I got on a streetcar at the Marsano Plaza and in Lima I took a taxi. When I got to the bar I only found Pancracio. “It was a trap,” he said. “The Priest tipped off the cops. I think they caught everybody. I saw them beating up the Bull and Skinny on the ground. The four guys from the Priest’s gang were laughing, some day they’ll get what’s coming to them. Right now we’d better clear out.” I told him I was flat broke. He gave me five soles and told me, “Go and live in a different neighborhood and don’t come back here. I’m going to get out of Lima for a while.”