“Anyway,” Serena said, “we made a whole lot of money and we can’t wait to go back. How are things here?”

“Much the same,” I said.

“How can you bear to live here?” Glauco said. “We’re going back as soon as we can. Right, darling?”

They hardly noticed how tidy I’d made the apartment, and it didn’t stay tidy for long after their suitcases started an avalanche. Serena extracted a Mexican nightgown from her suitcase, took a shower, and sat down on the couch to drink a bottle of tequila bought at the duty-free store.

“There’s nothing like tequila,” she said, “it’s fuego! So, are you going to tell us about you or not?”

“Much the same,” I said. “No, I don’t drink.”

“Of course, you can stay here as long as you like. You look a bit exhausted.”

“He can stay forever if he wants,” Glauco said, coming in from the bathroom in shorts. “It’s not like you’ll want to go on living here.” But he didn’t say anything about the concrete skeleton that had taken the place of the trees in the valley.

“I’m going back to the hotel,” I said. “I’ve already notified them. They’re giving me my old room. But tomorrow, if you don’t mind.”

They didn’t, and, after a last drink, they started unpacking their suitcases and putting their clothes away in the closet in the bedroom. Each thing they took out had a story and they insisted on telling me every single one.

“This is for you,” Serena said, giving me a small bronze totem. “It’s the god of fertility.” It was squat and surly, with two red stones for eyes.

“You old lecher,” Glauco said, sitting down on the bed. “God knows how many girls you’ve had in my bed. What is it with you and women? I’ve never understood why they had such a weakness for you. And what about your friends?”

“Graziano died,” I said.

“Oh, Christ, what are you saying?” he said. “I’m sorry. He was one of us.”

Of course. I was about to tell Glauco what I thought of him when Serena came in holding the red robe. “Have you kept this rag?” she said. “Why didn’t you throw it away?” She kissed me on the lips. I really couldn’t stand the two of them and I was sorry I’d told them the hotel room wouldn’t be ready until the next day, but there was the matter of my books and clothes to sort out and one way or another I needed an extra day. Just so as not to spend any more time with them, I went to the newspaper office even though it was my day off.