The bedroom shrinks

“You’re home early.” The Senora said.

Lethe hung his head, looking sickly and pale.

“Nino, go lay down. I’ll make you some leche con mile.”

She brought the warm milk to his bedroom. He climbed into his bed with only a thin pair of underwear to cover him.

He sat up, drinking the milk. His head was still reeling from the scene in the classroom. The surrealist images proliferated in his mind, and for a moment, the bedroom shrunk. Was he looking at the Senora or just the endless trace of images he witnessed earlier? The movie had over-stimulated him to a dizzying pitch and now he was drowsy and experiencing a sort of sea-sickness.

The Senora loomed over him with a halo of garlic radiating off of her shoulders and arms. She continued to stand over him as he sipped the warm, sweet milk. Flecks of garlic tumbled off her shoulders like rocks in an avalanche.

"I've prepared a meal," she said. “Why don’t you eat something with us later?”

When later came, Donte was setting the table with a calm, benevolent expression on his face. Ever since Lethe’s histrionic suicide attempt, the Cuban was acting like a Jesuit priest and treating him like an anguished mental patient. Lethe went out onto the balcony to have a cigarette; he smoked two puffs when the Senora called him back inside.

Donte carried the creamy garlic potatoes to the table and the Senora followed closely behind with a bowl of spicy gazpacho.

“I made your favorite soup,” she said to Lethe.

“I can’t eat anything," Lethe whimpered.

"What about bread? You can always eat bread. You love bread."

She was right. Bread was the only thing that Lethe ate in Spain. Such a basic food and yet one that has nourished civilizations for centuries. During times like these it seemed like bread was Lethe's sole salvation.

"I'm going to Valencia this weekend," Donte announced.

“And with whom would this be?” The Senora replied.

“Some friends of mine.”

It was miraculous how it happened, but once Donte uttered this news, Lethe felt better. He felt ecstatic, in fact, and suddenly desired some soup to go with his bread.