28
PARTISAN REVIEW
"Yes?"
"Yes," Marambio answered. After a pause he went on: "Look,
the thing is this. Everybody at the office thinks highly of you
because you're efficient and polite. But, you know, in an office the
main thing is team spirit. We should work as a family. Otherwise
it's impossible to be efficient . People like you , but I have to tell you
frankly that they're beginning
to
wonder about you. They think
you're strange, stuck-up . They invite you
to
parties and outings,
they ask you to have a drink or go to the movies, and you've never
once accepted. Can you tell me why not? "
"It's just that I almost never go out. "
"But why? At your age you ought to go out and have a good
time . You're risking your future for nothing . Why don 't you go out
more?"
"My mother is all by herself. I have
to
keep her company ."
"That's no reason . I'm sure if she realized how important it is
for you to be sociable, she wouldn't care if she had
to
sit at home
alone a couple of nights a month. That's all it would have
to
be. I'm
telling you this as a friend and a man of experience. "
"Well, the truth is, I'm very lazy . I love sleeping. I'd rather
sleep than go out ."
"Don't tell me you spend Saturdays and Sundays asleep! "
"I know it sounds odd, but I do. I am a very sleepy person. "
Aquiles ' face suddenly contorted with laughter and he raised
his napkin
to
his mouth to keep from spewing food. "Did you hear,
Sara? Did you hear what this fool said? The great Rengifo's chief
amusement is sleeping . I never heard of such a thing. He doesn't go
out, he doesn 't drink, and he doesn't like women . It's like an
addiction ."
"Quite so, " said Sebastian, giggling along with his boss's loud
guffaws .
"I've heard of all sorts of vices-Don Juans, junkies , drun–
kards, and God knows what else-but I swear I never heard of
anybody with an addiction for sleep . You're crazy, man! If you sleep
all the time, life is going to slip away from you . You have
to
live,
live, man! Look at me!"
Sebastian felt so uncomfortable and guilty that he had no choice
but to attempt a vague explanation :
