The Days of the Rainbow Read Online Free PDF Page B

him accept temporary positions that didn’t leave him any time or money to give his little one. He could barely make the Scuola Italiana’s monthly payments, and even that, only with a burdensome loan.
    He talked to her in a soft voice. “Patricia, wake up.”
    The girl sat up abruptly in her bed. “Anything going on, Dad?”
    “I’m sorry, dear. But I have to ask you something important.”
    “Tell me. What is it?”
    “What are you going to vote for in the plebiscite?”
    “And you wake me up only for that, Dad?”
    “Please, answer me. What are you going to vote for?”
    “No!”
    “What a relief! At least one person is going to vote
No
.”
    “No, Dad. You misunderstood me. I’m not going to vote
No
. I’m just not going to vote.”
    Bettini swallowed. He wished he had a glass of water.
    “Why not?”
    “We have already discussed that many times at school. I want to go back to sleep.”
    “But it’s very important that you tell me now.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I’ve just accepted the ad campaign for the
No
.”
    “Oh, Dad, you’re crazy!”
    “Yes, we agree on that. Now, tell me why you’re not going to vote. I need that information. Professionally.”
    “Because Pinochet will commit fraud. No dictator calls a plebiscite to lose it. Because the politicians who are in favor of the
No
are a jumble of groups that have no idea of how to lead the country if they win. Because I’m convinced that this country has no way out. I don’t believe that a dictator who came to power by force of arms could be overthrown by putting little papers in a ballot box.”
    “What do the other students think?”
    “The ones in lower grades, who are under eighteen, don’t vote. In my class, they think like me.”
    “They all think the same way?”
    “No. The usual cuckoos think that it makes sense to vote
No
.”
    “Like me.”
    “Like you.”
    “Then what are you going to do?”
    “What do you mean? What am I going to do for what?”
    “To end the dictatorship. To put an end to Pinochet.”
    “Nothing.”
    “Patricia!”
    “Why are you so shocked, Father? Instead of wasting my time doing cheap politics, I’m going to get good grades, I’ll apply for a fellowship, and I’ll go as far away from this country as possible. I’ll leave it all to Pinochet and his ass kissers.
    Bettini got closer to the lamp, and Patricia could see his astonished expression.
    “So you don’t have any courage to fight?”
    “What for, Dad? Look at yourself. You haven’t had a job in years. Everybody says wonderful things about you, but just like they would say wonderful things about someone who’s dead. About Napoleon, for example! Times have changed. The rules of the game have changed, too. I find your moralistic attitude very nice but totally naïve.”
    The girl raised her hand and caressed the man’s cheek.
    “I see,” he said.
    “Am I hurting you with my words, Dad?”
    “No, no.”
    Slowly, Bettini moved away from the edge of the bed. He felt as if the ceiling had fallen onto his shoulders.
    “Don’t leave so sad, Father. I love you a lot.”
    “I know, my dear.”
    “And it’s important to tell the truth to the people we love.”
    “I agree.”
    Right at the moment when Bettini was about to open the door, the girl jumped out of bed and hugged him tightly.
    “Dad?”
    “Patricia?”
    “If you lead the campaign for the
No
, then I’m going to vote
No
.”

PATRICIA BETTINI is kind of a hippie, but she doesn’t want to have sex with me before we graduate from high school. She sees the end of high school as a moment of liberation. She thinks that all good things in life will come together—going to college, having sex, and, of course, the end of Pinochet.
    It’s like when Catholics make a vow. She got it into her head that if she can hold on for the next six months, she’ll get a great score on the aptitude test, get accepted into the architecture program, and Pinochet will be overthrown.
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