A Zero-Sum Game Read online

  5

  Looking back on it, Max Michels realized that Orquídea López’s historical legacy had been, first, to act as a lever in the destruction of the existing structures, and then to be a slightly inefficient steamroller. She had smoothed the path for Villa Miserias to leave Villa Miserias behind and become Villa Miserias.

  Her term in office inaugurated the reign of quantity: the will to count everything. She had promised a form of justice tailored to fit each individual’s specific dimensions. This required the residents to provide information that could be statistically represented: the hours of sunlight entering through each window; the number of minutes they spent sitting on the communal benches; their proximity to the green areas that purified the air. A coefficient was created to measure the benefit each individual obtained from the collective services, including such variables as the frequency with which the barrier was raised to let cars through, usage of the entry phone system and even the amount of time the lobby of each building remained dirty due to the order in which they were swept. The residents began to view one other in terms of their numerical values. The premise involved putting a value on the cost-benefit ratio of each and every soul living on the estate.

  Orquídea’s other great legacy was the transformation of the security force. The guards were used to busting their breeches watching television in the security booth: they didn’t even have to shift from their chair to raise the barrier; the rounds they made of the estate were more a matter of stretching their legs. Orquídea started by putting them into uniform: the tight-fitting black suits and berets gave them an air more comical than threatening. There was an attempt to have them armed with pistols, but money was short and, in any case, they didn’t know how to use them. Pepper spray became the preferred option. The first week, two guards ended up in the sick bay with their faces burning from the effects of the new security device, one due to a practical joke played by a colleague, and the other from having pointed the can in the wrong direction while testing how far the spray reached.

  They had soon caught two petty criminals trying to burgle an apartment in Building 24. The circumstances couldn’t have been more compromising: the petty thieves had broken in in broad daylight, armed with a screwdriver, stinking of Resistol glue, and had gotten stuck in the internal wiring duct while making their escape. It was more a rescue attempt than an arrest. They were left sitting for hours, in full view, surrounded by a patrol of the reinvigorated security squad. The verdict was almost unanimous: the residents felt safer after the professionalization of the forces of law and order.

  To mark the end of Orquídea’s term in office, Perdumes organized a farewell dinner. He gave her a token of appreciation, specially commissioned for the occasion: a bronze sculpture on a marble base, with a gold plaque inscribed with Orquídea’s name and the dates. The statue was of an ambiguously sculpted man, leaning forwards, in a position of great strain. With both hands, he was pushing an enormous sphere. The man represented movement. The sphere, impassivity. The New was still far off but Orquídea López had been the piston chosen to set the ball rolling toward it.

  6

  During the following periods, the outline of Villa Miserias’ electoral ritual was more clearly defined. By means of signals and coded language, Perdumes encouraged or frustrated aspirations. He investigated the most intimate affairs of the candidates. It soon became obvious that the least fruitful way to participate was by demonstrating any intention to do so. Those who put themselves forward independently were subtly destroyed. Rumors would begin to circulate about their habits and proclivities: one left his dog’s urine lying on the living-room floor for days; another had borrowed money from his mother-in-law to get a hair transplant. The rumors were never completely destructive: they were warnings about what would happen if the person in question didn’t desist. He should go about his normal life and simply wait for the appropriate signal.

  A dichotomous formula came to be the norm. Its plurality was based on a moving axis, situated more or less halfway between the two candidates. Generally, the contrasts were basic: man/woman, young/old, good-looking/plain. In this way, an impression of difference was transmitted. The reality was that the following two-year periods were almost interchangeable: the same person in a different format. The estate was on a steady course.

  At the end of their term, they all received the same statue, with slight updates. The hill on which the figure stood went progressively upward and the sphere advanced a little farther. It was a matter of creating sufficient inertia for it to move unaided, flattening every obstacle that came in its path.

  7

  The day he decided to stand as a candidate, Max Michels dressed slowly and deliberately. While he was searching every corner of the apartment for his socks, he came across a thick, leather-bound volume on the study table. The night before, he’d been consulting it until the early hours, unable to focus. Irrespective of the content, the shadowy outline of a female figure would begin to form on the paper. Although Max had attempted to quash it by turning the page, each one seemed identical to the last, and the form had gathered new strength to return to torment him.

  He aborted his exhaustive search for the socks when he noticed they were in his hand. While he was putting them on, he tried to return to the world of shadows, but a silent voice cut in: Shut up, you moron! Better get a move on before you change your mind. Or don’t you have the balls?

  It was no moment for confronting the Many, so he opted for taking refuge in continuing his recollection of the situation he’d so often gone through in the past. He was well aware that the beginning of Villa Miserias’ contemporary history was marked by the sacrifice of Severo Candelario, the only previous person to register his candidacy without Selon Perdumes’ permission. It could even be said everything that had happened before consisted of the construction of a two-level altar. One cosmetic and visible; the other deep and intangible.

  The former involved the introduction of the relevant modifications. The majority of buildings already had discussion groups on Quietism in Motion, but the most stalwart had taken things to levels never imagined by its creator, particularly in relation to the degree of scientific precision involved. To differentiate themselves from the many other failed ideologues, they clothed the theory in an almost irrefutable dogma: mathematics. They understood that if one starts from the appropriate assumptions, it is possible to come to the most implacable conclusions. Their minds were like scrap metal balers fed by a particular configuration of reality, and compressing it into a series of theorems that, in essence, proved the same thing: individual destiny can be based on nothing other than a person’s abilities. Hypnotized by the demonstrable, they didn’t realize that their path transformed the very conception of ability. They were like children who create imaginary friends only to then blindly follow their commands. By means of indecipherable algebraic progressions, they reified the virtue of a lack of scruples. From then onward, those who put their own interests first would be the ones to stand out from the crowd. Mathematics expunged any last vestige of guilt. In fact, they turned it on its head: the greater the determination to excel, the greater the benefit to those others. The new common goal was to ensure the cake continued to grow forever. Talking about sharing it out became a poor-taste anachronism.

  The process started with the individualization of the service charges, calculated on the base of the coefficient. The apartments on upper floors paid a higher percentage as it required more energy to pump the water from the cistern up there, the gas had to run through more yards of piping, and they were less afflicted by the racket of the daily bustle down below. The coefficient also addressed the other factors mentioned above, thus condensing the defining characteristics of each person with respect to his peers. Rather than displeasing them, the level of the coefficient became a status symbol. It was not uncommon to see residents open their statements in front of others, arrogantly displaying feigned surprise at the exorbitant rate they were being charged.
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br />   The next step was to modify the weighting of each residential unit. If a building contained people of greater value, it was only appropriate that their vote should have more impact. A mathematical model demonstrated that this led to maximization of the well-being of the whole. Despite the fact that lip service was paid to the normal procedure, in reality a handful of buildings made the decisions.

  The reforms to the regulations and perception of the estate were in the public domain. Anyone could find out about them. However, another, parallel movement also took place: underground and more expansive. Selon Perdumes called it “poetic mortgaging.” With his small initial capital, he was able to get his hands on several apartments, strategically placed throughout the estate. He negotiated directly with the owners. The tenants only discovered what was happening when they received a jubilant letter informing them of two things: first, Perdumes was the new owner of the apartment; second, their lives were about to change. For a modest deposit and absurdly low monthly repayments, they could buy the apartment and not have to go on throwing away money on rent. They didn’t have enough for the down payment? They could borrow that too. The letter was a textual version of Selon Perdumes’ alabaster smile.

  There was a stampede of tenants wanting to take advantage of the opportunity. With the down payments, Perdumes bought more apartments, some of them also on credit. Given the number, he negotiated interest rates that were lower than he charged, and so he was able to pay off his loans with the radiant new owners’ monthly contributions. In time, a large portion of Villa Miserias was involved in the scheme. Selon Perdumes gloated. His role as an intermediary multiplied his fortune and, despite not being the outright owner of the apartments, he did possess something more valuable: the dreams of the residents of Villa Miserias.

  8

  There were two buildings that, for very different reasons, clearly stood out from the others. The reason for the conspicuousness of the first was grounded in the yearning for prosperity, which was producing increasing amounts of garbage. The truck picked it up every morning but, even so, a new accumulation was continuously piling up in the rusty containers. The residents of the building adjoining these containers were convinced they were unsanitary: the smell permeated everywhere, throughout the whole day. Not even the lowest interest rates could persuade anyone to buy those apartments. People considered it beneath their dignity to own something in what became known as Building B, and moved out at the first opportunity. Selon Perdumes decided to change his strategy.

  At that time, Villa Miserias’ employees tended to live in distant, cheerless communities. They left their houses before the sun had risen and returned under the shelter of the clouded night skies. In addition, the employees often had to work overtime, to the extent that, on occasions, they would get home in time to have dinner, take a nap, and shower before setting out again. This situation was a headache for the administrative department of the estate. The lightest traffic jams caused the employees to arrive late; they were reluctant to work beyond their shift; they were constantly suffering nervous illnesses and their uniforms were always sweaty from being canned up in the public transportation. Selon Perdumes burst into a board meeting with a solution.

  Building B was by then almost empty. Perdumes had been gradually rehousing the residents; a few others had moved out of the estate. With the appropriate redesign, he suggested, Villa Miserias’ workers could live there. It was a delicate situation; they needed to tread carefully. But also be firm. In order to clearly differentiate Building B, it would be painted light ochre. The fittings would be replaced by ones of poorer quality and taste.

  The trickiest problem was yet to be resolved: how would the workers pay to live there? He wasn’t thinking of offering his mortgage scheme to more than two of them: Juana Mecha and Joel Taimado, the boss of the Black Paunches, as everyone now called the security squad. Perdumes handed a copy of his proposal to the board, as a mere formality before it was announced.

  9

  PROPOSAL FOR ACCOMMODATING WORKERS IN BUILDING B

  1.OUR ESTATE SUFFERS THE UNDESIRABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISTANT HOUSING OF OUR WORKERS. FOR THIS REASON, WE ARE OFFERING THEM THE CHANCE TO RENT IN THE SO-CALLED BUILDING B, AS SOON AS THE APPROPRIATE ADAPTATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE, THE COST OF WHICH WILL BE BORNE BY THE ADMINISTRATION.

  2.OUR COMMUNITY HAS MADE A GREAT EFFORT TO BREAK WITH IDEAS THAT HINDER ITS MOVEMENT TOWARD THE FUTURE. WE CANNOT EXEMPT THE WORKERS FROM THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH WE NOW LIVE, NEITHER FOR THEIR OWN BENEFIT NOR OURS: FOR FINANCIAL, ETHICAL, AND MORAL REASONS, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY FULLY COVER THE CORRESPONDING COSTS OF THEIR NEW HOUSING.

  3.IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR FINANCIAL MEANS, THEY WILL BE OFFERED A MIXED SCHEME THAT WILL MEET THE NEEDS OF BOTH PARTIES, AND COVER THE MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENTS OF THE APARTMENTS.

  3.1.THE ADMINISTRATION WILL DIRECTLY RETAIN A THIRD OF EACH WAGE. THIS SUM WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.

  3.2.THE WORKING DAY WILL BE EXTENDED BY TWO HOURS. THE ENSUING INCREASE IN PRODUCTIVITY WILL ALLOW A NUMBER OF WORKERS TO BE LAID OFF. THE SAVINGS OCCASIONED WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.

  3.3.IN ORDER TO MAKE SAVINGS IN THE COST OF FOOD, FROM NOW ON RESIDENTS WILL BE ASKED TO TAKE THEIR LEFTOVERS TO THE CANTEEN, TO BE EATEN BY THE EMPLOYEES. THE SAVINGS OCCASIONED WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.

  3.4.ADDITIONAL ECONOMIES WILL OCCUR IN RELATION TO MEDICAL COSTS AND SICK, LEAVE SINCE LENGTHY TRAVEL TIMES CAUSE A VARIETY OF AILMENTS AMONG OUR EMPLOYEES. THE SAVINGS OCCASIONED WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.

  4.IN ORDER TO ASSIST THE DOMESTIC ECONOMIES OF OUR WORKERS, IN ANTICIPATION OF POSSIBLE POOR BUDGETING, MECHANISMS FOR REGULATING BASIC SERVICES WILL BE SET UP. IN THIS WAY, THEIR COEFFICIENTS WILL NOT EXCEED A QUARTER OF THEIR INCOME.

  5.WHEN THE MORTGAGES HAVE BEEN PAID OFF, THE BOARD WILL DECIDE ON THE RELEVANT PROCEDURE. UNTIL SUCH TIME EACH APARTMENT WILL REMAIN IN THE NAME OF THE ORIGINAL OWNER.

  The first person to receive the proposal was Juana Mecha. Broom in hand, she enthusiastically exclaimed, “The mules will get fewer beatings,” which escalated to a euphoric “Property will make us free” when Perdumes notified her she was to become a homeowner. In contrast, Joel Taimado’s response was the characteristic “Uh-huh” with which he impassively assented to everything from behind the dark glasses covering his face down to his three-whisker mustache.

  The workers very soon began to move in. Overflowing boxes wound around with tightly knotted rope, tables with legs that didn’t match, and grannies in wheelchairs colonized the ochre building. No one had foreseen the size of the families. In some cases, an apartment was divided between two employees, in a temporary decree that became permanent. The regulated lighting coated every corner with its subdued yellow; the cap on the use of water left more than one person covered in soap mid-shower. In the staff canteen, a certain amount of initial disgust had to be overcome when it came to the banquet of leftovers, which sometimes included half-eaten chicken legs, soup ready-seasoned with lemon and hot sauce, rock-hard beans mixed with rice, and cheese. Some preferred to accustom themselves to cold food as a means of neutralizing the envious glances directed at those who managed to receive protein. To compensate for the drop in wages, several employees moonlighted, doing the odd jobs the owners of the apartments preferred to avoid. The project was pronounced a success. The workers had decent housing and labor relations improved notably. The members of the residential colony got much more for the same money. It was a fine adjustment of the gears that drove Villa Miserias.

  10

  The other building to escape the omnipresent gray was farthest from Plaza del Orden, the social and geographical center of Villa Miserias. Despite being on the margins, it immediately caught the eye. The two façades visible from within the estate displayed an intervention by a young artist, Pascual Bramsos: a paint-rollered giant composed of hundreds of silhouettes of miniscule men. The figure was in free fall, having received a blow from an abacus thrown by a chameleon
brandishing a catapult above its head. Bramsos was intelligent enough to start with the colossus, so the board members thought the allegory of union it transmitted funny. Then, working the whole night, he created the homicidal chameleon. It was well before noon when the order to return the building to its gray normality was issued. Bramsos armed the neighbors, and a hail of eggs rained down on the man charged with the eradication of the work. He only got as far as castrating the giant with a brushstroke to the groin. The author of the work decided to leave it that way as a finishing touch. Perdumes used to amuse himself looking out on it each morning when he got out of bed.

  The most eloquent thing that could be said about the estate’s residents was that the sum of their parts exceeded, in every sense, their whole. Having pursued imperfect Utopias for some years, they tended to air their bureaucratic frustrations by giving their opinion on anything and everything, just to have something new to spout off about. After Building B, they started on the one with lowest overall coefficient: its influence was close almost non-existent. It was also the only one to have three separate residents’ groups with pretensions to legitimacy, but which never sent delegates to the general assembly.

  11

  Such was, in broad outline, the general panorama of Villa Miserias when the schoolmaster Severo Candelario became the hinge that would close the door to the past and allow in the whirlwind of dust still blowing at the time of Max Michels’ decision. Before leaving his apartment, he looked contemptuously at his friend Pascual Bramsos’ painting hanging on the wall. For a moment he believed the frame was shaking, that it was trying to detach itself, as if catapulted by some irresistible force. Before this could happen, he took hold of it with both hands and carefully placed it on the floor. For the last time, he stood directly in front of the phrase written on the wall, hidden by the work. The fact was, Max was about to take a quantum leap toward discovering just how big he was.