EPISODE XXVI
“Balou is a smart man and has gained an understanding of his situation”.
Burgomaster: major of the eighteen centuries’ small German villages.
Nugaró, Colombia, February 1st 2018
In the shadows of the ongoing afternoon, feeling somewhat relieved at Balou´s geographical distance, the model became invigorated by the indulgence of the wise tree and so she could relax. None of the people hanging around the town square could ever have imagined that this innocent-looking teenager, who would presumably not hurt a fly, was pursuing the dream of stardom, well concealed in the bottom of her mind. Seated under the wise tree in the lotus position (although she didn´t know it was called so in the east) Valentina made quick calculations: “If Balou fell head over heels for me despite my current inexperience, if he was captivated before I take modelling lessons, if Balou liked my figure and my walking with a sensual sway, what will it happen after being trained in the academy? What impression will I cause upon the masculine universe? How would men react to my new way of dressing? How many cases left (like Balou´s) will I be confronted to in the future?” These questions were not rhetorical at all, for Valentina had long time ago resolved to put her career progression into figures, as far as her entry into the art performance and fashion modelling world was concerned; in other words, she wanted to keep an up-to-date register of both virtual and presential suitors of her. She liked to quantify her objective because it provided her in advance with the future pleasure of seeing them accomplished. Simply put, the more flattering followers she can command in her social networks, the more times she takes boy´s breath away, the more times boys get flabbergasted upon crossing her in the street, the greater visibility she might achieve.
To Valentina, to attend a model academy was anything but a hobby, for she was devoted to it in right earnest actually, she drowned in obsession due to her disproportionated ambitions. Her teacher of modelling named Carmenza, had no doubts that the Nugaró-born teenager had been endowed with sufficient talents as to become a top model. She regarded Valentina as a diamond in the rough, even though her inborn attributes still needed some refinement here and there.
Balou was naturally aligned with Carmenza´s insight.
Valentina was currently part of a university program called “Ser pilo paga”. Pilo in Colombian jargon means to be intelligent, to be clever, it refers to the people who apply lots of energy to the things they are involved in. One is pilo when he/she is successful in all areas of his/her daily life, the expression “Ser pilo paga” tells that when you spend time and engage yourself in activities with all your might, the final outcome always pays off; what´s more, sometimes you are given back ten-fold. As long as Valentina´s goals were being met, she pushed herself harder to achieve new ones. She couldn´t stop as a matter of fact. The interest she raised in advertising agencies, eighteen followers already gathered in Instagram, having reached the highest-grade point average of her cohort of law students, these achievements were quite fine, but she still lacked full spiritual contentment. Thus, it was imperative for her to cross the limits, to break down boundaries, to walk farther and take a longer step than yesterday handling astute risk-management in between. That was for her the right meaning of pilo: to get ahead of the rest, to be always in the front line, to be always in the spotlight. Law studying, her participations in inter-university marathons, modelling, they have all been a great help to shape an iron-made mind, strict and adamantly determined. We may now understand why eighteen Instagram followers was so little an amount for her. A large-scale strategy ought to be implemented in order to increase them.
The beauty contest of Nugaró (for which she had already been enrolled) will come in short order hence, a crucial preparation period was lying ahead.
Nugaró, February 15th 2018
The realm of mass-psychology was the expertise of Venancio Pombo, in so a way that his electoral strategy was based upon it. He had then conscious awareness that citizens push hard to match political campaign slogans with the illusions which are dormant in the collective unconscious, whether it be aesthetics, ethical or civic. Provided that he is capable of discovering the hopes of the voters, and if at the same time he manages to convince them that they [their hopes] are the main focus of his government plan, the success in the elections will be guaranteed. If so, the mayor´s chair of Nugaró will be his. A great credit should be given to Venancio Pombo together with his campaign team, as they quickly spotted the principal dreams of the people of Nugaró: aesthetics and beauty; both being aspects regarding the outer appearance. The idea to hold and sponsor the beauty contest in Nugaró came up shortly after this lucky find. Pombo had been a stranger to the inhabitants of Nugaró before his idea came true, but radio advertising, door-to-door politics and massive social network publicity did their job nicely, until he became the talk of the town. He had the mothers in his pocket by organising an inclusive casting for their daughters. Almost every teenager of Nugaró (among them the handicapped and disabled, the transexuals in social transition, not to mention teens suffering from morbid obesity, bulimics, etc) went through the test in the race for being one of the twelve eligible candidates in position to battle for the BCN (beauty contest of Nugaró); to show -without saying it outright- that all of them were pretty enough to be part of a beauty contest, tipped the scale in Pombo´s favour, since the capture of the maternal female vote would largely contribute for his final victory in November. “Political campaign funds serve for the purpose of making the voters go back to the flock, to allow citizens to be swayed towards the winner´s side –Venancio Pombo sounded convincing–. By contrast, the male electors, much less numerous than the females, remained skeptical.
Oblivious to the presence of the surveillance team, the A.S.E. task force newly formed, Valentina arrived at “El Samán” Club, where the beauty contest promoted as “Miss Nugaró” was to be held. Some of the escorts personnel of Valentina sat on the very front posts, others on the far back and the rest on the sides, seeming all of them to be the candidate´s parents, as they wore impeccable suits and ties (not so often were there in Nugaró opportunities to show off elegant garments). René, in turn, kept a low profile, avoided exposure in order to protect himself from easy rumors; in this line of thinking, he attended the event from a gallery away from the public, alongside Venancio Pombo. The father of Valentina decided to care little about the gossip spread by word of mouth throughout the bars of the town –before, during and after the contest–, on grounds of which he was accused of rigging “Miss Nugaró” contest in favour of Valentina, in complicity with the future major and the juries. Despite this fatalistic incident, local ladies and guests from surrounding villages, ardent believers in the fair play, acknowledged Valentina´s undisputed beauty with lively applauses by the time of her coronation. All went smoothly perfect: the last pass Valentina made in her taffeta golden dress, a sophisticated make-up, her long straight black hair, her confident style of modelling always accompanied by a glittering smile backed by inexhaustible batteries, each aspect did wonders for her unfailing performance, which left Carmenza, the manager of the Model Agency and patroness of Valentina in the contest, deeply satisfied. The night before the contest Valentina, so fond of reckoning as well as prone to optimistic speculations, had done a rehearsal of the brief speech she would give to the audience in case of a win, which expressed the following:
“Thanks for your unconditional support. My love is for you all. I´ve prepared myself for this contest in right earnest, giving it all. In return for the affection, you have shown to me, I will be delighted to be the standard bearer of the values of Nugaró -values instilled by my parents- in every event I will take part in from now forth. I congratulate the rest of the candidates for their performances: we are all beautiful”.
On hearing this the gallery where René stayed at broke down in tears. “¡Oh my God, my daughter, the apple of my eye, queen of beauty! –René sighed at receiving an embrace from Venancio Pombo, who then said: “You deserve it, René, this is a result of the commitment and professionalism of Valentina coupled with the way she has been raised, which is your merit and Alba´s. There might have been no better shop window for Nugaró than your daughter. She will be the symbol, the icon of our politic party (Frente Renovador) till the time of the election comes next November 29th. When I become major, Valentina will attend receptions and events, being our flag bearer in charity campaigns and events. In the meantime, she will have a key role in my campaign activities as well”.
The seven A.S.E. sleuths looked down to the gallery in bewilderment, waiting for a sign from Pombo. They all stood up while people were still clapping for the speech of Valentina, which lasted seven uninterrupted minutes. This public recognition gave time for the A.S.E. task force to encircle the dressing room, to where a weeping head-crowned Valentina directed her steps after stepping out of the stage. It was February fifteenth, at seven thirty in the evening. The best present Valentina could have ever received.
René let the escorts pull away from the scene and only then he went to meet Alba, dressed for the occasion with a flowering lilac dress, bursting with anxiety in wait for her husband to appear. In no way was he going to show himself near the A.S.E. guys. He didn´t want to know anything about them directly, not even their names, addresses or civil status; for that reason, he had appointed Venancio Pombo as his right-hand man, kind of liaison between all the people involved in the monitoring.
- Have you seen him? –René asked to Alba.
- Who are you talking about?
- The Argentine.
- No, I haven´t, he is not going to show up here. He is not as fool as to get in trouble on purpose. Balou is a smart man and has gained a clear-cut understanding of his situation. I would say that he has a realistic overview on his place in this story, being in full knowledge about the misguided dreams he follows in relation to Valentina. And speaking of his public behaviours, poetry and so on, he has surely built them up to reproduce in real life a scene whose unreality his mind is well aware of.
René was sure Balou wouldn´t dare to appear in the beauty contest facilities. The reason for overacting his doubts was to make Alba believe that, in quality of worried parents, they should have to intervene in matters of the safety of Valentina personally, without recourse to intermediaries. Nobody noticed Venancio Pombo leave the gallery carrying a briefcase. Nor that he made seven stops and gave an envelope to each affiliate to his political party, El Frente Renovador. “It´s weird –he ruminated– I am still not major but I do have civil servants in charge”. The saman tree after which the club was named saw a Machiavellian elusive smile flowing out through Pombo´s lips.
While the escorts opened their envelopes and realized they were being paid, Venancio Pombo cheerfully tapped their shoulders whispering them in the ears: “Congrats, comrades, for the good performance you´ve just done”.
