By José Dominiguez, July 16, 2020 — That Saturday afternoon [in] June of 1969 I was taking a bus to Chihuahua City. I had done that trip so many times in my life that it was a routine trip as usual. At least, that was what I thought. Since I finished my professional studies at the age of 25, I returned to my parents’ house where they lived alone in our big family house in Ciudad Juarez. At that time, I was hired at a very prestigious local University and had a bachelor’s life with nothing to worry about. Each day my past limited student life, enriched by its simple pleasures, had been substituted by a more pleasant existence at the reach of my hand.
My bus departure was leaving at 3:00 pm and the passengers started to board the unit of Transportes Chihuahuenses. [I was] bound to my destiny, the capital city of Chihuahua, 300 miles away. I took a corridor seat and to my right, at the window seat, there was an attractive young lady. She was the same age as I was, dressed in a very casual and clean blouse and jeans. [Her] short hair colored as a discreet blond. Not totally a beauty but she had a very nice, harmonic face and such simplicity of gestures that matched the cadence of her hands and the body movements. She didn’t hesitate to look at me directly [in] the face and in a very natural way asked me, “Hi, I am Rose. So we are going to the same city?” She caught me off guard and I managed to answer, “Yes, my name is José and I’m going to Chihuahua, but I will return tomorrow Sunday because I have work on Monday.”
“And what kind of work is that?” She asked in a casual manner.
“I’m a teacher, a full-time educator,” I told her.
“Sounds great!” She said and continued asking, “And can you tell me the purpose of your trip?”
“Sure, no problem. I have my girlfriend in Chihuahua and I visit her each time I have a chance.” And she surprised me when she started to laugh. [Feeling] puzzled, I asked her, “Can you tell me why it’s so funny?”
She, in a way regretting her meddling, said, “Please excuse me, it’s not important, you don’t have to answer to my questions, I don’t want to be indiscreet. Let’s change the subject.”
But I insisted and she told me, “If you insist…. to me it’s funny …. if you have the right girl and a good income how come you don’t live with her.”
“To live with her?” I said alarmed, “but we are not married!”
She laughed again. “Marriage is a very strong word for me. I don’t understand it and it doesn’t exist in my daily vocabulary. I live in a more elemental world. And I believe…” and she didn’t finish the sentence, and turned her face to me saying, “Can I be personal and honest with you? Because I think you are a nice person. Can I?”
“Yes, please,” was my answer.
“I think you don’t need marriage. I think you can live with your girlfriend, and perhaps you are already living with her in a way that satisfies your needs, your personality, and ego. But marriage is also a big word foreign to your current concerns. I don’t say this to criticize you, I think you live very well, and you can do what you like but you inspire me to dig in a little in that world of yours.”
“What does this world of mine have?” I asked firmly. She turned her head slightly to the window and kept silent. Then with her finger pointed some birds flying in circles in the sky in the desert.
“Look,” she told me, “They saw something and are prepared to eat.”
“And what relationship have those birds with ‘that world of mine?’ Can you explain?”
She took her time, she was not in a hurry. “Well,” she continued, “They are only birds. If they are hungry, they eat. If they don’t have food, they look for a piece to hunt and they live well.”
Following her story and wanting to know the message of the story I continued with our dialogue, “Are you saying that I’m … those birds?”
She laughed again as if she was caught in the middle of a riddle. “Yes, you are what you are, you are a master of words and you will find the proper words to explain whatever you like, in the way that you like.”
“Like a magician?” I commented sarcastically.
“Well, if your intention is to amuse people and have fun, then yes like a magician; but if your intention is selfish, you will be a kind of business person. Nevertheless, you will have fun either way. I believe your world is made of all those advantages that life gave you, see, you are a lucky fellow! Now is your moment to enjoy life.”
I was surprised about Rose’s easiness to intrude in my life and how effortless she remained talking about my intentions and lifestyle. Now was my turn to focus on her, so I asked her, “And tell me, Rose, what do you do for a living? If I may?”
“Hmmm. You will never guess…” She answered, enjoying my estrangement then looked at me as an infant hiding her marbles. “Guess! You have to guess!” She told me in a nestled voice.
“You work in an office?” Was my first tentative.
“Not in the world!” Rose replicated.
“You are a smuggler!”
“It would be fun and profitable, but is not my style,” Rose said.
“You have money of your own!” I concluded.
“If I had money, I will not be on this bus.”
“I prefer not to continue the game. Tell me please,” I insisted.
“Well, I’m an artistic dancer, well … kind of stripper, but not 100% nude. I have a contract at Chihuahua City for a week.”
“Do you like to work at Chihuahua?” I asked.
“Well, not completely, it is a traditional city full of half Catholic men, half moralists, half sinners. They are craving to see a naked woman but their authorities, their wives, their mores, believe that to preserve the good name of the city and the virtue of the community, strip dance has to be totally prohibited. I think they are afraid that all those men as soon as they see a naked woman all are prone to be automatic rapists. José, I’m going to dance in the most prestigious cabaret for a week; after that, I will return to Juarez. You are invited to see my routine.”
I told her, “I will not miss your show, but it has to be after I have visited my girlfriend,” I pointed with a kind of serious expression.
She outlined a slight smile and stated: “So, after one romantic sex encounter with your girlfriend, you are going to attend to a sexy show? No problem, I can live with that. José, you are my guest. See you at the Crazy Cat cabaret. And welcome to my world!”