The Fascist Lover

The town’s preparations for Mr Espina’s arrival have been manic, but his secret lover is desperate:  her uniform is stuck inside a malfunctioning washing machine, and her sleepless night is plagued with visions of violent uprisings and failed attempts to tame the local women through handicrafts.  She fears disaster, and, worse, that she will be denied the treat of role-playing the 1980s TV comedy hit ‘The Office’ with the man she loves.

We play The Office with Mr Espina in the regimental casino. The field officers set up a sort of stage. I play a character named Cintia Ortega; I’m a woman who’s going for an interview with Mr Espina, for a job standing in for someone at The Office. My name’s Iris Roja in real life and Cintia Ortega in The Office.

Sometimes, to make Cintia more realistic, I pretend I’m asleep in a very poor house with four children and I wake up because someone starts throwing stones at the front door. I act like I’m terrified, because they might hurt the children. I scream, I shout, I make a huge racket to protect them. And finally I open the door to the house I’ve invented and I see a Communist with her face covered in blood, because a huge stone burst her eyes open when she was leading a protest march against Mr Espina’s military regime the night before his visit to the province.

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