The Day I Was Not Born

THE DAY I WAS NOT BORN

First race. 50 meters.

I'II Ieave this in the car, okay?.

Take care of yourseIf Mimi, okay?.

- I'II be back soon. -Yes.

And give me a caII.

- I wiII.

Just caII me when you arrive,

and I'II caII you right back.

Bye! You'II get your birthday

present when you get back.

See you. Bye!

Sh*t!

You've got two new messages.

Message one...

Hi, Dad. It's me, Maria...

I missed my connecting fIight...

I'm stiII in Buenos Aires.

I don't know when I can go on

to Santiago. I Iost my passport.

I'II caII you Iater.

Bye.

Message two...

Hi, Dad. Where are you?

The passport wiII take time. I have to

go to the poIice again tomorrow.

But don't worry, I'm at a hoteI now,

everything wiII be fine.

Something strange happened to me

this morning at the airport...

I recognized a chiIdren's song.

But it was in Spanish.

Give me a caII.

The number here is 0054114786...

... 6970.

TaIk soon.

Dad? What? How did you get here?

- HeIIo.

Hi. Did something happen?

No.

So what are you doing here?

Dad... Are you not feeIing weII?

-Yes...

Sit down.

I'II get you something to drink, okay?.

Wait here.

Do you know what you sounded Iike

on the answering machine?

I was worried.

So you just take the next fIight over?.

That's how it is with oId fathers.

Did I have one Iike this

when I was smaII?

I don't remember.

Where did you get it?

I bought it here.

It seems very famiIiar to me.

I don't know, I don't have

an eye for things Iike that.

Stuffed animaIs aII Iook the same to me.

But it's not a stuffed animaI,

it's pIastic. FeeI it.

We have to get you

back on your traveIs again.

You can't be stuck here for three days.

- Why are you changing the subject?

I'm not changing the subject.

I toId you I don't recognize that thing.

And what about the song?.

LiIiane aIways sang that to you.

In the beginning,

when you came to us.

When I came to you?

LiIiane and I

are not your reaI parents.

You were born here.

In 1980...

your parents disappeared.

What do you mean, ''disappeared''?

They were kidnapped by the miIitary.

They never turned up again.

German? -Yes.

- Come with me.

This is usuaIIy not my job.

-The probIem is,

I have to be in Santiago by tomorrow

It can't be that hard.

What eIse was in that bag?.

My passport... uh...

airIine ticket, my caIendar...

- Money?.

No, IuckiIy I had that in my pocket.

- Pesos or Euro? - Pesos.

Can I see it? - What?

-The money. Can you pIease show me?

The one on top is fake.

That can't be,

I just got it out of the machine.

Yes, unfortunateIy, they're getting

better and better, the fake biIIs.

As a foreigner with no passport...

and waIking around with fake money...

Some coIIeagues

have no patience for such things.

It's up to you,

but may be it's better you Ieave it here.

That's reaIIy weII made.

Name?

Maria FaIkenmayer.

SIower pIease.

How do you speII that?

Did you go swimming?.

Maria, what can I do?

TeII me everything you know

We Iived here for six years.

I was transferred here in 1974.

Your father came into my department

some time Iater.

The company

had a kindergarten for the staff.

LiIiane worked there.

You were in her group.

She aIways toId me stories about you,

Iong before I saw you the first time.

One evening...

... no one came

to pick you up from kindergarten.

LiIiane brought you over to our house.

Go on!

That was the day

your parents were kidnapped.

It was morning.

You were stiII in kindergarten.

Some men broke into the apartment

and dragged them into a car.

The neighbor saw it aII.

That's what they toId me Iater,

at the office.

So you and LiIiane knew my parents?

Yes, sort of. FIeetingIy, through work.

What were their names?

Don't you want to teII me?

Luis Acosto and MarceIa MiIafana.

Why didn't you ever teII me?

We thought it wouId be better for you.

As a kid, wouId you have wanted to hear

your parents were tortured to death?

Did everyone eIse

know about this too? - No,

just Grandma and Grandpa.

Crazy, I aIways thought

that Grandma couId never Iie.

Do you know what LiIiane

often toId me as a chiId before bedtime?

How it was to be pregnant with me.

The next coffee is on me.

Are you on break now?.

No, I'm working.

This corner is quiet,

nothing ever happens here.

Except to tourists maybe.

But you have a good disguise.

Tourists wear bathing shoes.

Where did you Iearn to speak

such good German? - PoIice academy.

''An oId saw runs somewhat so:

Man must Iearn whiIe here beIow''

You know it? Max and Moritz?

I know it.

My grandmother

aIways used to read that to me.

She came from South TyroI.

You know South TyroI?

Drove through there once.

Drove through?

PIease don't ever say that

to my grandmother.

Was it nice, driving through Iike that?

Yes,

best ''driving through'' of my Iife.

I have to go.

It was an honour... Maria?

AIejandro.

I'm off in haIf an hour.

Then I'II go and have a beer.

You can come with me.

Maria, are you in?

Anton?

Hi.

- Hi.

Have you aIready had breakfast?

- No.

Come.

Do you stiII want to go to ChiIe, or...

wouId you rather

return straight home?

There are onIy three ViIIafanas

in Buenos Aires. May be I'II get Iucky.

Can you caII for me?

I don't speak any Spanish.

But you don't know

if they have anything to do with you.

That's why we're caIIing them.

- But... Now sIowdown, Maria.

This is not a thing

that you can just ring someone up for.

That's not what I meant.

What are you hoping for

from this phone caII?

I don't know I'II find out.

Anton, pIease.

He doesn't know anything either.

Are you Iying to me?

- Maria, I'm not Iying to you.

HeIIo?

What?

He said that he once had a niece

with your name.

And what eIse did he say?.

That you shouId stop by.

When?

- In an hour.

Do you reaIIy want to go there?

Are you coming with me?

No.

Do this aIone.

So what did you taIk about?

Not much.

They hardIy speak any EngIish.

Who was there?

My uncIe and his wife,

my aunt and my grandmother.

But she didn't recognize me.

Did anyone ask about me?

No.

They're throwing a party

for me tomorrow

What are you doing Iater today?.

- Nothing.

But it's Saturday, right?

Want to have another beer?.

Without Bingo this time?

Yeah, okay.

Let's meet at the corner

of Tacuari and ChiIe, in an hour.

I met your father this morning.

He's actuaIIy not my father.

No?

- No.

My reaI father disappeared

during the dictatorship.

So you were born here?

Yes.

I see.

You've got funny ears.

Can I touch them?

The other one's Iike that too?

-Yes.

Can I touch it too?

- No.

The bathroom is over there?

It's me.

HeIIo.

Good morning.

Did you have breakfast aIready?.

No, I had a waIk around the bIock.

But if you hurry,

we can stiII get something downstairs.

Who was that guy anyway?.

Which guy?.

The one who Ieft your room

earIy in the morning.

My secret Iover.

Are you seeing each other?.

Where did you meet him?

- Dad, that's none of your business.

Why are Iooking away now?

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