The boulevard of the dead and other stories

The foreigner from nowhere (No Place)

When the foreigner walked through the door, no one knew what to do.

They didn't know whether to smile at him and pretend to resume interrupted chores, speak to him in another language, offer him a cup of coffee, or even shoo away the flies that now landed in the bowls of fruit on the table. However, he simply walked further into the tavern until he reached the counter, and quietly asked me for a room.

I immediately stood up and handed him one of the keys I had available, insisting on the fact that he let me help him carry up one of the suitcases he was carrying, because of how heavy it looked to me. And, as we climbed the stairs to the third floor of the hotel, I saw how one of the suitcases had a small insignia of what looked like a spider or, the silhouette of a lightning bolt attached to it, although I didn't want to ask him anything about it, in case he was still puzzled by the cold reception he got minutes before.

However, when we were in front of the room that belonged to him, he simply thanked me, took the suitcase and closed the door, so I immediately retraced my steps, to sit behind the counter, acting as if nothing had happened in front of all the curious looks of my clients.

The most interesting thing was that, the next morning, while I was taking care of tidying everything up to receive the customers, I heard how in the room above me, the one that was supposed to belong to the stranger, at times footsteps as light and quick as a child's could be heard, to change to softer ones, followed by many heavier ones. And, worried that someone had entered his room without his permission, I decided to go upstairs to inspect, only to be surprised that, when I knocked on the door, a completely different person opened it.

"Aren't you...?" I started, but interrupted myself when I realized that I hadn't even registered the name of the person to whom the room was supposed to belong. Nevertheless, the stranger only commented that he would be down in a few minutes. 

I nodded and went back downstairs, blaming myself for all the oversights I had made in one night: not only had I forgotten to check the boy's identity, but I had also allowed a stranger to enter his room. And, when I was finally in front of the counter, watching as my customers slowly came downstairs for breakfast, I noticed that the footsteps were now much more constant than they had been minutes before, although I didn't think much more of it.

I continued with my normal routine until little by little all the people were leaving the tavern, leaving me alone for a few minutes, so I allowed myself to make a brief inventory of the reservations I had, but, my tranquility was interrupted when I heard how the bell on the door of the tavern, the one that led to the rooms, announced that I had a new customer.

On my way out, I met the stranger's gaze, who was fiddling with his spider brooch.

"You run a tavern."

"No, I run the hotel and the tavern, "I corrected, as I approached my favorite place again. I've been running it by myself for 40 years."

He nodded, looking around slowly, as if he was trying to find some detail that might indicate the years that had passed. And, while I waited for him to order me something to drink, he added:

"Now you know my secret."

"Secret? What secret?"

"You know that I am a foreigner."

And that's when he told me everything.

He was not at ease with himself and his body.

There was something he did not like. At first, he thought it was just an idea that would go away in the same sudden way it appeared, but, little by little it was invading his thoughts, until, he discovered that he did not like something at all. He thought that it might be his name that displeased him a little, so in time he decided to cut it to two syllables, so that he could satiate that need for originality and difference among the rest. Thanks to this, he presented himself as Ro. And, although this had satiated his discomfort for a while, he soon realized again that he was not at ease at all.