For W.

For W.

Para W.

At five o'clock on Sunday the electrician was lying under the carousel with a torch in her mouth, and she had been there since eight.

A las cinco de la tarde del domingo, la electricista estaba tumbada debajo del tiovivo con una linterna en la boca, y llevaba allí desde las ocho.

Her name was Bev. On Wednesday I had rung twelve electricians, and eleven had laughed at the dates or hadn't answered. Bev had answered. From Monday to Saturday she worked for a big company that wired office buildings and didn't allow its electricians to take private jobs; on Sundays she was her own boss. "One Sunday," she had said. "That's what you've got before your hearing. I'll start at eight and stay till it's done. If it isn't done by midnight, it isn't done."

Se llamaba Bev. El miércoles yo había llamado a doce electricistas, y once se habían reído de las fechas o no habían contestado. Bev sí había contestado. De lunes a sábado trabajaba para una empresa grande que instalaba la electricidad en edificios de oficinas y no dejaba a sus electricistas aceptar trabajos particulares; los domingos era su propia jefa. —Un domingo —había dicho—. Es lo que tiene antes de su audiencia. Empezaré a las ocho y me quedaré hasta que esté hecho. Si a medianoche no está hecho, no está hecho.