below. The coefficient also addressed the other factors mentioned above, thus condensing the defining characteristics of each person with respect to his peers. Rather than displeasing them, the level of the coefficient became a status symbol. It was not uncommon to see residents open their statements in front of others, arrogantly displaying feigned surprise at the exorbitant rate they were being charged.
The next step was to modify the weighting of each residential unit. If a building contained people of greater value, it was only appropriate that their vote should have more impact. A mathematical model demonstrated that this led to maximization of the well-being of the whole. Despite the fact that lip service was paid to the normal procedure, in reality a handful of buildings made the decisions.
The reforms to the regulations and perception of the estate were in the public domain. Anyone could find out about them. However, another, parallel movement also took place: underground and more expansive. Selon Perdumes called it “poetic mortgaging.” With his small initial capital, he was able to get his hands on several apartments, strategically placed throughout the estate. He negotiated directly with the owners. The tenants only discovered what was happening when they received a jubilant letter informing them of two things: first, Perdumes was the new owner of the apartment; second, their lives were about to change. For a modest deposit and absurdly low monthly repayments, they could buy the apartment and not have to go on throwing away money on rent. They didn’t have enough for the down payment? They could borrow that too. The letter was a textual version of Selon Perdumes’ alabaster smile.
There was a stampede of tenants wanting to take advantage of the opportunity. With the down payments, Perdumes bought more apartments, some of them also on credit. Given the number, he negotiated interest rates that were lower than he charged, and so he was able to pay off his loans with the radiant new owners’ monthly contributions. In time, a large portion of Villa Miserias was involved in the scheme. Selon Perdumes gloated. His role as an intermediary multiplied his fortune and, despite not being the outright owner of the apartments, he did possess something more valuable: the dreams of the residents of Villa Miserias.
8
There were two buildings that, for very different reasons, clearly stood out from the others. The reason for the conspicuousness of the first was grounded in the yearning for prosperity, which was producing increasing amounts of garbage. The truck picked it up every morning but, even so, a new accumulation was continuously piling up in the rusty containers. The residents of the building adjoining these containers were convinced they were unsanitary: the smell permeated everywhere, throughout the whole day. Not even the lowest interest rates could persuade anyone to buy those apartments. People considered it beneath their dignity to own something in what became known as Building B, and moved out at the first opportunity. Selon Perdumes decided to change his strategy.
At that time, Villa Miserias’ employees tended to live in distant, cheerless communities. They left their houses before the sun had risen and returned under the shelter of the clouded night skies. In addition, the employees often had to work overtime, to the extent that, on occasions, they would get home in time to have dinner, take a nap, and shower before setting out again. This situation was a headache for the administrative department of the estate. The lightest traffic jams caused the employees to arrive late; they were reluctant to work beyond their shift; they were constantly suffering nervous illnesses and their uniforms were always sweaty from being canned up in the public transportation. Selon Perdumes burst into a board meeting with a solution.
Building B was by then almost empty. Perdumes had been gradually rehousing the residents; a few others had moved out of the estate. With the appropriate redesign, he suggested, Villa Miserias’ workers could live there. It was a delicate situation; they needed to tread carefully. But also be firm. In order to clearly differentiate Building B, it would be painted light ochre. The fittings would be replaced by ones of poorer quality and taste.
The trickiest problem was yet to be resolved: how would the workers pay to live there? He wasn’t thinking of offering his mortgage scheme to more than two of them: Juana Mecha and Joel Taimado, the boss of the Black Paunches, as everyone now called the security squad. Perdumes handed a copy of his proposal to the board, as a mere formality before it was announced.
9
PROPOSAL FOR ACCOMMODATING WORKERS IN BUILDING B
1. OUR ESTATE SUFFERS THE UNDESIRABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISTANT HOUSING OF OUR WORKERS. FOR THIS REASON, WE ARE OFFERING THEM THE CHANCE TO RENT IN THE SO-CALLED BUILDING B, AS SOON AS THE APPROPRIATE ADAPTATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE, THE COST OF WHICH WILL BE BORNE BY THE ADMINISTRATION.
2. OUR COMMUNITY HAS MADE A GREAT EFFORT TO BREAK WITH IDEAS THAT HINDER ITS MOVEMENT TOWARD THE FUTURE. WE CANNOT EXEMPT THE WORKERS FROM THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH WE NOW LIVE, NEITHER FOR THEIR OWN BENEFIT NOR OURS: FOR FINANCIAL, ETHICAL, AND MORAL REASONS, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY FULLY COVER THE CORRESPONDING COSTS OF THEIR NEW HOUSING.
3. IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR FINANCIAL MEANS, THEY WILL BE OFFERED A MIXED SCHEME THAT WILL MEET THE NEEDS OF BOTH PARTIES, AND COVER THE MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENTS OF THE APARTMENTS.
3.1. THE ADMINISTRATION WILL DIRECTLY RETAIN A THIRD OF EACH WAGE. THIS SUM WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.
3.2. THE WORKING DAY WILL BE EXTENDED BY TWO HOURS. THE ENSUING INCREASE IN PRODUCTIVITY WILL ALLOW A NUMBER OF WORKERS TO BE LAID OFF. THE SAVINGS OCCASIONED WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.
3.3. IN ORDER TO MAKE SAVINGS IN THE COST OF FOOD, FROM NOW ON RESIDENTS WILL BE ASKED TO TAKE THEIR LEFTOVERS TO THE CANTEEN, TO BE EATEN BY THE EMPLOYEES. THE SAVINGS OCCASIONED WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.
3.4. ADDITIONAL ECONOMIES WILL OCCUR IN RELATION TO MEDICAL COSTS AND SICK, LEAVE SINCE LENGTHY TRAVEL TIMES CAUSE A VARIETY OF AILMENTS AMONG OUR EMPLOYEES. THE SAVINGS OCCASIONED WILL BE PUT TOWARD THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.
4. IN ORDER TO ASSIST THE DOMESTIC ECONOMIES OF OUR WORKERS, IN ANTICIPATION OF POSSIBLE POOR BUDGETING, MECHANISMS FOR REGULATING BASIC SERVICES WILL BE SET UP. IN THIS WAY, THEIR COEFFICIENTS WILL NOT EXCEED A QUARTER OF THEIR INCOME.
5. WHEN THE MORTGAGES HAVE BEEN PAID OFF, THE BOARD WILL DECIDE ON THE RELEVANT PROCEDURE. UNTIL SUCH TIME EACH APARTMENT WILL REMAIN IN THE NAME OF THE ORIGINAL OWNER.
The first person to receive the proposal was Juana Mecha. Broom in hand, she enthusiastically exclaimed, “The mules will get fewer beatings,” which escalated to a euphoric “Property will make us free” when Perdumes notified her she was to become a homeowner. In contrast, Joel Taimado’s response was the characteristic “Uh-huh” with which he impassively assented to everything from behind the dark glasses covering his face down to his three-whisker mustache.
The workers very soon began to move in. Overflowing boxes wound around with tightly knotted rope, tables with legs that didn’t match, and grannies in wheelchairs colonized the ochre building. No one had foreseen the size of the families. In some cases, an apartment was divided between two employees, in a temporary decree that became permanent. The regulated lighting coated every corner with its subdued yellow; the cap on the use of water left more than one person covered in soap mid-shower. In the staff canteen, a certain amount of initial disgust had to be overcome when it came to the banquet of leftovers, which sometimes included half-eaten chicken legs, soup ready-seasoned with lemon and hot sauce, rock-hard beans mixed with rice, and cheese. Some preferred to accustom themselves to cold food as a means of neutralizing the envious glances directed at those who managed to receive protein. To compensate for the drop in wages, several employees moonlighted, doing the odd jobs the owners of the apartments preferred to avoid. The project was pronounced a success. The workers had decent housing and labor relations improved notably. The members of the residential colony got much more for the same money. It was a fine adjustment of
