When we arrived home from the gym Saturday evening, the sun was setting in the west (it does that here in Spain). San Geraldo looked out a hall window and asked, “Is that a fake statue on top of that building?”
I decided to be of little to no help.
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“A fake statue?” I asked. “As opposed to a real statue?”
“Yes. Over there. Is that a fake statue?”
“Wow. I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to tell from here if it’s a fake one. Or a real one,” I said.
“The one right below the antenna?” he continued. ” Or, wait. Is it a dish?”
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“Oh, yeah, it’s a satellite dish,” I replied. “As opposed to a fake statue.”
I did realise that by fake statue he meant one of those plastic owls intended to scare pigeons away. (The Dowager Duchess had one on her balcony for a short time. She got rid of it after the pigeons covered it in poop.)
As we entered the apartment, I said, “You know, I’m not even sure if that was a real satellite dish or only a fake one.”
“What?”
“You know, the dish you thought was a fake statue.”
He noticed my smirk and finally caught on. “Oh. I guess it wouldn’t be a fake statue, would it.”
He then walked into his office/den. Musy followed.
As usual, San Geraldo’s office was (and is) a mess. He apologized to Musy (who had to navigate through the clothes, shoes, books, and papers on the floor.
“Musy,” he said, “I’m sorry for this den of inequity.”
“Iniquity,” I muttered.
“What?”
“There’s nothing inequitable about that mess.”
And to think this is his first language.
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