Benjamin
1. Night is a silent partner Benjamin’s mother died well before midnight. All the fuss with the doctors, the confirmation, the papers, the transport of the body lasted only a couple of hours. When everybody left, Benjamin still had a long night in front of him and no idea what to do with it. He smoked and watched the cockroaches race each other across the ceiling. His mother was barely alive the final weeks of her illness. In a way this was a huge relief. Benjamin sucked on his cigarette listening to the sounds of the city outside. The wailing of sirens, the faraway car engines roaring with impatience, the screeching of tires, the argument in Spanish coming from across half the town it seemed. The night went on as scheduled. There was nothing to …