“My mother used to say Santiago sounded like a man going somewhere,” he said finally. “She meant it as a good thing. She was very literal about language. Names were life instructions.”
“And your father?”
“My father chose Rafael because an uncle and a grandfather were both named that. He wasn’t interested in a name sounding poetic.”
“So you were both things?”
“For about three weeks,” he said. “Then a teacher decided two names were unnecessary. Next, a kid in kindergarten couldn’t manage the entire length of Santiago, and it became Tiago. That became Thiago with an “h” somewhere in a school office where nobody was paying close enough attention.”
“And you kept it.”
“I didn’t correct it.”
“Why not?”
He considered the question.
“Because by the time I noticed, it had become accurate. I was becoming Thiago.”
“What about Santiago?”
“My mother calls me Santiago when she’s serious,” he said. “My father calls me Rafael when he’s disappointed. Everyone else knows me as Thiago.”
“Which one is real?”
He was quiet for long enough that I thought he might not answer.
“Thiago is who I am in the world,” he said.
“And Santiago?”
“Santiago is who I am in the dark.”
I smiled across the table. “I like Santiago.”
“He doesn’t come out very often.”
“I’m patient.”
Odette reappeared to clear our plates. “Dessert,” she said.
“Yes,” I agreed.
She brought praline ice cream in small white bowls with a disk of dark chocolate pressed into the surface of each, along with coffee. Thiago devoured half of his bowl and then slowed down to polish off the rest.
We walked back through the Marigny. The streets held their warmth long after dark, with the asphalt radiating the day’s accumulated heat through the soles of my shoes. Windows were open. Music drifted through the air from houses, bars, and passing cars.
Thiago’s phone vibrated. He glanced at it and turned the screen toward me.
Eamon:Board dinner running long. Your man is performing magnificently. No concerns.
I handed it back.
“He has two speeds,” I said. “Maestro and monument.”
“Which is tonight?”
“Monument.”
