I first realized there was such a person yesterday, when, walking along one of the main streets of my city, I decided to take a shortcut through an alley. I wouldn't have seen her if it weren't for the cloud of cigarette smoke that rose from a dark corner. I wouldn't have stopped if it weren't for the leg she stuck out, revealing her fantastic stockings. But I certainly wouldn't have spoken if she hadn't spoken first:
"Hello, you idiot."
I didn't speak because I was simply speechless.
"Do you have... a fire?"
I was stunned.
"But you already...
" "Do you have a fire, you idiot?" she asked, as if she hadn't heard my explanation.
"I do," I replied uncertainly, looking around for...
"Don't look around like that. You're in no danger here, you idiot," she said, taking a drag on her cigarette.
I wanted to say something, but nothing sensible came to mind.
"Will you come in?" she asked, gesturing slightly toward the door hidden in the darkness.
"You know..." I wanted to defend myself, but...
"I know, you fool. You're still too stupid to know if you want to come in. Right?" she asked, and I, surprised by my own words, replied simply,
"Yes."
"Then come in," she ordered.
I went in. It was dim inside. The smell of mothballs and a ticking clock. Only one lamp was lit. The one on the old German piano. With a curt gesture, she indicated my seat, so I sat down. She went to the record player and put on a record. Then she poured the golden liquid into two glasses and, standing over me, said,
"Here you go.
" "Thank you," I tried to be polite.
"Don't be so dramatic, you fool," she sighed and took a long sip. At that moment, the record player began playing Piaf, and she sat down across from me.
"Oh, that old pipe," she said. "I hate it, but it suits this room best. Don't you?"
I thought for a moment, more to make it seem like I was considering it.
"Yes, it fits perfectly.
" "It fits me too. Am I right, you fool?
" "It fits," I said more boldly.
"So if everything fits together, then tell me, you fool, what are you doing here?" she asked, looking me straight in the eye.
Yes. I was stunned. I had no idea.
"But you..." I tried.
"I know, I know, you fool." She smiled for the first time. "Have a drink. Have a drink, and I'll tell you what you're doing here. You're younger than me. Much younger. You're healthier. Much healthier. And you seem to me like the kind of person who sometimes agrees to things he doesn't want to. Right, you fool?
" "Yes," I said, confused.
"So now you'll agree to what I propose. You'll agree to fall in love with me. Ugh! Fall in love!" she laughed, and I froze. "Not in love, but in love! You'll agree to love me! For money. Just like I once did, decades ago, I agreed to make love with older men! Old fools, just like I am now!"
I said nothing. Everything inside me froze.
"I knew what to save that money for, you idiot!" she laughed, and finished her whiskey.
Brak komentarzy:
Prześlij komentarz