Trafika Europe 13 - Russian Ballet

Katia Kapovich

We’re sitting on the hill, Malcolm and I, and our mood is like swamp water. Off to the side is Luca, with his stick, and Zane, running down the hill with his kite. When the kite goes up in the air, and it does so very quickly and beautifully, we too get up from the grass. “Are you going to build with us?” I ask Malcolm.

He nods. Then I call Luca over: “Are you going to build with us?” “And Zane?” “What about Zane?” “I can’t leave him alone, he’s only seven.”

He’s right: we have to wait until Zane has had enough of the kite, and then we’ll all go together into the forest. “What will we use to build today?” asks Malcolm. Luca is also looking at me. It’s true; with only three of us, plus Zane, we’re not gonna get much building done today. “I have two cigarettes,” says Malcolm. “You want one?” Sure,” says Luca. Malcolm takes out two crushed cigarettes that he has been hiding in the inner pocket of his jacket. The matches, of course, go out right away, because the hill

160