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business, he spanked her bottom quite painfully and
screamed at her:
“Whore, boor, boor, whore,” – but as soon as he was done,
he patted her back and quietly apologized. And paid her
more.
Many of them wanted to talk to her. And she listened. They
unburdened their ridiculed, careworn, betrayed and broken
hearts in Naģe’s low, thickset lap. They cursed and cried,
cried and cursed. Sometimes together they would eat
whatever Naģe had brought along, taking a slug from her
Mickey.
Today on this warm autumn day, Nadezhda is the first to
arrive. That's how she prefers it. Then she looks over the
goods stored in the erstwhile high-voltage electricity hut,
and cleans out any rubbish. Afterward she sits down on the
bus stop bench, lights up a cigarette and gazes at the sky on
the other side of the highway.
After all, she had almost gone into the marsh and remained
there. She was seconds away from it! And if life had not
changed, then it would have been only right to do so, to
remain there. Silently awaiting death, deliverance …
But it turned out that God loved her. He had led her for a
long time down the wrong paths, until he had guided her
here – by the highway. She had done good things, thus she