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‘I don’t know.’
‘There’s nothing left, dear Vlado. They’ve removed
everything. Vultures. It’s a strange world that moved
here. It’s somehow, how can I put it... moronic.’
‘Do you happen to have a phone book?’
Mediha did not have a phone book, and I didn’t think it
fruitful to ask if she had an online computer. I thanked
her for everything and promised to get in touch if I ever
found Tomislav. She wrote her phone number on a scrap
of paper and shoved it into my hands. Standing at the
door, she then watched me descend the stairs.
As I passed the apartment of Vasa Đorđić, who for some
reason still piqued my curiosity, I looked back towards
Mediha, who smiled and waved like kindly aunts tend to
do, grateful that their nephews and nieces come for even
a brief, rare visit. I smiled back like a nephew who knows
very well he’ll never see his aunt again.
*
If you just glance at towns like Brčko, it’s impossible to
tell whether they might have a cybercafé. But had I
stopped random passers-by and asked them about it, I
would surely have ended up at the police station sooner