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105
Tata
has gone to the barber’s, says Mama, because Albert
from Australia is coming today. She’s combing my hair. She
has dressed me in a pink dress with a bow, the one I wore
for my birthday, once in the past. I know that that was
then. Ivan was still here and said to me, Happy Birthday,
Ballerina, and he gave me a bunch of flowers. I looked
down at him because he was little and his ears stuck out.
Mama’s hair is nicely combed, too, and she’s wearing her
party dress with the nice, starched collar. Karlo went to
Venice airport with his car that isn’t his. Mama said that
Karlo is going to pick up Albert at the airport, when I stood
at the window and everything was blue, even the yard was
blue as I watched Karlo leave.
They’ll be here any moment now, says Mama, looking
through the window at the yard. I’m standing by the door,
looking at her. She’s looking through the window, walking
up and down, up and down. Then she says: Josipina is here
…
I see her. She’s crossing the yard, coming into the hall, then
the kitchen.
Srečko is coming, too, says Mama to Josipina.
Good, says Josipina, taking her shoes off. She say’s they’re
too tight because they’re new. I look at her. She’s sitting at
the table, rubbing her toes.