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Tango of Death
front of the astounded and
delirious eyes of his father-in-
law and left. Now he realized
that he was standing before
one inevitable dilemma – he
needs to sacrifice something:
either his family life, or his
academic one. He chose the
former. One morning, so as
not to arouse any suspicion,
he stepped out of the house
to go to work the same way
as any other day, although
he still had to take his son
to daycare as one of his
regular duties. Parting with
his little son was particularly
painful for him. He knew
he would be losing many
pleasant moments in the
future; because what he had
planned would certainly ruin
his familiar existing lifestyle
once and for all, but he saw
no other way out and, waiting
for the house to be empty, he
returned, and slowly, without
rushing, gathered all his
things, packed his books and
papers and wrote a letter, in
which he announced that he
was going away forever. He’ll
send money for childcare
at the beginning of every
month. Then he phoned the
school where he worked and
announced to the principal
that he was forced by virtue
of various circumstances to
quit his job.
“You can’t just leave in the
middle of the school year!”
The principal was justifiably
indignant.
“I have very serious reasons.”
“Can I ask what they are?”
“Illness.”
“An illness?” The principal
grew concerned. “Is it that
bad?”
“Unfortunately, the diagnosis
isn’t
satisfactory,”
he
repeated a phrase that he had
heard in a movie and sighed.
“Well, that’s to say... while
you’re undergoing treatment,
we’ll keep your job open....”