Trafika Europe 13 - Russian Ballet

Two Stories

Then, out of nowhere, appeared a smal l bald man by the name of Marik, with a large mouth and dog- l ike eyes. He was so unprepossessing that he didn’t even make it into the legitimate nine – he was just circl ing at aunt Ada’s heels al l by himsel f. He even told her directly: “I f you want to, you can go out with these. But you’ l l wind up l iving with me.” Wel l of course, why not. Everybody just dreams of l iving with him. That was the mother ’s reaction. But aunt Ada was hysterical and in a rush. Because, she has another year, maybe a year and a hal f, and then it ’s al l over! Cal l her an old spinster. And then it happens; the refrigeration director permanently divorces his wi fe and their chi ld, because the wi fe screams obscenities at him, cal ls him impotent, doesn’t cook for him. He comes home hungry after work, the wi fe cal ls him names, and he, instead of appetizer, soup, and main course, munches on chips and sucks down candies. Or he is obl iged to eat dinner out at the fanciest restaurants in town. Aunt Ada pities him deeply, almost to tears, and wants to feed the director hersel f. Though, i f truth be told, candies with chips and sodas are a hundred times tastier than soup and salad, and restaurants – are far more interesting. Right before the wedding, the aunt asked everyone not to call out the toast “Bitter, bitter!’ because she’s not comfortable kissing in front of people. You’d think

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