TE21 Serbian Moments

Nikola Lekić

Society of Free-world Receptionist

is from the roof, or from down under. All else is possible. One in ten thinks about stealing something. And he even says there are those who want to steal more, pazar and the money. I don’t believe that. I mean, sure, there are people who might want to rob some other newsstand, but me and mine – oh, no.

difference was that sock over his head and a gun in his hand, a real gun. Hewas wearing his usual tracksuit, the one he used to wear during the day, I guess it was his favourite, and he jumped out of nowhere to scare me. He pointed the gun at me and screamed asking me to give him all I had in the cash register; and so I opened the cash register and looked inside – there was only a thousand dinars Mister M. left for me to use as a change, the rest he took with him. And so I told my neighbour in a calm voice there’s nothing here, and he started yelling something like there is, there is, I know there is, don’t stall, give me the money now! I looked at him, the way I always looked at him, and I repeated really, there’s nothing, only a thousand I need for the change, and I can’t give you that because I’ll have nothing to work with until morning. And what would he do with a thousand anyway? Nothing. And then he said you’re lying, and I said I’m not lying, and then he tells me you are lying, you piece of shit, I know there’s money here! , and all the time he’s speaking he’s waving the gun and that sure wasn’t very pleasant, but again I knew who he was, so I didn’t worry. To convince him, I pull out the drawer from the cash register – like this – and I turn it towards him – like this, so that coins don’t fall out – and so that he would see he was screaming and waving his gun for nothing. Imagine someone who knew him seeing all that. It would be so embarrassing.

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Will you talk about that robbery now?

- Yeah, can you just turn it off? I have to use the toilet first.

So, this is what happened... And just so you know – that was the only robbery – and it wasn’t really a robbery at all – which happened at the newsstand the whole time I worked there. And it failed. It was actually just an attempted robbery. Mister M. told me about some that happened earlier and those were real, serious robberies. Andwhat happenedwhen I quit, I really don’t know. Actually, this robbery I’m telling you about didn’t even fail, it wasn’t even an attempt... - I don’t know. It wasn’t a robbery. It was a situation, that’s what it was. I was working there for only maybe a year or so, but I already knew a lot about the neighbourhood. So, when a neighbour showed up at the newsstand one day wearing a sock over his head, I recognized him immediately without him knowing. He looked and walked and talked same as always. The only - Then what was it?

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What was the time then approximately?

- Around midnight; almost 1 a.m. I think. And so I showed him the drawer and he was just looking at it, and you could

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