The Grasshopper (22 page)

Sayash got all soft. He remembered
how the two best friends first met. And he passed the fingers of
his other hand beneath Lucky’s chin, even though Lucky did not
explicitly demand this type of petting in the theatre.

“Come on, Lucky, pal. I had no idea
that you were in that dumpster,” Sayash repeated yet again the same
story to Lucky. That was why Lucky wasn’t listening to him at all,
but rather was entirely focused on the movie. “How could I know?
Right? I’m telling you, it was pure luck that your buddy Sayash
came along. I opened your dumpster and what did I see?! Not what,
but who did I see! But I barely saw you, Lucky, do you know that?
You were a little baby… man, you were… I could fit you in the palm
of my hand, that’s how small you were. And completely hairless. You
were covered with snot and phlegm. A disgrace, but we won’t tell
anyone about it. And look at how tall you are now, buster! Fourteen
and a half centimeters, man! Not only fourteen! But a half, too!
And Lucky, you really irritated me… I straightened out your tail to
measure you, to see how long my little dude is, and instead of
stretching your neck as much as you can, you turned your silly
little head and looked at me, puzzled by what I was doing. Oh, I
was so angry… but it doesn’t matter… somewhere between thirty eight
and forty centimeters. Depends on how I cut your hair. That’s a
good length! You fit in my arms perfectly. You’re just right for
me, Lucky!”

When Sayash would stop petting him
between the ears, Lucky would have some understanding for his
friend if there were no finger on his head for a moment. He knew
that Sayash wanted to look good in the theatre and that he
scrunched his eyebrows, and that he would soon put back his finger
and continue petting him. And when Sayash would start jabbering
like this, or stare at the screen, and when the finger would remain
motionless between his ears, Lucky would smack him with his tail on
the leg, without taking his eyes off the screen. And Sayash would
resume petting him. And this now, when the finger was motionless
and the other hand still played with the hairs beneath his chin,
which he neither demanded nor deemed important – that angered Lucky
so much that he turned his head, shot arrows out of his eyes at
Sayash, and whacked him twice with his tail. On the
stomach.

“Oh, sorry, Lucky… I got carried
away…” said Sayash, quickly moving his finger back and forth. “And
you… you have to get mad immediately? And hit me twice, hmm? I’m
asking you a question, Lucky!”

Chapter 79

“The man is a beast,” Seneca said
to Pascal.

“Erivan?” Pascal asked.

“Yes. He reduced to dust an entire
street in Capital City, which Xing’s motorcade was going down. He
killed hundreds of people. And children, pupils. A monster! He’s a
monster! And that is why I have to safeguard you. I have to
convince you to stay in the shelter. Raul is right. He said…”
Seneca fell silent.

“What did he say, Mr. Mayor? Tell
me everything. I want to know everything,” Pascal said.

“I didn’t want to make things more
difficult for you tonight, to tell you the details. I’ll tell you
another time. When some time has passed, when we calm down a
bit.”

“Tell me now. There are no details
more horrific than their deaths.”

“When I called him, while I
explained that Erivan’s planes were flying towards them, Raul was
silent - the entire time. He didn’t pay attention at all to the
fact that your airplanes were taking off, that my squadron was
around them… He knew that all of them together didn’t stand a
chance, that they were too few… He was just silent. When I finally
fell finished, he said ‘Seneca, in the entire world, only you know
where Pascal is.’ It didn’t occur to me what he would do, so I was
surprised. How was it that only I knew, how about him… and all your
people knew that you weren’t on the airplane. And Raul repeated
once again ‘Only you, Seneca.’” Pascal bowed his head. Seneca
continued. “And he only said that thing… that I must safeguard you,
that you are the world’s only hope… and he hung up, Alexander. He
simply hung up.”

“Terrible, terrible…” Pascal
whispered.

“Julius, you came,” said Manami,
entering the living room.

“Why aren’t you sleeping, Manami?”
Seneca asked.

“Eir is
sleeping restlessly. She’s excited… she turned over and woke me up.
And then I heard you. Can I get you anything? Would you like some
tea? Do you want something to eat?”

“I’ve already eaten. But I’d like a
large cup of coffee,” said Seneca. “Because when I go back to the
office I have to function all day long, and I haven’t had any
sleep.”

“Sleep here a bit,
Julius.”

“I can’t. I don’t have any time.
I’ll have the coffee and leave.”

“And you, Mr. Alexander, you
haven’t eaten anything all day.”

“No, thank you, ma’am. I’d like
some coffee, too, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Manami prepared the coffee in the
kitchen. The dining room table and the kitchen were separated only
by a counter. Manami listened to her husband say

“The only difference between Raul
and me is that now that he’s gone I cannot hold you here against
your will, Alexander. I’ve already told you, I want you to stay as
long as necessary. Raul thought that we would hold you captive only
until the elections and he knew that you would forgive him. And now
we don’t know how long this war will last.”

“It’s not about how long the war
will last, Mr. Mayor,” said Pascal. “Even if it lasts only one day,
I have to be with the people during these times. I will go to one
of our cities, anyone, and I will fight against Erivan. I know that
I’m not a commander. Perhaps I am this world’s only chance… or a
dreamer, as someone told me…” Pascal paused, wanting Manami to
hear, to understand why he cannot obey her wishes, why he could not
stay. “But I will cease to be that if I hide here like the greatest
coward. Come on, tell me, Mr. Mayor, what would you do in my place?
What would Raul do?”

“Both Raul and I would think like
you, Alexander. And we’d go to the fight. But neither Raul or I are
Pascal Alexander. First of all – the two of us would be good
commanders,” Seneca smiled.

“That’s true,” Pascal smiled
back.

At that moment Manami placed a cup
of coffee in front of her husband and stood behind him.

“Thank you, Manami,” said Seneca,
lowering his head and raising the cup to his mouth.

Manami and Pascal looked at each
other, as though it was green tea, as though they were in the salon
of her house. She moved her lips silently, and from them Pascal
read

“Stay. Stay. Stay.”

Chapter 80

Having taken a sip of coffee,
Seneca raised his eyes towards Pascal. When he saw that Pascal was
persistently looking past him, looking at his wife, Seneca turned
towards her slightly and asked

“And the coffee for Mr. Alexander,
Manami?”

“Yes, right away, Julius… I was
just waiting for you to try… Is it sweet enough?” said Manami,
while returning to the kitchen.

“Yes, is good,” said Seneca and
continued. “I’ve already told you, Alexander. By leaving the
shelter you’ll be rendering the your friends’ sacrifice, a
courageous act – futile. In any case, what do you think, Alexander?
That all this that you are saying didn’t occur to Raul? That he
wasn’t thinking about that while he was silent during our
conversation? That he didn’t think of the possibility that you
might come across as being a coward if you stayed? He did,
Alexander. You can be sure of that. In such moments, when a person
knows that they are about to die and that they will die for you, in
the moments of such courage, such determination, Alexander – a
person’s thoughts are surely crystal clear. And he obviously didn’t
believe that you remaining in the shelter would represent an act of
cowardice.”

“Mr. Mayor…” Pascal interrupted
him, then paused while Manami placed a cup of coffee in front of
him. He continued when Manami had sat down next to her husband and
looked at him. “Raul… all my friends made the decision for me. I
don’t make decisions about my life anymore… about myself. Am I the
hope? Am I a criminal who caused the war? The man who created the
opportunity for an Erivan to sow evil throughout the world? Am I a
dreamer? Am I a coward? I don’t know. And I don’t care. Others
decide that. Someone else…” Pascal briefly looked at Manami and
returned to Seneca. “I’ll stay in the shelter, Mr. Mayor. And if
you don’t mind, I’ll retire to my quarters now.”

“Certainly, certainly, Alexander.
I’ll be leaving now, too.” Seneca took another sip of coffee and
got up from the table. “I’d just like for you to lock the door
behind me, to see how it works. Here’s the key,” Seneca held out a
card.

“Good night, Julius,” said Manami,
heading towards her quarters. “Actually, for you a new day is just
beginning. And who knows what it will be like. Who knows what all
awaits you.”

“I’ll make it through, Manami. I’m
much more at ease now that we’ve reached an agreement with Mr.
Alexander. You get some sleep, until the children wake up.” Seneca
was already heading out the door of the shelter. “Lock up,
Alexander.”

Pascal closed the door behind him
and locked it. When he heard Seneca’s elevator go up he turned
towards the interior of the room. Manami was standing in front of
her door. They looked at each other for a long time, in
silence.

“Give me the key, sir,” Manami
finally said.

“The key? The card?” Pascal was
surprised.

“Yes. The key will be with me at
all times. In my room. You are an impulsive man, sir, and I cannot
trust you.”

Pascal walked up to her and handed
her the key. “Here you are, ma’am.”

“Am I that ‘other’ who decides
about your life, sir?”

“Yes, you are, ma’am. You decided,”
Pascal said quietly.

“You’re wrong. I didn’t. You
decided. Good night, sir,” said Manami and entered her
quarters.

“Good night… my love,” Pascal
whispered, after Manami had shut the door.

Chapter 81

“Grasshopper, how much longer until
reach the Command?” asked Erivan, when the Grasshopper answered his
call from the flight deck.

“Another ten hours, Mr. President.
Why do you ask?”

“Well… no special reason. Just to
complain a bit…”

“What do you wish to complain
about, Mr. President? Did someone…”

“The grieving parents are
infuriating me!”

“The parents of the pupils from
Short Street?”

“Them. Imagine, they don’t want to
give statements. Like – its difficult for them.”

“Doubters!” said the displeased
Grasshopper.

“They locked themselves in their
apartments and won’t let the television crews in.”

“Well break down their doors, Mr.
President.”

“I don’t need you to lecture
me!”

“I apologize…”

“Of course I sent the inspectors.
They drove the parents into the children’s rooms… and all around –
school charts, toys, posters, pictures of the children on the
walls… just as it should be.”

“Now I’m relieved,” the Grasshopper
sighed a sigh of relief.

“And they complained,
whined…”

“Wonderful!”

“You’ll see it tonight, right after
the evening news. A special program.”

“I don’t know whether I’ll be able
to watch. I’ll be reaching the Command about then. But I’ll watch
it later. I’m excited about it.”

“Well… We can’t exactly be excited,
Grasshopper. Those are our children, consumers. But, what can we do
about it, right?”

“We can’t do anything at all, Mr.
President.”

“In every war you have colonoscopic
damages.”

“A very adequate name, Mr.
President.”

“No, no. I meant coronarographic
damages.”

“Well, you could use that too, if
the heart were not just a pump.”

“They keep forcing me to have all
these tests, Grasshopper, and then that’s all that’s in my head.
I’m not crazy to go for tests, and for them to find something. You
really like to be a smart aleck, do you? OK, tell me what it
is.”

“Collateral damage.”

“What?”

“Col-lat…” the Grasshopper
pronounced the syllables.

“Col-lat…” Erivan
repeated.

“…
er-al.”

“…
er-al.”

“Col-lat-er…” the Grasshopper
helped Erivan pronounce the entire word.

“Collat-er…”

“-al.”

“Collateral!” Erivan said. “There!
I’ll need that, if anyone asks me. Collateral!” Erivan repeated
once again. “Why do I have to know everything? I don’t have a PhD
in philosophy like you do, Grasshopper.”

“You don’t… And I know why you
don’t, Mr. President.”

“Why?”