The Grasshopper (8 page)

Chapter 24

In the mayor’s airplane, which took
off from Megapolis with Pascal Alexander’s entire electoral staff,
everything was quiet. No one was talking to anyone. And previously
it hadn’t been so. When they had to leave a city, Pascal would walk
among his associates smiling and say

“What is it? Why are you moping, my
nomads? I couldn’t wait for them to throw us out. It was a really
boring city.”

Then everyone would laugh, throw in
their jokes, wisecracks and anecdotes about the particular city.
But this time they had left Megapolis. And in it certainly no one
was bored. They felt the intensive taste of defeat. As though the
defeat was definite and irrevocable.

Even Pascal wasn’t there to joke.
He was in the mayor’s salon, in the forward part of the airplane.
He was getting over a hangover from last night. He was disappointed
because of Svetlana, who had left him. That is at least what their
boss Raul said, when he came out of the airplane salon. And after
that he too wistfully sat in silence on the front seat, next to
Liam, the head of Pascal’s security.

The other staff members spread out
throughout the large airplane. Only the secretaries sat together,
as they always did. All five of them in two rows, behind their boss
Margot, Raul’s experienced long-standing associate. And Jin, the
assistant to the head of PR, sat alone, far behind them.

Gloria, a dark-skinned girl with a
lavish Afro, one of the five secretaries, got up from her seat and
sat next to Jin, who looked out the window without paying attention
to her.

“Well?” said Gloria.

“Excuse me?” said the surprised
Jin. “Well what?”

“You’re pretending that you don’t
know anything.”

“Excuse me?” Jin was annoyed by
such behavior. “What are you talking about, Gloria?”

“What am I talking about? Well,
alright… Tell me, what happened to your boss?”

“To Svetlana?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you hear what Raul said?
She left Pascal and quit the campaign,” Jin said
angrily.

“Well she didn’t,” said Gloria,
when she saw that Jin’s surprise was genuine and that she didn’t
have a clue.

“What do you mean ‘she didn’t’?”
Jin shouted.

“Psssst! Quiet, Jin. They’ll hear
us. You see that Raul is hiding it from us.”

“Hiding what? What’s going on?” Jin
whispered anxiously.

“I saw her last night.”

“What are you saying? What did you
see?”

“You know how it is. I came back
late from the club last night… it’s not important. I went to bed
and I was falling asleep, but I still hadn’t fallen
asleep…”

“Well, and?”

“And I hear the elevator. It
stopped on our floor. I jumped out of bed. And I thought ‘He
couldn’t wait. He’s coming for me.’ And Dorika is sleeping next to
me. How will we…? We can’t in our room, get it…?”

“I get it, and?”

“I got to the door to tell him to
wait while I got dressed… And the steps went past my door… and they
weren’t men’s steps. I mean, its carpeting so you can’t hear heels…
but I guess I know what men’s steps are like and what
women’s…”

“And?”

“And I heard, it seemed to me like
the person was crying… weeping. Quietly… but I heard
it.”

“OK, OK, cut to the chase. You
think that Svetlana was crying last night?”

“I don’t think so, Jin. I know so.
I pried open the door and see her unlock her room. And she noticed
me. I don’t know how. I was absolutely quiet. She felt me, I guess,
in that deserted hallway and she looked at me.”

“And?”

“Eyes red, makeup smeared.
Distraught… she looked distraught. I mean not only physically,
because of the makeup. But… how should I describe it…
psychologically, mentally… desperation in her eyes, desperation on
her face… you couldn’t recognize her. You know yourself what she’s
like. Beautiful, dignified… all important next to her
Pascal.

At that moment Margot walked
towards the two of them, on her way to the toilet.

“Margot!” Jin rose from her
seat.

“What’s wrong with you, Jin?”
Gloria got scared when Jin called her boss. “I told that only to
you.”

Margot had already come up to
them.

“Yes, Jin?”

“What are you hiding from
us?”

“What do you mean? We’re not hiding
anything.”

“Gloria saw Svetlana last night,
all in tears and distraught.”

“No… it was dark… I’m not sure…
Jin, really… Margot, please…”

“Is it possible?” Margot was
surprised and concerned.

“No, no… I probably thought I saw
something…” Gloria stuttered.

Margot wasn’t listening anymore.
She also didn’t continue to the toilet. She briskly turned around
and with vigorous fast steps went towards the first row, towards
Raul.

Chapter 25

The shortest street in Capital
City, only a hundred and twenty meters long, was not only referred
to as Short Street – it was also its official name. It was located
in the very center of the city. It connected Cypress Avenue and
Olive Avenue, in the part where the two streets were closest to
each other. This is why Short Street was always full of pedestrians
and cars.

It was also narrow. It only had one
lane going in either direction. The sidewalks were not very wide
either. The few restaurants and cafes could only put two small
tables outside.

Shops selling the most exclusive
and most expensive were the norm on Short Street. Anyone who bought
anything in any of the shops on Short Street could be certain of
seeing envy in the eyes of people they knew. This is why Prince
Kaella kept the highest price of rent in all of Capital City for
offices on Short Street.

Short Street also had another
characteristic. Motorcades carrying important individuals from the
State or the Company very often took it, in order to shorten their
route, and therefore the time that they were exposed to potential
attacks. It was not always required to cheer and wave these
motorcades and the important individuals in them. Only on State
Day, on Company Day and of course on the birthdays of Mr. Kaella
and his son Prince. Of course, there were exceptions. Today was
such an exception, due to the electoral speech. It was necessary to
wave to President Xing’s motorcade.

Short Street was ideal for this
purpose. The television crew needed only one crane to shoot the
crowd of excited admirers which looked even larger in this small
space, with wide and sincere smiles, children on their fathers’
shoulders waving balloons painted like the planet Earth, two young
people happily handing hands, a grandpa holding his arm around
grandma’s shoulder, while the love for the important individual
sparkled in her old wise eyes. And of course, unavoidably, in a
space specially cordoned off for them in the middle of Short Street
– the pupils from one of the elementary schools.

Chapter 26

Having reached Raul, Margot
said:

“Liam, please give us some
privacy.”

The head of security got up from
his seat and went towards the middle of the airplane.

“Why did you lie to us, Raul, that
Svetlana had left Pascal and that he had gotten drunk because of
her?”

“I didn’t lie, Margot. That is what
Pascal told me.”

“What is happening, Raul? Something
much more serious is going on.”

“No. That’s it,” Raul looked
away.

“Gloria saw Svetlana in tears and
distraught last night. And you’re lying to us that she left
Pascal.”

“Every breakup is
difficult.”

“What are you hiding from me, Raul,
from us? What right do you have? Why do you think that you have
that right?”

“This is getting torturous,” Raul
thought. “What am I actually waiting for? To land, and for all of
them to disappear somewhere and not see that…”

“Let me by,” said Raul, passing by
Margot who also got up. He then turned to the staff and said
loudly

“Pascal is not with us!”

Chapter 27

Atop of Babe’s head, with the nape
shaved high, created out of her remaining hair, which spanned from
a strong deep blue to the light blue color of the sky, without the
unnecessary frills on the yellow-green continent, stylized, ultra
modernly, and crystal clear – was a depiction of the
planet.

Around here eyes, too. Two Earths,
created in a thick layer of blue eye shadow, the poles of which
touched her cheekbones and her forehead above her eyelashes, which
were completely removed specially for this occasion.

From the piercing through her… from
this distance Prince could not clearly see, but somewhere there…
just beneath the corners of her beautiful large blue eyes, dangled
two little chains, at whose ends, two little Earths were swinging,
lined up with her full, tempting upper lip, covered in thick black
lipstick.

The third little Earth swayed at
the end of a little chain hanging from a ring pierced through the
center of her massive, heavy lower lip, with blue-gray lipstick
which extended towards the protruding, defiant chin.

“On the mark,” Babe congratulated
herself in her mind, blinking once again with the blue and black
eyelashes at the stunned Prince.

She rushed over, with emphasized
care, to the old Mr. Kaella, and gently lowered him into the
armchair prepared for him, like any good daughter-in-law
would.

“Thank you. You are very kind, Miss
Babe,” the old man said while sitting down. “And you look wonderful
today. Like our flag. Wonderful.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kaella. That’s how
I feel. Proud, inspired, honored, because you choose precisely me
for your interview, out of all the excellent television
hosts.”

“Excellent, excellent… and none of
them can hold a candle to you, Miss Babe,” Mr. Kaella sincerely
complimented her.

And while she had her backed turned
to Prince, he watched that cascading blue-dyed hair of another
woman, which started from the very bottom of her shaved skull, like
from the edge of some tall mountain cliff, cascading down her back,
along her metallic black leather short-sleeved jacket, and covering
the upper hem of her short skirt, it reached the beginning of her
strong, femininely protruding provocative spherical buttocks. And a
sliver of lace from her fishnet stockings, remissly revealed by her
slightly raised light fluttery blue-black skirt.

“Mr. Kaella, Mr. Kaella,” the hasty
and professional director of the interview nodded twice, greeting
both father and sun, while entering the salon. “Please, take your
seats. We have to do a sound check.”

“Certainly, certainly,” said
Prince, sitting in the armchair that the director waved to.
Opposite the sofa, where apparently Babe would be
sitting.

“So, I’ll be able to watch you
unobstructed the entire time,” Prince thought, as far as he managed
to gather his thoughts. “That is why you immediately placed my
father in the armchair to the side. You’re dangerous.
Dangerous…”

Chapter 28

“Where is Pascal?” the agitated
staff shouted.

“Calm down! Quiet! I’ll explain
everything to you,” Raul tried to outshout them.

“Quiet!” Margot shouted. “Let’s
hear Raul!”

When the voices finally subsided,
Raul said:

“Pascal is in a secure place and he
is safe.”

“How is he safe?!” the head of
security shouted. “How do you know that he is safe? How can he be
safe if we are not by his side?! Who is protecting him now,
anyway?! What do you think, Raul? Who are you to assess the level
of his security? Not only you, how can Pascal know whether he is
safe? What do the two of you know about that? You’ve been under my
protection for years, shielded by my guys and you think that it is
a given. I demand that you immediately take us to Pascal! Turn this
plane around!” Liam started towards the pilots’ cabin.

Margot got in front of him. “Back
off, Liam! Back off!”

“What’s with you Margot? So you’ve
known the entire time! You lied to us too! How could you?! How can
you leave Pascal to someone else?!”

“I didn’t know, Liam, I didn’t. I
too am hearing all this for the first time. We’re all very upset.
And scared. We all love Pascal. We all equally care about him. But
we’re not the only ones. Millions of people love him. That man
means a lot to millions. And neither we here, in this campaign, in
his team, nor all those people would know about him had it not been
for Raul. Raul motivated him to start the struggle for freedom for
all people, to become our leader, to become the meaning, the hope.
No one in this world knows Pascal like Raul does. No one respects
and loves Pascal like Raul does. None of us understand what Pascal
actually represents, and what is the scope of this… like Raul does.
That is why I’m ordering you… yes, you heard well, I’m ordering you
to sit down and to listen quietly to what Raul has to tell
us.”