The Grasshopper (21 page)

He didn’t touch his eyebrows. He
knew that he was more masculine, that he was more intimidating when
he let them grow, and hang down over his dark eyes, bristly as they
were. And the capillaries in the corners of his eyes were
charmingly ruptured, from the wind and the sun. The only thing that
he uncompromisingly purge almost daily were the hairs in his nose
and ears.

He was especially proud of the
white carpet on his chest. When he would wake up and prop himself
on his elbow to see where he had spent the night, without thinking,
mechanically, by force of habit he would draw the tips of the
fingers of his other hand together, as though to take a pinch of
salt, grasping the highest hairs on his chest and drew them to the
ends of his beard so that they would connect. He was aware of how
the continuous whiteness emphasized the beauty of his dark,
wrinkled face.

And of course the shoelace around
his neck. He always put in his backpack any type and any color of
shoelace that he found. He liked to change them a lot. Either a
different one every day, or several of them braided, several days
in a row. He would tie to the shoelaces the occasional pendant, a
bottle cork or piece of glass, if it was striking enough, with a
piece of twine. But not very often.

Sayash was constantly moving from
one city to another, because when a person is limited to the same
dumpsters it means that they are limited to the same people and
their tastes. He couldn’t get over the fact that some people always
wore the same things. They stuck to certain colors their entire
lives. He thought that he would die if someone forced him to paint
this refined thin body of his in the same colors. That is why he
always had many colors. He wore plaid.

When Sayash would first approach a
clothing dumpster he would be overcome with excitement. In the last
several steps before their direct encounter he wouldn’t see the
dumpster at all. A kaleidoscope with the most wonderful colors
would be spinning before his eyes.

Sayash believed that his greatest
gift in life was that he was a dandy. Because if he hadn’t been, he
would have never met his best friend, Lucky.

Chapter 76

Manami knocked on Pascal’s
door.

“Mr. Alexander…”

Pascal got up from the bed in
surprise, approached the door and without opening them
said

“Ma’am… just a moment, to make
myself decent.”

He soon entered the living room. He
saw that Seneca wasn’t there and that Manami was very
anxious.

“Ma’am, what has
happened?”

“Mr. Alexander, forgive me, please,
for disturbing you. Perhaps you were asleep…”

“I wasn’t…”

“But I have to apologize. To beg
your forgiveness…”

“You want to…”

“The two of us have never met. I
mean to say… we have, of course, met… but we have never spoken. It
is so difficult for me…”

“Why, ma’am? You are too anxious…
Sit down, please.”

“No, no… I have to get back to the
children. So that they don’t wake up and get scared… They are very
scared… And Eir… She feels that something terrible is going on. I
just briefly wanted to… while we were alone… before my husband
comes… to tell you, to ask you…”

“Please calm down. There is no
reason to…”

“I was the one, I told you the
horrible news. My words… the words that I said to you… My first
real words… and not our courteous greetings… back at our house… are
surely the most horrific words that you have ever
heard…”

“Yes… it is horrific… it is
difficult…”

“I didn’t want it to be… our first
conversation… And I know that my husband would have told you the
truth in the end, but… you know… Don’t be mad at him, please…. He
blames himself… He has never wrestled with anyone like this, like
with you… He is completely beside himself…”

“I’m not mad, of course…
I…”

“But I listened to everything… I
heard everything… the two of you… And I was afraid that when my
husband told you about Raul and all your friends… that you would…
just as you had reacted… leave… And I thought...” Manami stopped,
but didn’t bow her head. “I thought… if I was present… if I was
there… if you saw me… that perhaps… perhaps you wouldn’t
leave.”

Pascal just looked at her. He
didn’t say anything.

“Because you are not a commander…
Forgive me, please, you are not capable of such things. Not only
war… but everything… the organization… Do you understand? You had
Raul… or he had you… You were successful together. A capable man
with both feet on the ground and a dreamer. You are the dreamer,
sir. And people need dreams. Because nothing else makes sense
anymore. Raul is gone. But now there is my husband. He now
understands everything. He knows. Just like Raul knew… and your
entire wonderful staff. My husband will use all the strength, all
the power of Megapolis to safeguard you… To safeguard people’s
dreams. I wanted that… I know how difficult it is for you… I know.
But stay… stay, please.”

Manami quickly turned around and
ran to her quarters.

Chapter 77

When Seneca returned, just before
dawn, he found Pascal sitting motionless and alone at the dining
room table.

“Mr. Mayor,” said Pascal, raising
his head only after Seneca had sat down.

“Erivan appeared on television once
more and announced your death, Alexander. Of course, he said that
the Inspectorate’s air force crashed your airplane in the
ocean.”

“What else did he say? Will he
still go to war or is this enough for him?”

“Alexander, Alexander…”

Pascal was silent, looking at his
hands resting on the table.

“Raul knew the entire time why you
wanted to hold that speech. Why you wanted them to kill you. So
that you would be the only victim. Did you really believe that
would happen?”

“If Kaella were alive, had the old
government remained, perhaps that would have been enough,” Pascal
said.

“It wouldn’t have. Nothing can stop
your movement now, Alexander. Neither this war nor Erivan will
succeed in that. The world will never be the same again. How many
sacrifices will this war demand, what will the world look like
after it… that I don’t know. And the price is high, Alexander. You
felt it today… and I felt it. I will never be the same person
again. My conscious bears the burden of your people… and my pilot,
Aslan.”

“Please, Mr. Mayor, don’t place
such a burden on your soul. During all these months you did for us
the maximum that was possible. You asked Raul and me to leave
Megapolis. You didn’t order us, your inspectors didn’t force us.
And both of us, Raul and I, accepted it as the best solution for
Megapolis. And Megapolis was most important to us, Mr. Mayor. It
brought us votes, you brought us votes. In any case, it is
pointless to now go back to that meeting of ours. At the time we
were expecting an assassination attempt on me, and Erivan
outsmarted us all. And Kaella… and Xing. You say he also killed his
wife and children… He had a wonderful family… and he was a good
man… A good president. Xing, he was the right person to be
president, not I.”

“That is what I wondered,
Alexander… The two of you, Raul and yourself, your first reaction
to the high percentages was very strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… you immediately started
thinking about Kaella’s possible move. Not at one moment did you
consider that the elections would take place and that you would
become president. You never saw yourself in Capital City, in the
presidential residence?”

“Never. Neither Raul or I. Mr.
Mayor, can you imagine me sitting down with Kaella and trying to
change the world in small steps? As president Xing had done? He
pushed back the first medical exam one year, he subsidized two
percent of medical treatment costs… Can you imagine me in that
role?”

“I can’t. But what was your goal
then? You must have had some concrete goal.”

“Concrete? I don’t know how
concrete it is for you, but my goal was to awaken the people, to
spread free thinking… And Raul? He was planning on establishing a
parallel government… He was convinced that the people’s resistance
would increase enough and that Kaella would fall… that the system
would simply collapse by itself. But neither of us were interested
in the position of Kaella’s president. We entered the presidential
race just so that we could have a greater opportunity to spread our
ideas.”

“I understand.”

“Tell me, please, how is it that
you and Raul decided to sedate me and bring me to this
shelter?”

“It wasn’t our decision. Raul
demanded it of me. I mean, he didn’t demand… He convinced
me.”

“How?”

“The most important thing for Raul
was that you are safe until the elections. He believed that you
would be safest in Megapolis, but that you had to be isolated and
that you should not be allowed out into the street.”

“Actually, for me to be locked
up.”

“Yes.”

“As I am.”

“Yes. And that no one should know
where you are. Not even your staff, or anyone from my surroundings.
Just him and me.”

“Why did he trust you? And why did
you agree to it at all, Mr. Mayor?”

“Wouldn’t you trust me, Alexander?
Don’t you trust me now? Now, that I have hidden my family here,
too?”

“I trust you, I trust you… Forgive
me, please.”

“You’re surely wondering why I’ve
sheltered my family, when all the other people, all the other
families are in jeopardy?”

“I’m not wondering…”

“I have to save Megapolis. I cannot
allow myself to be vulnerable. I cannot allow Erivan’s squires to
threaten my wife and children… to abduct them and blackmail
me.”

“Certainly, Mr. Mayor. Only you can
save this city. You did the right thing.”

“Yes… I hope so. The people, the
citizens of Megapolis will judge me for this one day…” Seneca said
deep in thought, and continued “And why I agreed to lock you up and
safeguard you…” Seneca slightly smiled, recalling his conversation
with Raul. “Raul was really talkative… He told me that it was best
for me to keep you captive and to simply wait for the situation to
unravel. I can always use you to benefit my Megapolis. I could hand
you over to the Kaellas if it were necessary to protect the city.
You can imagine, Raul teaching me how to hand you over to the
Kaellas.”

“My friend Raul…” Pascal smiled
also, “Typical of him. Once he starts persuading
someone…”

“I told him that if I were to hand
you over to Kaella, the citizens of Megapolis would carry me out of
the city on their hands and throw me in the nearest ditch. When I
think about how the students would react… Alexander, do you know
that I allowed you into the city only because of the young people.
Otherwise I would have refused Raul when he called me up, a year
ago. It’s been a year, since we’ve been together,
right?”

“Yes, almost a year… but I didn’t
know that… about the students.”

“I had some problems at the
University, in the student dorms… and that was very difficult for
me to bear. You know, I consider the University the gem of
Megapolis.”

“I know. I felt that in you, Mr.
Mayor. What problems did you have?”

“Well… that’s not important now.
We’ll talk… I’ll come by. But… then my wife
recommended…”

“Your wife?”

“Yes. She’s an artistic soul. An
art historian… You know what they are like… and she knows the
mentality of the students. She was a teaching assistant at the
University. And then, when Peter was born, we agreed that she
should stay home and be with our son. Eir came along later… and my
wife never did return to the university. It doesn’t matter. She is
like that. She has a feeling for young people… and I don’t. I’m a
practical person, a realist. I don’t understand these things… and
that is why I didn’t cope well with the situation. And my wife
recommended that I invite you, to visit Megapolis and the
University. To speak to the students.”

“You were right, Svetlana. The
Mayor listened to her. You were right about everything, Svetlana,”
Pascal thought.

“Alexander, I realized that
Megapolis couldn’t be isolated from the world. That the entire
world must be free so that Megapolis could shine with all its
splendor. And only you can change the world, just as you changed my
students.”

Chapter 78

Off all
the things in the world, what Sayash and Lucky loved the most were
the movies. In the theater Lucky would sit in Sayash’s lap, and
Sayash would pet his hairy head, passing his index finger between
Lucky’s two pointy and unusually large ear, covered in light brown
spiky hair, as were his nose and paws, unlike the black, slightly
curly hair that Lucky used to cover his small and slender but
muscly and tough body from unwanted eyes.