The Grasshopper (25 page)

“It does, it does… but they are
just a little darker… and they’re gray. They don’t stick out much.
But you know what? I’ve already forgotten the other name. For me
that’s a kimono.”

“That’s what dad says, too,” said
Peter, while playing with Eir on the floor. “It’s a kimono to him,
too.”

“Peter,” said Manami. “You need to
start studying soon, son.”

“Aw, mom!”

“No ‘aw’. You know what your father
said. Just like at school. And I’ll help you go over the new
material.”

“If you would permit me, ma’am… I
mean, you have plenty of work with Eir… And you’re cooking for us,
cleaning… I could work with Peter. You know, I’m a
teacher.”

“Yes, I know. Biology.”

“Yes, but that’s not important. The
two of us will cover all the subjects. To help the time pass. Isn’t
that right, Peter?”

“Great!” said Peter, jumping to his
feet. “I’ll go get my tablet. And if the teacher wants to give me a
low grade, I’ll tell him that that’s what the president taught
me!”

“Peter!” Manami pretended to be
angry. She waited for Peter to leave the room, she looked at Pascal
and asked “So, you are bored with us? Something to help the time
pass, is it?”

“Ma’am, please… don’t joke like
that with me.”

Chapter 92

“The Mayor told me that there had
been some problems at the University…” Pascal said.

“Yes, there were…” said Manami,
while putting a cup of tea on the table.

“And that you proposed at the
time…”

“Pete’… doggy,” Eir placed a toy
dog on Peter’s tablet.

“I can’t study because of
you!”

“Forgive me, Peter,” said Pascal.
“It’s my fault. I won’t speak any more.”

“Peter!” Manami shouted. “What is
that behavior?!”

“Mom, I really can’t
study!”

“Of course you can’t! But we too
cannot be silent all day because of that! Mr. Alexander explained
the new lessons to you. Now go to your room and study. When you
learn it, come and he will test you.”

“But mom, it’s nice
here.”

“And where did you study at home?
You studied in your room, Peter. The sooner you learn it, the
sooner you will be able to join us and talk with us. Come on now,
go to your room.”

Peter reluctantly got up off the
couch.”

“And Eir? She might fall from
here…” he said.

“Sir, I have to clean up the
kitchen. Please take Eir,” Manami said.

Peter went to his room. Pascal took
Eir in his arms and walked around the living room. He finally went
into the kitchen and stood next to Manami.

“Eir is exactly like her mom,” he
said quietly.

Manami turned and kissed her
daughter’s arm. “Eir has a soul like a fine string,” he
said.

“Like you… like yours,
ma’am.”

Manami looked away.

“Eir is an unusually calm child,”
Pascal continued.

“She is calm… yes,” Manami looked
at him. “But not as calm as she is now. I think, it seems to me…
that Eir, in her own way, feels the atmosphere. That she
understands. That is why I said that she has a soul like a fine
string. The smallest breeze will play a tone on her. It is because
of Eir that it is important that Julius doesn’t tell us anything. I
might be able to hide my pain from Peter, but not from Eir.
Regardless of how strange it might sound.”

“It doesn’t sound strange,
ma’am.”

“You say that Eir is like me. And
not only in appearance.”

“Yes.”

“I wish for my little girl to
experience everything that her mother did. But on time. That she
doesn’t inflict pain on anyone because of it.”

“You are not inflicting me any
pain, ma’am. There is no room for it. There isn’t any room for
anything else, ma’am,” Pascal whispered.

“I wasn’t thinking of you,
sir.”

Chapter 93

The Grasshopper called
Erivan.

“I’ve been thinking, Mr.
President.”

“Doing a little philosophizing, a?”
Erivan smiled.

“I was watching the news last
night,” the Grasshopper continued in a serious tone.

“And?”

“That report from your office, with
you and your generals…”

“Yes?” Erivan murmured
suspiciously.

“I didn’t like it, Mr.
President.”

“Why?” asked Erivan in a slightly
annoyed voice.

“For several reasons,” the
Grasshopper continued calmly, not paying attention to
that.

“Oh, yes?”

“First of all, you weren’t visible,
because the generals were in front of you…”

“What was that stupid director
looking at?” Erivan got excited.

“You have no business mingling with
them, Mr. President. They are generals, but they are far beneath
you.”

“They are! Of course they are!
Everyone is!”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you.
You need the camera to show this.”

“What do you propose,
Grasshopper?”

“I propose that you take the big
screen, the one with the map of the world, off the wall and place
it in the center of the office, on four legs, like placing a map on
the table, get it?”

“Yes. I like that idea…”

“Because this way everyone is
looking up, like reading the train schedule at the station. It
doesn’t look dignified.”

“You’re right. You’re absolutely
right!”

“And when the screen is placed at
table-height, then let all the generals gather at one end of the
table, pushing and shoving among themselves, while you stand
magnificently on the opposite side of the table, alone.”

“Excellent! Bravo,
Grasshopper!”

“One other thing…”

“Yes, tell me…”

“That suit of yours...”

“What’s wrong with it? It seems to
me that the tailor did an excellent job.”

“Yes, he did. It fits you
perfectly.”

“So what then?”

“Have the same tailor make you a
uniform. Also entirely black. With a black shirt and a black tie.
And high, black leather, shiny boots…”

“Excellent, excellent… I
agree…”

“Because the State is at war. You,
as the supreme commander, must be in uniform.”

“In uniform! Clearly, of
course!”

“People remember wartime presidents
the longest. The peacetime ones are soon forgotten. War is the
ideal opportunity to go down in history. And in it the throne that
has never been reached awaits you.”

“Wow, Grasshopper, how well you
express yourself. Throne!”

“Pedestal!”

“Wow, pedestal!” Erivan was elated.
“I’ll call the tailor immediately. Goodbye,
Grasshopper.”

“Just one more thing…”

“Yes, but say it
quickly.”

“When you are in uniform, and the
generals are squeezing around the table, across from
you…”

“Yes?”

“When the camera is
recording…”

“Yes?”

“It should also film them from the
side…”

“Alright…”

“And let them lean over the table,
let their heads peer through…”

“Aha…”

“And they will peer through to be
filmed for the news…”

“They will, I know…”

“And they will all try, with all
their voice, in their dull gray uniforms, to have you accept
precisely their proposal…”

“I know, they try…”

“And you, on the opposite side… in
the wonderful black uniform. Pants tucked into the boots, which
have been impeccably polished, shining under the
spotlights…”

“I can already see it… wonderful…”
Erivan gargled.

“…
with one hand,
clenched tightly into a fist, bent over slightly, leaning on the
table, and with the other bent at the elbow, placed on your back;
one foot slightly forward and wisely nodding, while they are
running around, showing their proposals in the
map…”

“Yes! Yes! Hand behind my
back!”

“And finally… I think at the end of
the news report, you turn your head, looking resolutely at the
camera, that is to say into the heart and soul of every Consumer,
and you place your hand on the map, anywhere. It doesn’t really
matter.”

“Fantastic!”

Chapter 94

“My husband wanted to make
Megapolis the most advanced city in the world,” Manami told Pascal,
after the children had gone to bed, explaining to him the problems
that had occurred at the University.

“That is why he paid the greatest
attention to youths. He wanted the University to provide top
experts and scientists, but also respectable, polite, moral people.
Young people with a genuine conservative system of values. He
invested great efforts and means into this. He requested and
received a special budget for this from Prince Kaella. He provided
scholarships, financed research and development projects. He
developed two new elite student dormitories, one men’s and one
women’s, in the park next to the square, as motivation for young
people to achieve better grades. For them to get rooms in that
dorm, based on them.”

“How is it possible that Prince
approved a budget for such things?” Pascal wondered.

“Because it was advantageous.
Megapolis was gaining respect and significance. Apartments and
office rent went up. Parents tried to work more and make more money
so that they could send their children to Megapolis to school.
There were numerous benefits.”

“I understand. And what problems
appeared?”

“Like everywhere: hopelessness,
pointlessness. The initial hope, which lasted for the first several
generations, faded, disappeared, because the best graduates,
Masters and PhDs, ultimately faced the reality of Kaella’s society.
You only do what generates money for the Kaellas. And whatever you
make, regardless of how much it is – you spend. You don’t create
anything. You don’t leave anything behind you. Neither spiritually
nor materially. In any case, why am I telling you this? This is why
you mobilized the people against the regime.”

“Yes. The Mayor said that you
proposed…”

“And that is why the results of the
next several generations of students were poorer. They didn’t go to
class. Alcohol, drugs, parties and depravity were widespread. It
was especially hard on Julius when this happened in the two student
dorms. It also bothered Noah a lot.”

“Your Noah? Levi?” Pascal
asked.

“Yes. He wanted to quit Public
Administration studies and transfer to the Inspectorate Academy.
His parents and we tried to talk him out of it. He was an excellent
student. We all thought that he would succeed his father as Mayor
of Capital City. Or Julius here. But he was adamant.”

“Did you really propose to the
Mayor that he invite me? To talk to the students?”

“This entire time, sir… you were
only interested in whether I was…” Manami fell silent.

“Yes. That’s all I’m interested in,
ma’am.”

“I don’t know… perhaps. The only
thing I know for certain is that I had to meet you.”

Chapter 95

“Mom, when will dad
come?”

“I don’t know, Peter. You know that
your father is busy. Let’s get you to bed.”

“I don’t want to. Dad comes at
night. And you don’t wake me.”

“He also comes during the day. And
you can’t interrupt children’s sleep, son.”

“What difference does it make? Why
do we care whether its day or night?” Peter still
protested.

“Peter, we can’t allow ourselves to
not care. We have to keep our natural rhythm. Even under artificial
conditions. Like Eir, you see…”

“Eir! But she’s just a baby,
mom!”

“You’re mom’s baby too,” Manami
kissed her son’s hair. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

Peter silently got up from the
armchair.

“OK, I promise you,” said Manami
when she saw how sad her son was. “If dad comes tonight, I’ll wake
you up. But just tonight.”

“Really?” Peter was
overjoyed.

“Really. I see that you want to be
present when Mr. Alexander speaks well of you to your father. How
smart you are and how you know everything.”

“I want to,” Peter smiled. “But
also the other thing we agreed to ask him.”

“Alright, alright… we’ll ask him,”
Manami smiled. “Now off to bed.”

“I’m going. Good night.”

“Good night, Peter,” said
Pascal.

Manami got up from the armchair and
sat across from Pascal, at the table.