The Grasshopper (44 page)

“Who will go first, Doctor?” the
Grasshopper asked.

“You.”

“No, I won’t. We’ll flip a coin.
Tails – I go first, heads – you go first.”

“Alright,” said Dr. Palladino. He
pulled out a coin from his shirt pocket, spun it in the air, caught
it with one hand and placed it on the table. “Heads. I go first,”
he said quietly.

At that moment the Grasshopper
noticed something unusual on the satellite image of the square full
of people. Near the television station building, under the large
screen with his and Dr. Palladino’s images, was an empty space,
with a colorful border.

He zoomed in.

The border was made up of children
dressed in shirts of different colors, holding hands.

He zoomed in.

They stood around a funny
gray-haired old man, whose colors were even more vivid than
theirs.

He zoomed in.

The old man was holding a dog in
his hands. And the dog was crying.

Dr. Palladino raised his revolver.
At that moment he saw the Grasshopper place his right hand under
the desk.

“Why are you putting away your
revolver?! Where is your revolver, Mr. Grasshopper?!” shouted Dr.
Palladino in panic.

“I’m changing the rules of the
game, Doctor,” said the Grasshopper, returning the revolver to the
holster on his right thigh.

“What do you mean?! You can’t do
that! The game has started! We had an agreement, Mr.
Grasshopper!”

“I’m going first,
Doctor.”

Dr. Palladino couldn’t see what the
Grasshopper was doing under the command desk. But he saw
Grasshopper’s shoulder drop slightly when he took the revolver from
the holster on his left thigh.

“You took the revolver with the
full cylinder?” Dr. Palladino asked quietly, having realized what
the Grasshopper had done.

“Goodbye, Dr. Palladino.” The
Grasshopper placed the barrel of the full revolver against his
temple. “It’s been a pleasure,” he said and pulled the
trigger.

When the Grasshopper’s head fell on
the command desk, everyone sighed in relief. And then nothing. They
just stood in silence. All as one.

Dr. Palladino took out a pack of
cigarettes and a lighter from his jacket pocket. He tried to open
the pack, but his trembling hands wouldn’t obey him. Noah walked up
to him, took out a cigarette, lit it, and placed it between the
Doctor’s lips. Dr. Palladino closed his eyes and took a deep
drag.

Chapter 156

“We’re saved! We’re alive! The
Grasshopper killed himself!” shouted a nurse running into the room.
“I have to get out into the square! I have to!” she turned, ran out
of the room and slammed the door.

Manami got up from Pascal’s lap,
bent over and kissed the sleeping Eir and Peter on the cheek,
straightened up, offered Pascal her hand and pulled him towards
her.

“Kiss me! Kiss me!” she cried
out.

When their lips separated, she
shouted out in joy:

“My darling, my president!” She
bent over again and loudly kissed Eir and Peter, stood up, and took
Pascal’s hands in hers.

“My love… my wonderful love,”
Pascal whispered.

“I apologize, Mr. President,”
Manami smiled, “for taking up your precious time…”

“What president,
Manami…”

“The best! Smartest! Handsomest! My
President! Only mine!” Manami shouted.

“Let it be, darling. We’ll see.
What’s important now…”

“What’s important now, Mr.
President is that you address these people, who have suffered so
much. The people, for whom you were the only hope. Not only their
hope – you were their faith. People believe in you,
Pascal!”

“Alright, alright… there’s
time…”

“There’s no time! The people need
you immediately, now! Go to the studio and address them. No, no…
find… have them bring Noah to you. He knows the situation best.
Discuss with him what you should say first, for the people to calm
down, to organize food and water… Primarily for the children,
Pascal! Come on, there’s no time to waste! Go to the studio, have
them dress you, put on makeup. You’re all wrinkled and pale. You
must listen to your wife, Mr. President!”

When Pascal heard her words he
hugged her tightly.

“My wife! My wife!” he shouted and
kissed her.

“Come on, come on…” Manami laughed,
gleaming with joy. “Why are you getting all soft? I’ll wait for my
children to wake up… their mommy will explain everything to them.
They will always love and respect their father, but they will live
normally. They will be mommy’s happy children. And yours, Pascal.
You are to love them and cuddle them like you did in our shelter!
Do you hear?”

“Yes, my love! I will, darling, I
will!”

“And we have to hurry up with our
baby, Pascal! It’s your own fault! Why did you fall in love with an
old woman, and now you have to hurry!”

“We will, my love, we’ll hurry it
up. Already today. Now! Let’s go to a room, while the children are
still asleep!”

“You really want me very much,
sir?”

“Very much! Very much!”

“Well nothing before marriage,
sir,” Manami smiled. “As soon as Peter and Eir wake up, we’ll take
them to our house. And you and I will get married. You will marry
me already today! Is that clear, sir?”

“Clear, clear! Today, immediately,
my wife! My wife!” Pascal shouted.

Manami kissed him. After that she
stepped back and said in a serious tone.

“Pascal, I really want to get
married today. As soon as possible. Please, find Noah, address the
people… so that they see that you’re alive, that you’re here, that
you are thinking of them, that you love them… do you
understand?

“And then we’ll get married in
secret. Noah will be our witness. No one else will know. We mustn’t
even burden the children with that. Peter and Eir have to have time
to mourn the death of their father, to get used to their house
again, to normal life…” Manami paused and thought. “The only this
is that you have to come with us immediately… to live with
us.

“I’ll tell Peter that you have
nowhere to go. That you will be with us for a while. We’ll think of
something. And I cannot… I won’t allow you, Pascal, to be gone all
day long!” she raised her voice. “That you are at some presidential
office!

“You will do everything from our
house. We’ll make you an office there.

“That’s it! We’ll say that its for
your safety. So that its easier for the inspectors to protect you.
There, that’s what Noah will say as the official explanation. That
he, who is responsible for your safety, demands that.

“And Peter will accept that,
Pascal! He adores Noah!”

Manami lowered her voice and
touched Pascal’s face.

“That will be the official reason.
And my reason is you. For anything, for everything. Just you. You
can’t be away from me for a moment. Because I can’t live without
you anymore, Pascal.”

She gently kissed his lips and ran
the fingers of both hands through his hair. She smiled, took him by
the hand and led him to the door. She opened it and pushed him into
the corridor.

“Find a studio, tell them to fix
you up and fetch Noah. The two of you discuss what should be done
next. Go now, go already…” The smiling and overjoyed Manami shut
the door.

Chapter 157

Pascal stopped after several steps.
“What’s with you, love?” he thought. “What studio of yours?
Alright… I’ll find Noah. He also claims that people believe in me…
It seems that my friend Raul was right… Raul, my friend… my
friends… Do you resent me for not thinking of you, for being so
happy? Forgive me… but I can’t help it, I’m overjoyed!”

Pascal only then realized that the
corridor was completely empty and that there wasn’t a sound. He
continued down the corridor looking in the rooms, through their
open doors. All the rooms were empty.

“What’s this? Where are the
patients? Where are the nurses?” he thought to himself. “Did the
Grasshopper actually kill himself or…” dread came over Pascal. And
then on the television set in one of the rooms he saw the image of
the dead Grasshopper. “Yes, he did!” he sighed in relief. “You’re
dead!”

“Pascal!” managed to shout a man
who was lying in bed with his raised leg and arm in a cast, in one
of the rooms that Pascal had just passed by.

“Sir,” Pascal was happy to have
found someone. “Where has everyone disappeared?”

“Pascal…” the patient
whispered.

“Yes, it’s me. Tell me,
please…”

“Everyone rushed out…” the man was
coming to. “Outside… to the square…”

“How could the
patients…”

“Everyone… however they could… look
in the ICU… there must be a nurse there, Mr. President! Our
President! We knew that you were alive! We knew!” the patient
shouted.

“Yes, I’m alive,” Pascal smiled.
“Excuse me, sir, where is the intensive care unit?”

At that moment the nurse that cared
for Peter and Eir ran into the corridor.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Alexander, but I
had to go down into the square. Here, I’ll go immediately to the
Madam and the children…” she ran past Pascal.

“Wait please, nurse…” Pascal
grabbed her by the hand and stopped her. “Tell me please, do you
know where Noah is?”

“The new mayor?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know. Probably upstairs…
in his office. Try there, I’m sure there is someone. They will tell
you.”

There was no one in the secretariat
or in Seneca’s office. “What should I do now? Manami will be angry
if I return immediately. I have to tell her at least that I talked
to Noah… I’ll go to the square, like everyone else. I’m sure he’s
there.”

Pascal took the elevator down to
the magnificent hall of the television station building and walked
towards the door. As he passed a group of inspectors, a captain who
had noticed him stepped out in front of him.

“Where are you going, Mr.
Alexander?” he asked.

“Captain, you sure must know where
Mayor Noah is,” said Pascal.

“He’s in the square. But we had to
stay here to prevent you from leaving the building.”

“Why?” Pascal was
surprised.

“Those were the mayor’s orders. The
situation is presently unpredictable. He said that you must return
to your room and wait until he comes to you.”

Pascal turned around and ran to the
elevator. He chose the floor of the improvised hospital. “This
turned out great! You won’t be able to drive me away, my
love!”

He came out of the elevator and
rushed down the corridor. He opened the door to the hospital room
and was surprised to see a nurse sitting next to Peter and Eir, who
were still asleep.

“Where is the Madam?” he
asked.

“She first told me that she didn’t
need me, that she would call me when the children are awake,” said
the nurse while getting up. “Then she ran past the nurses’ station,
I didn’t even get a good look at her… and when I came into the
corridor she just shouted to me ‘Have the gentleman come to our
room!” And I was surprised, why should I tell you that if you are
here, in your room…”

Pascal turned around and rushed to
the elevator.

Chapter 158

“To our room! To our room, my love!
And you said only after marriage! After marriage, right? And now
you can’t wait even until tonight?! My excited darling! You’re on
fire! Do you know what? We’ll make love for hours! For hours! Let
the children awake with the nurse. So what? Who knows how long
they’ll be drowsy?”

Pascal rushed into the Mayor’s
office and saw that the painting had been moved. He called the
elevator. “That’s why you sent me away, you little fox! Like, I
should address the people. Like, it can’t wait until tomorrow, or
the day after. It has to be immediately. So that you could go to
our room before me and put on your gold kimono! The gold kimono! My
love, my wife, my goddess!”

He rushed into their shelter and
was stunned. Manami stood in front of their cover, in their room,
wearing the gold kimono.

“My beauty! You’re wonderful!
Gorgeous! You’re even prettier than in my dreams!”

Then he looked at her face. He saw
that from a small split in the middle of her upper lip, at the top
of that small heart that he loved to kiss so much, like the
thinnest strand, in silence, without any gurgle, flowed the first
trickle of her blood.

He bit down hard on his lower lip
and when he felt the taste of blood he rushed towards
Manami.

“Don’t Pascal! You can’t! Because
of the children!” shouted Manami and ran behind the couch. She
stayed there, her back turned towards him.