Erik Pethersen - The Ball

«Come on, Brando, were you born in 1979, right?» I nod while I chew on the olive.

«So, you are fourteen years younger than me: it is quite a bit.»

«Yes, half a generation, I’d say.»

«What do those girls look like? Do you find them attractive?» the notary asks.

I take a glance on my left and I examine once more the five diners at the table beside ours, without lingering again on the girl who is sitting at the head of the table, I have already x-rayed her before. They are dressed and made up according to manga cosplayer style: tight-fitting tops, micro-miniskirts, leather shorts, knee-high boots. Pity that they are not at Lucca Comics.

«I don’t know: there’s a fair chance that they look attractive to people their age. Personally, I don’t find them so attractive. If I take into account the tone and the pitch of their voices, I’d say that they are a real pain...» I stop and take a sip of my dry wine. «A bit like your Ferrari.»

The notary smiles, looks again at the table beside ours and take another sip of the wine. «They could be my daughters, but I would feel awful to have given life to those things» he says with some melancholy in his voice.

«If they were your daughters, you would look at them in a different way.» I grab a sliver of parmesan cheese, while the notary is staring at his glass. «Actually, if they were your daughters, I doubt it very much that they would be like that. You know, the genes... At the end of the day, each of us is born with well-defined genes; certainly, the social environment and the world around us do all the rest. I do think though that what you are, that is your own genes, always win over everything.»

«It is all in the genes, is it what you are saying? So those five girls, who I don’t think they are sisters, had a common destiny to inherit a gene for silly photos, shrill voices and tarty clothing?» the notary asks.

«Tarty?»

«Yes» he replies, laughing.

«It’s a nice definition» I smile and take another sip of my wine. «However, it is possible that they were all unlucky. Certainly, the environment plays a big role too: the upbringing, that’s what it is. You would never allow your daughter to be so loud. Bad-mannered, I’d say.»

I look at the bubbles in my glass; the shrill voices of the girls seem to have lowered a bit, while the notary is silent and grabs an olive. «However, in my opinion, if a gene is that way, it’s difficult to adjust it and modify it. It would take centuries, thousands of years» I add, looking at him.

«Have you been studying genetics long?»

«No. I haven’t studied it that much. Some time ago I have just done a test to find out where my genetic make-up comes from.»

«Interesting», the notary says. «How does it work?».

«You send off a DNA sample: a file of saliva, basically; then they process them and after a few weeks they send a detailed account.»

«Brando, shall we have two more?» the notary asks pointing at the empty glasses on the table.

«Sure, why not.»

Alessandro nods at somebody behind me.

«What did come out of that test?» he asks then

«Nothing major: the prevalent genes, almost 20%, are Sardinian; just under that are Basque country and Fennoscandian genes; the other percentages are low and stem from the Orkney Islands, western Siberia and India».

«Here is your fill up» the waiter says while he puts two new glasses on the table and place the empty ones on the tray.

«Thank you, Gigi. This rosé wine is really good» the notary says.

«Really good: drinkable» I confirm.

«I am glad you like it: it is produced by a small wine farm but their wines are excellent» the waiter says. «I apologize for the crowd sitting at the table near you» he adds leaning over the table.

«No problem at all, Gigi, don’t worry about it» the notary replies in a hushed voice.

«I tried to see if they have a switch to lower down the decibel but I don’t think they do» the young boy says.

«Probably underneath their hair» I whisper.

«As soon as they call me over, I will give it another check» he says going off.

After about twenty minutes, the girls stand up at last and walk to the way out. We can now hear the music in the bar, in the background.

«It is so quiet now» the notary says, relieved.

«Sorry, gentlemen, can I get you anything else? Now you can talk without raising your voices.»

«As a matter of fact, it is really quiet now, Gigi» the notary says smiling.

«What do you say, Brando, shall we have another round so that I can put an end to my delightful waiting?» he asks me.

«Yes, sure, I’d love to.»

«Excuse me Gigi, can I ask you a personal question?» the notary says.

«Sure, go ahead.»

«Brando and I were talking about the five girls sitting at the table next to us and the generational perception of human universe, especially female.»

«Yes» the waiter says, «I get it.»

«Gigi, can I ask you how old are you? You must be about twenty-five, right?»

«Twenty-four and a few months, as a matter of fact.»

«Great, you could be my son.»

«I would say so, my father is fifty-five.»

«Excellent, he is three years older than me» the notary says. «So, we needed a feedback from a peer. To make a long story short, Gigi what do you think when you are dealing with five customers like those ones?»

«In general?» the waiter asked doubtfully.

«Yes: do you find them nice, attractive, well-mannered? How do you see them?»

«Ah, I got it. I find them okay as customers: they drank and they paid for it, so it’s quite alright. Maybe a little rude, but no different from other people.»

«Fine. From a more personal point of view, you find them nice or attractive?» the notary asks.

«I wouldn’t say nice, looking at them, I wouldn’t want to hang out with them. The girls I like to go out with are different, less frivolous.»

«Attractive?» the notary asks.

«I wouldn’t say that, I don’t find them attractive: you would look at them because they were half naked.»

«Good. Thank you Gigi, and I apologize for all the questions: we just wanted to have a whole picture from three different points of view.»

«You’re welcome, no problem at all. Please allow me to ask you what conclusion did you come to? Do you find those five girls nice?»

«No, we are both in agreement» I say.

«Yes, unanimously» the notary says, «well beyond every generational gap.»

«However not all the ladies coming here to the bar are like this. There are standard, well-mannered people.»

«I have no doubts about it, Gigi: we were just having a chat, while sipping our wines and sitting next to loud and rude girls.»

«For instance, nice and mannerly people almost always come here from your office.»

«Really?» the notary asks.

«Yes, it is a statistical data. You know, I mind other people’s business, this is part of my job too. I know Mauro well too, your doorman: he is quite nice too.»

«Actually, I don’t hang out with many people from the building, I greet them in the lift, but they all look like standard people» the notary says, looking for approval off me. I acknowledge it.

«I don’t know» the waiter says again, «it came into my mind because today at lunchtime, there were two girls from your building sitting where you are sitting now: they were women, maybe, more than girls. Anyway, one of them comes here often, she is quite tall, blonde hair, not fair or platinum blonde hair, a honey colour, let’s say. A bit wacky, but nice and mannerly. I have seen the other one very few times here but she is very cheerful and kind too.»

«This gossiping about our building is very enjoyable» I say reaching for the glass.