Gyorgy Dragoman - The White King

Mother asked the little runt what his name was and how old he was, and he said, "Mariusz, six and a half," and then she was already asking him how many brothers and sisters he had, and the kid said seven, and Mother said, "All right," and she told him to come on in and not to stand out there in the cold even though it wasn't cold in the stairwell at all, and then this Mariusz wiped his feet and meanwhile all that wood rattled on him so loud it was like he wasn't even alone, and he came into the entranceway and stopped and took the whole kit and caboodle off his shoulders, it was all fixed to a harnesslike strap, he set it all down on the rug and began telling Mother about how his father splits the wood and dries it in their attic, and how he and his brothers and sisters carve the hangers and the clothespins, and how it's almost impossible these days to find such first-class craftsmanship. He spoke just like an adult, he did, without stopping once, sometimes taking out a hanger and sometimes a clothespin and holding it up for Mother to see, like he really was proud of them, and my mother didn't say a thing, no, she just looked on, and when the kid finally shut his trap, all she asked him was who had taught him to talk so cleverly, and the kid looked at her and said his father had, and then Mother asked him if his other brothers and sisters did the same thing, and Mariusz said yes, they were going around to the other apartment blocks around here and that they'd be staying in our town for a week before moving on, and that they'd be getting home only for Christmas, after traipsing over half the country. And then Mother asked him if he didn't even go to school, and Mariusz said no, he didn't, and his brothers and sisters didn't either, and then Mother asked if that meant he couldn't read either, and Mariusz smiled and shook his head, but he said right away that he sure could count, though, and especially add, and when the time came to figure the price of the hangers, then she, the good lady of the house, would see for herself that he'd tell her the right price in no time, and then he asked her right away how many hangers she wanted to buy and how many clothespins, and he would have started telling her all over again what good-quality wood they used, but then all of a sudden my mother asked Mariusz if he was hungry, and of course he said, "You bet," and then Mother took him by the shoulder and told him to come out with her to the kitchen, and then I got really scared because I thought right away about the chestnut roll, about what would happen now.

Not wanting Mother to yell at me, I was really careful sneaking out to the kitchen, and by the time I got there Mariusz had already eaten half a thick slice of bread spread with lard, and then Mother got a mug and took the milk bottle from the fridge and filled the mug for him, and the kid took the mug right away in both his hands and drank the milk with really loud slurps, and then he put down the mug and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket, and when Mother reopened the fridge to put the milk bottle back in, that's right when Mâriusz looked straight at the chestnut roll there on the shelf inside, and he even pointed at it with one of his hands and asked, "What's that?" but then I couldn't stand it anymore, I just had to say something, so I said, "It's nothing, don't go bothering about it," but as soon as I said that I knew right away I shouldn't have because Mother looked at me and smiled that stern, cold smile of hers, and she said, "Son, it looks like you have a guest, now that's a real celebration for you," and then she opened the fridge back up and took out the chestnut roll and put it out on the table, and she told me to go get two plates and two small spoons.

Her voice was so firm I didn't dare raise a fuss, instead I only went to get the plates and the spoons and I put one of each in front of the kid and one in front of my place and then I sat down, and Mother stuck a candle in the top of the chestnut roll, where the number twelve was written in chocolate, and she lit the candle and said, "There really should be twelve of them, but now one will have to do," and then I blew out the candle and made a wish, I wished my father would finally come home or that we'd at least get some news about him, and then Mother cut the chestnut roll, and she gave the first slice to Mâriusz and the second one to me, and Mâriusz dug in right away without saying a thing to me first, so just for that I didn't wish him a good appetite either, and I took the spoon into my hand, but I didn't start eating yet, instead I looked at that slice of chestnut roll there on my plate for a little bit, at the white whipped cream in the middle of the chestnut purée, and I think I thought of Father, and then I ate a spoonful, and it was just as delicious as I remembered, if not even more so, it was sweet and soft, and only when I then took the second spoonful into my mouth did I look at Mâriusz's plate and see that he was already on his last mouthful, and then he looked up at Mother and said he'd never eaten anything as good in his whole life, never ever, and he asked if he could have one more slice, and I really felt like saying, "Hell no, you can't," and telling Mother that it was a waste letting him stuff even that first one into his trap, but she was already cutting him another slice, and then I too started eating faster, I didn't slow down to savor the sugary chestnut purée anymore, instead I just kept stuffing one spoonful after another into my mouth, but all the while I was looking at Mâriusz, he was spooning the stuff as fast as it would fit in him, he cut such big bites out of the slices that he had to hold each heap with his thumb to keep it from falling off his spoon, and his chin was smeared with whipped cream and chestnut purée, and when he finished it he looked again at Mother, and Mother cut him one more slice, and meanwhile I got my second slice, and hardly any of the chestnut roll was left anymore on the china plate, the only part left was where the numbers were, and Mâriusz was still eating just as fast as at first, he was leaning really far over his plate, and he had the elbow of his free arm on the table, half covering the plate, but Mother didn't tell him to sit properly, though she would definitely have told me, and when that third slice of his disappeared too, Mâriusz then poked his spoon at the china plate and said she should go ahead and give him that last little bit, "Let's not let it go to waste," he said, and I could tell Mother wasn't happy about taking up the knife again, but then she cut that last piece in two all the same, and she gave one half to him and the other half to me, and when it came time for me to begin eating my half, all of a sudden I felt I couldn't eat any more, but by then Mâriusz had long finished his half, and I saw that his eyes were on my plate, so just for that I ate one more spoonful, I couldn't even taste the chestnut purée anymore, only the sweet flavor of rum, but I kept eating it anyway even though I could hardly swallow it anymore, Mâriusz was staring so hard that I did swallow it after all, and I even spooned out every last bit of whipped cream from my plate and licked it off my spoon, and when I finally put down my spoon, my belly felt all queasy, but I forced out a smile all the same, and then Mariusz looked at me and said, "Happy birthday and many returns," and he looked at Mother and thanked her for serving him so well, and he said that now she should tell him if she'd buy any hangers or not because he had to get going, he'd hardly sold a thing yet all day, and then Mother said all right, she'd buy five hangers and ten clothespins but only if Mariusz gave them at a low price, and then they started haggling, Mother loved haggling, and I thought that maybe she'd done the whole thing just so she could haggle, ever since we'd had to sell some of Father's clothes we had enough empty hangers, after all.