Norman Manea - Compulsory Happiness

And so on, for almost an hour.

That very evening, the guilty party will probably report this fit of uncontrollable logorrhea to his wife.

“I was vulgar and aggressive. The thrill of saying mean things. An impulsive, crazy, sadistic thing to do. The neurosis of boredom. I mentioned that to her, by the way, I must have babbled some stuff about boredom, perhaps she saw the connection, an incriminating excuse. In any case, we’ve definitely gotten rid of Lady Di — it’ll be a long time before she turns up again! I don’t think she’ll even say hello to me now. Stuck-up and bitchy the way she is, I couldn’t have offended her more if I’d tried. Especially since I’m not even a drunk, I haven’t even got that excuse, I’m not Vasile, that’s another excuse down the drain. Well, that’s how it goes … So much for the Beldeanus. We’re all of us better off like this, aren’t we, since there wasn’t any point to the relationship anyway.”

And yet, only two days later, Dina called and spoke briefly to Felicia, referring curtly to the impulsive invitation made during their previous conversation. “Perhaps it was simply idle talk, but as it happens, I would like to stop by one of these days. In the afternoon. For a half hour, if I may. Nothing fancy, just to see you …”

“Yes, of course, please do,” said Felicia with a sigh, giving in without a fight. “I’ll speak to … Yes, yes, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“No, don’t bother. If we put this off; we’ll lose interest, especially since we probably don’t have much in the first place. There’s no need to change your plans for me, no need for the both of you to be there, or even for anyone to be home at all, if you’re busy elsewhere. I’ll simply stop by, and if you’re there, fine. If not, there’s no problem, I’ll come by some other time. Half an hour, no more. That’s all, really. Tomorrow, after court. I’ve two cases tomorrow. Let’s say around six o’clock. Tomorrow, then, if you can. For a half hour. So, six o’clock, six-fifteen. Don’t go to any trouble, — please. No preparations, nothing fancy …”

And basta, goodbye. Click, finished, end of conversation.

Felicia paralyzed, still holding the receiver. The guilty husband — livid. Now what do they do? How do they get ready for this confrontation? Dina, with her grand manner, think of it, Dina: I’ll drop by to see you, just like that. I’ll stop by, a simple visit. What a thought, Dina. Dina suddenly being friendly, familiar, informal! Tomorrow, or some other time, no problem. What an idea! A long, vast, swelling, infinite silence filled the room.

Dina appears the next day, at the appointed time. Elegant, as always, especially since she was coming from work at the courthouse. A very simple hairdo, a chignon, with a clip to match her dark hair. Relaxed, rather tired, cordial. No sophisticated airs, quite natural, period.

She takes part in the usual review of current topics, the same old ones, of course. Multilateral ennui, the lack of heat, the press and its lies, the black market, the long lines, the long ideological meetings, the long-lived Boss, the censored letters, the tapping of phones, but also the crappy paper used to print fewer and fewer books, the abolishment of subsidies to theaters, which get by thanks to their scenery departments, where they make and sell coffins, a rare commodity, almost impossible to find …

The moment the judge arrived, the brains of the household had tossed out these hot topics for discussion in an effort to keep certain others from being mentioned.

Lady Di chats without enthusiasm, but also without her usual affectation. She drinks her tea quietly, smiles at a few of her former playmate’s sarcastic remarks. She behaves absolutely … normally, excessively so, even with undue moderation and good sense. She brings the visit to an abrupt end shortly after a half hour, as promised.

That very evening, the Stoians will be given a full report of the occasion by phone.

The men will comment jokingly and at length, in rather vulgar terms, on the effects of Bazil’s absence, but their main topic will be the humanizing impact — that effort to seem natural and down-to-earth — so noticeable in the privileged class during periods of crisis. One man will fidget constantly with his glasses, while his friend on the other end of the line scratches his kinky black African hair.

The bomb will explode only at the end of the conversation. So Dina has invited herself over to the Stoians’ as well! A short visit, the following day. She just wanted to stop by and see them. A half hour, that’s all. No particular reason, nothing special. Just half an hour, to say hello. Not really a visit, simply dropping by for thirty minutes or so on the way home from court.

It seems that her visit to the Stoians’ is just like the other one. Dina stays only half an hour. She behaves extremely naturally … abnormally so, Ali will remark. The humorous commentary had already taken on a slightly artificial tone, a routine that had lost its punch line.

There were no further visits. Only long-short-long phone conversations, Morse-code communications, sometimes with Ioana, blinking behind her eyeglasses, sometimes with Felicia, cooing in her soothing, velvety voice, both of them growing more and more indifferent to these repeated phone calls. The men’s jokes begin to grow stale, sheepish, almost intimidated as well by the constancy of that strange natural behavior flaunted by Dina Beldeanu. A friendly, agreeable simplicity. Extremely, extra-agreeable … Imagine that! All four of them gradually realize that it’s true — and it’s just too much!. The Guileless One keeps exclaiming excitedly over this marvel. It’s the last thing anyone would have expected, isn’t it, never ever ever, what an experience, an ex, I swear!

When Vasile gets back, we’ll see what comes of it … Comes of what, I’d like to know … We’ll have to see how we’ll get out of this … We might end up buddy-buddy with Comrade Beldeanu … As though the ambiguous position we’re already in weren’t enough, oh no. If you think about it, we don’t really know anything about the Stoians, either, except that they’re nice people and that they’re the ones who urged us to visit, at long last, our distinguished friends from way back when, no, we can’t forget that detail, can we, mustn’t allow ourselves to forget that.

Luckily, Felicia wouldn’t hear of such suspicions and preached love for one’s fellow man: This is ridiculous, no one has the right to think like that, nobody’s forcing you to get involved with other people, you can stay all alone for as long as you like, but if you accept, then … As for Ioana, you’ve worked together for so many years, over at your research institute, you know her, you know her even too well, I’m sure of it, there was something going on between you two, I’d bet on it, I can feel it, I’m not wrong, I can sense it, I’m convinced of it, she did more than just translate your work into English, I’m certain there was more to it than that, and I wonder … how can you talk that way, you suspect everyone, you’re afraid of everybody, even though, even though … you know for a fact that those you fear the most can spy on us how and when they like, they don’t need intermediaries, and what’s more they don’t even need to spy on us, they own us, in any case, they can do whatever they want whenever they want.

Everyone knew that little Felicia was capable, if necessary, of phenomenal bursts of energy.

Which was about to be proved once again, naturally, be sure of it, sure of it.

“What can you possibly imagine they might need from us? It would more likely be the other way around, believe me. Vasile’s told you a million times to come to him if you have the slightest problem. Problem, that’s the word they use, that’s how they speak. The slightest problem, that’s what he said to you. And God knows you’ve got some! Why do you think they might call us? What have we got to offer them? Empty pockets and long faces.”