Ioana Pârvulescu - Life Begins on Friday

I told Mama my observation about her agate eyes having been inherited by Jacques, but she, who is proud of our Greek ancestors, even though they are rather distant, told me that Agatha means ‘good’ in Greek and has no connection with the black stone, as I believed. That Papa is Leon, which is to say, lion, that Jacques is named after our godfather Jacob, which is a biblical name, and that she called me Iulia because I was born on the twelfth, or according to the new calendar the twenty-fifth, of July, on exactly the same day as Mama’s Mama, grandmother Trandafira. She was surprised that I did not know that agathos means good and I felt like telling her that I do know that Andros means man , because I remember only what is connected with the soul. The eternal man — Alexandru.

Alexandru knocked discreetly on the door, but there was no answer. His shirt was unbuttoned and he was not wearing a lavaliere; although over his shirt he had a gris perle vest. He knocked again, more loudly, and pressed his ear to the well-polished wood, but there was still no sound. He looked at the clock: It was a few minutes past eleven. He decided to enter, at the risk of waking his guest, but no, he found him sitting on the bed, staring at the silk wallpaper, whose gold patterns coiled over a blue background. With Alexandru entered a servant, who drew the two sets of curtains and asked whether he should bring the patient breakfast in his room.

‘Yes, bring it,’ said Alexandru, since Dan did not seem to feel the question had anything to do with him. The servant went out and when he returned, with a small trolley, two children slipped through the door behind him, a little girl and boy of about six, who held each other by the hand and stared open-mouthed at the guest.

‘They are twins, two of my sister Marioara’s three children,’ said Alexandru, introducing them. ‘Say hello to Mr Dan Crețu and then go to your nurse, you little rascals. How did she let you out of her sight? Tell him your name,’ he urged the little boy.

‘Ciuciu Penciu. Ciuciu Penciu from Silistra is my name,’ he said, repeating himself to make sure he had been heard and then burst into laughter at his joke, which seemed to amuse him no end. ‘I have been awake for hours!’

‘Good day, sir, and I have been awake for hours too,’ added the little girl, in a voice very similar to her brother’s, politely, but reproaching the guest, who was still in bed. ‘My name is Anica.’

Then they let go of each other’s hands, went to the door, and taking each other’s hand again, as if in a dance, they galloped laughing down the hall.

‘They are very mischievous and spoiled. People say they take after me, especially Ștefănel, whom nobody can resist, and today is his name day. They like funny words. At one time, they imitated the noises of different animals. I hope you are feeling well, with your shoulder. Please eat and allow me to keep you company in the meantime.’

For the first time since they had met, Alexandru saw Dan Crețu smile and he remained with his eyes on him, with a face not particularly intelligent at that moment. It seemed as if he had grown ten years younger and you suddenly felt a desire to be his friend. It even seemed as if his smile resembled Iulia’s.

‘Everybody has been giving me food since I arrived here. It is good. Thank you, Alexandru, that is your name, isn’t it? But I would rather have a cigarette.’

Slightly embarrassed, the host took out his tobacco tin. Dan sighed, as if something bothered him about the gesture, and then he forgot to take a cigarette and started eating. He finished quickly, pulled a face at the coffee — it was obvious it was not to his liking, although it was the finest blend from Levon Harutunian’s shop. Alexandru went out, leaving him to get dressed — he had given him a set of Mișu’s clothes, who was the same size — and when he came back he was accompanied by his mother. Maria Livezeanu had a mobile head with a furrowed face and large mouth set atop a large, clumsy body, which made her somewhat resemble a tortoise.

‘Mr Dan Crețu, I am most glad to have you as our guest. How did you sleep?’ she said and, hesitating slightly, extended her hand for him to kiss.

‘Very well!’ said Dan curtly and when Alexandru’s mother’s hand appeared next to his lips he kissed it without very much elegance.

‘I read in the newspaper about you. What is the ultimate truth of the matter? Forgive me, but I am a very direct person, I do not hide behind nicely turned phrases. You may tell us, we shall not betray you, since we have many defects of our own in the family,’ added the lady, trying to catch her son’s eye, ‘but we are not traitors.’

Not one trace of the earlier smile remained on Dan’s face. He now looked forty-three, the age given in the newspaper.

‘ Laissez-le, Maman, il a besoin de repos, c’est le médecin qui l’a dit ,’ said Alexandru, alluding to his brother, who was already known in the family as the doctor .

Dan listened to them as if we were watching a pantomime. He was livelier and seemed in a better mood than on the previous evening.

‘I don’t know, madam, I would like to be able to answer you. What day is it today? I could do with a calendar…’

‘Saturday.’

‘Ah, I was afraid that I ought to be at work. In fact, I do have to be there, I will have to leave you, I don’t want to be fired from the newspaper, I need the money to live on and besides, they’ve treated me well.’

‘Do not worry, I will take you. I heard that you are an employee of Universul , I recently had dinner with the Chief of Public Security, Mr Costache Boerescu, and he told me the news. You know each other, do you not?’ said Alexandru.

Dan shrugged, as if he were not interested in the subject.

‘My daughter Marioara would have been delighted to make your acquaintance, you know, ever since her divorce she has been rather gloomy, but unfortunately she is visiting a lady friend for the day. But we hope that you will call again in the days to come.’

The guest had fallen completely dumb and after a few unsuccessful attempts to make conversation, the lady went out, casting a meaningful glance at her son. And the meaning was: the man is completely mad! How could you have brought him in off the street? Dan caught the exchange of glances and after the door closed he smiled conspiratorially at Alexandru, without saying a word, and yet again one would have thought he were a different man.

‘Mr Crețu,’ said Alexandru after his mother left, ‘we met at a very difficult moment for me and I would be glad if I could help at least you. Please do not regard me as arrogant if I wish to offer you help of every kind, but it would help me if you accepted. I have a very personal reason: you resemble somebody who at this moment is very important to me.’

He went to the window and peered into the fog, but all he could see was a milky sea whose waters had flooded the entire city.

I wouldn’t have the courage to go outside now, I get lost even when the weather is fine, let alone now, with this mist — it is as if it has poured out of me and flooded the street. Then again, I can’t believe that I slept so deeply, a dreamless sleep, that this morning I woke up more clear-headed and haven’t been thinking about the questions that are eating away at my soul. When I opened my eyes I looked for the old walls and I saw wallpaper with a gilt pattern. I went to the windows, I drew the curtains, which were like a wall, and I saw the other wall, the mist. But inside me the walls have started to crumble. When Alexandru came, it was as if he came out of the mist, like a boat, an old friend. Right now, Dr Margulis and he are the only people I trust, the others annoy me, make me coil up like a spring. Alexandru made some veiled confessions to me about the nasty business he is mixed up in and about a girl, Iulia, whom he says he probably doesn’t love, although it’s obvious from a mile off that there is no point to his doubt. She asked him to meet her, but he doesn’t know where and she sent him code words that he can’t understand: ‘green and red’! The lad is stranger than I am. It turns out that that was why we ended up in the same place yesterday; he was looking for her. The truth is that I fell because of him. I heard the horses behind me, I turned to look, because the clatter of hooves always frightens me, and I slipped on the ice. The medical student seems a bit arrogant and serious, while Alexandru has something about him of the child who has always got his own way in life; and something of the rich kid. But even so, it took me by surprise when he told me, with a warmth and understanding that only very intelligent people possess: ‘Mr Crețu, you are a subject of discussion at the moment, the same as everybody who appears in the newspaper. I intend to write for a newspaper very soon, it is a profession that tempts me. Even at the meal with Mr Boerescu, which I was telling you about, you were a topic of conversation.’