Peter Pišťanek - The End of Freddy

* * *

After visiting Rácz, Freddy goes home after a long absence. He is full of energetic anger. His head cleared as he came back from seeing Rácz. He took the full measure of his own pathetic ineptitude and humiliation. Now he finally understood. For a few bright moments he saw himself in his true colours, as other people had hitherto seen him. The scales of illusion fell off. From now on it will all be different! He’s not a total idiot; if he were, he’d never have had such a career. He’s hard working and resilient. He’s even managed to lose weight. Well, true, in recent successful months he’s put it back on, but with the proper motivation, he’ll lose it again. Yes, it will all be different from now on.

Sida is at home. Freddy tried to avoid her at work and if he met her by chance he passed by her silently, while his employees whispered excitedly. Now he brusquely orders her to undress. Sida forgave him long ago and is under the impression that this is a new ploy. She sheds her clothes with a smile. Freddy lets her keep her illusions. He silently puts up with her provocative movements and her deliberate, drawn out disrobing. He watches this striptease and, instead of wildly pulsating excitement, terrible hatred boils up inside him.

When Sida is finally naked, Freddy gives her face such a slap that she falls to the floor. Freddy grabs her by the hair and hits her face with his fat hands for so long that tears mingle with her blood. Blood drips on the carpet from her cracked lip. Sida is so shocked and scared that at first she doesn’t fight back at all. She’s never known Freddy to be like that.

When she falls on the floor, Freddy kicks her a few times. Then he opens the closet and takes out the hippo whip that he gave her years ago. He starts to beat her all over, though he is a bit more careful than he was with Zongora. He knows that a real gentleman never whips a lady’s face or genitals. There are other body parts big enough to beat.

Sida crawls on the floor to get out of reach of Freddy’s blows. She succeeds for a while, crawling on all fours, but then a fierce blow pushes her on her side. Freddy holds her down with his foot. All his jealousy flows into the quivering tip of the whip. Freddy beats her and at the same time cries with pain. He knows that each blow irrevocably distances him from the family happiness he took so much trouble to build.

Sida is now speechless. She doesn’t move, she only moans helplessly. Freddy hears a quiet burble. A little puddle of fear spreads over the wooden floor from between Sida’s legs. Oh, no! This oak floor cost him a fortune. And now it will be ruined.

Freddy grabs her by the hair. He wants Sida to repeat after him that from now on she will be his faithful wife.

Sida sobs and clears her throat. Tears flow from her eyes, blood from her mouth, and snot from her nose. Her back and behind are on fire. Now she knows the beating is over, and that Freddy won’t kill her. She sees that the beating was just a prelude to this theatrical scene of making vows. She’s determined to do anything to stop him hitting her again.

Freddy repeats his demand.

Sida nods. Through her swollen lips she slowly articulates words: “I will from now on… and so on.”

“Not ‘and so on’!” rages Freddy and lashes Sida’s thigh with the whip. “Faithful wife! Careful mother! Housewife!”

Sida nods.

Nodding’s not enough, she must repeat after him, he orders her. From this moment she’s finished professionally. Porn is out forever. Siedah Strong is dead! She’s a housewife. She will cook, wash, and darn. She will bring up her child. And bear him more children. In quick succession. Lots of children.

“Dead…” Sida concurs.

Now he’s going to the hotel Morava for a beer, says Freddy. Just like other guys. When he gets back, the house will be in perfect order. Dinner will be ready. Hot food. Or else!

Freddy’s unsmiling lips are clenched.

Sida nods humbly.

Sida can’t rely on Zongora’s support, Freddy says with relish. She can forget about Zongora.

Sida becomes animated. She was never interested in Zongora except for his body. But after what Freddy has said, she’s beginning to believe that she’s in love with him.

“What have you arranged to have done to him?” she screams.

Freddy is enraged that right from the start Sida is certain that he wouldn’t be able to sort out her lover by himself: that he couldn’t beat him up, but only arrange for him to be beaten up. He furiously grabs the handle of the whip until his knuckles go white.

“I don’t want to kill you,” he says. “From now on you’ll do what I say. I’ll show you who’s the master here.”

Freddy remembers his visit to Rácz. He stretches out his hand to her. Sida can hardly see with her swollen eyes, but realises what she has to do. She covers the back of Freddy’s hand with blood, snot and tears.

Freddy throws the bloodied whip away and takes his jacket. Now he’s going out for a beer, as he said. By the time he’s back, everything will be cleaned up and the food will be cooked. From today the household help is dismissed. Freddy and Sida will be like any normal family. He will bring home the money. Lots of it. Sida will take care of the house. If she doesn’t know how to cook, it’s high time she learned.

Freddy leaves the flat and bangs the door behind him.

* * *

Freddy Piggybank is jerked awake by the growl of a radio transmitter. For a moment he looks around in bewilderment until he realises where he is. He’s sitting on the back seat of Lanštiak’s Renault. Dozing in an awkward position has left a bad taste in his mouth.

The evening Freddy took revenge, he got back from the pub to find the house empty. Sida had taken the child from kindergarten, packed up and left. She took her documents, all her cassettes and porn magazines. She took the car, as well. On the fridge was a note: DON’T LOOK FOR ME, YOU IMPOTENT. YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME ANYWAY.

First thing next day Freddy rushed to the bank to freeze the account, but too late. It was empty. Fortunately, Freddy had another account which Sida didn’t know about.

Freddy has suffered ever since. He misses Sida less than the money and the child. He asked Rácz to help find them, but so far unsuccessfully.

Freddy has lost interest in his company. He’s been spending whole days in nearby pubs. He got drunk, cried and showed everyone a picture of his child. After a few days he wiped the tears from his eyes and got off the bar stool. Life goes on. He will have to learn to live with the fact that no one will shed a tear when his eyes close. He has enough money; he does not have to lift a finger till he dies. The company runs by itself. Recently, a few talented directors have appeared, so Freddy has no worries about who will come after him. He can drink as much as he wants, he can go on a trip around the world, he can fly off to the Bahamas, buy a yacht and disappear in the Pacific: it doesn’t matter.

Video Urban came back from Prague and quite naturally took over all responsibility for running the company. Freddy has stopped going to the office. Only occasionally he comes to have a word, or rather to pour his heart out. With Urban he gossips about Rácz, with Rácz about Urban. That’s Freddy: an in-your-face bloke who always gives you the truth.

After an alcoholic period came a fitness period. He began to spend most of his time in a fitness centre round the corner. Weights, running belt, sauna, pool, twice over. It didn’t take long, and his body got rid of all the toxins, alcohol and excess fat. But memories he couldn’t get rid of. At idle moments Freddy liked to wallow in sadness and misery.

As he’s wallowing now. He keeps swallowing, but the lump is still there. He’s lost his family, he was betrayed and robbed by an unfaithful woman. He only wanted a tiny bit of happiness on this earth. Everything he did was for his small family. Everything! Every month he directed at least ten hour-long porn films just so that those closest to him had everything they could dream of. And what was his reward? Betrayal!