The Grasshopper (26 page)

“You’ve really won over my son,”
she said. “You’re very good at that, sir.”

Pascal silently looked at
her.

“You have nothing to say,
sir?”

“Ma’am, that red cover with the
black rose… in the middle…”

“Yes?”

“You…” Pascal stopped and looked
down.

“What about it?” Manami
asked.

“It isn’t important. Forgive me…
and this… what you were joking about. I will really tell the Mayor
what a brilliant boy your son is.”

“What about the cover?”

“You sleep in that room, I assume?
In that bed?”

“Yes. With Eir. And Peter is in the
room with the bunk beds. He says he doesn’t want to be in a girl’s
room. He sleeps on the upper bunk. He finds it interesting. And I
fear that he might fall down in his sleep…”

“I slept on it…”

“On the red cover?”

“Yes.”

Manami was silent.

“I mean, I wasn’t really sleeping…
when Raul and the Mayor drugged me. I guess it was easies for them
to put me down there… I don’t know.”

Manami was still silent.

“That red cover… it’s made of
silk?”

“Yes,” said Manami.

“When I woke up… it was dark, I
didn’t know where I was… but I felt its smell… It was
stale…”

“I immediately washed it. It smells
nice now.”

“Do you also sleep on it? Or do you
cover yourself with it?”

“No. I don’t use it. I put it away
in the dresser.”

“Not even once… You’ve never laid
on it?”

“I’m sleepy, too. Good night, sir.”
Manami got up and went to her quarters.

Chapter 96

“There, you see, Peter, dad doesn’t
come only at night,” said Manami.

“Dad! Daddy!” shouted Peter, when
Seneca entered the living room. “You’ll let me, won’t you? Mom says
it’s ok.”

“Don’t make things up, Peter!”
Manami laughed. “I told you to ask your dad.”

“Ask what?” Seneca smiled,
caressing his son’s hair.

“Dad, Mr. Alexander wants me to
call him Pascal, to be on a first-name basis.”

“That’s out of the question,”
Seneca got serious. “I’m so grateful to you, Alexander, for helping
my son in his studies…”

“Allow him, Mr. Mayor. It will make
it easier for me too. I demanded that of all my students. I always
had a friendly relationship with children. And I had excellent
results.”

“What do you say, Manami?” Seneca
asked.

“Say it’s alright, mom! Say it’s
alright!” Peter pleaded.

“I’m alright with that, Julius.
Peter is doing very well. If Mr. Alexander believes…”

“Alright, alright…” Seneca smiled.
“I see that you’ve already decided.”

“Pascal!” shouted Peter

“Yes, Peter?” Pascal
smiled.

“Tell my dad what kind of a student
I am!”

“This is tearing my eardrums,”
Seneca whispered to his wife.

“Let them, Julius… if they
want.”

“You have a brilliant son, Mr.
Mayor. Intelligent, hard working, responsible, well-behaved… in
every way.”

“Ts, ts, ts,” Seneca smiled.
“Peter, how did you bribe your teacher to praise you so
much?”

“I really think that, Mr. Mayor.
Your son will succeed you. He is similar to you in every
way.”

“Thank you, Alexander, for those
words. They mean a lot to me in these times,” Seneca bent over and
kissed his son.

“Julius,” said Manami. “You’ve come
at the right moment. Let’s all have lunch together.”

“Dad…” Eir called out. She was
leaning forward and stretching her hands towards her
father.

Seneca took her from her mother’s
arms.

“How is daddy’s girl?” he asked,
kissing her hair and sitting down at the table.

After lunch Peter went to his room,
to study. After Manami put Eir to bed in their bedroom, she
returned to the living room.

“Manami, it’s nice that you covered
up that fluorescent-green color of the couch. Not only does it
remind me of Prince, it’s also an eyesore,” Seneca said.

“Yes,” said Manami. “It’s too
irritating.”

“And this is a nice cover. Raul and
I placed you on it that day, Alexander.” Seneca looked at Pascal.
“I still didn’t know that I would be brining my family to the
shelter. I thought it best if you slept in that room. It’s the most
comfortable one.”

“I know,” Pascal bowed his
head.

“Forgive me for reminding you of
Raul,” Seneca apologized.

“Yes. I’m trying not to think about
my friends. And then I have a guilty conscious. You thank me for
working with your son, Mr. Mayor.” Pascal looked at Seneca again.
“But it means a lot to me, too. It sidetracks my
thoughts.”

“I understand.” Seneca nodded and
got up from his chair. “Thank you for lunch, Manami. I have to
leave,” he said while going towards the door.

“Julius,” Manami called out to him,
while getting up from the table.

“Yes?” Seneca turned
around.

“The next time you are buying food
for us, buy a few packages of chili.”

“Chili? For Mr.
Alexander?”

“Ma’am, please don’t burden the
Mayor with that,” Pascal protested. “That really isn’t
important.”

“Everyone knows that you like spicy
food, Alexander. Of course I’ll get some,” Seneca laughed and
walked out of the shelter.

As soon as he heard the elevator go
up, Pascal sat down on the couch covered with the red cover with
the black rose.

“Could you sit on the couch for a
moment, ma’am… on the other end… please,” Pascal
whispered.

Manami looked at him for a while.
Then she approached him and stood in front of him:

“I won’t sit now, sir. I will sit
tonight… when the children are asleep. And I won’t sit on the other
end. I will sit next to you and place my head on your shoulder. And
I will sit like that… for a long time, a very long
time.”

Chapter 97

Pascal sat on the couch, waiting
for Manami to check whether Peter and Eir had gone to
sleep.

“Don’t turn around, sir,” said
Manami, while entering the living room.

“Why?” Pascal asked with a
surprised tone.

“Because I’m in my nightgown,” said
Manami as she turned off the light. She walked over to Pascal in
the dark, sat next to him and put her head on his
shoulder.

“I could die right now,” Pascal
thought. “Do you know that, my love? I don’t need anything
else.”

Pascal took a deep breath. He
simply slowly placed his cheek on her head. “Darling, I have to…
just that… to touch your hair. To smell it. Only that.”

“You know, my husband had come
already twice at night and found us sitting at the table. I mean to
say that we weren’t sleeping. That is a bit odd, you must
admit.”

“I’m aware of that ma’am. But I
cannot leave first. I simply cannot. Until you go to
bed.”

“That is why this is how we will do
it from now on: I will be in my nightgown, and you will be dressed.
When we hear the elevator, we will have enough time to run to our
rooms in the darkness. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

“And if Peter wakes up, we will
hear the door to his room. I will run to my quarters and tell my
son that I was in the kitchen, that I was getting something from
the freezer. Some meat. To defrost it for lunch tomorrow. That I
suddenly woke up and remembered it. That’s a logical explanation,
isn’t it?”

Pascal occasionally moved his cheek
across her hair.

“This cover means a lot to you,
sir?” Manami asked after a while.

“A lot. It means a lot to me. You
know, that day, when I was preparing to go into the square… I
wondered… why isn’t there something…”

“What?”

“A room… our room… and now… it
exists.”

Chapter 98

“Why won’t you have dinner with us
tonight, Julius,” Manami asked her husband from the kitchen.
“Dinner will be ready in half an hour.”

“I can’t Manami, really. I don’t
have time. I came just for a bit… to tell you
something.”

“Julius!” Manami raised her voice
and looked at her husband, who was sitting at the table and holding
Eir in his lap. She gestured towards Peter, who was sitting with
his back towards her.

“Don’t worry, Manami. Everything is
alright, just… obligations are piling up. I won’t be able to keep
it up like this. I mean, I’ve been coming almost every day. And I
actually have to go to our house. The house is being guarded by
inspectors as though my family was in it. I have to stay the night
there sometimes. Noah will provide and bring food for you from now
on.”

“Noah? Does he know that we are
here?” Manami was surprised.

“Noah is great, Pascal!” Peter
shouted out. “Colonel! He has a black belt in karate! He taught me
a kata!”

“Alright, Peter, alright…” said
Seneca. “I had to tell someone, Manami. I can’t provide for you on
my own and lock the office. It’s too intense. Do you understand? I
have to be available, to make decisions at every moment. A huge
number of people are calling, coming… day and night… events are
sudden, unpredictable…”

“I understand, Julius, it’s clear
to me. Does Noah also know about Mr. Alexander?”

“He does,” Seneca looked at Pascal.
“I had to tell him everything, Alexander. He will bring you food,
cosmetics… perhaps you will also need clothes. He will realize that
there is also an adult male in the shelter.”

“Mr. Mayor, please, don’t trouble
yourself with that. You know best who you can trust.”

“I have absolute trust in Noah,
especially now that…”

“Julius!” Manami was afraid that
Seneca would mention the death of Noah’s parents in front of
Peter.

“Peter,” Seneca turned towards his
son. “You won’t see Noah. He will just bring the supplies down to
the corridor and immediately return to my office. And mother will
distribute them later.”

“Why?” Peter was
disappointed.

“Noah doesn’t have time. He is now
head of my personal security. He has to be with me at all times.
Those are the Inspectorate rules.”

“That’s great, dad! That Noah is
protecting you!”

“It is,” said Seneca. He got up,
kissed Eir and put her on the floor. The little girl ran off to the
armchair full of toys.

“Peter, help Eir get up,” Manami
said.

“I have to go,” Seneca said
goodbye. “Son, you just keep on studying.”

He stroked Peter on the head and
started towards the door. Then he remembered something and turned
towards them.

“Alexander, do you know who turned
up at my office yesterday?” Seneca smiled.

“Who?” Pascal wondered.

“Your assistant, Miss Van
Andel.”

“Svetlana?” Pascal
shouted.

“Yes. She left your staff a day
earlier. That’s what Raul told me.”

“Yes, she did. But I thought that
she had left Megapolis.”

“She didn’t. She’s here. We also
thought that she had left… I was just telling my wife that Miss Van
Andel was wrong…” Seneca looked at Peter. “If you understand what I
mean?”

“Yes… I understand,” said Pascal.
“Why did she come to you?”

“To ask for a job. She has no
income.”

“And?” Pascal asked.

“I immediately gave her a job in my
secretariat. Miss Van Andel is educated and a very capable young
woman. That is the impression I got when you came to our house. I
need associates. It is especially important that I can have full
confidence in her. That is of the utmost importance at times like
these.”

“It is. I’m glad for Svetlana, I
truly am. You won’t regret it, Mr. Mayor. Svetlana is exceptional,”
said Pascal.

Chapter 99

“Did you watch the evening news,
Grasshopper?” Erivan asked as soon as the Grasshopper picked
up.

“Yes, Mr. President. You were
fantastic.”

“Hm? Was I?” Erivan chirped. “Here,
I’m playing back the recording. I can’t stop. And the hand on the
back? What do you think?”

“Unique.”

“And one foot a bit back, straight,
sharp like a sword, a?”

“Phenomenal.”

“The most phenomenal, Grasshopper!
Had I not stuck it out, the spotlight would not have shined on the
boot.”

“No, it surely
wouldn’t.”

“And like this it
gleams!”

“It gleams.”

“You’re not exactly
thrilled?”