On 28th we went to pick corn, got up early. Whole school, or perhaps just third and fourth grades. Started at 8:30 and lasted until 15:00. It was all fun, just NMN had to play general, and Oli Boj was just trouble. Dead tired, quite. Meanwhile my filmmakers are sitting in komitet with Mika Putnik et al, who greeted me from afar. Then to the club, then kaštel.
In the afternoon sat and played records; in the evening Lazar took me to the kayak club for dinner and to run that film from the regatta. The know-it-all guy was also there. Heard good jokes (Vesna Vulović*, world record on 10000m). The fish čorba was blazing hot. Stayed until 23:00.
Bad mood in the club on sunday, horse size headache. More music in the afternoon, then to the club to split the tape for Rade Brankov**, then to Proleter to meet Branka, then with her to the theatre club to deliver the tape, and there he is with Skule, that friend of Pop, and the pretty actor of Višnja. I was sort of making up for last night, she couldn't stay long anyway and I had a duty to the club and one doesn't skip fish čorba. Which I emphasized somewhat differently. Went to disco, sat on one of the chicken coops (what we call those podiums with chairs) and didn't move from there. Somehow she came to say how the attendance in the disco is getting younger - her generation says they'll go here and go to a tavern; higher elementary and lower high schoolers say they go to a friend and come to disco. When it came to my age, she said that I'm a college student for her. Then how most of my friends, Čarga and Jozda and others and their girls, all seem so childish, so sweetly silly and naive and their illusions still pure...
Around 21:30 patrolled around the club, finally entered when the coast got clear. I had the key again. And we almost did it, but she said something, and... chance passed, fell. Then recovered and then she said how she appreciates how I am willing to wait, didn't jump the chance... well, true that, if you say so. Some other time. We parted at midnight. Says Gorica sent a message that she's changed her mind. She's jealous now. Well, that train has gone.
First of november finally got cash from Dom. At lunch, just as I bit into the third pig ear from čorba, here come Bukac and Morava in the spaček, to come shoot their new movie, "how to kill time". So we went and tried to pick Skule but found only his bike, leaned by the door of the specialist polyclinic, so left him a note on it. He was shocked when he saw the note, thought they started writing parking fines for bikes too. The movie is pure bullshit: they wash the spaček, then smear it with mud, then wash it again. Bukac borrowed me some LPs and drove me back on time. At home, surprise - Tejka with her mom and Ivka's toddler. They left almost on time - just late enough to meet Branka at the gate. So she did come, thought she wouldn't. I sat her in the stereo zone, played some music for her, then dad drove us to downtown and we dropped by her mom at the kiosk, just to say we're at the movies. Saw "Soldier blue", which I liked. We caught tickets for forelast*** row (last time it was the last), while Gorica and her Omer, the certified official Romeo of the city, got third.
On 2nd went to pick my military ID/booklet. Afternoon, evening, at the club. We're making some sort of family film festival. Went to Dom to talk the deejay into advertising for us a little, dunno whether he did.
On third, around third class, suddenly temperature, ouch. Head heavy as a brick, can keep balance if head is exactly upright. Draft makes me shiver. During the break, I wait at staff room, comes Beštara. "Do I look ill?" "Not really, need to go somewhere?" "Yeah, home. Know what's the trick?" "What?" "I really am sick" "Well fuck yourself".
Reported to classmaster and went home. Listened to "Share the land" by Guess who and "Watt" by Ten years after. At 13:30 my folks come, take my temperature, it's 38,8, they give up on their trip to Belgrade, dad takes me to dispanzer. Doctor there says five pennicilins. What shape of it? Injection. Can't do other shapes? Could do pills but this way I'm sure you get all five. I wasn't quite myself so instead of arguing I summon what I remember about injections. Relax the muscles, don't move while needle is in. True, no problem there. Asks whether I had lunch, and I answer yes, on autopilot. Didn't, really. So the nausea sets in immediately, I sweat, they take me out to some air. Dad holds my coat, I insert hand into sleeve and then it slips out of the sleeve as I land softly on the floor. I fainted. They sprained my shoulder while they lifted me, but it was nice on the bed - one nurse sprinkling me with water, the other rubbing my chest...
Got home, had lunch, bottom upped half a liter of milk, slept until next morning. Temperature got back to normal, swollen throat normal, head clear, listened to some records, some radio.
On sunday it was already boring. Killing time all day, passing it best I could, except for Peyton, fucked them Peyton.
On monday took to reading Radoje Domanović, lying in bed. Then around 11 here comes my Branka, short of breath, rushing to just greet me then go to english class, private. Well, didn't work out that way, kept her for three hours. Finally on a bed, though I didn't imagine it like this.
Afternoon Tejka came and brought me the master list of youth union's members, to remove last year's seniors and add new guys, a thousand names altogether. We did the small stuff right away, but the rest is huge. Says that principal held a meeting with class representatives, she substituted for me, says they'll put it to a vote whether we'd like liberal policy on hair and garments. Well, well... if they do it so, it'll be great.
News from DC-99 - Mika Putnik asked for some films, "blaženko" and "Chemneysweeper" to show them somewhere. "Višnja" and the other two are in Paris.
Last injection on seventh. Took a bath in the afternoon, ran out of hot water. Mom won't let me go out, says I'm still on sick leave. Talked with Dragana only during the day.
Eighth, appeared in school. Everyone amazed how long I was away.
Today, ran just about everywhere, to Dom, to komitet... Yesterday's movie is off, won't see it ever, so Branka and I celebrated in the club instead. So it finally happened. Wasn't great, wasn't the top performance ever, but... there's time. Not bad for the first time.
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* Some terrorists, prob'ly ustaše, set a timed bomb to Jat's airplane, which then exploded above Czechoslovakia. The stewardess Vesna Vulović survived by miracle, though not in best shape. Managed to go back to work a few years later, and tell her story for TV. Never flew again.
** Rade Brankov was a local actor here, and a member of DC-99 for a while. He mostly carried drinks, never made it to a major role. As a photographer he mostly knew no technology, not even the color temperature - wondered why daylight slides came out orange when shot under reflectors. But he became a TV legend when he staged a straight call from Timisoara, when Ceausescu's regime was first shaken and there was lots of shooting in the city. He became a different TV legend again when he managed to shove the microphone directly into people's faces and get them to spill all kinds of hilariously stupid things almost every day, people who watched his stuff never remembered his face and he'd get them next day again. Did so for years.
*** forelast is "the one before the last". I know it doesn't exist in english, and I think it should.
30-IV-2022 - 16-VI-2024