On monday 24th I went nowhere in the morning. My folks didn't know she was in town and I didn't have the nerves to argue, and the weather was disgusting, some heavy rain. At school, Sonja continued warfare with Mjedac.
On tuesday the school show for st. 29th. Just bad, even the folklore sekcija wasn't trained well. M.M. asked me to find a cigarette for her, got one from Čarga because he thought that I started smoking, then fucked me mother later. I already typed the first two pages of the pearls-of-wisdom (if anyone ever translates "izvaljotina" properly, substitute here). On saturday I caught a slight cold, it seems. Beštara got a letter from our waitress from Kragujevac, whom we both courted to get repeats.
Got the car in the evening, went to her. In bad mood, we didn't stay at Groš too long. I delivered her the apple from granma and the copied flower pattern from Burda, for the sweater.
(... 44 words...)
On wednesday came to school just for kicks. Then I drew myself, on foot, at Tekstil, Vanji kept me company until half eight, to wait out my fifteen minutes, then I caught a bus and went to Groš. I didn't feel like waiting so I looked her up at home, and we passed each other by 100m - I took one street and she the other. Found her in the disco. She's out of cigarettes, the nearest open kiosk is downtown. And there's nothing to drink but water. (... 79 words...)
Found the one open kiosk (there should be two more, down the main), turn to Trpeza, at the door we find Vanji with trailer, Eči and Kid. They say it's full in there. Nobody feels like Dom. In Vojvodina it's too expensive.
- whoever says something smart...
- ...gets a čvrga.
- shakespeare died in vain
I did say a smart thing but it solves nothing. Then it turns out that the Hotel Central is right across the street, so I suggest that.
- let's go
- wait, you didn't take the čvrga.
They got in and found a table, but she didn't like the place (we almost never went there, it was a disreputable tavern, of more director-commercialistic taste, this is where they'd come for a quick fuck, we weren't at home in it, even later we'd rather sit outside on the terrace) so we move to Trpeza's basement, across the street again, two rums and a beer. Some left guy comes to scrounge, we sent him to the other table where Ivanka was (? her here? or just same name? wrote only "nice, when silent")(it is her, later I mention the episode when she was briefly simmering me). We drank that, then slowly escorted her, with an east break in some ruin near the post office.
Thursday morning at Pop, sat quite long there. Came home for holiday lunch. Agreed with dad to go to Kikinda the next day, to give the škodilak a bit of a road drive. Gave me the car in the evening, I went to Groš. Got there before her, so stretched my legs, this time meeting her halfway succeeded. I make her go see Vanji first, about some book, just at the gate, no sitting. Once there,
- c'mon get in here
- gossake come out, unglue your ass
- won't get up now, get in
- which is it to you now, we just dropped by
- I'll target you with my slipper
- I wear 43 size boots
So he fell under the weight of facts. We sat a bit in the little kitchen, talked about Moravia, he brought the book, we ate some cake, and eventually went back to Groš. It's locked, it's a holiday and everyone is outside. But she's a member of presidency so they let us in, where we were third or fourth couple. Some girl who played the records just left so I took over; Jež was downtown with his girl. Another girl brought the keys to his records chest, where I thought there's some treasure but no, just a bunch of yugrupa, deep purple and sparse remainder. I played "boom 73" (the double live album from the 2nd rock festival, this summer in Ljubljana). (... 38 words...) After sixth side of an LP we left, one couple remained longer. It snowed.
Then Kikinda was off again. Sat all day, retyping the pearls-of-wisdom. Before evening Vanji comes by just to see how I'm doing. Had I not known him, I wouldn't believe he walked 6km across town just for that, and then another 4 to his girl. He brought some critics for me to read, while he read the pearls. Then he vanished, and I stayed to eat my dinner, then straight to Tekstil building. Eči, Živa and Kid came by, so I bantered with them a bit. One has noone to go to movie with, the other two saw all those movies already, and nobody has enough cash for drinks. And then Grandpa Frost* comes by, with some very original fuzzy white fur cap around her head. The Dom wasn't too crowded. We sat in some corner and chirped until Gavra dragged us out to dance. Hairs flying everywhere, a meter and a half around us a clearance.
Outside, light frost but no wind, beatiful for a walk, fresh snow under our feet.
On saturday, the 1st, I started posting pictures on my wall. In the afternoon Dragana came to keep me company. She's with Hazim! (which lasted until thursday) (nowadays she says this never happened)
In the evening, to movies, a Hitchcock. I expect the necktie sales to drop after this. We didn't stick around, a nasty wind was shaving, just a minor east break somewhere near market, where we then parted.
On sunday in DC-99 we spoke about going to Novi. We should meet around 16:00, to help her carry things, if I mean her to come to me. The bus screwed me, didn't come at all, so I noticed her only at mid main street when I got there. She carried the anatomy atlas in her bag, and had that fuzzy cap. Got home nice and timely, sat mostly with my folks, she was learning remi (she knew the one-deck version). Around 19 went to my room to show her the progress of my wall and for her to have a smoke. Scheduled 15:30 by Nork on tuesday (4th). Went with Lazar to some sitting in FKSV, all boring. Some half an hour before it ended I sneaked out to go east, which is via some terrace as it's here in the political [school], half iced, and drew myself up by Nork. Went strait to her faks, because there were too many of them for anathomy colloquium, so her group was rescheduled for 16:00. She was a bit confused and excited, her first exam! She left me to wait in the hall. I couldn't even get beyond that point without sneakers and white smock. What literature to kill time with I had was an english dictionary and hand anathomy textbook.
When she appeared, in white smock, I felt somehow aged, my chick now looks like a real doctor. But she wasn't finished, she managed to drag three puffs when the examiner appeared. Go back. At least I had fun with latin, leafing through that. She got an eight. We went to the second skeleton (the mess hall was later called mrca**). She was in much better mood. What if she gets to do staž in Poland, I asked. Or Switzerland, she added. (... 8 words...) The dinner in the mrca was heavenly, I ate nothing since morning. I had some cash so we were kind of looking for a jacket for me, but didn't find any records either. Then went looking for Lazar, where did he park his inky (a Ford Escort, dark blue)(... 31 word...). Then Lazar appeared and we parted.
On fifth, two (!) letters from Rudolf, one of which contained pictures of all possible tape recorders. They'll come on 25th, in the evening. On sixth I sent him a letter with instructions and map (again). Got a letter from Inge, she's without a frajer for three months and oh what a nice time we had then. Yes, and we were a year younger. A lock of her hair in the letter. Said she'd come to Borik if she gets a car (?). After school took the gang to school to show them „Biznis A.D.“, the animated thing I did with B.N. of IV4, of which I remember nothing, Skule came later.
On friday (7th) we skipped the ČRZ (class community class... whatever), but Marko Bozon also forgot, didn't come, so it didn't count. At home a postcard was waiting for me, „don't come on friday, wait for me on saturday“. Reading Karamazovs like mad, until it dances in front of my eyes.
On saturday briefly congratulated Melanija her birthday, with a note to not reply, would be bad timing.
In the evening we had hard time meeting - I didn't find her downtown, went home, came back to disco only around nine, and then spot a hundred other blondes but not her, and finally we met near closing time. Turned out I was going with my watch, and she with the projecions of the moon (see 25-II-1973.), which was never reliable, and we passed each other by three minutes.
She lost her wardrobe chit but remembered the number, and I knew the wardrobe girl from obdanište (saw her one more time, she was an engineer at a customer of ours, on other side of Tisa).
We agreed to cut, nicely and culturedly, the connections with our formers, she with K. and I with Inge and Melanija. Then Tiki came by and we chatted with him for a while. Then he told us about Gagi, how he's 17 and she's 29.
We're scheduling the doček with her gang. Tejka will be somewhere in a village tavern, Veca and Sneca with the gang of the latter's L. (who, as I heard, even managed to kiss her once before the vacation). Each to his own direction.
The next day she appeared really early, so I showed her the movies (... 15 words...), Veca and Sneca arrived... (... 25 words...) They came to fetch the „Thick as a brick“, which already finished playing. (didn't write this anywhere, but it arrived by mail, and not this summer, so must be recently; they got the „Passion play“ but the postman bent it to fit it into the mailbox. Or that happened with Donovan - one of them he sent twice)
Then we tried out judo, mom came by and said „why are you throwing my guests? not a thing to do.“, which she found cute.
On monday, 10th, wrote back to Inge and in a culture like way thanked her for the chance to meet, but thanks, no need, all from a distance.
On tuesday, letter from her, says she really liked the throwing guests part. Feels happy. The envelope she made out of a newspaper, the Indeks magazine, where they published some novelette and a caricature of her anathomy prof, just belly, smock and shoes („next weeks I'll do thousands of rectoscopies, got my picture in a newspaper“). Tejka thinks I passed the postal madness disease to the poor girl. „Did she already put forty stamps of 5 para?“
True, our mail was in dozens of weird shapes those years. Me sending photos as postcards was the least of it, we made envelopes out of anything, wrote in various formats - one letter I wrote in a spiral, starting from center; one I wrote in one unbroken line, continuing on the other side when I reached the edge... there were all kinds and they all arrived.
On wednesday, Oli Boj and Bosa had a show at the class Radisav, who had an headache, must have been a not natural [brandy, i.e.]. It's over, he said, I'm gonna die on you. Baki passed the drivers' [exam].
Thursday, a canteen. Started with Bosa, who always has to nibble on something, escalated today into ham cheese bread knife and seven hungry mouths.
On friday, Baki got his licence, his treat. For the class, a liter of šeri brendi (which meant I had to cover the bottle's neck with my sleeve, peeks out of the pocket of my šinjel). We all went straight to the toilet, exceptt Jolpaz, who plays in the female team, as usual. Then we all went to the ladies' room, to treat them too. The bottle emptied quickly. I wasn't drinking because I'll drive in the evening (getting used to that, quickly). On the oto class I ran some movie, and in the dark Baki offered a bottle to Radisav.
- professor, are you for a cezar?
- what's tha? I don't drink vinjak. I'm in school. Won't mix them.
- but, professor, it's my treat
- can't in school
- how the others
- who
- NMN took
- okay, gimme
- here, cheers
True, they know each other, they're from the same village...
- here's one for our moviemaker
- can't, driving tonight
- just take some, nothing doing, half a permille...
So I took a sip, appearance's sake. Behind his back, Bajče lit a cigarette. Oli Boj started poking Radisav about Sonja...
- oh, how she is... how gladly I would... her...
All in all a nuthouse of a class. The arts professor tried to grade us and found out that the art column wasn't added into the logbook. „Tell your classmaster that, aside from physics, there's also art, and to add it the soonest, or else...“
Rushed my supper, then packed the regula and tripod, the „Boom 73“ LP and returned it to Dženk, took back my Korni and „Boom 72“, then swung by Sredljak for Elton and Lennon, and then headed to Groš. She waited for me by the entrance, and jumped into my arms as soon as I appeared. Made some shots, everyone wants to be in pictures. Went for a ride, made a total of one shot (but a good one, though I absolutely don't remember what it was, the negative is gone). Something was falling, neither rain nor snow.
The next day, 15th, was Sredljak's birthday. Something dripped on his trousers, left a spot, and Tejka said „never mind, as long as it's not white“. As per our good tradition, the IV5pp is excellent when it comes to organizing food, booze, skipping a class, evading guilt, so my šinjel was the transportation for yet another bottle of šeri brendi. Had a good good time [dobar provod, in serbian, „provod“ being literally throughlead], so to avoid lowering the level, in the evening in Dom I somehow invented the cash (someone paid the photos?) so we celebrated a nothing. Just like that, bought a liter of ružica [pink wine], sat in a nook and boozed slowly. Gave some to Tiki, Eči, Kid. Then she had a lengthy bout of hiccups, couldn't stop. But she wore it well. Broke it out dancing, full body motion, I wondered how she didn't fall. By that time Sleš already had the habit to play „Locomotive breath“, this time once more before closing. We were a show.
Easy wind, while I escorted her home. Met Kale on the way back.
On sunday dad tried to go to Kikinda again and there was another fuckup, was late or whatever, so nothing again. She came in the afternoon, played cards until her bus.
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* the socialist redressing of Santa Claus, completely divorced of any religion, just looked the same, brought new year's gifts to kids, via arrangement with trade unions of their parents' enterprises
** mrtvac - a dead person
8-II-2021 - 16-VI-2024