05-VI-1973.

This morning she came when I finished shaving. Gave her "The Gram" to read, then we switched to mathematics. We'd do one, then kiss, then get an idea on how to do the next one, then kiss... Wanderful feeling, the fabled butterflies in the belly. Springtime...

Around noon, a letter from Melanija arrived. Didn't open it, just said "wait for one from Germany, one from Novi arrives, and vice versa".

(... 46 words...)

Distributed pictures in the afternoon. When I went to take the repeats to second five, I met her at the staff room. We decided to meet on sunday, and that she should schedule her vacation to second shift, not third (first half of august). She needs to have her tonsils removed, so august would be a good time for that.

On thursday (7th), Vanji and Kid came in the morning so we went to Naftagas to arrange the needful. Volunteered their president to drive us around, so we got the PA - Trle fucked us up, gave us the old amps, and what Gavra had was out of commission. We fucked around summer day til noon*. Dispersed for lunch, then took the better amplifier from school, took it to Naftagas, assemble everything nicely. Still not working alright, but we're on a good path. Went downtown, watched "Clute" with Jane Fonda (who looks so fuckappealing there). On friday we messed with the PA some more and, amazingly, it worked at the right time. (don't quite remember why did we do all that, it was some guest show of Slavko's choir there, on the parking at the main office entrance, the PA was needed for other numbers)

Their president drove us around again afterwards, then Kid had lunch at my place, then we went to his to have coffee and fix the record player (he's just 200m short of the west edge of town, and šećerana is 1km from the south edge), then we came back to my place with armsfull of records, so he finally heard his "Tarkus" on a proper sound system* and liked it very much. The records stayed with me.

Saturday morning Tejka was here, just to pass the time. Mom dried my hair with a blowdryer, so it came up twice as large.

Last day of school, neither here nor there. No power in outlets in some classrooms (which mostly nobody uses, but now they brought music). When is class when is the break, nobody knows. Went to Gavra with some guy, they gin and I vinjak. Ate romanian salami, unwashed uncut raw cabbage, ratluk (rahat lokum) and apricot juice. Drum concert for three chairs and a hairbrush. The mood.

Went home through pouring rain. In the evening with the gang in the disco, had wine but few takers (just Hazim, Gavra, Čarga and I). (... 9 words...) Some little D. says she knows me from Fruška (when was that, I don't remember) and as the president, asks how do I dare drink. Why shouldn't I? As the president. Ah that, they fucked up, elected the wrong guy. And so I pretended to court each girl in turn, but inside I hoped she would appear. And the chicks all cute and well disposed, but... where's she?

Nothing on sunday, vat***. Messed with tape recorders, made sounds for the movies. Went downtown in the evening, she wasn't there, nor Mariška nor anyone else, I returned at half ten. Chatted with Bora on the way back, then went home and stayed sad.

On monday, more messing with sound, records and recorders. Went to pick my annual grade sheet, well well, a four in chemistry and a four in physics. So no Vuk prize in the end. Cunts, they fixed up the grades left and right, and what with me having other duties on the side, well these aren't mentioned in the sheet.

Went to Milivoje with mom in the afternoon. Nowhere in the evening.

On tuesday went to gimnazija on some errand and to get four more issues of "The Gram" - the fourth grade was mostly absent at its release, so we had many unsold. The old secretary isn't there, it's some goose, who immediately got into preach/accuse routine, setting me up to be blamed for something. Sorry, girl, I had that surgically removed, thanks, and I retorted in good measure.

Went home, washed the garage (the mud that falls off the wheels and undercarriage), lined up the Zabavniks (the newer years are here, older in the attic for years now). Dad drove me around in the afternoon, so I returned the books to Aćim and records to Kid. Whomever I met I tried to use as a messenger to tell her to appear.

Wednesday, killing time, watching TV...

On thursday, 14th, abstinential crisis... I head downtown at random, hoping to meet her. I knew she had an exam, but she was the first on the list. Having arrived around ten, I had a good chance to miss her, as she may have finished already and gone who knows where, but just in case I sat on a low wall in front of the library and read "Travnik chronicle", scouting over the square all the time. A couple of chicks came by (wrote down their names but they don't mean anything to me now), they were obscuring my view and I warned them so. Various blondes were passing by, but none alike, except this one but the shade of hair is darker, well that may be because of the shirt hey wait she has such a shirt, and the gait fits though I never saw her walk like this, and has a purple bag nobody else has such a purple bag it's her, run! I sort of lost her but remembered to peek into Gramag (the shop next to vodotoranj, where we'd buy booze in the evenings) and there she is at the cash register, to pay. I wait by the door, two minutes pass, Marko Bozon passes, she passes and doesn't see me, I sneak behind her and cover [her] eyes with [my] hand. We were so pleased to see each other, my heart was drumming, says she's carrying a snack to the dentists. I waited half an hour while she was dealing with them, and in that time Mariška and the other girl come by and say the ferials are accepting payments after five. They're taking the second shift, later half of july. Okay, I'll tell her so.

We sat an hour and a half in the small park, just had fun, and I tried to lure out a promise that she'll come in the evening. What matters is that we've met, this was a long break.

In the evening at Proleter, Gavra, Radoje and I. She's not coming, we decide to go, and then the latter remembers to buy cigs and goes back. Then I spot her, just say "ciao" to Gavra and go to meet her halfway. We didn't feel like going to Pa šta onda, rather... (... 110 words...)

----

* paraphrase of a well known description from epic poetry, where it would usually be two heros fighting each other "summer day til noon".

** he ended up buying that system from me four years later

*** short from "farted into the vat", i.e. failed utterly. The vat is, hence, a failure, or something that is in bad shape.


Mentions: Borivoj Pragović (Bora), Gavrilo Taroški (Gavra), gimnazija, Hazim Jabučin, Marko Damjanov (Marko Bozon), Melanija Tisarević, Milan Šebrcan (Aćim), Milivoje Stojanović, Novi Sad, Radoje Stević, Slavica Tejin (Tejka), Slavko Enbecin, šećerana, The Gram, Trajko Kajganić (Trle), Velemir Prokin (Čarga), Vilmoš Baranji (Vanji), vinjak, vodotoranj, Zoltan Kadar (Kid), in serbian