Dada 40

The policeman told him to shut up again and said that the girl should leave and that Iskra  should stay put until he was told to come down to the police station. He added that Iskra should be ashamed that he was shaking so much.

‘Are you drunk? The policeman asked. A little gasp went up from the people on the landing. The Government says drink is the curse of our Federation.

Iskra said: “I`m not drunk, officer. It`s just that I am standing in front of you and all these people, and of course I`m shaking. It’s my shame, I can`t help it.”

He closed the door and everyone left. Mo and I finished making lunch. But he wasn’t hungry.He kept looking at Iskra’s door. I ate nearly all of it. He left at one o`clock and I slept for a while.

Around three o`clock, Iskra knocked on my door. I was lying down. He sat on the edge of the bed. He didn’t say anything at first and I asked him how it had gone. He told me he had done what he`d planned but that then she`d slapped him across the face so he`d started hitting her. I`d seen what happened next. I told him that it seemed to me that she`d been punished and that he should be satisfied. That was also his opinion and he pointed out that it didn’t matter what the policeman had done because it wouldn’t change the fact that he`d given her a beating. Then he added that he knew what cops were like and just how to deal with them. Then he asked me if I`d expected anything at all.

‘Nothing, ‘I said’ and besides, I don’t like the police.’  Iskra seemed pleased. He asked me if I wanted to go out somewhere with him.