Dada 41

I got up and combed my hair. He told me that I had to be a witness for him. As far as I was concerned, it didn’t matter in the least but I didn’t know what he wanted me to say.

According to Iskra, all I had to say was that the girl had cheated on him. So I agreed to be a witness for him. We went to a bar and Iskra bought me a brandy and ginger. Then he wanted to play pool and I nearly won. Afterwards, he wanted to go to a brothel but I said no because I don’t like that kind of thing. So we walked slowly back home and he told me how happy he was that he`d managed to punish his mistress. He was being very kind to me and I thought it was a nice moment.

In the distance, I noticed Srino standing at the doorway, looking upset. When we got closer, I saw that his bird wasn’t with him. He was looking everywhere, turning round in circles and trying to see inside the dark hallway. He was mumbling incoherently, and then peering up in the air or down the street with his little red eyes. When Iskra asked him what was wrong, he didn’t answer right away. I could just about make out what he was saying – “Bastard, dirty swine” – and then he was getting all worked up. I asked him where his parrot was.

‘The bastard’s escaped’ He answered me sharply, saying that he`d flown away, god knows where he got the strength from. And then suddenly, he started talking very quickly: “I took him to the Waterfront, as usual. It was very crowded because of the fair stalls. I stopped to have a look at the one of the escape artists. And when I was ready to leave, I was going to close his cage but he was gone. Of course, I`d been meaning to put him in his cage for such a long time. But I never wanted to believe that dirty swine would fly away like that. Do you think they understand the actions that are taking place in front of them?”