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Chapter 10

 

The last night meeting with the group members had inspired Larry. Soon after the sun had risen, he carefully collected all his comments for the rehearsal, looked through the notes and put them into one folder. Then he decided to visit Sandra, as he had promised.

“You keep your promises,” Sandra was happy, when she opened the door.

“I did not make any promises. I just have a few spare minutes.”

“So, it means you have found some free time, haven‘t you?” she teased.

Larry did not reply her question. He wanted that his visit would be informal. “Is Thomas at home?” he asked.

“Have you come to see me or him?” Sandra teased him openly. She was a very self-confident person and did not hide it. “I knew you would come,” she admitted.

“Since I‘m such a wished guest, perhaps, you would invite me inside,” Larry said ironically, because they were still standing in the doorway.

When Larry entered, he looked around. Only then did he realize that the flat was very spacious. Soon there was an aroma of coffee spreading all over the flat. For a while they were sipping coffee silently. They did not feel like talking.

Sandra was the first to break the silence. “I wander, why you haven’t seemed so shy before. And what do we have now? Just look at you in the mirror. You’re artificial smile, your eyes – I doubt, if they can see anything… You are just sitting here, as if you have sold your own homeland. Come on now!”

“You used to be so maidenly too, all sweetness and light, and now,” Larry paid back.

“I’ve decided to change,” Sandra assured.

“I can see that, Larry thought, but he swallowed the words. The girl shuffled around indeed and in an hour she pulled Larry out for a walk.

Sandra was walking a little ahead – Larry could see her summer shoes show white and a flowered dress. Her bare legs had a nice sun tan. She did not use to turn around at Larry. She went forward rather quickly and lightly. Larry could hardly catch up with her. He could not understand the reason of his giddiness. Perhaps it was due to tension, sleepless night or hangovers. Larry had no inclinations to stroll like that with no purpose at all. His steps were rather shakily and cursed on the sharp rocks, which like curved teeth stuck up in the weather-beaten red soil. Fortunately, the path went down very soon. A flowery glade opened in front of their eyes. Sandra turned to Larry for a second and ran down the hill. She was running down, waving her hands, and only then Larry realized, how far that glade was, since Sandra was getting smaller and smaller in his view. For a moment, she seemed to just disappear like a blue cloud in the sky. When Larry finally got down there, she was sitting at the stream, which scarcely gushed though the weeds. The water was crystal clear, so that white stones could be seen on the bottom. She had a few of them in her palms and watched at them as if she had found some pearls.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” she exclaimed stretching her palm to Larry.

“Beautiful,” Larry repeated without great enthusiasm. He felt very tired and dull after that long walk.

“Don’t you like them?”

Larry realized that he was disappointing the girl and tried not to look just like a senseless lubber any more. “Come on, I do,” he flattered, “they are very nice indeed… Will you give them as a present for me?”

Sandra herself bundled the stones into his pocket. “If you loose them, you will loose your fortune as well,” she assured.

“How do you know?” Larry asked, pretending that he got surprised.

“I know, because I’m a soothsayer,” she chattered squinting. “These are magic stones! Don’t you believe me? You’ll see it! Have some rest here and I’m going to pick some flowers.”

He felt tired indeed, though he looked very strong. And Sandra was wading in the grass. Between times, she used to bend down to something invisible, but in fact, she was picking flowers, and soon she sprang up in front on him with a bunch of varicolored flowers.

She sat down and immediately tucked the flowers under his nose. Larry sneezed and carefully wiped out the yellow dust.

“I’ve picked one blossom of each kind. This, yellow one, is called Saint-John’s-wort. St. John’s wort- spell wort…Good thought, isn’t it?” Sandra looked at Larry and smiled. “It’s going to cast a spell on you.”

“Are you serious?” Larry was laughing.

“Of course, I am. I’m going to bewitch you. And this one is a celandine. Do you want to smell it? This is a forget-me-not.”

Larry looked at the blossom disappointed. “It is so tiny…”

“And I like it. All flowers are beautiful in their own way. Could you imagine our world without them?”

Of course, Larry could imagine it, but he did not dear to admit it. Sandra got on her feet and, having handed in the bunch to Larry, ran away down the path. Larry moved slowly after her. That young girl reminded him of Eva. Larry could feel some strange worry coming out from somewhere. There was some pulsation inside him. Sandra had vitalized the feeling of love, which he tried to suppress. He felt again that his love was still alive and he was still in love with Eva. The young girl in the field of flowers had just reminded him of the one that had disappeared and she was just a shadow of his lost love.

Having taken Sandra home, he walked slowly towards his home. It was not cool in the evening. He could not get the girl out of his mind and her picture used to bring back his thoughts about Eva. So, he came back home submerged in his dim and result-less contemplation. At home, he found his mother absorbed by TV set. Larry was not inclined to listen neither to her complaints, nor to her lectures. He knew everything beforehand. Larry had his own opinion and he was very much like his father – ambitious, stubborn and persistent. In order to avoid the needless argues with his mother, Larry collected his note folders and left for the rehearsal.

 

●○●

It had been for two weeks that Larry tried to avoid meeting Sandra. He visited Arnold’s wife and went to see the coach. On evenings, he used to rush to their rehearsals. The guy preferred no to get involved in feelings. The friendship was acceptable to him, but he was scared to get into any closer relationship.

However, he got tired of that forced peace rather soon, he was longing for uproar, so the very same evening he stopped by a coffee-shop, where he met head-on Thomas, Edgar and Sandra. He did not manage to escape their company.

“Why haven’t you called me?” Sandra attacked him. “You promised…”

“I’ve lost the telephone number,” Larry blurted out, unable to think of anything better.

Sandra leaned against Larry at once. Then it was the start.

“Guys,” she addressed everybody, “I’ll be right back.”

Soon she came up with a large crayfish in her hands, which was angrily threatening at Larry with its crayfish-like claws.

“It’s a stag-beetle,” she informed proudly.

“Come on, is it?” Larry was surprised, so he even forgot to thank her.

“Didn’t you forget about us?” Thomas got a little angry.

“Stop sniveling, the crayfish is a big one and it’ll be enough for everyone,” Sandra was not disheartened. “I think we could sit down outside as well.”

Everybody accepted her proposal. Sandra was charming indeed.

“Well, I guess, beer should go very well with the crayfish,” Edgar suggested. “Right, Larry?”

“Juice would be fine with me also,” Larry replied Larry and warned Sandra, “I suppose, you will not drink either, will you?”

“Whatever you say. Juice will be fine,” the girl obeyed.

Larry smiled. And she is a true coquette, he thought.

The company was enjoying the crayfish meat. Edgar and Thomas were sipping their beer, while Larry and Sandra were freshening up with juice. I guess, getting relaxed is much more pleasant then get to work, Larry thought, but in order to enjoy relaxation, you need to get tired first. In that moment, thoughts about Sandra were running in his head.

“Why don’t we have a schnitzel each,” Thomas suggested, “I feel a little hungry and this crayfish has just risen my appetite.”

“Are these schnitzels?” Sandra asked. “These are just some pieces of fried rubber.”

“Schnitzels are always schnitzels,” Edgar said.

Larry was silent. His eyes were directed towards a couple passing by. And he was nor mistaken. He recognized that girl who walked along with the guy. It was Eva.

She turned around and, having noticed Larry gave such a painful look at him that she seemed to be about to burst into tears. But instead of tears, she gave a speaking smile that appeared on her face and then she turned away. Where did she come from so unexpectedly plus with her boyfriend? It must be he… Why did she look at me like that? Did she notice Sandra? May be, it serves her right, Larry was a little angry. She is not a prude also. Perhaps my mother was right saying that she was after my wealth and why should she care about a cripple. Should I straighten everything up with her? But why should I grovel? I don‘t want to see her again!

“Larry, Larry, are you asleep?” Thomas‘s voice brought him back.

“What happened?” Larry could not understand it in the beginning.

“Nothing, we have just made up to go to the countryside this weekend. Will you join us?” Thomas suggested, almost sure that he would agree.

“Of course, you shouldn‘t ask about it,” Larry said and at the same time, he would take the change out of Eva, because she had appeared in public with another man… Was not he worse? “What are waiting for? The crayfish is finished, there is no beer left, so it‘s time to get out of here.”

“To the cinema,” Thomas was looking for new entertainment.

“Larry, will you go too?” the friends asked him.

“No, I don‘t want to go to the cinema…” Larry did not want to go anywhere at all then. He would have rather stayed there and sank down in a drink; just he did not want to disclose that. “I‘ve just remembered there is something I have to do. You go ahead and I‘ll join you later,” he tried to walk away from it.

“And what do you say, Sandra?” the brother asked and smiled.

“I‘ll keep a company for Larry. I have to get home by three o‘clock, so… Will you see me home, Larry?”

“This is exactly what I thought,” Thomas laughed. Everybody looked at him, then at Sandra. The girl blushed.

“What are you snorting at,” Sandra started as if being possessed, “Who do you think I am? Am I a small girl, which you can pull by tails of hair whenever you like? Can’t you sit still for a while?”

“Well, well,” Edgar cut in, “there you have started quarrelling again…”

“Nobody is quarrelling here…” Thomas replied. “One cannot just joke… She always flames up like a match.”

Larry was watching Sandra. He realized what Thomas had in mind. She flamed up not just for anything. I’ll better see her home, he thought. May be, she will calm down while spending some time with me. Why should I be distressed because of Eva’s betrayal? I’d rather make Sandra’s life happier.

“So, Sandra,” Larry started cheerfully, “are you coming with me or not? I’d like to set you free from your brother’s grip…”

Sandra got pleased. She proudly took Larry by his elbow, turned up her nose and simpered in front of her brother. Thomas and Edgar were left alone sitting with nothing.

Larry and Sandra walked along chatting silently and joking. Wide quay slabs were shining in the sun. Some music could be heard from the distance. Smells of sauces, stakes and other hot meals were floating around. And when a lady accompanied by a tail-coated gentleman used to pass by, then a heady and fresh aroma of her dress and body would spread all over. Both of them enjoyed their time. It seemed to the girl, that it was an exactly one of those days when she would be able and want to feel nearness of a person one loves… She took Larry along the central street. Shop flowers, books and jewelry, tempted her. Both of them carried away by their dreams stood on the old bridge of the town for rather a long time and enjoyed the worm weather flow.

Larry insensibly remembered about Eva, her betrayal. Life started to look so colorless to him. He looks at Sandra and he saw still a very young and naive girl who was very much like Eva. For a moment, he even thought that he would be so happy to have her instead of Sandra there. He imagined them going along the streets, hand in hand, and he would feel her nearness and heat of her body.

“Why are you so thoughtful and sad?”

“Me?” Larry came back to himself.

“What are you thinking about,” Sandra asked deeply, “if that’s not a secret?”

Larry understood what kind of answer she expected for and did not let her down. “Of course, it’s not a secret, about you!”

Sandra was pleased by Larry’s answer, but she did not show it. She squinted and gave him the glad eye. “Do you think I’ll believe you…”

And then Larry tried to convince her. He put his arms around the girl’s waist and pressed her slightly against the bridge handrails. He could feel her body trembling. “Do you believe now?”

“No,” she could hardly restrain her feelings and looked at him, “I don’t, think of a better proof!”

“What?”

“Kiss me!”

“Right here?”

“Yes, right here,” she answered with no blinking.

“And do you really want it?” he asked her again feeling embarrassed.

Sandra put her arms on Larry’s shoulders. Her eyes were asking for it. Larry did not know what to do. It would have been awkward not to kiss the girl and a chaste kiss should not change anything… Larry made up his mind. Their lips met. He wanted to get back, but he realized that he could not resist the temptation. He could not control himself any longer. Some inconceivable feeling took over his soul and body. Suddenly he seized Sandra in his arms and started kissing her passionately. She did not resist. The girl wanted that Larry would never let her go that he would never stop kissing her. Then she believed that Larry loved her. His kisses were full of passion, so wasn’t that love? She almost felt dizzy of happiness.

When Larry leaned back at last, Sandra felt some shame. She wanted to bury her face in her palms and to get disappeared.

“Let’s go, how long are we going to stay here?” Larry pretended as if nothing had happened.

They went further holding each other by hands, but they did not dear to start the conversation.

“It’s a pity, but I have to go now,” Sandra said.

“Already?” Larry was disappointed. He noticed that Sandra was not ready to leave him, and he himself would have rather stayed with her for a little longer. That kiss was really making him dizzy…

Sandra was very sad that she had to say goodbye, but she calmed down very soon. She was up to something. “Larry,” called she, “catch up with me!” And she started running, as if intending to take over something on the other side of the river.

He surged forward, but soon he changed his mind, since one cannot race with prosthesis. “Sandra, wait! There is something I want to tell you!”

She stopped. “What is it?”

“I think,” Larry came up and put his arms around Sandra’s waist, “why don’t we better have a walk, would you mind?”

Sandra did not suspect Larry’s trick; she just got the impression that he loved her more than she had thought. They walked in each other’s embrace without a word. Each one was taken away by their thoughts.

Having seen Sandra home, Larry was still considering if he would be able to love her. Yes, she does excite a passion, but… Larry thought, if it would possible to get in close relations with her. If she were Eva, he wouldn’t have any doubts and would pearl her with passionate kisses… He loved Eva. Larry thought that loves starts from ones dreams. Now, there were no dreams, just some physical excitement, something like body heat, which he wanted to put up. He did not realize that Eva was the reason of his trouble. She had never left his life for a short second, since he had been carrying her in his heart. And what about Sandra? Is this love? She attracts me so much. May be, she had bewitched me as she promised to, Larry thought.

Suddenly Larry cast a glance to the left and became speechless. There was Eva standing next to a nice brickwork house and talking to the guy he saw in the coffee bar. Larry felt that something had boiled up in his chest.

Eva had also noticed Larry and cast innocents glance at him, and ran inside the house without saying goodbye to her boyfriend. Larry could hardly control himself. He wanted to accost the guy, but somehow he managed to control himself… He wanted to follow Eva and wreak his fury, but he realized that it would have been useless to behave like that. He could not derogate from his reputation. I wouldn’t change anything, he thought, I wouldn’t force her to love me. He was totally disenchanted with Eva. He realized again that he had lost her forever.

Sandra could still feel passionate kisses and caressing of Larry. She was humming. She wished to run across a meadow and dance… She was happy. Life seemed to her much nicer than before. Right then, she started waiting for their next meeting.

Eva shut away in her bedroom and dropped down on her double sized wooden bed with a teddy bear in her arms. Unbearable pain was piercing her chest. She was sobbing. Her tears were running down her face. She hoped that she had forgotten all about Larry while in college, but that day she understood that she was still in love with him. He looked at me with such scorn and contempt… He might think that he saw me with my boyfriend, or he might not be able to forgive me that I have abandoned him in hospital… It’s too late to look for any explanations. He cast a speaking look and he was with his girlfriend. How could I tell him that I’m still in love with him, waiting for him and cannot imagine my life without him? Eva was crying.

After Larry came home, he could not calm down for a long while. He was oppressed by Eva’s betrayal. He felt so lonely… His hands could not get to any work. He was lying on the sofa and was taken away by considerations, why Eva had replaced him with someone else. Suddenly a thought strokes him that she ran into the house in the neighborhood. Is she almost my neighbor? Why haven’t I noticed this for all this time? Lots of questions twisted in his mind, but there were no answers to them.

….. bus daugiau…..