\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0by Robert \u015eerban (Romania)<\/p>\n
Translation from Romanian by Philippa Lawrence and Silvia Bratu, MTTLC student<\/em><\/p>\n pentru versiunea rom\u00e2n\u0103 click aici<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n If it begins pouring with rain, when you\u2019re waiting for the no. 8 tram at the stop next to the Abattoir, the only place to shelter is the lobby in the block of flats opposite. You reach this via a sort of pergola covered in vine leaves tunneling across the pavement. The trams seem to flash by like Japanese trains, therefore, if you\u2019re in the lobby, you\u2019ll miss them, unless you make a dash for it. However, the rain is faster than tram no. 8 which takes its time, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n It\u2019s raining cats and dogs today, streaking down like needles, with thunder and lightening\u00a0 and the tram is nowhere to be seen. I turn to look at the ground floor window on the left.\u00a0 That\u2019s where Lili lives. She isn\u2019t standing there watching the rain, as she usually does, though the curtain seems to be moving. It\u2019s still coming down in buckets, so I go into\u00a0 the lobby and stare at the wall, at the list of residents:\u00a0 Saceanu Maria -Flat 1; Darie Ionel -Flat 2; Stoica Ovidiu -Flat 3; Professor\u00a0 Ovidiu\u00a0 -Flat 4; Vlad Georgeta\u00a0 -Flat 5; Soare Cristi\u00a0 -Flat 17; Udrea Ovidiu -Flat 18.\u00a0 Lili lives in Flat 2 \u2013 her surname is Darie. She\u2019s the most beautiful brunette I\u2019ve seen in three years \u2013 I\u2019ve watched her growing up. She\u2019s in her last year of school now, studying for university \u2013 almost a woman.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still pissing down. The pavement is covered in puddles and vine leaves, which look like bisque. A fat woman is checking her handbag.\u00a0 So am I, surreptitiously and I feel like laughing, wondering what in the world I might see in it. She takes out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter \u2013 a fat woman smoking a cigarette. Lightening flashes across the sky. An old lady with a black scarf on her head gazes with a faraway look at the woman smoking. Her big eyes have a kind expression, and she looks near to tears. It might be the smoke.<\/p>\n I hear the tram coming. The fat woman heads for the door, sucking one last puff from her Winchester cigarette. The old lady has awoken from her reverie and is lifting up the raffia bag she had leant against the wall. It\u2019s 8.0\u00a0 o\u2019clock and absolutely pouring down. I let the two women go through the pergola tunnel which is painted in Irish green, and get ready to run for the tram a dozen or so paces away. I rest my body on my left foot, slowly lifting my right heel but the way ahead is blocked. Lili is running towards me through the tunnel, probably having gotten off the tram. She\u2019s soaking wet, the T-shirt clinging to her body, her hair silky black. The tram doors have closed \u2013 next stop, Olimpia.<\/p>\n Lili comes into\u00a0 the lobby and shakes herself like a cocker spaniel, showering water around her. She\u2019s beautiful. She looks at me while poking her fingers through the small opening in her mail box trying to feel if there\u2019s something in it. Is she hoping for some letters? Does she have a boyfriend? She takes a step backwards, closing one eye while looking through the slit in the mail box. She has leant forward at an angle of 45 degrees, without bending her knees. She can tell I\u2019m watching her. Women always know when they\u2019re being watched \u2013 the fat woman knew the old lady was looking at her.<\/p>\n Lili\u2019s expression becomes sulky. She is looking for something in her handbag, which is only slightly bigger than a wallet. Taking out her keys, she chooses the smallest of them and opens her mailbox. It is empty.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018The postman doesn\u2019t come on Mondays\u2019, I tell her.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018I\u2019m waiting for my phone bill’, she answers locking the mailbox door.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Phone bills come around the 15th. Today\u2019s the 4th.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Oh, you\u2019re right.\u00a0 Are you looking for someone?\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018No, I\u2019m waiting for the tram.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Why didn\u2019t you take that one?\u2019, Lili asks.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018I can\u2019t run. I sprained my ankle\u2019, I lie. Lili looks at my feet.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Your left or right ankle?\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018My right\u2019.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018I have an excellent ointment. I play volleyball and often sprain my ankles. This ointment is really great. I live right here so do come in.\u2019 I\u2019m swallowing, my eyelids twitching. Lili opens the door of Flat 2 and leads the way. I breathe in the smell of her wet hair.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Please don\u2019t take your shoes off. You can sit in here on the armchair or the sofa\u2019.\u00a0 The living room is decorated in an unsophisticated style: Persian carpet, glasses and china ballerinas in a plain display cabinet. An ornately framed landscape picture hangs on the wall to the left.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018I\u2019ll go and change. I\u2019ll be right back. Do turn on the TV\u2019. I search in vain for the remote control. My eyelids are twitching. I see a stain on the ceiling. I hear the water running in the bathroom \u2013 or the kitchen. I hear the doors of a wardrobe squeaking, then squeaking again.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Here\u2019s the ointment.\u00a0 It\u2019s Hungarian\u2019. Lili is wearing a skimpy blue and white dress.\u00a0 The hollow sensation in my throat has reached my stomach. Lili is kneeling in front of me, sitting on her heels. She takes the cap off the tube of ointment, squeezes it slightly and some yellowish cream spurts out. Lili is looking at me.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018You\u2019re too tense \u2013 relax! Stretch your leg out a bit\u2019. Pushing up my trouser leg she touches the back of my right calf with her index finger, then with her middle finger as well. She applies gentle pressure, while rubbing it in a spiral motion. Her right hand is on my left shoe, her cheek brushes my knee. I\u2019m breathing heavily through my mouth. My lips are dry. I take deep breaths. Lili\u2019s right palm runs instinctively up to my left thigh, then over my stomach as her long fingers spread out to touch my breast through the bra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0by Robert \u015eerban (Romania) Translation from Romanian by Philippa Lawrence and Silvia Bratu, MTTLC student pentru versiunea rom\u00e2n\u0103 click aici\u00a0 If it begins pouring with rain, when you\u2019re waiting for the no. 8 tram at the stop next to the Abattoir, the only place to shelter is the lobby in the block of flats opposite. 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