“Yes,” Urban replies reluctantly, realizing that Hurensson must have been with Wanda, too, and could have blurted out anything to her.
“How do you know?” he asks.
“Rácz mentioned it,” says Wanda the Trucker. “Have you made any videos?”
“Not yet,” says Urban.
“Then make one of me,” asks Wanda the Trucker.
“Why?” Urban asks.
“Because,” the prostitute shrugs, “I’ve never seen myself on a TV screen.”
Urban sighs, but fetches his camera. He puts in a cassette, a battery and starts to shoot Wanda. The prostitute gets out of the armchair. She slowly takes off her sweater. She sways in rhythm to the music. She unbuttons her blouse, takes it off and drops it onto the floor. She begins to pull down her narrow skirt. Urban circles her with his camera. Wanda kicks off her shoes, then down come the black seamed stockings, suspender belt, bra, and finally her panties.
“Super,” says Urban, but the show’s not over yet. Wanda sits on the couch and spreads her long thighs wide apart. Her fingers part her crotch’s pink butterfly wings. Then she does various things that excite Urban so much that he puts down the camera, takes off his clothes and follows her onto the couch.
“Let’s film ourselves,” suggests Wanda. Urban gets up, his member erect, takes the camera stand out of the cupboard, sets it up, and aims the camera where he expects to copulate with Wanda.
“What’s wrong?” Wanda asks, when she sees Video Urban hesitate for a moment.
“Will you give me a rubber?” Urban asks using his hand to get a full erection. “I don’t have anything here. I live like a monk.”
“Just come as you are, don’t be afraid,” says Wanda. “Punters have to use condoms. You don’t. I want to feel you in me. I want to feel when you come. We could even kiss, if you like.”
“You know how dangerous it is now?” Video Urban asks, as he lowers himself onto her.
“And what isn’t dangerous?” the prostitute says philosophically, as she takes a position in range of the camera. Urban kneels between her spread out knees, embraces her and slowly opens her vulva with his tongue.
An hour later, they drink, smoke, and, amused, watch the recording. Urban slows down the interesting moments with the remote control, which he holds.
“We’re good, aren’t we?” says Wanda. “We could easily make a living with this. But now wipe it, OK?”
“That’d be a pity, wouldn’t it?”
“No,” says Wanda. “Who knows who you might show this video to?”
“I swear I won’t show it to anyone,” says Urban. “I’ll keep it for personal use only.”
“I’ve heard that before,” says Wanda. “What if I marry some rich bloke in the future and you blackmail me?”
“Blackmail you?” Urban ponders. “I’ll sell it to the tabloids. I’ll get more money that way.”
“Please, wipe it, OK?” says the prostitute, as she turns over on her side and falls asleep.
Video Urban is an honourable man, not a crook. He watches the video once more from the beginning and then he erases it, although his heart bleeds as he does so. He sits at the table naked, with a shrivelled, drooping penis. He gets up and makes himself a nightcap. The prostitute, fully contented, breathes out loudly, her hand tucked like a child’s under her head. Urban gets up from the chair and, his drink in his hand, goes over to his desk. He takes out a flyer with the text of an advertisement that he meant to insert ages ago: “VIDEO URBAN IS HERE FOR YOU! I WILL MAKE THE SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE AND THE HAPPY SMILES OF YOUR CHILDREN LAST FOREVER.” He crumples up the flyer and throws it into the wastebasket. What stupidity! Who cares about their children’s happy smiles! There are so many people in this business and they steal each other’s jobs. No, he won’t make any money this way. He takes the pen and writes on another piece of paper: “VIDEO URBAN WILL CAPTURE AND IMMORTALISE YOUR MOMENTS OF PLEASURE WITH YOUR PARTNER IN YOUR HOME, OR IN THE HOME-LIKE ENVIRONMENT OF THE STUDIO. DISCRETION ASSURED.” He looks at the text for a while and then inserts the word “ABSOLUTE” before “DISCRETION”. Yes, that’s it. The “absolute” inspires confidence. Video Urban is content. He realises that it’s the idea, not the work, that pays. The first comer takes everything.
He finishes his drink, washes his member and brushes his teeth. He turns off the light and calmly lies down next to Wanda the Trucker’s long body with the feeling that, despite everything, he’s completed a useful bit of work today.
* * *
The hotel lawyer no longer visits the manager. He’s avoided him ever since he realised that contact with the manager might endanger him. He’s working out how to become the new manager. The current one will soon go mad and hang himself. Or freeze to death. Or die of starvation. The lawyer considers the hotel a lucrative place to be. His tactics are to feign loyalty to the stoker and to try to be inconspicuous. He is succeeding; Rácz is not in the least interested in him, since he never sees him. There’s a simple explanation: usually the lawyer comes to the hotel early in the morning and soon drives off to do his deals. These are dirty deals, but not like Rácz’s deals. The lawyer is not interested in currency deals or trading gold or smuggled goods. He specializes in complex transactions involving accounting documents, phony acquisitions of antique furniture, expensive carpets, electronics, and even food for the hotel. It is all fake. Non-existent furniture and installations are sold off at a residual value. The lawyer pockets the difference between purchase and sale price. The Renault minibus is parked in the hotel garage. But there were originally supposed to be three minibuses there. After a while, the two non-existent ones were sold at a write-off price. The lawyer keeps tight control over everything; even the commercial assistant manager only exists on paper. He does not exist in reality. He simply doesn’t exist. His name would be Haluška, a forty-year-old divorced business studies graduate on a good salary. No such person exists in reality. The entire administrative section of the hotel is empty. The lawyer, the personnel manager and, for the time being, the manager are the only actual living staff. The others live only on paper and in the lawyer’s imagination. But they do get paid. That is why the lawyer couldn’t even think of officially accounting for the stoker. He’d have to account for himself as well. Attracting too much attention is harmful. Rácz can only be intimidated. But the lawyer is not altogether certain if anything would intimidate this savage who is now king of the hotel. Everybody is afraid of Rácz, but he’s afraid of no one. Yes, the lawyer knows that the stoker could only be tamed if a couple of undercover policemen came to investigate his dealings. But that would result in a disaster for the lawyer, too. They’re both in the same boat.
That is why the lawyer comes in to work on his paper frauds, to share the salaries of the non-existent hotel employees with the assistant manager, and tries to keep a low profile. He knows that one day his time will come.
* * *
Mozoň (alias Silent) is content and in a good mood. His booming voice resounds through the rooms of the villa, which is a safe house. When he sees the amount of money Šolik (alias Livid) and Tupý (alias Bear) have brought him, he is completely stupefied for a minute. He’s never seen so much money in his life. This money will enable them to live in the safe house for several more months. And by then things will be sorted out, the abolition of State Security will be annulled and Mozoň (alias Silent) and his underlings will be back on active duty.
“Where did you get all this money?” he asks Tupý (Bear).
Tupý (Bear) stops counting the pile of banknotes on the table. “Your idea to use the police warrant cards was brilliant.”