“I do. So that no one can see who all is entering the tube.”
“That’s right. In the tube there is a conveyor belt. There are straps that you use to attach yourself to it and it raises you into the airplane. You can also attach your suitcases.”
“Excellent, Mr. Mayor.”
“I’ll send a squadron of fighter planes to protect you,” Seneca said and hung up.
“It’s better that it turned out this way,” Raul thought. “Much better.”
Chapter 20
Pascal lay in the bathtub with his eyes closed. “What was it that you said to me, Raul?” he recalled their conversation. “To find a woman my own age… just a little younger. To have children… There is such a woman, my friend. I’d marry her immediately, trust me… immediately, immediately…”
“Immediately!” Pascal shouted out loud.
Then he sighed and submerged his head. When he ran out of air he came up and rested his shoulders on the edge of the tub. He barely visibly shook his head.
“But no. You would never be satisfied, Raul. You would think that a wife that already has two children is not becoming of a democratically elected president. And do you know what I would tell you, Raul? I’d tell you that I didn’t care at all what you thought. And what was becoming and what was not. As long as she’s mine.
“And I’ll tell you that I’m not going anywhere from Megapolis anymore. I cannot leave without knowing… my Raul. And I always knew. We’re going to that city for three days, then there… for five days… never longer than five days. I couldn’t stand not seeing her for more than five days. How could I?
“And you were cross, Raul. ‘Since we’re already here, why don’t we just stop by over there,’ you said. ‘What’s a few more days? Better than going back to Megapolis and then hitting the road again.’
“You didn’t get it, why we always went back to Megapolis. I didn’t either. Actually I did, but I wouldn’t admit it to myself.”
“And now… I’m not going anywhere from this city, Manami. I’ll die in it. Here, close to you, my love. And what if they don’t kill me? Hmm? What do you think? I make it through today, no one shoots me… The people disperse from the square. Raul and the team have flown somewhere far away… and I’m left alone.
“Do you know what I would do? You wouldn’t believe it. I’d climb that chestnut tree in front of your house immediately, tonight, like a teenager. I’d watch the lit windows. I’d see you go into Peter’s room. Kiss your son on the head, tell him good night, turn off the light and leave. And your husband’s not home. He’s at his office, on TV or at the Mayor’s office… or somewhere… wherever. So you enter the room of your little Eir. And she’s uncovered herself. You cover her up and caress her. And then you go to your room.”
Pascal opened his eyes and abruptly rose up. “That isn’t only your room, Manami! You share it with your husband!” he shouted.
He covered his face with his hands and rested his forehead on his raised knees.
“Why isn’t there an ‘our room’, Manami? Why?” he whispered.
After some time he lowered his hands into the water, raised his head and looked at the bathroom wall.
“My friends are gone. What am I waiting for?”
He got up out of the tub. “I’m going out. I’m going to get killed. Immediately. A bullet to the heart, the head. Aim wherever you want, wherever you please. Just as soon as possible! As soon, please…”
“I won’t wear something… just usual… like always… Pants, unbuttoned shirt, sleeves rolled up,” Pascal thought, standing in front of the open closet. “I’ll dress elegantly. I’ll wear this dark blue suit… and a tie. This one, with the wide dark blue and dark red stripes. Like blood… But they are diagonal. They will intersect with these gray lines on the suit. Do they go together? I guess they do… these lines are discrete… you can hardly see them. But the shirt must be plain white. Or perhaps that light blue one? No, no, white it is. I’ll unbutton the jacket so the blood on the white shirt is visible.
“So that you can clearly see how my heart bleeds for you, Manami.
“And the shoes… these, yes… black, shiny… Like for a evening dance in some lavish hall…. You in a kimono… a gold kimono… in my arms. A huge orchestra… just the two of us. And no one else… in the whole world.”
Chapter 21
Having received his orders from Erivan, Alpha left the President’s office and reached the elevator with fast, nervous steps. But he didn’t enter it. He first just stood there and then walked down the hall, looking around, leaning over, crouching, getting up and hitting his fist against the wall several times.
When he finally calmed down he took the elevator down to the garage. Once he got there, without saying a word he nodded to his subordinate White, he passed around the presidential car and made sure that the interior was not visible through the tinted windows. He then took his telephone from his jacket, took a deep breath, glanced once more at White, and called the driver who worked as a member of the residency staff.
“Please put on your uniform and come immediately to the garage,” he said without saying hello, after the driver of the presidential car had picked up.
“Yes, of course, Mr. Alpha,” the driver responded.
“Why are you calling the chauffer, Alpha? Won’t the care be remote controlled?” his unit member asked.
“Be quiet, White, just be quiet. Don’t ask anything. That’s the order.”
“Erivan’s?”
“Yes.”
“But…”
“But what?”
“Well, I think… the chauffer will see them… as soon as he opens the door.”
“He won’t open the door, White.”
“How won’t he? You don’t mean… I can’t do it, Alpha! Call someone else. Why didn’t the Grasshopper also… the chauffer…”
“I will do it, White. I have to. This is what it’s come to. Life and death struggle. We have to be up to the task.”
Alpha slowly unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it back. He took out his pistol from the belt holster, raised it and aimed towards the elevator door.
Chapter 22
Pascal, dressed in the dark suit, stood in front of the window watching the square filled with people. “You’re not taking the shot?” he spoke without any fear to the imaginary sniper. “Very well, I understand. Who would see that you’ve killed me? They would show my dead body on television. It is better to wait for me to leave the hotel, and then, in front of the crowd… For it to be shocking, to scare them… for them to scatter. It works better for me that way too. Let her see me fall, on her beloved husband’s television channel…”
“Will you cry when you see me lying in the square with a bloody stain here?” He raised his hand and placed it on his chest. “No, you won’t. Because you can’t. So that your husband and children wouldn’t notice. But tonight… when he goes to sleep, will you at least shed one tear? At least shed one tear for me, Manami.”
Pascal slowly got up and went toward the door. He left the room and walked towards the elevator with brisk, decisive steps. Then he stopped in disbelief.
The elevator was at the end of the hallway. Between the elevator and the first rooms was the stairway, from where Mayor Seneca was walking towards Pascal.