‘Thanks, Mr. Thewlis,’ I said. ‘But no need. Goodbye.’
We said goodbye, and I went to the hostel. I probably would have forgotten this conversation as I forgot many other things. But the next day as I was walking along the Ring Road by the Humanities campus building, a big, black Mercedes stopped right next to me. I glanced towards it – good car, powerful and beautiful, though made in Europe – and walked on. But the Mercedes began to glide along beside me. It was a wet day, and little drops of rain shivered on the tinted glass of the passenger door then started to trickle down.
‘Maybe he’s lost and wants to ask the way,’ I thought, stopping, though standing in the rain wasn’t much fun. ‘Number’s not local’.
From the leather belly of the car I heard my name:
‘Mr. Kold! Would you be so kind as to give me a shred of your attention, dear sir?
Nobody had ever yet called me ‘dear sir’, and I, of course, stopped, bent down and glanced in the window. A white man of forty years had one hand on the wheel. He had a friendly face, a short crewcut of fair hair, the reddish weather-beaten skin of a yachtsman and cheerful eyes the color of summer sky.
‘Are you talking to me?’ I asked a little foolishly, trying to guess what he wanted from me.
‘Yes, Mr. Kold. My name is Jenkins. Ed Jenkins, at your service,’ he smiled kindly. ‘I represent… However why are you getting wet in the rain? Get into the car. It is very comfortable.’
I looked around. It was broad daylight, people were going, cars were going. Of course, since we were children we’ve been told not to get into the cars of strangers, but… I haven’t been a child for a long time! Besides, this Jenkins doesn’t seem like someone who even in the long term could threaten my safety. Of course, the circumstances were a little strange, but…
Curiosity, as we know, killed the cat. I opened the door and got in.
Jenkins pressed my hand. He had a strong handshake, mannish, like my Pa’s. ‘Of course!’ I suddenly realized. Pa! ‘This is one of his acquaintances, a friend or a colleague. That’s where he knows me from, why he has weather-beaten skin.’
‘Mr. Kold, you are undoubtedly surprised, and possibly having other, not very positive feelings toward the stranger who stopped you on the street. So to quickly establish a rapport between us, I will not beat about the bush.’ Jenkins sat half-turned to me and said, still smiling. ‘I’m not a Baptist preacher, nor a salesman, and not an army recruiter. I’ve been told about you by your teacher, Mr. Thewlis…’
I sighed with disappointment. So that’s what was going on!
“I see that my explanation hasn’t met your expectations,’ he smiled even more broadly. ‘But believe me, my proposal won’t leave you indifferent, and in a positive sense.’
He spoke very softly, modulating his voice at the end of each phrase. His way of talking was full, pleasant and gave you no desire to interrupt him.
‘Your researches in the field of cryptography and encryption of information messages when sending them to the network made a favorable impression on our staff.’
‘On your – who are they?’ For the first time since I got into the car, I stared open mouthed.
‘Speaking simply, Josh’ he changed his tone and at once turned into a simple guy ‘I want to offer you a collaboration. A job, you know? Not so very complex and skilled at first; you have a lot to learn. But later…
‘Who is the employer?’ I asked.
He came straight out with it:
‘The government.’
I laughed. The situation reminded me of a cheap HBO series.
‘Sorry, Mr. Jenkins, but I won’t work for the government. It contradicts my beliefs.’
He laughed, but when he started talking, his voice became serious.
‘Beliefs? You are a joker, Mr. Kold! What beliefs are you talking about? You grew up in a good American family, your father is a respectable person and it is not his fault that your parents broke up. When I say the government, I mean the United States. The values practiced in your family are the values of the United States.’
‘I haven’t lived with my family for a long time!’ I said challengingly, even though that ‘for a long time’ was a very small part of my life.
‘So be it,’ he didn’t argue. ‘Beliefs are not socks, you can’t change them every day. Do you agree?’
I shrugged. To agree meant to recognize his correctness – and what psychologists call ‘youthful maximalism’ was boiling in me. I very much wanted to prove to this Mr. Jenkins that the main thing in life was freedom and…
‘The main thing in life is freedom,’ he said, and I shrank my head back in fear.
Had he read my mind? Who was he, damnit?!
‘I love baseball very much,’ Mr. Jenkins continued. ‘But what attracts me is not the beauty of a blow or the flight of a ball, nor the account of matches, nor the passion of the fan or even the odds at the bookmaker. No, Joshua, what I appreciate in baseball is the teamwork. They focus on a result, they work in tandem, and win victory because they understand each other well. Tell me, is there the same understanding between us?’
I shrugged my shoulders again, not knowing what to answer. He nodded.
‘Well, I will continue. Freedom is the basic value of our society. Or, speaking simply, it is for freedom’s sake that thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives. Do you remember the text of the Declaration of Independence, Joshua?
‘Well, in general…’
He closed his eyes and loudly recited by heart:
‘‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security’ This fragment is exactly about freedom, Joshua. Do you understand me?’
“’Yes, but I…’
‘You are in an unenviable position, boy. On the one hand, you have such abilities and talent that you will decorate any team. On the other hand, your life path is under threat,’ Mr. Jenkins said softly. ‘I wouldn’t like to look like a mentor, but the people you communicate with now won’t lead you to success, but the opposite…
‘And how do you know who I talk to?!’ I felt anger boiling in me. ‘You spoke absolutely correctly about freedom. So who allows you to tell me, a free person in a free country, damnit, what I do and who I talk to?!’
‘Knowing is part of my work,’ he answered, without changing tone. ‘As for freedom of choice… You probably know that the freest beings in the ocean are dolphins. But after the birth of a dolphin baby, the other dolphins surround it and don’t let it swim to the side or too deep, pushing it to the surface with their noses so it takes a sip of air and begins to breathe. Of course, they could give him freedom to choose and where to move, but there is a 75% chance the baby dolphin will die. You’re not going to argue that nature is stupid, are you?’