XXVIII. Idling in an Old Skoda
Dave “the Dude” Devoran, free‑market ambassador, is having a hard time finding the end of the rainbow along the banks of the Duna. What follows is Episode XXVIII.
By Berger Bronte
(© Tom Popper)
I stare into a canvas and feel myself coming in contact with the powers of the universe. The sky opens up and I am in the middle of it, being pulled deeper into an ever‑darkening field of blue. The earth fades away and I am among the stars. I feel myself whirling around. I feel the knowledge and wisdom of all time passing through my mind. I feel my problems disappearing into specks of dust. I feel motor oil on my sock.
This is no home for an artist: The roof leaks. The previous tenant left oil and paint cans all over. And there is this old Skoda without tires parked in the middle of the room. It’s so impossible to find good housing in Budapest — especially in a garage.
But this is the only place I feel safe now that they are looking for the person who stabbed that drunken old bácsi. So much trouble. I didn’t know he was a member of Parliament. Besides, I was pretty drunk myself at the time.
My girlfriend Mira Z., who was there the night of the stabbing, says Karl and Dave, who live in the apartment where everything happened, have already been arrested and let go. “You better disappear, Derk,” she tells me.
So I hide in her friend’s garage and wait for her to bring me food. But I feel so creatively stifled here. And I wonder where Mira is when she isn’t bringing me food or sleeping with me in the back seat of the Skoda. She seems to know a lot about Karl and his roommate Dave. Karl is a second‑rate artist. Mira prefers me — a true genius.
But this Dave, I hear he is a businessman — that he wears ties and everything. And Mira is always telling me that she needs a patron who can support her artistic work.
I can see her saying to this Dave that she needs his help to make something beautiful. I can see his eyes moving from her throat to the crevice in her v‑neck t‑shirt when she says the word “beautiful.” I can see him telling Mira he likes beautiful things while she crosses her eyes slightly and touches her toungue to her nose — she says it’s just a nervous habit but she knows she looks so sexy when she does that.
I ask her why she knows so much about Karl and his businessman roommate and she plays coy. She knows that playing coy is so sexy too.
But when she’s not around, I have to wonder. I think I will kill this Dave person. I think about it all the time. I sit in the front seat of the Skoda and imagine myself running him down and then backing over him. Then I can put Mira in the car and we can leave this country. It’s just a dream now, but soon I will make it reality.