Chapter 10 chapter Ten

That afternoon, Obinas packed his suitcases and drove to Margot's residence.At first Frieda refused to stay and guard the empty apartment.Obinas said that her lover, the respectable police officer, could move to the room where the nurse used to live, and Frieda agreed.If someone called, she should have answered that Albinus was off to Italy with his family. Margo was cold when she saw him.She had been woken that morning by a fat, angry gentleman, who said he had come to see his brother-in-law, and had scolded her, but the stout cook had pushed him out. "This room is really for one person." She glanced at Obinas' suitcase.

"Oh, I beg you," he whispered pitifully. "I have to explain many things to you first. I don't want to hear your stinky relatives come here to scold the street." She was wrapped in a red silk dressing gown, with her right hand under her left armpit, smoking vigorously while pacing the room pacing up and down.Her dark hair fell down over her eyebrows like a gypsy girl. After tea, she drove to buy a record player.Why buy a record player?Why did I go shopping today... Obinas was exhausted and had a splitting headache.He lay on the sofa in that ugly drawing room and thought: "I'm not out of my wits after all this trouble. Elizabeth was in a coma for twenty minutes. Then she started crying. Her scream must have been terrible." I'm quite calm. She's still my wife and I love her. If she dies through my fault, I'll kill myself. I don't know how they explained to Irma why they moved to Paul in such a hurry Going home, why is everyone so sad? Frieda said it really badly: "My wife is crying and fussing..." Strange, Elizabeth never raised her voice when she spoke."

The next day, when Margo went shopping for records, Albinus wrote a long letter.The letter was written very sincerely, although the rhetoric was a bit too flowery.He pledged in his letter that he still loved her as much as before.Although his petty pranks "have scarred our domestic happiness like a madman has scratched a picture with a sharp knife".He cried.He listened carefully, convinced that Margo hadn't returned yet, and continued writing.He was sobbing and muttering to himself.He begged his wife's forgiveness, but never said whether he intended to leave his mistress. He received no reply.

He realized that if he didn't want to continue to torture himself, he had to forget about his family completely and let the dissolute Margo incite a hot and even morbid passion in him without any scruples.Margot never refused his flirting, it only heightened her interest.She is joyfully indulgent and carefree.Years ago the doctor had said she was barren, and she took that handicap as a blessing from God. Albinus taught her to bathe every day, instead of just washing her hands and neck as before.Now her nails are always neatly tidied up, and her fingers and toes are painted with bright red nail polish.

He kept discovering new charms in her—little, endearing gestures.In any other girl such habits would have been regarded by him as vulgar vices.Her girlish slenderness, her loose manners, her tricks of gradually blinding her eyes (like the dimming of the lights in a theatre), so delighted him that he abandoned his refined, rigid wife altogether. The formality and propriety of a hug. He almost never leaves the apartment for fear of running into acquaintances.Only in the mornings did he reluctantly let Margot out—to buy stockings and silk underwear in the street.She was so inquisitive that he was amazed—she never asked him about his previous experiences.Sometimes he told her about his past life, trying to interest her.He spoke of his childhood, of his mother, whom he only vaguely remembered, and of his father, a bloody country gentleman.Father loved his dogs, horses, oak woods, and corn.He died suddenly, laughing out loud while listening to a guest tell an erotic story in the billiard room.

"What's that story? Tell me," said Margot.But he doesn't remember. He told her about his early love of painting, about his work and his discoveries.He said that garlic and rosin powder can be used to remove the aged varnish on the surface of old paintings and restore the original appearance of paintings; dipping turpentine with flannelette can wipe off the gray and black color or rough pictures smeared on the surface of the works, so that the original works can be released again. brilliance.Margot was most interested in how much such a painting could fetch. He spoke of war, of the cold dirt of the trenches.But she asked, since he was so rich, why didn't he try to be transferred to the rear.

"You silly child!" he would say as he stroked her. By evening, she was starting to get bored.She wants to see movies, go to fancy restaurants, and listen to black music. "Your wishes will be granted, really," he said. "But first I need to get myself together. I've got all kinds of plans...we're going to the beach soon." He looked around the living room furnished by Margot and thought in amazement: I have always been intolerant of low taste, how could I get used to this ugly room?He knows that love can turn ugliness into beauty. "We get on very well, don't we, dear?"

She agreed with grace, knowing that everything in front of her was temporary—her mind was always on his luxurious apartment, and of course, she couldn't rush it. One day in July, Margot was walking home from the tailor shop, and when she was approaching the door, someone pinched her arm from behind.She turned and it was her brother Otto.He smiled at her mischievously.Two of his friends, standing not far away, also grinned at her. "It's good to see you, sister," he said. "It's not good to forget the people at home when you go out." "Let me go," Margo said softly.Her eyelashes drooped.

Otto put his hands on his hips and said, "You're so pretty." He looked Margot from head to toe. "It's just like Miss Kuo!" Margot turned to go away, but he grabbed her arm again, and the pain caused her to whisper "Ooooh!" It was a habit she had been in since she was a child. "Listen," said Otto, "I've been watching you for three days. I know where you live. But we'd better not talk here." "Let me go," whispered Margo.She struggled to break free.A passer-by stopped to watch the excitement.Her apartment was right next door, and Albinas might inadvertently look out the window, which would be bad.

She gave in.He led her around the corner, followed by his two buddies, Kasbah and Kurt, waving and winking. "What the hell do you want?" She stared in disgust at her brother's greasy hat and the cigarette tucked behind his ear. He tilted his head and said, "Let's sit in that bar." "No," she shouted.But the two companions came forward, yelling and shoving her into the door.She was a little scared. Several people in the hotel were arguing loudly about the upcoming election. "Let's just sit in this corner," said Otto. They sat down, and Margot remembered very well--and it's a little surprising to think about it now--that she, Otto, and the two suntanned youths used to go out to the country to play.They taught her to swim, holding her bare legs underwater.Kurt had an anchor tattooed on his forearm and a dragon on his chest.They lay sprawled on the sand, throwing wet, slippery balls of sand at each other.As soon as she lay down on her back, they ran over and patted her wet bathing suit.These carefree young people had a great time.Confetti everywhere.The blond-haired, strong-built Kurt was shaking his arms by the lake, pretending to be trembling, and shouting: "Oh, the water is wet, wet!" cry.The first thing he did when he landed was to comb his hair back and put his hat on carefully.She remembered how they played ball on the bank; she lay down and they buried her in the sand with only her face showing, and made a cross on the sand with pebbles.

"Listen," Otto said.On the table were four gold-rimmed glasses of ale. "Don't dislike your own people because you have rich friends. On the contrary, you have to think about us." He took a sip of his wine.The two companions also took a sip, and they all stared at Margot with contempt and hatred. "What nonsense are you talking about," she replied haughtily. "Not at all. We're actually engaged." The three laughed out loud.Margot was furious.She turned her head away, fiddling with her handbag.Otto snatched the bag from him, opened it, and saw in it a compact, a key, a small handkerchief, and three and a half marks.He holds the money in his hand. "It's enough to pay for the wine," he said, bowing slightly, and put the bag back in front of her. They ordered a few more glasses of wine.Margo also managed to drink a few sips.She didn't like beer, but she didn't want them to drink their share. "Can I go?" she asked, gently smoothing the curls around her temples. "Go? Don't want to sit with your brother and his friends for a while?" Otto mocked her with feigned surprise. "Dear sister, you can do a lot. But—we haven't gotten to the point yet..." "You stole my money and now I'm leaving." They cursed angrily, and she was frightened again. "How is it stealing?" Otto said viciously. "It's not your money. It's money that's been sucked out of the working class and put into your hands, so you better not use that word. You..." He suddenly stopped, and his tone became more relaxed: "Listen, ask your friend for some money, for us, for the family. Fifty marks is enough. Do you hear me?" "What if I don't?" "Then we want you to look good," said Otto coldly. "Hmph, we've already found out about you. Engagement? Sounds nice." Margot suddenly smiled slightly, lowered her eyelashes, and said softly: "Okay, I'll help you get money. Are you all right? May I go?" "What a good boy. But what are you in a hurry for? Besides, we should see each other more in the future. Let's play by the lake someday, okay?" He turned to his friends. "We used to have a lot of fun! She really shouldn't be putting on a show with us, should she?" But Margot had already stood up and drank the wine in the glass standing up. "See you here at noon tomorrow," said Otto. "And then we'll go out and drive all day. Agree?" "Agreed," Margot said cheerfully.She shook hands with them one by one and walked out of the hotel. She returned to the apartment, and when Albinus put down the newspaper and got up to meet her, she staggered two steps, pretending to faint.She acted badly, but Albinus believed it.He was so frightened that he quickly helped her to lie down on the sofa and brought her another glass of water. "What's the matter? Tell me." He kept asking while stroking her hair. "Now you won't want me," Margo said bitterly. He became short of breath and immediately made the worst possible judgment—she was cheating on him. "Well, if that's the case, I'll kill her," he thought at once, while still asking quietly, "What's the matter, Margo?" "I lied to you," she whimpered. "She must be killed," Albinus thought. "I told you a big lie, Obie. First of all, my dad wasn't a painter. He worked as a locksmith and is now a janitor. My mom scrubbed the stairs. My brother was a laborer. I had a very, very hard childhood. They Beat me, torture me." The stone in Obinas' heart fell to the ground, and a heart of pity arose spontaneously. "Don't kiss me, listen to me, I ran away from home and made money as a model. A nasty old woman exploited me. Then I got a boyfriend. He was married like you. He My wife refused to divorce him, so I broke up with him. I love him very much, but I don’t want to be a mistress all the time. Later, an old man who opened a bank entangled me. He promised to give me all his property, but Of course I turned him down. He was overwhelmed with grief and died. Then I went to the Hundred-Eyed Giant as an usher." "Ah, my little one, I'm bullied everywhere," Albinas murmured. (By the way, he had long since ceased to consider himself her first lover.) "You really don't dislike me?" She wanted to pretend to smile, but unfortunately she couldn't shed tears. "I'm so glad you don't hate me. But I have to tell you, the worst thing is, my brother found out where I live now. I met him today, and he asked me for money, trying to blackmail me. He thought you didn't Know all about me--I mean, my past. You see, when I saw him, I thought, What a disgrace to have a brother like that. And I thought, My honest beau is still in the dark, Don't know what kind of family I have - I really blush for them. I haven't told you the truth yet, so..." He held her in his arms, rocking her back and forth.He wanted to hum a lullaby, but unfortunately he couldn't.She smiled softly. "What to do?" he asked. "I dare not let you go out alone again. Shall we report it to the police?" "No, no need!" Margo said firmly.