Chapter 31 encounter

We first met on the handball court at Hareton Park. It was a clear, cloudless Saturday morning in early summer, and the sun was warm but not unpleasant. When I got there, he was alone on the field, and I watched him slam the ball over the backstop, doing his warm-ups. He wasn't looking my way, but I'm sure he knew I was. When he paused, I said, "How about a game?" He looked my way and said, "Why not?" " We played for two hours, or a little more than two hours, I don't know how many games, I was younger than him by a few years, and I was a few inches taller than him.He wins every game.

While we were resting, the sun was high in the sky.It was much hotter than it started, and we stood together sweating, wiping the sweat off our faces and chests with towels. "It was a good fight," he said. "Never had a good fight like this." "I hope you've at least practiced," I said apologetically, "my game is too bad to be called a game." "Oh, don't bother with that," he said, flashing a false smile. "Honestly, I like winning. Getting in and out of the court, really give me some practice." I laughed out loud, "Actually, I'm thirsty after playing this game. How about two glasses of beer? I'll treat you to pay for my handball tuition." He grinned, "Why not?"

We didn't talk much, at least not until we took our seats in the restaurant. On the solid oak table we sat on were various Greek characters carved by generations of college students. I was about to apologize to him for my poor game when he put the glass on the table and shook out a cigarette from the pack. "Hey, forget it, what's the matter? Maybe I'm frustrated on the court, but I'm proud of it in love." I let out a laugh without joy and said, "If that kind of love situation I'm proud of, then the rest are disasters." "What's the problem?" "You can say that." "Well, if you don't want to talk if……"

I shook my head, "That's not it, maybe it's good for me to talk about it... But, you'll be bored to death if you hear it... That's not a... problem... In the world, there are as many men in the same predicament as me .” "I have a girlfriend," I said, "I love her and she loves me, but I'm afraid I'm going to lose her." He frowned thoughtfully. "Are you a married man?" "No." "She is a married woman." I shook my head, "We are both single, and she wants to get married." "But, you don't want to marry her."

"I most want to marry her and grow old with her." His brow deepened. "Wait a minute," he said, "let me see, you're both single, you both want to get married, but there's a problem, all I can think is, she's your sister, but I don't know I'm sure the problem will be there, especially since you say the problem is a common one, and I think my brain's out of the sun. What's the problem?" "I'm divorced." "So what? Mostly divorced people. I just divorced and remarried, unless it was a religious issue, and I bet it must be a religious issue. Right?" "No."

"Well, don't make me guess, my friend. I gave up once, remember?" "My problem is with my ex-wife," I said, "and the judge ruled that all I have is hers, and all I have left is the clothes I wear when I go to court. After paying her monthly maintenance, I can only live in one Small furnished room, cooking on a hot plate. I don't have money to marry and my girlfriend wants to marry... sooner or later she'll get tired of being with a man who can't bring himself to a place of elegance." I shrugged Shrugged, "Well, do you understand the situation?"

"I see." "As I said, that's not a very novel question." "I don't understand half of this kind of thing." He motioned to the waiter and ordered two more beers. After the wine arrived, he lit another cigarette and took a sip of beer. "This kind of thing is really a big deal," he said. "I told you, I also had an ex-wife." "At that time, almost everyone had an ex-wife." "That's true. I've probably got a lawyer who can argue better than you, but I've been squeezed pretty hard, too. She gets a house, a Cadillac, and everything else she wants.

Now, she has no children and no responsibilities, but she gets 50% of what I earn and the government withholds 40% of my taxes.Think about it, how much is left for me? ""not much. " "You'd better believe that despite her separation from the government, I'm doing pretty well. But you know, what does it make me feel to pay her like that every month?I hate the guts of that woman, who lives like a queen on my alimony. " I sip my beer, "I think our problems are somewhat similar." "Many men can say the same, thousands of men, a word of advice, my friend, if you marry your girlfriend, what will you do?" "I can't get married."

"However, if you don't hesitate and go ahead and marry her, you'll just have to do what I did with my second wife before marriage. It's kind of counterintuitive to do that, because you're going to marry someone you love so much, And people who love forever get married. However, before marriage, make an agreement and sign it in front of the witnesses, agreeing that in the future if there is a disagreement and divorce, she will not give you a dime. Do you understand what I mean? A noble and reputable lawyer, ask him to make a legally tenable draft contract for you, and ask her to sign it, and she is likely to be willing to sign it, because she is eager to get married and complete her life's event. Then, you don't have Nothing to worry about. If the marriage is sweet and happy, which I hope it is, then it's nothing if you only waste a couple of hundred dollars in legal fees. But if anything goes wrong in the marriage, you'll be safe from paying huge sums alimony."

I watched him for a long time. "Makes sense." I said. "That's exactly what I did. Now my second wife and I get on well. She's young, beautiful, and a good partner. I think I'm a good match for this marriage. We've had a bit of a rift, but it doesn't hurt, the point is , she has no intention of divorcing me, because she knows that if she goes that way, she will never get a dime." "If I have the opportunity to marry," I said, "I will accept your offer." advice." "hope so." "But there's never going to be another chance," I said, "with my ex-wife's endless sucking, I'm dead. You know, I'm too ashamed to say it, but hell, we're strangers, we No one knew anyone, so I can admit that I fantasized about killing her, stabbing her, tying her to the rails and letting the train solve my problems for me."

"My friend, you are not alone. The world is full of people who want to cut off your ex-wife's dream like you." "Of course, I will never be able to do it. If there is something wrong with the woman, the police will come to me directly." "The people here are the same. If I can put my ex-wife to death, the police will come to my door before the bones are cold. In fact, that 'special corpse' is naturally cold-blooded, and it was originally cold. Do you understand? I mean?" "I understand." I said.This time I waved for another beer.We were silent until the wine was delivered to the table in front of us. Then, in a confessional tone, I said, "I tell you, I would do it. If I wasn't afraid of getting caught, I would, I would kill her." "I would kill my one. " "I'm serious. There's no other way out. I'm in love, and I want to get married, but I can't get married. If you want to jump the wall, I will do it." He didn't hesitate: "I will too." "Really?" "Of course it's true, you could say it's about the money, mostly about the money, but it's not just about the money, I hate that woman, I hate the fact that she's a fraud and sees me as stupid. It's time for them to dig up her 'graveyard', if I can get away with it. "He shook his head and said sadly," Her cemetery was originally the land of both of us, but the judge decided that the entire land belonged to her, not because I wanted to bury it next to her, but because of a matter of principle. " "If only I could get away with it..." I said, pausing in mid-air, reaching for my beer. Of course, there's actually no light bulb over that person's head...that's just in the comics... The expression on his chubby, fleshy face was so vivid that, I must admit, I looked up expecting to see the light bulb.Obviously, this person just had an "idea".He didn't say it right away, but spent a few minutes in thought while I waited for him with a beer.When he was ready to speak, I put down the glass. "I don't know you," he said. I nodded my head to show that it was true. "I don't know you, I don't even know your last name." "My name is..." He motioned me not to speak. "Don't tell me, I don't want to know, you don't know what we are, I'm a stranger." "I think so." "We played handball for two hours, but no one knew we played. We had two glasses of wine, but only the waiter knew, he wouldn't remember, and no one asked him. You didn't see Where are we? We both have someone we want to kill, do you understand?" "I'm not sure." "Have you ever seen a movie called "Strangers on a Train"? Two strangers took the same train, talked about their troubles, and then decided to switch hands with each other. Do you understand what I mean? " "Beginning to understand a little bit." "You have an ex-wife. You said that if you had the chance to avoid criminal responsibility, you would kill someone. And if I have the opportunity to escape criminal responsibility, I will kill people too.If we want to escape, we must swap victims. " He leaned forward and lowered his voice. There was no one around us, only occasional low whispers. "Friend, there is nothing simpler than this, you kill my ex-wife, I kill your ex-wife. Then, we are all free. "My eyes widened, and I whispered, 'Excellent!Great! " "You must have thought about it yourself," he said modestly, "otherwise, the topic wouldn't go in that direction." "It's wonderful!" We sat in silence for a while, with our four palms resting on the table and our heads almost touching, both bathed in the warmth of that brilliant idea.Then he said: "A big problem, one of us has to go first." "I'll go first," I suggested, 'after all, you came up with the idea, so it's only fair that I implement it first. " "Suppose you do it first, and when you finish, I'm afraid?" "Oh, you won't be like that." "Yes, I won't, my friend, but you can't believe too much. If you can't believe it, you will take the risk first." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny coin. "Guess, heads or tails." Saying that, throwing the coin into the air. "Heads," I said. I always guessed this side, and almost everyone guessed heads. The coin fell on the table, spun for a while, and then stopped.is the opposite. That afternoon, I managed to see Mary, and after a big kiss, I said, "I have hope. I mean about the two of us, our future." "Really?" "Really, I have a hunch it's going to work out." "Oh, dear," she said. Saturday. The morning was sunny and cloudless.We arranged to meet again at the handball field, but this time we played six games and it was over.After drying off and putting on our shirts, we went to another bar and had a beer each. "Wednesday or Thursday night," he said, "on Wednesday I'll play poker, which is my usual pastime, and the game always lasts until three o'clock in the morning. It always does. This time is no exception.On Thursday, my ex-wife and I have dinner, and after dinner we play bridge, and bridge doesn’t play past midnight, so Wednesday is better—, “Wednesday is good for me, too.” "She lives alone, always at home at ten o'clock at night, and rarely leaves home. I don't blame her, it's a beautiful house." He pursed his lips, "But don't care if the house is beautiful; anyway, you get more and more beautiful at night. The sooner it's done, the better for me—so the doctor can tell when death—" "I'll call the police." "What?" "When she dies, I'll call the police anonymously and tell them. That way the police can find the body while you're still playing poker. That way you're completely out of the loop." He nodded approvingly and said, "That's the smartest thing. You know what? I'm so excited to meet you and me.I don't know your last name, and you don't know my name, but I like your type very much.Wednesday night? " "Well, Wednesday night, I agree, you'll get the news on Thursday morning, and by then, your problem will be solved." "That's great," he said. "Oh, and one more thing," he flashed a sly smile, "if she's in any pain, I won't be sorry." Wednesday night. She is in no pain.I do things with a knife.I told her that I was a thief and that if she cooperated no harm would be done.That wasn't the first time in my life I lied.She cooperated, but when her attention was elsewhere, I started to get my hands dirty.When she died, her not-so-beautiful face was full of bewilderment, but she was not in pain, which is something worth writing about. After she dies, I'll do the thief's part again.I searched the house and ripped all the books from under the shelves.After rummaging through the boxes and making a mess, I found a lot of jewelry, but I threw them all into the gutter.I didn't lose the hundreds of dollars in cash I found. In another ditch, I dropped the bloody knife, and then threw the white glove into a third ditch. Then, I called the police. I said I heard a struggle in a house and gave the address, and that I saw two men rush out and drive away in a black car.No, I can't go any further.No, I didn't see a license plate either.No, I don't like leaving names. The next day, Mary and I were on the phone. "Things will be fine," I said. "I'm so happy, dear." "Our business will work out," I said. "You're so kind, you know that, aren't you? So kind!" On Saturday, we only played three games of handball. As usual, he won first, but surprisingly, I beat him in the second game, the first time I beat him.In the third game I beat him again. It was then that he proposed a break.Or he doesn't think it's suitable to play at all, or. Minimize the chances of people noticing the two of us playing together.When we first met, he said he likes to win, which means he doesn't like to lose. We had two more beers and he said, "Well, you've done the mission, I know you did, and at the same time, I can't really trust you to. Know what I mean?" "I think so. " "The police didn't bother me, of course, they checked my alibi, and they're not dumb. But they didn't look into it, and seemed to believe it was a thief. I tell you, it was a perfect fake theft, So perfect that I think it really happened. Just a coincidence, much like you got cold feet and a burglar happened to come across you." "Maybe that's how it happened. I suggested. He looked at me and smiled slyly. smiled. He said, "You're a calm man, cool as a cucumber, aren't you? Tell me, what's it like to kill her?" "You'll find out soon." "Calm man, do you understand one thing? You have taken advantage of me. You know my name from the newspapers, but I still don't know yours." "You will soon learn from the newspapers." I said with a smile. "Fair enough." I handed him a note with the same address in pencil as he'd given me. "Wednesday is an ideal day, if you don't mind losing the poker party." "I don't have to miss my appointment, just be late. The card game gives me a chance to get out of the house, but if I'm an hour late, my wife will never know the difference, even if she knows I didn't go to the card game, so what ? What is she going to do?Divorce me and divide up my money?impossible. " "I'll have dinner with a customer," I said, "and then go straight to a business meeting with the customer. I'll be busy until late—eleven o'clock, maybe midnight." "I'm thinking about eight o'clock," he said, "that's when I usually start playing. Before nine o'clock, I can finish and finish everything in it.What do you say?Not a bad idea, I admit. "I want to do another fake burglary," he said. "How about using a knife, searching the whole house, and making them think it was the same psychotic thief?" "That might bring us together." I said, "Maybe you can arrange it as a rape, but the rape fails and the murder is silenced. Then the police will never be able to link the two murders together." "Clever! Well thought out," he said.Now, he seems to really admire me, and I'll kill and beat him by two games. "You don't have to actually rape her, you just have to rip her clothes off, with a proper set-up." "Is she beautiful?" I admit: generally beautiful. "I fantasized about rape," he said, carefully avoiding my eyes. "Will she be home at eight o'clock?" "She'll be home." "Alone?" "Definitely alone." He folded the notes, put them in his wallet, took out a few banknotes, put them on the table, drank the remaining beer, and stood up. "It's like getting something out of your pocket," he said, "and your troubles will pass in no time." "Our troubles will soon be over," I told Mary. "Oh, dear," she said, "I can hardly believe that you are the most wonderful person in the world." "There's also a touching handball player," I said.Wednesday night at half past seven. I left the house, drove around a few streets, went to a grocery store, bought two magazines, and then went to the men's clothing store next door to look at sweatshirts. There were two I liked, but there was no size I could wear. I order but I think about it and tell him no trouble.I told the clerk: "I like it, I like it, but not to the point where I have to buy it." I turned back to my residence, and my handball partner had already parked diagonally opposite. I parked the car in the driveway, and used the key on my body to open the front door and enter the house.At the door, I cleared my throat and he spun around to face me, eyes bulging. I pointed to the person on the sofa: "Is she dead?" "It's dead, she resisted too much, and I hit too hard..." He blushed and blinked his eyes, "But, what are you doing here? Don't you remember how we planned? I don't understand Why are you here tonight?" "I'm here because I live here," I said. "George, I'd love to explain to you, but I don't have time. There's nothing I can do." I took the pistol out of my pocket and shot him in the head. "The police were very understanding," I said. "They thought the death of his ex-wife had knocked him out of balance. They reasoned that he might have passed my house just in time to see me go out, and perhaps he saw Manla standing by the door." Say goodbye to me. He parked the car, probably with no purpose in mind, walked to the door, and when she opened the door, he got a sudden sex drive. When I came back, when I entered the house, I shot him, but it was too late, the misfortune was already done .” "Poor George." "And poor Manla." She put her hand in mine and said, "They're to blame. If George hadn't insisted on signing that damned prenuptial agreement, we could have gotten together and divorced like everyone else." "Maybe Manla would still be alive if she'd agreed to a divorce in a happy get-together." "We just did what had to be done," said Mary. "I'm sorry about his ex-wife; but there's really no other way." "At least she died without pain." "That's important," she said. "You know the old saying—no pain, no harvest?" "Yes," we agree.We hugged and parted for a while. "We'll have to avoid it for a month or two," I said. "After all, I killed your husband just as he killed my wife. If we were to appear in public, rumors would fly. For a month or so, you can Sell ​​the house and get out of here. In a few weeks, I will take the same steps. Then we can get married and live happily ever after, but in the meantime, we better be careful." "Yeah," she said, "there's a movie like that, except nobody dies in it. It's about two people in a small town who are in an abnormal relationship but have to pretend to be strangers when they're in a public place, and I Can't remember the title." ""Encounter"?" I said, "It was originally called "When We Met We Were Strangers."