Erik Pethersen "The Ball"

I grab an olive. «I don’t think it is a matter of age. Probably I feel already too old, that’s why I feel uneasy like you in these situations.»

В«Come on, Brando, were you born in 1979, right?В» I nod while I chew on the olive.

В«So, you are fourteen years younger than me: it is quite a bit.В»

«Yes, half a generation, I’d say.»

В«What do those girls look like? Do you find them attractive?В» the notary asks.

I take a glance on my left and I examine once more the five diners at the table beside ours, without lingering again on the girl who is sitting at the head of the table, I have already x-rayed her before. They are dressed and made up according to manga cosplayer style: tight-fitting tops, micro-miniskirts, leather shorts, knee-high boots. Pity that they are not at Lucca Comics.

«I don’t know: there’s a fair chance that they look attractive to people their age. Personally, I don’t find them so attractive. If I take into account the tone and the pitch of their voices, I’d say that they are a real pain...» I stop and take a sip of my dry wine. «A bit like your Ferrari.»

The notary smiles, looks again at the table beside ours and take another sip of the wine. В«They could be my daughters, but I would feel awful to have given life to those thingsВ» he says with some melancholy in his voice.

В«If they were your daughters, you would look at them in a different way.В» I grab a sliver of parmesan cheese, while the notary is staring at his glass. В«Actually, if they were your daughters, I doubt it very much that they would be like that. You know, the genes... At the end of the day, each of us is born with well-defined genes; certainly, the social environment and the world around us do all the rest. I do think though that what you are, that is your own genes, always win over everything.В»

«It is all in the genes, is it what you are saying? So those five girls, who I don’t think they are sisters, had a common destiny to inherit a gene for silly photos, shrill voices and tarty clothing?» the notary asks.

В«Tarty?В»

В«YesВ» he replies, laughing.

«It’s a nice definition» I smile and take another sip of my wine. «However, it is possible that they were all unlucky. Certainly, the environment plays a big role too: the upbringing, that’s what it is. You would never allow your daughter to be so loud. Bad-mannered, I’d say.»

I look at the bubbles in my glass; the shrill voices of the girls seem to have lowered a bit, while the notary is silent and grabs an olive. «However, in my opinion, if a gene is that way, it’s difficult to adjust it and modify it. It would take centuries, thousands of years» I add, looking at him.

В«Have you been studying genetics long?В»

«No. I haven’t studied it that much. Some time ago I have just done a test to find out where my genetic make-up comes from.»

В«InterestingВ», the notary says. В«How does it work?В».

В«You send off a DNA sample: a file of saliva, basically; then they process them and after a few weeks they send a detailed account.В»

В«Brando, shall we have two more?В» the notary asks pointing at the empty glasses on the table.

В«Sure, why not.В»

Alessandro nods at somebody behind me.

В«What did come out of that test?В» he asks then

В«Nothing major: the prevalent genes, almost 20%, are Sardinian; just under that are Basque country and Fennoscandian genes; the other percentages are low and stem from the Orkney Islands, western Siberia and IndiaВ».

В«Here is your fill upВ» the waiter says while he puts two new glasses on the table and place the empty ones on the tray.

В«Thank you, Gigi. This rosГ© wine is really goodВ» the notary says.

В«Really good: drinkableВ» I confirm.

В«I am glad you like it: it is produced by a small wine farm but their wines are excellentВ» the waiter says. В«I apologize for the crowd sitting at the table near youВ» he adds leaning over the table.

«No problem at all, Gigi, don’t worry about it» the notary replies in a hushed voice.

«I tried to see if they have a switch to lower down the decibel but I don’t think they do» the young boy says.

В«Probably underneath their hairВ» I whisper.

В«As soon as they call me over, I will give it another checkВ» he says going off.

1.3 IMPULSES - THREE

After about twenty minutes, the girls stand up at last and walk to the way out. We can now hear the music in the bar, in the background.

В«It is so quiet nowВ» the notary says, relieved.

В«Sorry, gentlemen, can I get you anything else? Now you can talk without raising your voices.В»

В«As a matter of fact, it is really quiet now, GigiВ» the notary says smiling.

В«What do you say, Brando, shall we have another round so that I can put an end to my delightful waiting?В» he asks me.

«Yes, sure, I’d love to.»

В«Excuse me Gigi, can I ask you a personal question?В» the notary says.

В«Sure, go ahead.В»

В«Brando and I were talking about the five girls sitting at the table next to us and the generational perception of human universe, especially female.В»

В«YesВ» the waiter says, В«I get it.В»

В«Gigi, can I ask you how old are you? You must be about twenty-five, right?В»

В«Twenty-four and a few months, as a matter of fact.В»

В«Great, you could be my son.В»

В«I would say so, my father is fifty-five.В»

В«Excellent, he is three years older than meВ» the notary says. В«So, we needed a feedback from a peer. To make a long story short, Gigi what do you think when you are dealing with five customers like those ones?В»

В«In general?В» the waiter asked doubtfully.

В«Yes: do you find them nice, attractive, well-mannered? How do you see them?В»

«Ah, I got it. I find them okay as customers: they drank and they paid for it, so it’s quite alright. Maybe a little rude, but no different from other people.»

В«Fine. From a more personal point of view, you find them nice or attractive?В» the notary asks.

«I wouldn’t say nice, looking at them, I wouldn’t want to hang out with them. The girls I like to go out with are different, less frivolous.»

В«Attractive?В» the notary asks.

«I wouldn’t say that, I don’t find them attractive: you would look at them because they were half naked.»

В«Good. Thank you Gigi, and I apologize for all the questions: we just wanted to have a whole picture from three different points of view.В»

«You’re welcome, no problem at all. Please allow me to ask you what conclusion did you come to? Do you find those five girls nice?»

В«No, we are both in agreementВ» I say.

В«Yes, unanimouslyВ» the notary says, В«well beyond every generational gap.В»

В«However not all the ladies coming here to the bar are like this. There are standard, well-mannered people.В»

В«I have no doubts about it, Gigi: we were just having a chat, while sipping our wines and sitting next to loud and rude girls.В»

В«For instance, nice and mannerly people almost always come here from your office.В»

В«Really?В» the notary asks.

«Yes, it is a statistical data. You know, I mind other people’s business, this is part of my job too. I know Mauro well too, your doorman: he is quite nice too.»

«Actually, I don’t hang out with many people from the building, I greet them in the lift, but they all look like standard people» the notary says, looking for approval off me. I acknowledge it.

«I don’t know» the waiter says again, «it came into my mind because today at lunchtime, there were two girls from your building sitting where you are sitting now: they were women, maybe, more than girls. Anyway, one of them comes here often, she is quite tall, blonde hair, not fair or platinum blonde hair, a honey colour, let’s say. A bit wacky, but nice and mannerly. I have seen the other one very few times here but she is very cheerful and kind too.»

В«This gossiping about our building is very enjoyableВ» I say reaching for the glass.

В«Where do they work, Gigi?В» the notary asks.

«I don’t know exactly, it could be a holding company. Anyway, I am sure they work in the same building as yours: I saw them cross the road today, they were hugging and then they went into the building. I saw them because I was cleaning up the tables for smokers outside» he says pausing for a moment and then he goes on saying: «To tell the truth, I went out to clean them up when they went out of the bar».

В«Do you follow the female customers, Gigi?В» the notary says sarcastically.

«Sure I don’t» he says laughing, «just a coincidence.»

В«Are you sure, Gigi?В»

В«Alright, maybe a little: they had such a strange way of talking among themselves, so placid and pleasant, and such a graceful bearing that got me very curious.В»

В«I see, Gigi. So, you wanted to make sure that their manners would be pleasant and graceful outside the bar too, just to confirm the impression that you had inside the barВ» the notary added, amused.

I take a sip of my wine and I look at the glass in my hands.

В«SureВ» the waiter says, В«my job entails a careful monitoring of our clientele behaviour.В»

«I didn’t think that you were also asked to carry out further burdensome chores in work» the notary says.

«Alright, if you want to know the truth: the other lady, the one together with the blonde lady» he says, pausing with a blank look at the glass window in front of him. «Actually, I wouldn’t say she is pretty, she comes from another planet: she is so elegant, she has such a gracefulness, I don’t even know how to describe her. She is well beyond this world.»

I drink a good gulp of dry wine and I look at Gigi with his eyes lost in the darkness beyond the glass window.

В«Is there someone like that in our building and we have never noticed her?В» the notary asks again.

В«Clearly we miss a few things going on, there in our officeВ» I reply. В«We should leave some deeds of sale and concentrate more in public relations with people from the other offices.В»

В«Alright now, I leave you to it and I go back to work, enough with my nonsense. I just wanted to say that not all the people coming here are rude and unpleasantВ».

«That’s for sure, Gigi: there are also so many nice people in the world.»

The waiter goes off.

«You see, Brando: we spend twelve hours in there and we don’t even know half the things Gigi knows.»

В«You are quite right, I said it: we should do less deeds of sale and have more wild parties in the officeВ» I reply a bit pensive.

«Let’s get back to it, my dear Brando: have you ever chased a woman in the streets?»

«I haven’t. Do you know that it could be considered harassment?»

«Yes, Gigi with his striped apron tailing two customers could be quite disturbing. Anyway, to sum it all up, if you look around, you can see that there are four or five tables like ours, but they are occupied by people who look like couples: don’t you think that it is, how can I put it, quite natural? Nevertheless, I am sure you have noticed over the years that when a new human being is born, that usually happens because two people have joined together.»

«Really? I didn’t know that children were born this way, I was still convinced that the stork brings them along: this explanation seemed plausible to me.»

В«Sure, Brando, the story of our big feathered friend is not true, sorry to tell you.В»

«I don’t know, I am just not happy to be with a person on a steady basis, it makes me feel that I am giving up a part of me, that is my freedom: I do think that I am not happy to be paired with someone.»

Bloody hell, the euphonic ball again: the two halves that stick together, kept together by a magnetic force.

One half that does not exist for me.

«I don’t know, Brando, your point of view does not convince me completely, it seemed to me that there is a piece missing to make sense of it: I am still doubtful. Can I ask you a stupid question?»

В«As you wish, but I doubt you can ask stupid question, surprise me.В»

В«Do you like women?В»

В«Definitely.В»

В«In your rating of life, when you think about something nice, where would you place a person from the opposite sex?В»