Page 80 - I Live in the Slums: Stories (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

“Located where?”
“Nowhere. No one place is right.” She forced a smile. “But that’s where I was
from. See, I’m missing two fingers on this hand because they were damaged by
leeches. When you sat down just now in the theater, I knew what you were
looking for. You found the right person.”
“So can you take me there?”
“Where? That place no longer exists. It disappeared. It’s gone, just as my

fingers are. Only two empty spots remain.”
“Tell me about ‘the night in the swamp’ that you and your lover
experienced.”
“We did have a night like that, but I can’t remember it. It’s only some specks
in my memory.”
Ayuan stroked her hand, the one missing two fingers; he wanted to ask her
some more questions, and yet he would rather let her talk of these things on her
own.
“At this hour of the night, I can see far into the distance. If no one blocks me,
I can see as far as the borderland. Although I have those specks in my memory, I
don’t care at all. Look, that crocodile is looking up.”
“Please continue.”

The old woman’s head drooped to her chest, and she made no sound. Ayuan
shook her twice, but she still didn’t move. Ayuan stood up and looked ahead, but
nothing lay in that direction. Only the dark night. In the theater, a beast roared,
probably a tiger.
Ayuan left the entrance to the theater and walked aimlessly ahead. He was a
little uneasy. He thought that just now, when he was with the old woman at the
entrance to the theater, he must have gone to the swamp. He simply couldn’t see
it. Tomorrow night, he would go somewhere else and try again to find it.

He went to the bar again, but didn’t see Liuma there. Liuma was on vacation. A

young woman with big eyes was taking his place. She looked agonized.
She sat down and asked Ayuan to buy her a drink. Her mind was somewhere
else while she stared at the wineglass.
“They put too much pressure on him,” she said.
“Do you mean Liuma?” Ayuan asked nervously.
“No, I mean myself. I always refer to myself as ‘he.’ Although this is a little
frightening to ‘him,’ it also has an advantage, for ‘he’ can go all out in struggles.
Back in my home village, this isn’t unusual. If a person goes all out in struggling
with a crocodile, the person is likely to win.”
“What time is it now?”