“Actually I want also to cut my split ends.”
“But this is a very easy job. Please, come to the washbasin.”
“Thank you,” said Jill with a very shy tone.
“Hairdressers are very gossipy but this is not my case. I usually deal with my customers by talking about breaking news. Did you hear this morning about the earthquake in Mexico? They have found one thousands dead people so far. They desperately could use a break. They need food, water, medicines from abroad and the airports are half- closed. We can send two euros with a text message. I’m doing it and I encourage everybody to do the same. I have some friends who went to Mexico for their holidays. Hopefully they are safe. They are waiting for the first available plane to bring them back home.”
“That’s a good news. Actually I do not know anybody who lives, or is in Mexico. But I’m willing to do as much as I can to help them. I am a bit worried about the situation in Florida. Within ten days I’ll be there for my holidays with my husband but now I’m frightened to feel the earth trembling under my feet.”
“Do not worry. Everything will go well, I’m sure. Now listen to me: do you want waved or curly hair?”
“I let you decide it. I need your advice.”
“O.K. I’ll work on waved hair.”
The hairdresser worked silently. The result of the work was wonderful. Sure Araon would like it a lot. “Here you are,” said the hairdresser. “And this is your shampoo. I’m looking forward to seeing you here again. Have a nice day.”
“The same with you. Thank you for everything.”
Jill went out the shop in a superb mood. Now she wanted to go to the old fat lady shed with the ghost of sexual harassment. Walking in the street she saw an ageing woman falling down. “Sophomore,” she repeated loudly several times.
“Can I help you madam?” said Jill, friendly.
“Thank you, I’m fine. Just annoyed by all that blood coming from my nose. I was so absent-minded today because I was thinking of my nephew. He joined university this year and he has never undergone an examination. He justified himself by saying it’s too early to undergo with imagination. While thinking of my problem I stumbled and fell. You are so kind. God bless you.”
“It’s my sense of duty, madam. Thank God everything is finished now. I’m sure we will meet up again. Have a nice day,” said Jill kindly.
So she got on the train towards her crazy rush. She wanted to do something to shock the old fat lady. She took some bleach with herself and once she arrived at the house she launched it into the rusty gate. There was a note on the door: ‘I am out. I’ll be back soon’. Well, thought Jill, nobody has seen me. I hope the lady will see the result of the bleach in the grate very soon. She took a twenty euro note from her purse, she placed it in an envelope and put it in the mailbox of the house. She had no sincere plans towards the lady. She just wanted her stop gossiping and to put a figurative plaster in her mouth. Twenty euros would do.
So Jill was ready to go back to St Luciensteeg Street. On the train she was a bit drowsy. She was thinking of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who wandered around announcing the end of the world by the obviousness such as earthquake, famine and violence. Yes Jesus would be back on earth very soon and to run a reign of peace and love. Maybe they are in the right, thought Jill. But I will always stick to the Presbyterian Church teachings. And then she came back with her imagination to the old fat lady’s house gate stinking because of the bleach. “When I was a girl I was a tomboy but I was not able to deliver such calamities to anybody.” She kept on thinking with a certain stubbornness. She was happy now. She believed that her unkind gesture would deliver good results in her life soon. And then there was Araon. He was always in her mind. She didn’t believe he caught her smoking earlier that morning. Hopefully she decided to stop smoking once for good, frightened by her husband’s judgement. She was docile to the whistle of the train. That made her forget anything unpleasant. Anyway to go back home soon was not a priority. She cunningly coveted secret desires for the day. She wanted to go to Rokin Street as a form of good omen for the creature who was growing in her womb. She got off the next stop to go on her own way..
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Doctor Van der Baast had a busy day as usual. He had to cope with students who were asking for authorization to collect bones from the cemetery in order to study the effects of osteoporosis in the bodies of people. Van der Baast was furious. “There are no laws which guarantee the desecration of the graves. I can allow you to have a look at dead bodies during their post-death examination. But I warn you: the relatives of the dead authorize only the donation of organs and not of the bones. But, please, now let me go. I have a lot of things to do today. Who is the doctor who sent you here?” said Van der Baast.
“We came by ourselves. You are renowned as the sweetest character in this hospital. Thank you for your patience. We’ll will try to follow your advice,” they said.
Van der Baast felt relieved by the fact he could stay all alone in his office for a while. He was playing with Google and with all those sites which were useful for him for several purposes. He had saved all the data of the people he had visited during his twenty year career within the hospital. The twin sister of Olga Itch disappeared from the scene ten years before. He had to examine all the information concerning all the people he had taken care of during those twenty years. Accidentally appeared the name of a certain Herald Itch. She was probably the sister of Olga. She had been registered in the computer data as a blood donor, nothing else. The doctor was very happy about the result of the research. He shut the computer and prepared himself for the big day at the hospital.
He entered the operating theatre, wore his mask and gave his team the command to start the operation on the heart of a eighty-year-old man, The man immediately received the effect of the anaesthetic and the doctor started dealing with the organ. He watched carefully the ventricle which had a strange shape. And then it came time to deal with the aorta..He placed a bypass on it and then the organ started to pump blood perfectly. The patient had a huge amount of blood so the transfusion was not necessary. They started to stitch the wound and they let the man sleep until the end of the effect of the anaesthetic.
Outside the room was the wife of the patient waiting for news about her husband’s operation. Van der Baast approached her quietly and gave her the good news that everything was OK. “You cannot understand the joy,” said the tiny woman. “I have always trusted you as a doctor, a great one. When can I see my husband?”
“You can see him in a couple of hours. Now, please, wait outside. I have to deal with other patients, I don’t want to be rude.”
The woman followed the doctor’s direction, blessing God that everything had turned out well.
Van der Baast had no time to have a rest before going to visit the other patients of that department. He had been asked to replace another doctor for an ultrasound to the ovary of a twenty-four-year-old woman. Good, he thought. I never stop dealing with the people needs. So he went to the woman who looked visibly sad.
“Doctor do you think I can have children as a consequence of my ovary irregularity?”
“Don’t worry. Now we check the situation. As I can see from these notes your womb is perfectly healthy. You won’t have a problem of any kind. Now answer my question: have you ever had sexual intercourse?”
“Is this confidential?”
“Of course it is but you have to tell the truth.”
”Well, I had sexual intercourse with two of my former boyfriends but I am very shy.”
“Don’t worry about that. Now keep quiet. We will tell you shortly about the dismissal from hospital. Simply be careful of always telling the truth. Now I have to go to other patients. Call the nurse if you need something.”
“Thank you, doctor. I wait for seeing you soon.”
For Van der Baast the day didn’t finish there. He had to make the tour of the department. He saw some well-known faces in the aisle.
&nb
sp; “I don’t want to be rude but it is not time to see your relatives. You can see them from one am to two am,” he said.
“Sorry doctor, I have to help my dad to eat.”
“You can do it at half past twelve. Now, please, go to the waiting room.”
“Perfect,” she answered nervously.
In the aisle appeared the priest with the intention of chatting to whoever. He was very happy to see Van der Baast. He was dealing with a patient who underwent a kidney operation. two days before and now she was crying because her next of kin told her he had the symptoms of a cataract.
“You have to listen to your companions,” said Van der Baast a bit annoyed. “In a couple of days you will be home. Are you happy?”
“Thank you my doctor.”
“Hey!” she attracted the priest’s attention. when the doctor was out. “I just wanted to make him sorry for me. I have a crush on him,” she said showing her rotten teeth.
Finally Van der Baast was able to go back home. He travelled by underground that day. He was keen to inform Araon of the latest news. He dialled the number: “Araon, how are you? It’s Van der Baast speaking. I have good news. I found with my researches the name of a certain Heidi Itch, sister of Olga. Now we are closer to the truth.”
“That’s fantastic! I have spent a lot of time over this case. Where are you now?”
“I’m going back home. I haven’t got my car with me today. My wife is eagerly waiting for me. How is Jill? I haven’t heard from her for a very long time.”
“She is preparing the baggage to go to Miami. She is looking forward to being there.”
“Also my wife wants to go somewhere by the sea. Oh! Here is the stop. I will keep you updated of further news. Bye for now.”
“The same with you. Be sure I will send you a postcard from Miami.”
Van der Baast had to carry the burden of his professional bias. He left the hospital bringing with himself a Hamlet skull and a printing of a Leonardo da Vinci drawing of a man. They had been perfectly placed in his hospital office ready to be used for the lessons to the university students.
His wife welcomed him with great joy once at home. “What are you doing with these?” she said instinctively. She was a peaceful and doting woman but that time she made the mistake of talking without thinking first.
“Nothing darling. I’m trying to tidy up my hospital office before the university students will use it as an object of study. Today they wanted me to allow them to take the bones of dead people to study the effects of osteoporosis on the human body. Of course I didn’t oblige. It was such a distressful day. There has been an operation to a heart. A bypass has been perfectly set in the aorta of a eighty-year-old man. And then there have been the visits to the other patients. I definitely need a holiday,” he said.
“Love you have finally got the point. You know how much I covet the holiday to the Maldives. Look: here you find my collection of memorabilia for the occasion. Suntan lotion, bikini, summer singlets. Don’t you love them, do you? I’m dreaming of lying on very white sand two steps further to the sea. I’m sure that at the end you will also like it. I have checked on the internet all the best flights and accommodation deals. We have only to choose the one we like. If we book one month in advance with Ryanair we will pay two hundred euros each for two return flight tickets. We can do it now. Please, don’t say no.”
“OK. You have won my heart. I’ll take two weeks holidays for the month of August. You remind me of two friends of mine, a young couple who are expecting a baby: Jill and Araon. They are going to Miami within ten days. She is so frightened of giving birth. She is suffering from a form of rare depression. She has ups and downs during the day. I promised her an epidural, which made her feel relieved. They are such a wonderful couple.”
“It’s nice to hear something foreign to me: you never talk about your personal friends. How long have you known them?”
“Five months, no more. They both have my personal phone number to contact me in case they need it. Maybe one day I will introduce them to you. But now let me know: how was your day?”
“I went shopping as usual I have prepared a special lunch for you. even if it’s such a hot day in Amsterdam. It must be true what scientists say. The ozone hole has changed the weather worldwide. Now we have Mediterranean summer even here in Amsterdam,” said Betty with pride.
“I don’t believe so. I think that scientists are just devising something to discourage people from flying. According to the statistics planes are the safest means of transport.”
“That’s a big issue. It would take us hours to exchange opinions on it. But are you not hungry? Are you nosey to know what I have prepared for you?”
“A bit. I mean I need to have a rest in our rocking chair in the bedroom. Then I’ll come to have a quick bite,” said Van der Baast. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and went to relax in the rocking chair. A flux of thoughts exasperated him. He could do nothing to stop thinking of Heidi Itch. She had disappeared ten years before when she was twelve years old. Why didn’t her parents look for her? She had no easy relationship with people. People often saw her wandering and running with a bicycle. She had a very narrow circle of friends. Maybe nobody asked for her corpse because she had been killed by her closest friends. But this is too easy. There should be something more. The death of her sister and parents turned that dilemma in a labyrinth of trouble. Hopefully now we have a name and an identikit. It could be a child’s game to reach a clue. Betty doesn’t know I hold all these secrets. By the way: who knows who phoned me recently? Every time I call back that number the answer machine says that number does not exists. Somebody should be in trouble. And I carry all the burden of that matter. I hope to have news of this person very soon. Then there is Araon. He was on the top of a happy pile when I told him about Heidi Itch. She must have been such a beautiful woman. One of those beauties who make men feel unwelcome and uncomfortable. Fits of anger are biting me now.”
Finally Van der Baast fell asleep. His wife was still in the kitchen eager to satisfy her husband’s palate. A surprise could be more than welcome. But when she realized her husband was in the realm of dreams she hadn’t got the courage to wake him up. So she went downstairs to talk to one of the tenants of the building. There had been complaints by some tenants of the edifice about the expenses of the joint ownership. Windows broken, useless lights, missing places for rubbish; these were the issues. Betty was overwhelmed by the lack of honesty of one of the tenants. It emerged all that day. Most people hadn’t paid the due portion. When she went back to her flat she found her husband still in the rocking char. “You have skipped your lunch sweetheart,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter. I needed to sleep. Would you mind making some coffee for me? My adrenalin is not O. K. today.”
“Sure. I’ll come in a couple of minutes. Van der Baast looked at himself in the mirror and he found a not well-shaved beard. He wasn’t a boy any longer but he didn’t miss the instinct of being miserable. He was lazy and untidy.
“Here it is darling.” Betty arrived with a cup of coffee. “It’s very black with two sugars as you like it.”
“Thank you honey. You really deserve the Maldives!” They both laughed, sparkling with joy.
Swinging and dangling in the rocking chair he had enjoyed the stream of thoughts which dwelled in his mind. He was trying to make an identikit of Heidi Itch. A white Venus who didn’t have too many wooers because of her suffocating and bad character. She must have lived abroad during the time of her disappearance from Amsterdam. But she was there the time she had been killed. It was a straight wound into her heart. This justified the huge amount of blood found in the handkerchief. The killers were probably two. Two black types of Jamaican origin. The murder setting was an isolated part in Amsterdam. where nobody could hear her screams nor witness the happening. The motive of the murder was likely sex. The young woman rejected the two men and they killed her for revenge. “Nice, isn’t it? I must browse in Google
to find a woman who can relate to my account of facts. Oh! Here is the coffee. Black and hot as I like it. Thank you darling. I will enjoy my second cup in a row.”
“Do you mind if I go to the terrace for a while?”
“Not at all. I was going to read the news.” An article on Tony Blair flattered Van der Baast’s attention. The former British Prime Minister was criticized for having an asset of seventy million pounds while declaring himself to be a socialist. He was also accused of having helped Gaddafi with secret agents to protect him against enemies. And finally, the most striking assertion of all was one about the attempt of a citizen’s arrest of Tony Blair when he was having dinner in a London restaurant together with his family. In those circumstances Tony Blair’s bodyguards arrived. What a nuisance, Van der Baast thought. He was a great prime minister but now journalists look for any occasion to criticize him. They totally forget all the good he did for the nation. I am too fond of foreign policy. I must stop reading them for the sake of my nervous system. He sipped the second cup of coffee. trying to go back to Heidi Itch with his mind. Betty was momentarily out, so, Van der Baast took advantage of the situation to get in touch with Araon.
“Hi Araon. It’s Van der Baast speaking. As you can see destiny crosses through our lives deeply. I mean, it’s quite a while since I heard from you.”
“That’s true. I was just thinking to contact you on the phone right now. Is there any important news?”
“Actually I was trying to have a picture of the setting of Heidi Itch’s murder. I know that in a few days you will be in Florida with Jill and I considered it appropriate to have an update of the situation. In the middle of August, I will be in the sun of the Maldives with Betty. But I need to talk to you in person. Now, my wife is on the terrace and she cannot hear us. I encourage you to follow my steps. My private life envelopes me with the same routine as usual. I don’t know about you and Jill. By the way: how is Jill? It’s quite a while since I heard from her.”
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