4

Every day the journal of our course is covered with a grid of good grades.

When summer came, I didn't even understand.

— Ayla, imagine, I've lost a whole year.—I said, sitting with Ayla on the roof.

I could feel the hot white stone of the main tower on my back.

— It's almost the same situation for me. Classes fly like splashes of water in the wind... I generally do some of the tasks on the machine. Sometimes I understand the task only after I have solved it... And it's like that almost all the time...—

—It's the same with me, believe me. I don't understand how I write something, reread it - and the task is solved! Either we are so smart, or the tasks are too simple.—I said.

— Poland is a beautiful country...—Ayla sighed with admiration.— The first day I just walked here and looked at everything... I lost two and a half hours doing it.—

We laughed.

— Yes, it is a beautiful country... It simply couldn't be more beautiful...— I felt the eyes on me.

It seems that Isla realized that I'm not just talking about myself...

— When is the date?—Ayla suddenly asked.

— What? What date? Ayla, what are you talking about?—I began to ask briskly.

The Turkish girl laughed.

— So you haven't been in the room yet? Well okay. Can I ask you a favor?—Ayla asked suddenly.

— Anything.—I replied.

— If you go to the residential floor earlier, will you check your mail? Since you and I are neighbors, they will give you my mail too.— She said.

— Ayla... What's your last name? It's just that there is at least one more Isla from Israel here...—I said.

— Gunesh... Ayla Gunesh... —

***

An icy breeze passed over my face so gently, unobtrusively.

It feels familiar... I haven't felt it for a very long time...

—.. So what did you want, ladies? Mrs. Samantha?— the attendant called out to me.

I suddenly felt like I was gripping the counter with my fingers.

Icy sweat was running down my face.

— I'm sorry, I just felt sick...—I said softly.— Can I have the mail? Samantha Bailey, room sixty-six, third floor.—

— That's it... Wait a minute...— The attendant began to rummage through the box of letters.

— Samantha Bailey, here are these big envelopes for you, here is this box. There are parcels here for your neighbor Ayla Gunesh. Will you take it?—

Having agreed, I would not have thought that my hands would be SO busy...

By the time I entered the room, my fingers were numb from large bags.

It's good that the attendant gave me four bags from some store to carry everything comfortably.

Soaked through with sweat, I sat down on my bed.

Well, Ayla! I'll remember that for you!

My thought was quickly cut short by the smell.

I haven't smelled this smell here before.

It's only now that I've looked around.

There were flowers on my table. A large and beautiful bouquet of magnolias.

There were two envelopes nearby.

"Samantha, I can't talk like that, how can I write.

In my loneliness, I am very taciturn, often - what a nightmare! - I can be shy. (At such an age!)

If you do not consider my feelings worthy, do not remember this letter in the future.

I sincerely love you with all my heart..."

My hands were shaking.

Vaclav... Vaclav!

I'm so glad... How much I love him...

there was an invitation in the envelope next to it.

So that's what Isla was talking about!

After kissing the letter, I put it aside and returned to my other mail.

The Purple Moon Ball... But I can wait! And I'm going with Vaclav...

so, we don't have to think about it yet...

The largest envelope smelled of peppermint, Coca-Cola and cigarettes.

The good mood immediately disappeared.

I know that smell... And I remember the words, "Yes, I skin people, but this is my job. You should also complain to my employer!"

I opened the envelope with a key. The first one to roll out was a bright red pendant with the sigil of the Lord of Discovery.

The letter was written in a cursory and clumsy handwriting, with a felt-tip pen on sheets unevenly torn from some kind of notebook.

"Be careful. I'm not as far away as you think. I am sending you the power of Dagon so that you will not be killed by my brothers.

Lucifer is fading away, but I'll be here because you're like this...

even though I haven't been busy with parenting for a very long time, I want someone to call me "father."

Laziness will defeat the demons anyway...

Don't take off the pendant and wait..."

The caption was in Hebrew. A kind of mockery...

— Dad...—I stroked the crooked lines with my fingers.

I love him and hate him at the same time.

After all, I'm his daughter...

***

A little later, Ayla came.

— If I'd known how many things they sent you, I'd have brought a car.—I said.

— I'm sorry, Samantha, I didn't think there could be so many. Are you overextended?— Isla sat down on her bed.— Oh, there are so many food! You can hear the cans clinking. Mom seems to think I'm starving here. She should have seen the portions here...—

— Hmm, but only Vaclav and Dad write to me. And... I was pleased with what you did not dare to tell me.—

— You will be a strange couple.—Ayla took a jar out of her bag and put it in the refrigerator, after examining it.— It's a nightmare! Has she been cooking all this for a week?—

— Your mother loves you.—I said.— And my mother is dead. I wish I could be with her, but... Life is disgusting.I leaned against the wall.— I have to do my homework... Have you started preparing for the exams yet?—

— No. They'll probably be light too.— Ayla opened a jar with some kind of jam.— Oh, Daddy's cherry! Well, he's a stepfather, but he's a dad to me. Shall we have tea? —

— No, I have no desire.And besides, I took the literature to be fully prepared for the exams...—

—You sound like you're preparing for war...— Isla reached into the jar with a large spoon.— Will you at least relax at the ball? Are you always an inflexible unit? —

— What?—I looked up from the book.

— Nothing relaxes you, nothing bends you, an indomitable unit. So tense, like she swallowed a pillar. I hope you won't reverse your decision to go.—

I winced at the smell of the cans opening.

— Ugh, this kind of garlic can kill... Do they put so much garlic in dishes in Turkey? — Oh, what are they not put in dishes in Turkey...

I looked at the invitation and picked it up again.

I wish I could... Oh, damn it!

I shuddered when I realized that I had spoken my thought out loud.

Ayla turned around.

— What scared you so much? Did you stop understanding the lines?—

— No...I just thought, what am I going to wear?—I said helplessly.

— We need to go to the store...—Ayla smiled.