Initiation: Amsterdam, '83 by Daniel Pembrey

Author:Daniel Pembrey [Pembrey, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B077GSTVBF
Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Published: 2018-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Walking on air, I returned to the station to check in with my boss. ‘Be ready for more eviction work,’ Luhrs informed me.

‘What exactly do I need to be ready for?’ I asked.

‘Trouble.’

‘Okay, but I need to move house soon. Would it be okay if I took some time off?’

‘You’ve only just started here!’

‘An afternoon. A day, maybe.’

‘How much do you need to move?’

‘Not much, if all goes to plan. But I’m moving to a houseboat that needs work.’

‘Where is this houseboat? Friesland? Eh, Esther?’

He turned around, looking for approval from his Friesland-born employee, but she was nowhere to be seen.

His attention returned to me. ‘A day is all I can give you.’

‘It’s in the eastern docklands; a day is all I need.’

‘Aren’t you going to say thank you?’

I shrugged. ‘Thanks.’

He paused. ‘Bit unsavoury round that way, isn’t it?’

‘The docklands? Not so much property development activity going on there, I’ll grant you.’

I was watching for a reaction – given his alleged interest in property development – but he gave none.

‘I’ll do my best to gentrify it,’ I added, grabbing my jacket and walking out.

I headed up Leidsestraat to the university library on Singel. There I began going through old copies of Het Parool, starting six months back. The library air was dry and stuffy, and a man to my left sniffed repeatedly; thankfully, it didn’t take long to uncover the news story that most likely lay behind Petra Koelink’s recollection of Cor van Hout’s name.

It was a news item from May 1981 – nearly two and a half years earlier. Van Hout had bought a building on the corner of Leidsegracht and Keizersgracht that had been occupied by squatters. I’d almost walked past it on my way to the library. There was a picture, too. I stared at it. Did I recognise Luhrs’s squashed features in the middle of a scuffle? His cap was askew on his head so it was hard to be sure, though a read of the article all but confirmed it:

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