Adam and Evelyn by Ingo Schulze

Author:Ingo Schulze
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307701442
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-11-07T22:00:00+00:00

32

WORKING FOR ETERNITY

“NORMALLY YOU JUST hold up your passport and they let you in. But in this case …”

“They’ve figured that trick out,” Adam said and took a sip of his beer. Michael was having a bottle too. They were sitting on Margaret Island in Budapest, not far from the green tent—pitched close to the water but hidden by bushes—where Katja and Evelyn lay asleep.

“How late is it?”

“Somewhere between one and two, I’d say. You’re the one with a watch.”

“I forget to wind it sometimes, and then I can’t be sure of the time.”

“Mine’s an automatic, self-winder.”

“At home I don’t need a watch. This one is a present from Evi.”

“A man always needs a watch.”

“Actually all I want now is my new Lada, and maybe a second garage, but otherwise …”

“My ex always says—”

“Who?”

“My ex, my former wife. I was married once, about as long as you were a Party member.”

“And what does she say, your former wife?”

“If you love someone, she says, you always know what to give them.”

“Do you believe that?”

“That’s her best quote. I really couldn’t think of one other thing to give her.”

“Maybe she had everything.”

“It used to be I’d just walk along the street and instantly see something.”

“What I’d most like to give Evi is admission to a university.”

“That’s easy for us, you give it to yourself as a gift and can study forever.”

“No limits?”

“There are people who’ve stretched it out for ten years and longer.”

“Over here you first have to be selected for admission, and if you aren’t—Evi got such a stupid evaluation her senior year, because she was the only one in her class who smoked, and showed up late sometimes, even though she lived just around the corner. Her grades were good, but she was turned down twice to study art history.”

“Art history is a good way to starve.”

“What do you mean? They don’t earn less than anybody else.”

“Maybe on your side, but you need to find a job first.”

“Once you’ve been admitted to study, then at the end you’ll get a job too. The university even has to make sure you’re taken care of.”

“Why the university?”

“It’s better if you find a job yourself, but if you can’t, they have to find something for you, or let you continue studying.”

“Now that’s strange.”

“Ask Evi.”

“How long is your provisional whatchamacallit good for?”

“Till the thirteenth,” Adam said and pulled the four-page, six-by-eight-inch document from his shoulder bag. “ ‘Provisional Travel Pass A 08969, for Hungary, the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic, and the German Democratic Republic (Bad Schandau).’ What do you think—could I find work on your side?”

“If you really want to, why not?”

“It can’t be that easy.”

“Anybody who wants to work can find work.”

“But not necessarily the work you want.”

“No problem. You need an idea, an idea, and elbow grease and a little luck. Sometimes all it takes is being friendly.”

“Isn’t everybody friendly over there, at least the ones who want to sell you something?”

“Any of you folks who are good at what you do will find work on our side.

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