The Appointment by Müller Herta

Author:Müller, Herta [Müller, Herta]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

A fat fly is buzzing in circles just above the driver’s head. It settles on his arm, he tries to swat it. Then it lands on the back of his neck, he swats again. He swats himself just below his ear with a loud clap. The fly escapes and perches on the window frame. The driver tries to shoo it out the open window into the street. It drifts away, its buzzing drowned out by the rattle of the tracks. What’s the matter, asks the old woman, you seem desperate. A fly, says the driver. Oh, without my glasses I can’t see anything as small as that. He’ll be heading your way in a minute, the driver says. Why didn’t you kill it, she asks. He tried to but missed, says the man with the briefcase, he has a tram to drive, he can’t go chasing flies. That would be something, a whole tram derailed because of a fly. Well, it won’t be bothering me, laughs the old lady, since I shake so much. Count your blessings, says the driver. You’re wrong there, she says, it’s not a blessing, you’ll find out soon enough when you get old. But the mosquitoes don’t mind the shaking, they sure don’t, and neither do the fleas. My blood is type A, that’s the best one for fleas, the doctor told me. I’m AB, says the man with the briefcase. And the young lady, asks the old woman, sealing her lips in a crooked smile while she waits for the answer. O, I say. O, that’s gypsy blood, says the old woman. People with type O can give blood to anybody, but they can only take from other O’s. The driver slaps himself on the temple. You son of a whore, he shouts, go bother somebody else, I’m not dead yet, and I’m not a pile of shit, either. He shoos the fly in our direction. I’m not dead yet, either. I’m the youngest in the car, so when it comes to dying, I should be last in line. I’m type O too, says the driver. The fly flits around the windowpane like a floater in your eye. Its abdomen is shiny and green and large as the trembling stones dangling from the old lady’s ears.

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