the ice stream that might be still running over the stones of some foreign country, the home to the kitty’s ancestors.
And I ground coffee that I often brought from overseas trips as coffee tasted differently in every country. I put cezve on the stove, then drank my favourite drink, and took a shower. The cat did not follow me. She knew that I would come home in the evening, tired and often almost sick, and she would comfort, lick and heal me long and carefully. In the end, she would lie on my heart. I would fall asleep, anxiously turning over in my sleep… Then, it would be very hard for the cat. But these were the rules of living together: one had to be useful to another.
My Siamese was completely extraordinary. When I was writing something at the table (I did not type everything on the computer at that time) she usually sat right on the table and, without moving her head, moved her eyes quickly after the letters appearing on the paper. And the quicker I wrote, the faster her giant purple irises of her eyes moved, the wider yellowish pupils extended and, as if from nowhere, quite mysterious, yellowish light in the pupils began to flicker. Having stumbled upon some of my misunderstood thoughts, I looked at the cat, our pupils narrowed and we smiled at each other.
My cat also loved to sit at the antique mirror that was not typical of modern apartments. It was so big that I simply put it on the floor where it almost reached the ceiling. It almost did not fade over time, did not get covered in muddy spots, and had no spider webs. The frame was also good, made from some dark and dense wood, carved, and lacquered. However, I had already restored it myself several times, cautiously removing old lacquer and covering it with the new one. And it was just near this mirror where the cat liked to spin around. At first, she came up and distrustfully turned with one side, then the other side, glancing at the rival with irritation. Then, she began to curve her back in a threatening manner, and her fur gradually stood on end. Seeing that the rival did not react to it, my Siamese began to lift her paw but, for some reason, never stroke the mirror. And keeping this in mind, I was scared neither for the mirror nor for the cat, even though the mirror could still fall on the cat.
We both had a passion for a long walk. After them, the kitty fell down right beside the door, at the rack, and remained there for about five hours, drinking water and taking a nap. But as soon as someone came up to the door, even if one could not hear the doorbell, she turned suspicious and cringed. In this case, she could attack the stranger without any warning, releasing claws aggressively. So, sometimes it was better to remove her to another room. She loved when people were afraid of her. In short, it was not almost a cat but a very aggressive guard dog!
She sensed me already at the front door and, straining, tried to determine what emotions she should express this time: tenderness, affection, care or wild fun with jumping, rumbling, and running in circles and even on the ceiling. And if one would guess it right… I joined her and was capable of all the same, except climbing on the walls and the ceiling.
Chapter 4
The plane was announced landing. Almost at the same time with us, the American fighters landed, as there were some regular joint training. And the transport with the American soldiers overtook our bus. The strange airport was created in the same strange for the Russians war when the American soldiers fought «in shifts». Two weeks in Vietnam. Flight. Two weeks of rest: shorts, beach, massage, beer, and a Thai woman for two dollars. This is how the rare two-dollar bill was introduced. There appeared the modern Pattaya at the place of a small village that existed for centuries, at the place where the Monkey Leader, together with his army, helped the Thai army to defeat the enemy.
Undefeated Thailand is the part of the Great Empire. Its people know how to bow but not to give up. This is the country, the territory of which only once, three hundred years ago, was attacked by its enemies, the Laotians. For this, the Vietnamese still hate them. Its people are capable of combining everything: the example of the Russian army of the beginning of the nineteenth century, as it was in Petersburg where younger representatives of the current monarchy had been taught, and modern paintings by Merlin Monroe sold in small shops in the heart of Pattaya. So, the Russians and the Americans. Only they can buy property with land. The land of Pattaya where the American soldiers rested in shifts during the war in Vietnam. At the checkpoint, or whatever they call it, near the new Ambassador City Hotel with a separate building for soldiers and officers, rated now, forty years later, as having three stars, one could hear:
– Hi, John! – The visitor told the man on duty.
– Hi, John! – The man on duty told the visitor!
– How is the weather? – Like they could not see what was going on outside!
– Okay! – This traditional, «Everything’s fine,» was said no matter what was happening: either war or tsunami!
– Is it your girl? – A cute, smiling, looking like a flower, Thai woman dressed in jeans and a t-shirt was stroking the back of a huge black American with huge biceps.
– My! – He answered with the intonation of a master. Most men sound like masters!
– Happy entertainment! – The Thai woman smiled, and one could see only dollars in her eyes. Two dollars, I’ll remind you. But it was a very long time ago. This strange and terrible war was strange to both the Russians and the Americans. This was a war when almost the entire country, the mountains and the jungles, was flooded with napalm, and the eastern part – with chemicals. Now, apples there are like in Chernobyl. The Americans do not spend their vacations there!
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