The teacher
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«We all walk under the same God, the Creator, right?»
Tom told her a favourite and Great parable, filling her young and naive ears with infused urine that allowed her brain to start turning the other way. Thomas had a certain gift of persuasion.
«What a speaker you are, Tommy! Go and stand on the podium!» she bit him once or twice, but her ears were already hanging down, so it was too late to roll them up.
So they lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, arguing about who would turn off the night light, pulling off each other's short blanket. In the end, she simply threw Thomas off the bed with her feet, and he fell on his back, propping himself up with his hands.
«And you know how to handle men!»
Part XI
A few weeks later
Friday afternoon in the East End was a pleasant day with warm weather and a pleasant breeze. A large multi-purpose hospital sprawled along the main street, taking up a decent area. A two-story old building with white Windows and a beautiful sign at the entrance – a haven for people who are sick or injured by their own greed and betrayal of the «higher» world.The best appliances, new tools, snow-white gowns and patients with a silver spoon in their mouths – welcome to St. Raphael's hospital.Thomas and his «entourage» crossed the threshold of the gynaecological chair. The dark-haired man took off his thin felt hat and mechanically straightened his hair, as always clean and fresh. Grey eyes darted from wall to wall, painted beige, with large Windows looking out over the forest. Shulman became the focus of attention of pregnant, young and elderly women. Statuesque, tall, broad – shouldered, in a pressed three-piece suit, sparkling oxfords and a white shirt, he looked like a woman's dream. Such an imposing gentleman could turn the head of any girl, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the demonic essence slipped away, scaring the beautiful half of humanity. His full, pursed lips were visible under a thick but well-groomed beard that he cut weekly at a Barber he knew. All of this indicated that the male hormones were surging through him. Probably, no one could have imagined that this hero had a gun in his belt, loaded, but not cocked, for the time being. Tom opened the door without knocking, stormed into the Manager's office as if it were his home or a shared toilet in a restaurant, and looked around the room. Whitewashed walls, a Desk, stacks of maps, a couch, and a new midwife's chair, the sight of which caused the Jew a slight revulsion. Finally, when he saw his classmate sitting at the table, Shulman smiled haughtily.
«I'll sit right here, okay?» He was wheezing, leaning back in his chair, rubbing his leg.
«Thomas?!» A thirty-six-year-old man with small blue eyes and straight jet-black hair exclaimed, holding out his hand. «Thomas Shulman! How many years?»
«Zachariah Shmael-grew up, got stronger, and finally lost his virginity by marrying his second cousin?» Thomas joked about a childhood friend with whom he often played in the yard, got into a fight for the first time, and accidentally stole a girlfriend at the prom.
«With my cousin, Thomas, my cousin. Calm down.»
Shulman looked at the wedding ring on his friend's ring finger without envy.
«What about you? Added to the Jewish family?»
«Does my happy face show that this is not the case?» Tom muttered wanting to get down to business.
Zachariah listened intently, crossing his arms over his chest.
«My girlfriend is looking for a job. Well, you know what's in your industry, okay?»
Schmael nodded, demanding more and more details.
«This girl is the goddess of Ilithyia in the flesh. She killed the «midwife's hand» I have a desire to have promiscuous relationships and eat cottage cheese. The girl is an excellent student, but not in life, but in her profession. She'll help you give birth blindfolded, sitting upside down on the toilet, you know? She fixed a woman's uterus during a fucking delivery with a sandwich in her mouth, didn't she?»
Zachariah laughed heartily, rubbing his left eye and showing his white teeth.
«I know what you're getting at, Tom, but it doesn't depend directly on me.»
«Yes, stop lying, she has a talent,» Shulman said, leaning back in his chair and picking up the midwife's mirror.
«Well, let him come with his diploma and papers tomorrow, about ten o'clock. Let's look at your excellent student!»
Thomas slipped down the hall to the phone, dialled a familiar number, and waited for the soft ring. Finally a girl's voice came on the line.
«So, honey, as they say-get your legs ready, right? I'm on my way, right? And I found you a prestigious job.»
Lily laughed, shining bright and clear as the sun.
«Did you find me a job? Where?» Lily asked, interrupting him with questions, « I'm already working.»
«You mean that whore hole with syphilis? You deserve something better, don't you?» He finished and hung up.
Could he let her work in a hole? Never! She is beautiful and gifted, and she has to collect on her fingers the secretions of dirty whores in the form of «cottage cheese» from a neglected thrush. And not only in women, but also in the mouths of their offspring. He knew all this from her stories, terrible stories that made Thomas sick. And what then to work in such conditions? Tom was afraid to even think about it.But since he is her boyfriend, Beau, companion, and admirer, he must help her settle into this life. Although she only calls him her boyfriend.It was a joke, but they had been Dating for almost four months, and she was no longer a stranger to him, even her own. He was used to feeling her cool hands on his chest when he stopped shivering from the cold; to feeling her fingers buried in his hair; to hearing her laugh or just her voice going crazy with moans after passionate kisses; to thinking about how she got home and whether they gave her lunch during the break; to worrying about her older brothers hurting her when she spent the weekend at home, wanting to be alone. She accepted his faith almost without scandals and quarrels, without stupid ultimatums and threats. Lily let Thomas let her see the world through his eyes. She showed interest, showed a desire to follow the same path as he did, so everything he did, Shulman did only for her. He began to live for her.But all this is childish and snotty lyrics. What's left in the bottom line? That Thomas is a gangster, sells drugs, runs rackets, and kills people? Lily and Thomas are two opposites that can't attract, but still.An hour and a half later, Thomas stood in the doorway, waiting for Lily's footsteps .
«What the hell is she doing there?»
At last the door creaked open, and Thomas staggered back to see Lily's pale face, with tiny beads of sweat on her nose and forehead, blue lips, and sharp features. Her brown eyes were full of tears. Her silk robe was stained with scarlet, and her left leg was wrapped in a rag, which had a dark bloodstain that blurred before her eyes. When she saw him, she whimpered helplessly, her lower lip sticking out like a child whose candy has been taken away.
«Well, well, well,» said Tom, pulling the weak little body to him, which was trembling slightly and sobbing, «You cut yourself, didn't you? Am I not right?»
The next second, he grabbed her and carried her to the bathroom.
«Horror, it's like a pig was slaughtered here!» he said as he sat her down on the edge of the tub.
There was blood on the floor, on the sink, in the tub, and on the razor blade that now lay next to the drain. The bathroom smelled of iron and damp, which made the Jew feel slightly sick. The rag was soaking wet, and Thomas crouched down and bandaged her leg, remembering all the methods he had been taught during the war.
«Why did you take such a sharp blade, huh?» he asked, examining the shallow but successful cut, knowing that Lily would have to be taken to the hospital.
«I … I wanted to shave.»
His hands wrapped the cloth tighter so that the wound could be cleaned.
«Why, sun? For what?»
Her brown eyes lifted.
«I was getting ready,» she whispered.
«Preparing for what?»
«You said …» Lily would have blushed even more if it hadn't been for the blood loss. But the confusion in her eyes made up for it.