Nick Cave

After having eaten the roast beef that had
fallen apart in the anchovy sauce, they went
to Tatyana Petrovich completely light-blue
painted room. Although Ivan was caught in
the supermarket stealing the cans of anchovies,
he only was reprimanded and after having paid
the amount, they let him go. While they were
having coffee he wanted to tell the story again,
but was interrupted by Pavel Stepanovich who
turned on the TV. He wanted to see Avro's
weekend quiz. Meanwhile Tatyana prepared
a mix to smoke in the ice-cold bong. Made by
Alyosha from ​​a big Moccona instant coffee jar,
an oil line and a long glass chillum pipe. Until
the guinea pigs, (rats they said) had to run in
the maze to decide the prize, Tatyana turned off
the sound and wanted to play a record. Oh, no,
Tatyana ... not again ... what's their name ...
Psychic TV! But she played on another record ...
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Saint Huck:
Born of the river, Born of its
never-changing, never-changing murky water
Huck standing like a Saint, upon its deck ...

Fluffy

Suddenly the window opened and a grim
cold east wind blew in their necks.
Who came in? ... Fluffy, Tatyana's huge
cat. With a bang Pavel closed the window,
While Fluffy probably rather had raced
out again. Not that Fluffy didn't like
Nick Cave's music. Maybe he just came
in for that. But all the chairs were
occupied. There were simply too many
people. No other option but to nestle
himself on the mattress next to Marfa
Babinskaya. On the spot Alyosha started
nagging him. Singing not unlike Nick ...
"Who'll build a box for black Fluffy"



Hey Sluffy ... kisa, kisa, kisa ... don't look
so skittish. Tatyana really was a woman
for such a cat. Long black hair, a small
black headscarf with silver coins and
large plexiglass earrings. The whole
room breathed that atmosphere.
Queen Anne table ...



embroidered silk dressing gown on a
hanger on the wall, painted egg in
a glass display ... those kind of things.

Avro's weekend quiz

Do you have to do that ... opening a tin of cat food,
right after such a nice meal ... eek! Pavel inhaled
from the bong and blew it into Fluffy's face. That
won't take long till he's asleep. Wait a second ...
the V.P.K.V. and Mr. Van Rijssen of the Vaassense
Pluimvee en Konijnenhouders Vereniging (poultry and
rabbit keepers association in Vaassen). This week he
brought along the guinea pigs: Simon Tahamata, Johan
Cruyff, André Van Duin en Jos Brink. Host Fred Oster:
Pity, it didn't run into the 1000 ... but still ...




Simon Tahamata...Johan Cruyff...André Van Duin...Jos Brink

What's next? Now turn off the sound again. What music
will we play? Joy Division or Hawkwind? Later on the
German channel there is figure skating. This was all
before the introduction of the remote control. Best
invention since the TV. They still had a black and
white TV-set with a clunk clunk channel selector.



Alyosha selected the Germany channel. Too bad
'Vier Gegen Willie' (four against Willie) is not on.
With Mike Krüger, the German counterpart of Fred Oster.

Joy Division

Joy Division sounded from the radio turntable
combination ... Where have they been? ...
Where have they been?  German TV and then
Joy Division, so Alyosha asked, you know
where they got their name? The division
in the concentration camps where ...



Tatyana: Yes I know, but you do know that I
allow my dark feelings only in film and music.
You however, you are much more ... how do I say
... more rude ... cynical. And you as a declared
atheist, you can sing along with Psychic TV ...
Jesus walked on the water ...



Perhaps out of a similar kind of recalcitrance you
have, sulked Alyosha. Pavel passed another joint.
Some of them were really into the ice dancing that
had begun. The rest only watched when the judges
were giving points. Then Fyodor came in, Marfa's
boyfriend, and pushing Fluffy aside, he started
fooling around with her. So Fyodor, enough of the
saxophone? Pavel teased him. Have a smoke? ... No?
Fluffy jumped on Tatyana's lap where he started
pawing rhythmically up and down on her breasts
under the black cardigan she wore. Hey Fluffy ...
stop dallying ... stop it Fluffy ...

Hawkwind

The second Hawkwind song hadn't ended and Fyodor
called it a day. Went back practicing scales on
his saxophone. Are we going out tonight? asked
Tatyana. Ivan pointed out: you better start putting
on your make up, that takes more than an hour.
What day is it? Monday ... then we probably go to
'The Spot'? Alyosha poured the pre-drinks ...
everyone vodka? Who actually won the ice dancing?
This was gonna work ... vodka, Hawkwind's space
music, hash ... Now an Edgar Wallace film and they
would all have fallen asleep and woken up at half
past two. Then they still could go to 'The Mark'.
First a line of speed, the ladies decided.
Kings of speed ... Kings of speed ...
Not for me ... Ivan said. Fucking crap ... I could
go kicking car mirrors again on the way back.

Juliette

Alyosha had gone out to fetch a Wipers' record
(Over the edge) from the garden house where he
lived. But when they were singing about Juliette
(in the song: Romeo), Ivan got distressed. Because
Juliette was the name of one of the three sisters.
Daughters of the French consul in our university
town of P. Actually Ivan was in love with all three
of them. All things considered, Ivan was always in love ...
saw everywhere divine women, angelic creatures ...
you name it. But Juliette at that time was his favorite.

Elisa

Yet Juliette disappeared immediately from his
mind, when the bell rang, and who came in ...
Elisa. Ivan stammered: eh ... going out tonight?
We wanted to go to 'The Spot'. Maybe first to
'The Opera', suggested Pavel. Play pinball on
that new Dolly Parton machine.



But first I wanna listen to The Fall, Tatyana said.
Some counteraction to that music they play in
'The Spot' and 'The Opera' ...
a new face in hell ...
a cigarette paper, a comb, and a bucket over
your head singing in the bathroom. Shouldn't we be
going by now? Alyosha got impatient. But Tatyana
first had to apply some color around her eyes and ...
That's gonna take ages. Try to find another TV program
worth watching. And what dress would she put on?
Alice in her party dress ...
Yes, with a petticoat and fishnet stockings and ...
Do we have to leave the room? No, she didn't mind
changing in the bathroom.
The people I like live in kitchens and halls ...

The Opera, The Spot, The Plak, The Mark

An episode of Hill Street Blues later and
they were really off. Cycling? Do we have
enough bikes? Where are we going first?
Elisa wanted to go to 'The Plak'. That gay
bar? No, art school bar, nowadays. Gay's
are back to 'The Bakkertje'. Elisa wanted
to dance. In the basement of 'The Plak' ...
they surely play Donna Summer and stuff.



They now have an offshoot in the U-Street in A.
I was there with Marushka Ostapskaya. Elisa
had formerly lived with them, but had moved
to A. Eventually they had been to 'The Opera',
'The Spot' and 'The Plak'. They had lost Marfa
somewhere and of course everyone wanted to
go to 'The Mark'. That is to say, not Pavel and
Alyosha. They've had enough. Moreover ...
the Mark ... then you had to be really very
thirsty. Big chance that Tatyana would hook up
with Igor and his buddy Nikolka. Furthermore,
Hungarians, Poles and people from the district N.
Waving their money and guns. Maybe it was a little
bit early to go home, but ... At home in the kitchen
Pelageya Antonova and Nina Semyonova were
playing Yahtzee: a sort of poker with dice.



Let's finish that bottle of wine with them.
When Pavel was to his room, they opened
another bottle. Yet Nina wanted to go to
'The Mark', but Pelageya said: oh no, they
close in an hour. We'll wait to see who they've
towed along this time. And listened to a local
radio station playing mostly country music.
It had begun to snow. The snow didn't melt on
the deep frozen surface. By five o'clock Alyosha
went to bed. Tatyana knew the bartender and
they could party on behind closed doors.

sledge ride

Yes, boys and girls, some lucky guys with all
those girls around, you'd say. But Alyosha
kept his distance. His girlfriend had run off
with someone else again. Once was a mistake,
twice coincidence and three times an enemy
action. Woke up very early in the morning
when Tatyana and company came home,
drunk and singing loud. Pavel got up in
the afternoon, drank a strong coffee and
orange juice to quench his thirst. And
when he saw Fluffy, he took a tin of
cat food from the refrigerator.



So, you're not welcome today ... he grinned.
To make a long story short: Tatyana had Igor over
for a couple of nights and Elisa temporarily was
staying with Ivan. In the basement workshop you
could hear Alyosha using the sledgehammer.
After a terrible fight Marfa and Fyodor had
reconciled abundantly. And Pavel, couldn't decide
on a topic for his paper. The pros and cons of
hitchhiking ... perhaps? The days that followed
more snow had fallen. Ivan, Elisa, Tatyana and
Fyodor went for a sledge ride in the nearby hills.



That made thirsty. Fortunately, climbing up, they
arrived near Hotel Val Monte. Time for coffee and
hot chocolate. In the lounge with easy chairs.
Someone came to light the fireplace. And a large
brandy, please. About time to interrogate Elisa
about Pelageya's missing hairdryer. She had shown
kleptomaniac behavior before. Of course she denied.
But later Ivan found the hair dryer in his closet,
wrapped in gift paper. She also had the allegedly
haunted table in Ivan's room, rubbed all over with
garlic. She said that it all had to do with the
pyramids in Egypt. A few days later Alyosha had
his ceiling partially painted black, but she hadn't
come very far with a tube of oil paint. Together
with Tatyana's fur coat, which she really needed in
this weather, Elisa had disappeared. Ivan worried,
Tatyana fucking furious, the others pretty relieved.

Angelique

Angelique and Philippe du Plessis-Bellière

One afternoon about two weeks later. Tatyana was
not at home. In her room were: Marfa, Alyosha,
Pavel and Ivan. Marfa lay on the mattress reading
in an Angelique omnibus. Ivan was sketching a new
room decor. Pavel was drunk. He had become futsal
champion with his team. He had sung ... I'm the winner ...
I'm the winner ... I'm the champion ... ripped a plant
from the pot ... and had fallen asleep. Why were they
there? They waited until Tatyana came back from T.
Because Tatyana's coat was recovered. A phone call
from the police in the garrison town of T.: Tatyana
Petrovich Golovjov? Yes ...? Here at our station,
we have a fur coat of which we could trace the owner
through a library card in one of the pockets, so ...
Despite her aversion to travelling by train ...
you know, for example, those transfers and so ...
she did take the train to T. Not that you had any
transfers between P. and T. ... but anyway. Ivan
tried to get the plant back into the pot and Alyosha
made an attempt to clean the wicker carpet with
the handheld vacuum cleaner. Rather in vain. Marfa
sighed: Philippe is dead ... sighed again, and went
on reading. From under the door you could smell the
leek in the simmering pea soup and while awaiting
they drank a beer and ate some liverwurst.

the fur coat

At about half past six Tatyana was there.
With her fur coat in a large plastic bag.
Alyosha got up, because it was her privilege
to sit in a comfortable chair in her own room.
So he sat down next to Marfa. Leisurely Tatyana
first poured a glass of wine ... went through her
extensive LP collection ... and put Tim Hardin on ...


Clearly she was stalling to tell her story.
Then she took her coat out of the plastic bag ...
brushed it a bit with her hands ... whereby
a lot of sand fell on the Queen Anne table.
Tomb sand ... thus began her story. After
a lot questions, the police in T. had handed
her the coat. No, she had no idea how the
coat had ended up in the freshly dug grave,
not to mention how Elisa had winded up in T.
For a moment she had been afraid they would
take her to the cemetery, but no ... that was all.
Sign here and ... have a nice day. Tatjana threw
the coat next to Marfa and Alyosha on the mattress.
That was the signal for Fluffy to start pawing on
the fur coat. A freshly dug grave? ... freshly dug? ...
in this weather? The part-time pallbearers Ivan
and Pavel knew that way before the frost arrives,
the diggers would dig enough graves in advance.