The Grasshopper by TheGrasshopper Page A

blue and dark red stripes. Like blood… But they are
diagonal. They will intersect with these gray lines on the suit. Do
they go together? I guess they do… these lines are discrete… you
can hardly see them. But the shirt must be plain white. Or perhaps
that light blue one? No, no, white it is. I’ll unbutton the jacket
so the blood on the white shirt is visible.
    “So that you can clearly see how my
heart bleeds for you, Manami.
    “And the shoes… these, yes… black,
shiny… Like for a evening dance in some lavish hall…. You in a
kimono… a gold kimono… in my arms. A huge orchestra… just the two
of us. And no one else… in the whole world.”

Chapter 21
    Having received his orders from
Erivan, Alpha left the President’s office and reached the elevator
with fast, nervous steps. But he didn’t enter it. He first just
stood there and then walked down the hall, looking around, leaning
over, crouching, getting up and hitting his fist against the wall
several times.
     
    When he finally calmed down he took
the elevator down to the garage. Once he got there, without saying
a word he nodded to his subordinate White, he passed around the
presidential car and made sure that the interior was not visible
through the tinted windows. He then took his telephone from his
jacket, took a deep breath, glanced once more at White, and called
the driver who worked as a member of the residency
staff.
    “Please put on your uniform and
come immediately to the garage,” he said without saying hello,
after the driver of the presidential car had picked up.
    “Yes, of course, Mr. Alpha,” the
driver responded.
     
    “Why are you calling the chauffer,
Alpha? Won’t the care be remote controlled?” his unit member
asked.
    “Be quiet, White, just be quiet.
Don’t ask anything. That’s the order.”
    “Erivan’s?”
    “Yes.”
    “But…”
    “But what?”
    “Well, I think… the chauffer will
see them… as soon as he opens the door.”
    “He won’t open the door,
White.”
    “How won’t he? You don’t mean… I
can’t do it, Alpha! Call someone else. Why didn’t the Grasshopper
also… the chauffer…”
    “I will do it, White. I have to.
This is what it’s come to. Life and death struggle. We have to be
up to the task.”
     
    Alpha slowly unbuttoned his jacket
and pulled it back. He took out his pistol from the belt holster,
raised it and aimed towards the elevator door.

Chapter 22
    Pascal, dressed in the dark suit,
stood in front of the window watching the square filled with
people. “You’re not taking the shot?” he spoke without any fear to
the imaginary sniper. “Very well, I understand. Who would see that
you’ve killed me? They would show my dead body on television. It is
better to wait for me to leave the hotel, and then, in front of the
crowd… For it to be shocking, to scare them… for them to scatter.
It works better for me that way too. Let her see me fall, on her
beloved husband’s television channel…”
    “Will you cry when you see me lying
in the square with a bloody stain here?” He raised his hand and
placed it on his chest. “No, you won’t. Because you can’t. So that
your husband and children wouldn’t notice. But tonight… when he
goes to sleep, will you at least shed one tear? At least shed one
tear for me, Manami.”
     
    Pascal slowly got up and went
toward the door. He left the room and walked towards the elevator
with brisk, decisive steps. Then he stopped in
disbelief.
    The elevator was at the end of the
hallway. Between the elevator and the first rooms was the stairway,
from where Mayor Seneca was walking towards Pascal.
    When he saw Pascal Alexander stop
in his tracks, Seneca slowed down his pace, waveringly went up to
the door of the first room and also stopped. The two men, on
opposite sides of the hallway, watched each other in
silence.
     
    “Why is Alexander just standing and
not saying anything,” Seneca thought. “Does he suspect something?
No, surely