The Human Body Read Free Page A

widen. She gives him a sound slap on the cheek. “Don’t say such things. Idiot.”
    She insists on packing his bags no matter what (“Mama knows you’ll forget everything otherwise”). Ietri dozes off as he watches her devotedly lay out his clothes on the bed. Occasionally he gets distracted and his mind wanders back to the Americans. He lets himself drift into an exciting half sleep, drool trickling onto the pillow.
    â€œThere’s moisturizer and soaps in the side pocket, one lavender and one unscented. Use the unscented one on your face—you have sensitive skin. I also put in some chewing gum for when you can’t brush your teeth.”
    That night they share a double bed in a deserted small hotel and Ietri is surprised that he isn’t embarrassed to sleep with his mother, even now that he’s a man and has been away from home for so long. He doesn’t even find it strange when she pulls his head to her soft bosom and holds him there, listening to the strong beat of her heart beneath her nightgown, until she falls asleep.
    The room is lit intermittently by the storm that broke out after supper and his mother’s body jerks each time the thunder claps; it’s as if it scares her in her dreams. It’s past eleven when Ietri slips out of bed. In the dark, he empties the pocket of the backpack and throws everything into the trash basket, way down at the bottom so she won’t see it. Then he fills the pocket with condoms of various kinds, which he’d hidden in his jacket and in his spare boots, enough to last his platoon for a month of nonstop orgies.
    Back in bed, he has second thoughts. He gets up again, sticks his hands in the trash, and gropes around for the chewing gum: you never know, it might come in handy if he were to find himself close to the eager mouth of an American without having brushed his teeth.
    Jennifer, oooh Jennifer!
    Â â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢Â 
    C ederna and his girlfriend are back in the apartment they’ve been sharing for almost a year. The storm caught them on the way home, but they were so high they didn’t even look for cover. They went on staggering along under the downpour, stopping from time to time to exchange lingering kisses, tongues probing.
    The evening has taken an excellent turn, though it didn’t start out that well. For some time now, Agnese has become obsessed with ethnic restaurants and just tonight when Cederna wanted only to have a good time, Agnese decided to celebrate his departure with a proper dinner by settling on a Japanese restaurant where her university friends had gone. “It’ll be special,” she said.
    But Cederna didn’t feel like anything special. “I don’t like that Asian stuff.”
    â€œBut you’ve never even tasted it.”
    â€œSure I tasted it. Once.”
    â€œThat’s not true. You’re acting like a child.”
    â€œHey, watch your mouth.”
    When he realized they were headed for a serious fight he gave up and said, “Okay, let’s go to the damn sushi bar.”
    Except he didn’t eat a thing at the restaurant and spent the time making fun of the waitress, who bowed continually and wore terry socks with her Japanese tatami sandals. Agnese tried to explain to him how to hold the chopsticks and it was clear she loved playing teacher. He made only one attempt, then stuck the tips of the chopsticks up his nostrils and started talking like a retard.
    â€œCan’t you at least
try
?” Agnese burst out.
    â€œTry what?”
    â€œTo be a civilized person.”
    Cederna leaned toward her: “I
am
civilized. It’s these people who are in the wrong place. Look outside—take a look. Does this seem like Japan to you?”
    They didn’t say a word to each other for the rest of the meal—a dinner at which he stubbornly refused to taste a thing, not even the batter-fried tempura vegetables that didn’t look