Undeva la Palilula Page #2

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He's got the syringe needle in his lapel.

He uses that for all his shots.

Mr. Bartolomeo, pharmacist

of noble descent and taste. Opera fan.

An alcoholic. He studied in Paris.

Cirrhosis. An aristocrat.

Those two are pharmacists, too.

Twins. Venena and Separanda.

I don't know their real names.

Those two, Laurel and

Hardy, are their husbands.

Heavy drinkers but...

p*ssy whipped.

Mitica Limoncelli.

That's our Mr. Barza,

head of the local frog business.

And now "les grandes dames" of Palilula.

And Petrica, their manager.

The Hermaphrodite,

head of the emergency service.

A woman in full moon, a

man during half-moon.

You already met Olga.

And this is Pista, her husband.

Leana, the cleaning woman,

bit of a nympho.

You f***ing whore!

Comrade Leana!

Comrades!

If I hadn't been so hungry,

I'd have said Palilula was heaven.

But I was hungry.

I would have gone home right then.

Comrades!

Go back to your places!

The Party has sent us a replacement

for the irreplaceable comrade Pantelica,

A young representative

of our socialist medical school

a true hope, doctor...

Young man,

I can't recall your name.

Serafim.

Dr. Serafim.

Long live our lazy bones!

The rumor spreaded fast that a young

intellectual had arrived in Palilula.

Everyone came by to

browse through my books.

Tell the story! Tell it,

Serafim doesn't know it.

The one with the wolf.

The one with the wolf.

Right, boss doesn't know it.

Listen here.

This was incidental. A

real incident, that is.

Listen here.

1953, a harsh winter.

My folks had kicked me out after that

stupid donkey story at Grandiflora,

and I was staying with a wife of mine.

Big snow, small trail.

I went to gather firewood

and ran into a wolf.

I got scared.

I was carrying a load of firewood.

Then I started swearing on the spot.

I started swearing, "Mother-"

and had to stop and run.

The wolf was after me.

It was very harsh for me.

I was twice upset;

Once with the wolf chasing me,

and again cause I couldn't swear.

I kept the words inside.

And after two kilometers...

"...f***ing wolf!"

Got it?

I got home, opened the door, went in,

dropped the wood, and once safe,

I opened the door again

and finished my curse!

"...f***ing wolf!"

I had started it two kilometers back.

He finished his curse! Got relieved!

This was incidental. A

real incident, that is.

Tell us again about the wolf!

I got home, unlocked the door,

put my head out and finished my curse!

"Motherfucking wolf!"

Why do you call me wolf, comrade Ilie?

Ilie, are you cursing the Party?

Go away!

Come on, Trotsky, man!

...and you call yourself Party members!

You went with the Americans!

We left you a strong Party,

and you f***ed it up!

You ruined the Party!

...and what Party we left you...

We just got it a few months ago.

It wasn't perfect when we got it,

and we didn't ruin it that badly.

Come on, let's drink.

Go away!

F*** him.

The Party is pooping on our parade.

How long had it been since my last meal?

No matter. I had been so warmly welcomed.

My colleagues had explained: In Palilula,

food was a whim; Drink was a must.

I don't think I would

have written that to dad.

Wanna join us, baby?

Shut the door, it's draughty.

Sorry.

Gogu is sleeping.

He was on duty.

You're too handsome, doc.

Spring is coming.

Who's there?

All drunkards are now

pissing in our backyard!

Mr. Pantelica, is that you?

I think I saw Mr. Pantelica.

It was him, God forgive me.

Cheers, Mr. Pantelica!

I pickled the mushrooms last fall.

And I made borscht.

And I've got fresh eggs.

Doc, won't you come by tonight?

I got canned eggplant.

And pickled cabbage.

Dr. Pantelica loved it.

They put me in Dr. Pantelica's

office as I was not doing too much.

Here I am, after many years of study...

...a young pediatrician in Palilula,

the city with no kids.

I was taking care of the X-Rays machine

which wasn't really working for years.

But even if it worked,

I didn't know a thing about it.

...and those poor guys queued for X-Rays.

I can't write that to dad.

Telling me I poisoned him...

When I know it was Capra (Goat),

that stupid whore!

- Hello, patients!

- Good morning doctor, sir!

Patients, have you eaten?

No, we haven't!

Well... you see?

First you eat, then you can come.

You'll set the place on fire

with your bloody cigarettes!

- Thanks. I don't drink anymore.

- Just a little, for the coming of spring.

Keep it up, guys.

What's with this crap?

Pantelica's stuff. Trotsky said

he was mocking the working class.

That we should get a new X-ray machine.

But Pantelica wouldn't hear of it.

He claimed the machine was great,

it was man that was broken.

There, it broke.

Oh dear, oh dear. It broke...

Man, it stinks.

I'm a pediatrician.

What am I doing here?

Pantelica, God rest his soul,

had a theory. Children are bad luck.

When a child is born, an adult has to die.

Capra (Goat) used to come by.

The ugly whore.

She comes by all of us when we're drunk.

Barza keeps her in a shed.

You know her?

Some say she's his sister.

One day, she got pregnant.

Leana swore she saw her coming pregnant into

Pantelica's office, and going out all lean.

Pantelica then grew grumpy.

He wouldn't let anybody

in, he hardly came out.

Leana brought him food, her famous stews...

She swore she heard

squealing noises inside.

Or a baby crying.

Tall stories, you know. She was jealous.

But one day she stopped hearing it.

And we found Pantelica dead.

Mushroom poisoning.

But Leana swears it was

Capra's baby that did him in.

Pantelica ate it, and got sick on it.

Crap.

She called him "ogre".

What are you doing here?

- Have you eaten?

- Yes we have, doc.

Well... I haven't.

Come later, when I've eaten, too.

You're as strong as oxen.

Let's go.

Gogu used to visit me a lot.

He meant to educate me.

He had come to Palilula about five years before me.

He was said to be a very good doctor.

And handsome, too, on top of it.

Everyone loved him.

Only Virgil Cringasu,

Trotsky, the party secretary,

couldn't stand him. He said he

was an American, and he hated Americans.

I'm not American.

I'm a county boy, like you all.

True, he had been born in Burundi

or Ouagadougou or some such place,

but he had studied in this country

and had settled in Palilula.

He might have wished for

a better place, but that's that.

They've assigned me here.

There was a great commotion that day...

What the hell is that?

Is that human or what?

I haven't seen anything like it!

Or is that human? I wanna go see!

Hold my place.

Man, are you ugly!

How about I smack you silly, shmuck.

For the first time,

Palilula regretted not having a fanfare.

There hadn't been many

black people in Palilula before!

Those moments are unforgettable.

Pixie Magic-Eye went nuts for him.

She welcomed him like a king.

Faced with such wonder, people were speechless.

And Mr. Circu lost his place in the queue.

Man, I looked carefully.

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