DADA8 - RACCONTI
"SHORT STORIES"
by Vittorio Curtoni
Pisciando il mio vino
Pissing my wine
Death of a pie
Some shit in my backyard
"PISCIANDO IL MIO VINO"
by Vittorio Curtoni
Ero a Milano. Piazza Duomo, il cuore della citta'. Avevo
appena consegnato una traduzione a un editore. E' il mio
lavoro produrre e consegnare traduzioni. Il mio fulgido
destino. Erano le undici e venti di mattina. Avevo un
appuntamento a mezzogiorno con mia moglie, Lucia: pranzo
assieme. Splendido. E dovevo pisciare. Pisciare o morire.
Cosi' entrai in questo bar della Galleria. Ordinai un
caffe'. Lo bevvi. Poi chiesi al barista: "Posso usare la
toilette, per favore?" Il barista mi scruto' con aria grave.
"No, non puo'" disse. "Per usare la toilette deve ordinare
una bottiglia di vino. Cosa preferisce? Rosso o bianco?"
"Come?" Non potevo credere alle mie orecchie. "Una
bottiglia di vino per fare pipi'? Ma non ho ancora
mangiato!" "Lei mi sembra il tipo che puo' mandare giu' una
bottiglia prima di pranzo" disse il barista. "Comunque, non
facciamo eccezioni. Nuovi regolamenti comunali. Allora?
Rosso o bianco? Un rose', magari?" Sospirai. La mia
vescica stava per esplodere. "Va bene. Bianco. Adesso
posso avere la chiave della toilette?" Il barista si mise a
ridere. "Divertente. Molto divertente. Non ha ancora
pagato e vuole la chiave? Naaa." Una lunga pausa pensosa.
"Cosa preferisce? Merlot? Pinot? Muller Thurgau?
Ortrugo? O..." "Trebbianino" lo interruppi. Pagai una
cifra folle per la bottiglia di vino, ebbi la chiave, corsi
alla toilette (un buco nel terreno, probabilmente un residuo
della seconda guerra mondiale), e pisciai. Aaah! Rientrai
nel bar, restituii la chiave, e mi avviai alla porta. Venni
fermato da un tizio robusto, in una specie di uniforme da
poliziotto. "Servizio di sicurezza" disse. "Lei non ha
bevuto la sua bottiglia di Trebbianino." "Ma l'ho pagata"
ribattei.
"Il punto non e' questo. Lei non ha bevuto. Faccia il suo
dovere." Nuovi regolamenti comunali, probabilmente. Be', in
effetti io sono il tipo che puo' bersi una bottiglia prima
di pranzo. E mancava ancora mezz'ora all'appuntamento con
Lucia. Quando il fato e' troppo forte, il forte applica
l'antica arte del piegarsi. D'altra parte, il Trebbianino
mi piace. Molto. Stavo dando il dolce addio al quarto
bicchiere di vino, e avevo ancora diciamo un quinto della
bottiglia da uccidere, quando la mia vescica interruppe le
mie cupe riflessioni sulla triste situazione della citta'.
Se mai mi ero chiesto perche' non avessi mai voluto vivere a
Milano, adesso lo sapevo.
E la vescica disse: "Ti suggerisco caldamente di dare
un'altra occhiata a quel buco che chiamano toilette, socio.
In caso contrario, te ne pentirai amaramente, compagno." E
compresi all'istante che la mia vescica aveva perfettamente
ragione. Cosi' mi alzai dal tavolo, raggiunsi il banco su
gambe piuttosto salde, e chiesi la chiave. Il barista,
debbo dire, era uomo di poche parole. Una qualita' che a
volte so apprezzare, quando le circostanze sono giuste. "Un
altro Trebbianino?" disse. "Contanti, per favore." E pagai
in contanti. Non feci discussioni. Pero', essendo un
traduttore, un uomo di cultura, lo guardai diritto negli
occhi e dissi: "Sicuro che questa sia Milano? Che non sia
Praga?" "Praga?" fece eco lui, prendendo i miei soldi.
"Sarebbe a dire Kafka."
"Kafka?" Era forte sui regolamenti comunali, ma debole su
altri piu' raffinati punti del nostro beneamato mondo. Era
il barista perfetto. Chi vuole un barista capace di citare
Kafka e incapace di preparare un Bloody Mary? Cominciavo a
vedere le cose a modo suo. Sono un essere umano molto
empatico. E poi ho sempre avuto questa meravigliosa
tendenza a pisciare. I miei reni sono un monumento alla
laurea magna cum laude in ingegneria genetica di Dio
Onnipotente. Per me e' come una reazione a catena: bere e
pisciare, pisciare e bere. Dopo un po' diventa un tutt'uno.
Un unicum. Una visione filosofica dell'universo basata sul
continuo fluire di fluidi organici. Cosi' pisciai. E
assassinai la mia prima bottiglia di vino. E attaccai la
seconda. Ormai era mezzogiorno. Mia moglie, probabilmente,
mi stava cercando tra i piccioni di Piazza Duomo. Non mi
avrebbe trovato.
Altri clienti entrarono e uscirono. Bevvero il loro caffe',
il loro aperitivo, e se ne andarono. Nessuno aveva bisogno
di pisciare. Tutti sapevano, senza dubbio. Lanciavano
occhiate all'infelice ubriacone che sedeva da solo a un
tavolo con una bottiglia di Trebbianino. Alcuni parevano
dispiaciuti, altri molto divertiti. Chissa' come se la
godevano. Implorare aiuto era fuori discussione. Il
cipiglio della guardia della sicurezza era molto esplicito.
Non sono mai stato in galera, e non sento la mancanza di
questa esperienza. E la mia vescica era molto loquace, in
quel giorno fatale.
Lucia mi trovo' poco dopo l'una del pomeriggio. Io ero alla
quarta bottiglia di Trebbianino, e avevo una voglia
micidiale di pisciare. Il che significava la bottiglia
numero cinque. Avevo anche ordinato, e mangiato, un paio di
panini per dare una mano allo stomaco, ma il mio cervello
era piuttosto confuso. Incoerente, se volete. E avevo
finito i contanti. Il barista, a quanto sembrava, era
disposto ad accettare una carta di credito. Sia resa lode
al cielo per i piccoli miracoli. Lucia entro' nel bar. Era
una furia vivente.
"Figlio di puttana!" urlo'. "Schifoso porco traditore!
Dov'eri? Dove..." Si interruppe. Mi guardo' in faccia. Io
cercai di alzarmi e di andarle incontro, da buon marito
fedele, ma le gambe mi tradirono. O la gravita', chi lo sa?
Comunque, ricaddi goffamente sulla sedia. L'effetto
Trebbianino. Lei socchiuse gli occhi. "Sei ubriaco"
sibilo'. E credetemi, quando Lucia sibila potete leggere
guai nei suoi occhi. "Ero sottosopra, preoccupata per te, e
ti trovo qui con una bottiglia di vino!" Si avvicino'. Non
avevo difese. Il mio cervello era in stato d'attesa. La
mia bocca si rifiutava di aprirsi. "Ti disprezzo"
sussurro'. "Sei la feccia del mondo. Sei..." Le successe
qualcosa. Una piccola convulsione. Un movimento non troppo
placido dei suoi fianchi. "Non ho fatto altro che cercarti,
pezzo di merda. Mi sono persino dimenticata di andare alla
toilette. Non muoverti. Torno subito." Raggiunse il banco.
Il barista. Io levai il mio bicchiere in un brindisi.
"Bemvenuta al club" pensai. O cercai di pensare. "Adesso
te ne accorgerai." E se ne accorse. Ragazzi, se se ne
accorse!
Back to Short stories
"PISSING MY WINE"
by Vittorio Curtoni
I was in Milano. Piazza Duomo, the very heart of the city.
I had just delivered a translation to a publisher. My job,
making and delivering translations. My royal destiny. It
was eleven twenty in the morning. I had an appointment with
my wife, Lucia, at twelve: a lunch together. Very nice.
And I had to piss. It was piss or die. So I entered this
bar in the Galleria. I ordered a coffee. Drank it up.
Then asked the bartender: "May I use the toilet, please?"
The bartender scrutinized me gravely. "No, you can't" he
said. "To use the toilet you must order a bottle of wine.
What will it be? Red or white?" "What?" I couldn't believe
my ears. "A bottle of wine for pissing? But I haven't
lunched yet!" "You look like the kind of guy who can take a
bottle of wine before lunch" said the bartender. "Anyway,
we make no exceptions. New city rules. So? Red or white?
A rose', perhaps?" I sighed. My bladder was on the verge of
exploding. "Okay" I said. "White. Now may I have the key
to the toilet?"
The bartender laughed. "That's funny. Really funny. You
don't pay and you want the key? Naaa." A long, thoughtful
pause. "What do you desire? Merlot? Pinot? Muller
Thurgau? Ortrugo? Or..." "Trebbianino" I cut him short. I
payed a crazy amount for the bottle of wine, obtained the
key, ran to the toilet (a hole in the soil, probably left
from World War Two), and pissed. Aaaah! I reentered the
bar, returned the key, and started for the door. I was
blocked by a huge guy in a sort of police uniform.
"Security Service" he said. "You didn't drink your bottle
of Trebbianino." "But I paid" I said.
"This is not the matter we are discussing here" he said.
"You didn't drink it. Go back and do your duty." New city
rules, I supposed. Well, I am the kind of guy who can take
a bottle of wine before lunch. And I still had half an hour
before meeting Lucia. When fate is too strong, the strong
apply the ancient art of bending. Besides, I like
Trebbianino. Very much. I was saying farewell my lovely to
my fourth glass of wine, and still had let's say a fifth of
the bottle to kill, when my bladder interrupted my moody
reflections about the sad state of city affairs. If I had
ever wondered why I didn't choose to live in Milano, now I
knew. And the bladder said: "My strong suggestion is that
you take another look at that hole they call toilet, buddy.
Or you will badly regret a decision to the contrary,
comrade." And I instantly understood that my bladder was
perfectly right.
So I rose up from the table, walked on rather straight legs
to the bar, and asked for the key. The bartender, I must
say, was a man of few words. This is a quality I sometimes
appreciate, when the circumstances are right. "Another
Trebbianino, then?" he said. "Cash, please." And cash it
was. I didn't quarrel. But, being a translator, a man of
culture, I looked him straight in the eyes and said: "Sure
this is Milano? Sure it's not Prague?" "Prague?" echoed the
man, taking my money. "I mean Kafka." "Kafka?" Well, he was
strong on city rules, but weak on other fine points of our
beloved world. He was the perfect bartender. Who wants a
bartender who can quote Kafka and does not know how to mix a
Bloody Mary? I was beginning to see things his way. I'm a
most empathic human being.
Furthemore, I have always had this wonderful tendency to
piss. My kidneys are a monument to the magna cum laude
degree in genetic engineering of God Almighty. It's like a
chain reaction to me: drink and piss, piss and drink. After
a while, it becomes one. A whole. A philosophical vision
of the universe based upon the continuous flowing of organic
liquids. So I pissed. And drank to death my first bottle
of white whine, and started on the second one. By now it
was noon. My wife was probably looking for me among the
pigeons of Piazza Duomo. She would not find me. Other
customers came and went. Drank their coffees, their
aperitifs, and left. Nobody had to piss. They all knew, no
doubt. They cast glances to the unhappy drunkard sitting
alone at a table with a bottle of Trebbianino. Some of them
were sorry, others quite amused. The fun they must have
had. Begging for help was out of the question. The scowl
on the face of the security guard was quite explicit. I've
never been to jail, and it's an experience I don't miss.
And my bladder was very loquacious, that fateful day.
Lucia found me a little after one in the afternoon. I was
at my fourth bottle of Trebbianino, and much in need of
pissing. Which meant number five. I had also ordered, and
eaten, a couple of good sandwiches to help the stomach, but
I was rather fuzzy. Incoherent, if you like. And I was out
of cash. The bartender, it seemed, was willing to accept a
card. Thank you heaven for small blessings. Lucia stormed
into the bar. She was a living fury. "You son of a bitch!"
she screamed. "You filthy disgusting traitor! Where have
you been? What..." She stopped. She looked at my face. I
tried to rise and meet her like the faithful husband I am,
but my legs failed me. Or gravity, who knows? Anyway, I
fell down clumsily on the chair. The Trebbianino effect.
She narrowed her eyes. "You're drunk" she hissed. And
believe me, when she hisses you can see your troubles in her
irises. "I was all upset, all worried about you, and here
you are with a bottle of wine!"
She approached. I had no defense. My brain was on the
perennial stand-by. My mouth seemed to have closed up for
the day. "I despise you" she whispered. "You're the scum
of the world. You..." Something struck her. A sort of
small convulsion. A not so placid movement of her hips.
"I've been looking for you. You shit. I even forgot to go
to the toilet. Just a minute. I'll be back." She
approached the bar. The bartender. I raised my glass in a
toast. "Welcome to the club" I thought. Or tried to think.
"Now you'll find out." And she found out. Boy, did she find
out!
Back to Short stories
"DEATH OF A PIE"
Before Rupert could say a word, somebody stopped him at the
other end of the line. "Good afternoon to you, lady or
gentleman, gay or lesbian" said a kind male voice. "We hope
everything is going very well. And what can we do for you?"
Rupert, contrary to most characters in most stories, didn't
hesitate. "It's my brother Jack. He had a stroke or
something like that, we think." "Ah." The kind voice sounded
very saddened. "Terrible. How's the situation?" "We were
celebrating his birthday. His fortieth birthday. He fell
face down on the pie." "Boy!" The voice whistled. "How's
the pie?" "Dead, no doubt" replied Rupert. "What a shame.
We'll immediately send an ambulance. What's your address,
please?" Rupert gave the voice his Internet address. But he
soon recovered.
"Okay. The ambulance will be there in fifteen minutes, hour
more, hour less. And don't try mouth-to-mouth breathing on
the pie. It could be very dangerous. Thank you for calling
your friendly National Health Assistance Center." Rupert
hang up. The children were very upset. "Uncle Jack
shouldn't have done this to me" wailed little Nemo. "No
decency! Couldn't he wait half an hour?" Camilla was older,
and much more versed in the ways of the world. "He was an
ass at thirty-nine, he's still an ass at forty" she
declared. "What did you expect?"
Judas, the family teenager, had been fucking his girlfiend
Anjelica in his room. Distracted by the sudden commotion,
he lost his momentum and had an unfortunate ejaculatio
praecox. Anjelica didn't like it. Not at all. She planted
a knee in his balls, then a fist slightly to the right.
Breathless, in his underwear, Judas stumbled into the living
room. "My balls!" he cried. And fell on the couch, the
same couch where somebody had put Jack to lie. So he fell
on Jack. Jack didn't seem to notice. In fact, he wore a
silly grin on his face. "Look at him" said Mabel, Jack's
wife. "He's grinning, the sonofabitch. Happy as hell for
fucking up our party, eh?" "I always told you you shouldn't
have married him" said Emilia, Mabel's sister. "But no, you
said lesbian is wrong. It serves you right, you stupid
cunt." "Stop bitching" ordered Rupert. "The guy said the
ambulance will be here in fifteen minutes, hour more, hour
less. What do we do in the meantime?" "Monopoly!" cried
little Nemo. "Poker" said older Camilla.
They settled for a strip poker. Judas was already half
naked, so his participation to the game was vetoed. Anyway,
absorbed as he was in his solipstistic appreciation of the
pain in his balls, he didn't give a damn. When the
ambulance arrived, about fifty minutes later, Rupert, with
the excuse of a fallen card, was under the table and ogling
Mabel's vagina: he had always hoped the day would come when
he could fuck his sister-in-law, but actually he had become
a full time practitioner of masturbation, and the moment
seemed full of promises. Emilia was teaching Camilla one
pleasure or two of lesbism. Little Nemo had been called to
help alleviate Judas's pain and was now vigorously blowing
on his cousin's balls.
"How d'ya do fellas!" said the first paramedic. He looked
around. "Nice afternoon, I see. And where is our beloved
one?" "On the couch. Under Judas" answered Rupert. He was
really pissed off at the turn of events. Fuck them! Now
that he had Mabel practically naked... "Hi Judas. Nice
balls you've got" said the paramedic. "A little reddened,
if you want my opinion. Measles?" The second paramedic
approached Rupert. "Hello mister. Nice hard on you've
got." He took a look at Mabel's tits and swallowed. "Not
that I don't understand... Now, what exactly is your degree
of relationship to the beloved one?" "Jack is my brother.
Or was, if he's dead" said Rupert. "Wonderful. Maybe
you've heard of this new fantastic service offered by our
caring National Health..."
The second paramedic produced from a pocket of his paramedic
uniform a single sheet of paper, neatly typed. "We
understand you suffered the loss of a birthday pie. We can
replace it with a delicious strawberry-and-banana freshly
caked pie, especially made for you. What do you say?"
"Okay" said Rupert. His voice was tired. "Where's the
swindle?" "Nossir." The second paramedic was really
indignant. "No swindle. It's all perfectly legal. If you
sign here, at the bottom, you have your pie AND at the same
time give a full demonstration of your altruistic soul by
making a present to medical science in the form of the
corpse of your beloved brother."
Rupert turned, took a look at the couch. Under Judas's
balls, Jack was still breathing. Of course he had seen
better moments, but was still breathing. "He's alive" said
Rupert. "He's not a corpse." "Not yet" replied the first
paramedic. "Our modern medical science will take care of
this momentary accident. Nothing to worry about." "Also"
said the second paramedic "we offer a special Month of
Cremation deal to anybody who..." "Okay, okay" interrupted
Rupert. "What the fuck. He should have been more
considerate of his relatives. Give me that paper." And he
signed.
Back to Short stories
"SOME SHIT IN MY BACKYARD"
Eric was shitting again in my backyard. The smell, full and
aromatic, tickled my nostrils while I was reading the latest
KKK newsletter. Somebody had put it in my coat pocket on
the bus home. Worst things have been known to happen on
buses.
As for Eric, that was the third time in one week. Well, I
can take some shit, but enough is enough. I rose up,
crossed the living room, entered the kitchen and opened the
back window.
There he was, crouched in a semi-fetal position, arms around
his knees, a sort of stupefied pleasure on his face. His
dick, old and wizened, was spitting the last tears of fetid
piss on my beloved weeds.
"Hei, Eric" I shouted "what do you think you're doing?" "I'm
shitting" he replied. "Bad case of diarrhea." I nodded. "I
know. The stink is unmistakable. I mean, why here in my
backyard? This is the third time in a week." "The plumber
never came" said Eric. "My water-closet is dead. What
should I do? Explode?" "Not a bad idea" I informed him.
"Really, this has to stop. I don't mean to..." "I saved
your life" he declared, with a face full of the same shit he
was so liberally shooting around in my yard. Here we go
again, I thought. Same old story. It will never end.
"I saved your life" Eric repeated, growing very serious.
"If only the motherfucker had pressed the trigger before I
stuck that knife into his back..." He let the sentence hang
in the air, along with the fumes of his shitting and
pissing. Sweet aroma.
"The moterfucker" I reminded him "aimed his gun at me
because I distracted him so that he wouldn't shoot YOU."
"Doesn't matter. I saved your life." "You saved my life
because I was trying to save YOUR life. And if you remember
correctly, the motherfucker was YOUR uncle and he was in a
rage because he found out that you were screwing his
daughter. Your cousin. I had never seen him before. He
had no reason to be angry at me. Right?" Eric pondered.
Projecting himself towards the soil, he pulled out some
weeds and began cleaning his ass. Disgusting.
"My uncle" he said "was a close friend of Joey Automatic.
Same personality. He could have killed ANYBODY at first
sight, just for fun. Now I don't want to be disrespectful
of my dear uncle. He was a good fella and all, but
something here in his head..." He tapped his temple with a
forefinger; and, having finished his cleaning, he began
putting on his pants. We had had the same discussion a
number of times. At least all the times he'd been shitting
in my backyard. Useless. In a way, I loved that old man,
who was already old when I was a child; in another way I
could have murdered him for his uncle and for the shitting.
I tried the kind approach. "I'll lend you the money for the
plumber. No, wait. I'll call my plumber and send him to
your home. Is that all right with you?"
He was zipping his pants. He shook his head. The shit on
his face was spreading like the thirst for blood in
Dracula's coffin. "I'm afraid the matter is not so simple"
he said. "All of my plumbing is rotten. The water-closet
is just a surface problem. When you dig deeper..." It was
then that I saw the light. "In other words" I said, slowly
"you like shitting in my backyard. Just to remember me that
you saved my life. Just to punish me because I was trying
to save your life and instead you saved mine. Is that so,
old man?" He grinned. Now he was fully erect, and dressed.
He had recovered his dignity. "My son, if you prefer your
subjective view to the pure truth that..." "I'm not your
son!" I interrupted him. I was barking. "And please, spare
me the metaphysical shit. It is better than the shit that
comes out of your ass, but I don't like it. Wait a minute.
I'll be back."
I ran to the living room, took the newsletter from the
chair, sprinted to the back window, and showed him what I
had in my hand. "What's that?" he called from below. "I
can't see from here." "This is the KKK newsletter. Nice
reading, for a white fella." He seemed perplexed. "Now what
do you mean?" "I mean, my dear old man, that you have a
slight handicap. I am white, and you're black. So it goes.
And I have all these KKK friends, and they take no shit from
no nigger." He laughed. "I've known you all my life.
You're white, okay, but you're not full of shit like..."
"YOU are full of shit" I said. "And I'm tired of seeing it
in my backyard. And I could have changed my mind. It
happens, you know." He got the message. At once. I've
always loved Eric for his bright brain. "Okay" he said,
starting back toward his home, not very far from mine.
"Send your plumber. Friday morning should be all right. No
need to alarm your friends, I think."
"Bye, Eric." I waved my hand. "Bye, Jonathan" he said. He
looked up at me. "By the way, thank you. I'll save a lot
of money in prunes and purgatives. Do you think it's so
easy getting diarrhea?"
Back to Short stories
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