Asphalt Kids: A Novel by Nutautaitė Eglė

Author:Nutautaitė, Eglė
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Egle Nutautaite
Published: 2023-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

December 23rd, 2008

Vilnius

​When Ema got back from Christmas shopping in the evening, Rytis was up from his nap. In a t-shirt and sweatpants, he appeared comfortable in her flat. His bag was unpacked and clothes lined her bedroom floor in piles. He made pasta; she prepared salad. He set the plates on the coffee table and opened a bottle of wine. She lit candles, arranged cushions on the floor around the table. As they sat cross-legged eating fusilli, she failed to tell him about Leo again. When they cleared the plates, she excused herself for a shower and Rytis turned on the TV.

​As she stood under streams of hot water, she was trying to orchestrate a dialogue, as if she had power to put words into Rytis’s mouth, manipulate his thoughts to the destination of her choice. She turned off the water and looked at the foggy mirror, its opacity all she could see. As if nothing was in front of it, a no one looking for answers in places they couldn’t be found. Fainthearted as usual, she had left it for too late. Tell the truth, then deal with the consequences, a shaky voice whispered as she towelled herself and slid into a pair of pyjamas she found on the shelf.

​When she came to the kitchen, Rytis was finished cleaning dishes and wiped wet hands on the sides of his pants. He ran his eyes from her head to naked feet, and an expression of appreciation passed over his face. He walked up to her, smiled, put his hand on the back of her head. His hair still smelled of her strawberry shampoo. In a pair of flannel pyjamas, she apprehensively folded her arms across her chest.

​‘Just look at you,’ he said in a low voice. His eyes were bright, almost glittering in the cool light coming from under the cabinets.

​Looking down at her feet, feeling almost shy, she said, ‘Really? Even in my birth-control pyjamas?’

​‘Especially in your birth-control pyjamas,’ he said and ran his fingers along the side of her neck. She laughed; Rytis used to call himself her hideous birth-control friend at school. No one would approach you with me at your side, he’d say.

​He touched her hair, she wrapped her arms around him. ‘Come sit,’ he whispered as he placed his hand on her shoulder and led her to the living room.

​‘I looked through your drawings when I woke up,’ he said and opened a sketchbook on the table. ‘You’ve drawn a lot and you are getting better.’ He lit a cigarette and passed it on to Ema, before lighting one for himself.

​‘I don’t know. Some days I feel I know what I’m doing, but then I get stuck and think, what’s the fucking point?’ she said as she exhaled a cloud of smoke. ‘It’s hard to find inspiration after a soul-sucking day at work.’

​‘Maybe it’s a sign.’

​She tried to smile, her hand holding the cigarette trembled. ‘Right,’ she said gloomily. He put his foot over hers and bent to kiss her.

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