White Niggers
Chapter 19
Saturday, August 31st, 2019, 11:30
Car wash, Handelskai 90, 20th district of Vienna
Timur drives the van out of the car wash closest to the Millenium Tower skyscraper. He gets out of the car and goes around it. The van is so clean that it's brilliant, both literally and figuratively.
Timur gets back into the van and starts to drive home down Handelskai. On the left side of the road, rows of trees separate railroad tracks from the waters of the Danube.
To the right, there are concrete buildings that look as if they were taken straight out of the Eastern Bloc, existential crises cast in concrete. In the Soviet Union, such monstrosities were justified because of poverty. Austria, a much richer country, must have chosen this style for other-than-economic reasons.
If I get back home now, I can get four hours worth of sleep before I meet Lisa, Timur thinks. Need a clear head during this operation.
In about fifteen minutes, he is in front of his house. He begins to park his car. Suddenly he smells smoke and gasoline. Within seconds the entire cabin is filled with thick fumes, as black as a neocon's soul.
Timur stops the engine and gets out. Maybe I can fix it, Timur thinks. There are still over four hours left. Just need to find the leak.
He restarts the engine, and this time, there's no smoke. Timur pushes the gas pedal. It makes the engine roar, but no fumes come out.
It's always like this, defeat follows triumph like night follows day, Timur thinks. Lisa didn't betray me, the car did.
What to do? Timur thinks. Four hours seem like a lot of time, but it isn't. I can't fix this thing because it occurs randomly. I can't run the risk of putting Lisa into this gas chamber.
Just calm down, Timur thinks. I'm attached to this van, but Lisa isn't. She isn't even aware of it. There must be other ways to impress her.
Timur takes the folder with the Ukraine files from the passenger seat and steps out of the car.
He walks towards the pizzeria and hopes that walking will help him get creative. It's do or die, Timur thinks. Or is it? He remembers the conversation with Lisa in the morning. Maybe she won't dump him because of a date without a car. That is possible. He smiles at the thought.
But I want to compete, prove myself, and, ideally, prevail. If Lisa doesn't have a boyfriend, I'll compete with my potential self, Timur thinks. His smile turns into a wolf's grin.