In Kerta park (2)

“How did you get here and why are you even in my position? I don’t understand how someone can get a position that’s already taken.”

“ Well I was sending out enquiries to companies and your boss called me the next morning. So that’s why I came. He stated that this position would be suited for me and that you would train me.”

“Hmm, that’s strange. And didn’t he tell you what he’d do with me?”

“No, he didn’t. He only said that you’ve been in this position for a long time, nothing more.”

“Well this definitely means that he’s going to sack me, what else would he do. This is how it goes. One gets sacked for doing a decent job.”

“I don’t think that he’d sack you, he would have already done that if he wanted to. He’s more likely to just move you to a different department.”

“If only that was true. I’m not in the mood to go around all the companies in Michalovce and beg them for a job again. I don’t have the strength for that.”

Before the end of my shift I was already so disgusted that I needed to clear my head. And that’s why I headed again to Kerta in the afternoon. Maybe I’d meet Jork and at least I could have some fun with his tricks. It was very hot and that’s why I took my jacket off and slowly entered Kerta. There were quite a few people walking around also with dogs. So, I headed to the bench which was closest to the water. I sat down and immersed myself in my thoughts. Not far away for me was a German Shephard which was bringing a stick to its owner and other people were just walking around. But I couldn’t see Jork anywhere. Something moved in the bushes on my right side. I heard the barking of a dog and I stood up on the bench. Jork appeared from the bushes and he was barking like a dog. He was an unrepentant comedian. He was just about to burst from laughter. When he finished laughing he looked at the German Shephard. He immediately got an idea.

“Look, it’ll be fun!”

He took a small stick from the ground and hid behind a thick tree. When the German Shephard ran for the stick that his owner threw, Jork immediately threw his stick into the distance. The dog ran crazily after Jork’s stick and when he ran back he moved his ears and one moment he looked at his owner in excitement and the other at Jork. Finally, he brought the stick back to Jork. But Jork could still not be seen because he was hidden behind the tree. The owner of the dog looked confused at the location of the tree and called his dog: “Roky, here!” Roky ran to his owner and then a stick appeared again from behind the tree. This frustrated the owner of Roky so much that he headed towards the tree. The dog turned back and ran for it. When he came there he just stared confused in all direction because he couldn’t see anyone. I realized that Jork was no longer there and he didn’t appear later either. I remained sitting on the bench alone and also didn’t understand today’s comedy. That’s how I had time for myself and my thoughts. I slowly walked up and down the park and then headed back home. Kerta was almost empty anyway. Maybe a lot people also come here to sort out their thoughts and rest. Except of course Jork who only came here to do pranks. He’s an eternal child. In the evening I watched the news and they were talking about how our town planned to reconstruct and rearrange our entire park. Apparently, it would be a weekend place for families to spend time just like before. I looked at my phone and I was in the mood to call my boss and tell him that I had had enough and that he could train Diana alone. I didn’t intend to serve as a tool for someone. But eventually I told myself that I would hang on till the end of the week regardless of everything. It was Friday morning and I had a nervous stomach ever since the morning concerning what would happen at work. I knew that the deciding day had come. Maybe it would even be my last work day in this insurance company. I hadn’t even eaten breakfast and just headed on foot to our insurance company. Zuzana was just like always standing on the balcony and she was smoking one cigarette after the other because she wouldn’t have time to do so during work. I went upstairs and saw Diana preparing some papers.

“Hello Diana, what do you have there? Don’t tell me they’re the tests that I did as well!”

“Hi Branko, yeah. They’re the exact tests that you were complaining about before. I found them here on the table. I have no idea who put them here.”

Suddenly my boss walked into the office.

“Branko leave everything as it is and come with me, we’re going to a meeting.”

I looked at him in surprise but didn’t contradict him. I entered the hallway after him and followed him downstairs. We got into a black Octavia and headed down the road to Košice. To my surprise we actually arrived in Košice. It was ten in the morning and when we took the lift upstairs in an administrative building my heart began to beat like a bell because I didn’t know what to expect from the situation. We stopped on the seventh floor and entered a glass door. There were five people sitting in the office, three women and two older men.

“Oh, you’re here already” said the older man in a black suit and he signalled to me that I should follow him to the next door. And that’s what I did. He sat me into a leather seat across his table and started to talk:

“So, I’ll just introduce myself. I’m the chief director of this insurance company. I’m basically your lead boss. In our insurance company there’s currently a bit of restructuration going on as well as some changes in positions. Some of us are already going on pension. I called you in today because I personally went through the tests that you did a few days ago. You may or may not be surprised but I personally sent them in so that I could check you out in a positive sense of the word.”

I sat motionlessly, not moving a single muscle. I considered what exactly I did wrong to have to be in this place and in this chair.

“All of us here have looked at your papers and we have decided that you are a suitable candidate for the position of the director in your company. And your current boss-director will take over my position and become the chief director. So that’s the change that will happen in your department. Already today you will get a company car, a laptop and also a company phone. From tomorrow on you’ll be in charge of the department in Michalovce.”

All this time I was staring at him with my eyes wide open and I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I was going to become the director of our insurance company. And here I was thinking that they would sack me and write bad references for me. The truth is that there was no reason to think that, but I expected that to happen. In my life I always expected the bad first and then the good only in the last option. And now?! I was in shock. I really didn’t expect this. I’ll return today already as the director in a new Octavia. These amazing things. Who or what should I thank for this?

I spent the weekend with friends, we celebrated my promotion and it was a lot of fun. But not as much as with Jork. Oh Jork! I almost forgot. He was the one who was constantly asking me what I wanted to change in my life. The whole time I was telling him how my job was suffocating me and how I wanted to get promoted. He kept asking about it constantly. My friend Jork, the comedian from my youth, the one who was always the most popular in Kerta. I had to tell him the news. I had to tell him. And actually-even thank him! Is it possible that Jork was behind this miracle? That he managed to do all of this? If it was true, then I had to see him immediately and thank him for this miracle. When I arrived from Košice I first stopped by at the insurance company. When I entered the room, Diana approached me first: “Good afternoon Director, how are you today?”

“But Diana, since when are we so formal, we’ve always been so casual.”

“Yes, but this is a matter of etiquette. You are now my superior and that demands certain rules and attitude. We have to be formal due to ethical reasons and matters of principles.”

I stood in the middle of the office and Zuzana with the secretary were also staring at me but didn’t say anything.

“Alright, if you want to be formal then be so but I want everything to stay the same in this office as it was. I don’t intend to apply any new methods, and everyone knows what their job is, and they can handle it flawlessly so there’s no need to make a big deal of it.” I stayed a bit longer in the office and then I headed home. At home I sat on my couch in the living room and tried to let it all sink it. Me, the director. Unbelievable. It was quiet in the flat and I didn’t turn on the radio or the television. I was really exhausted from today’s surprises. My head started to be full of thoughts and that’s why I went out for a walk. I crossed the bridge and my thoughts became clearer. All of this is Jork’s doing. He managed to do all of this even though I didn’t know how. When we were kids we often went to Kerta with our parents and friends and one day Jork appeared on the shore of Laborec river. He was small like us and when we got to know him he was about seven. Till this day I remember that every time that I asked him what his name was and where he lived he always pointed at the water and said Jork, Jork. He couldn’t say anything else then. It was a lot of fun to be with him and he was always up to some mischief and he was also brave enough to go where other children were afraid to. He was always in front of you. Sometimes his circus-like tricks were really incredible. He was unbelievably quick and not afraid of water, it seemed as if he was at home in it. Just like today even then he did not have any hair. His parents were never with him, that’s if he had any in the first place. He was willing to listen to everyone even if someone was talking nonsense. When talking to a person Jork always looked at their forehead as if he was reading something from it. Jork was the best friend which then and now a person could have. He was willing to listen and not interrupt. Nowadays he has lots of questions which don’t make a lot of sense. He often asks things and has eternal questions in store. Jork wasn’t really different from other kids except for a few details. His ears were a bit pointier and looked like the ears of a small bat. His skin had a green shade and his eyes were black as coal. Now it was clear to me that Jork was never a perfect child because his appearance remained the same as when we knew him. Jork didn’t age. He just had more and more questions. Jork was never a person and I have the feeling that he never wanted to become one. But I didn’t know one thing. That he had the power to fulfil dreams. If only I had known that. I have no idea where his home was or if he even had one. Where he walked at night or what he ate. Even though I never saw him eat anything. Jork is from a different world. He’s from a world which is so close to us, yet which is invisible. Jork is the biggest friend that I had. Once again, I was walking past the church behind which the Kerta Park spread. I entered the park and at that time some people were walking around. The grass was mowed and in the distance on the opposite side I saw a few workers leaving in orange vests and with lawn mowers in their hands. I casually walked the old paths and waited for Jork to appear from somewhere. I sat on a bench. It was located relatively close to the stone stairs that led to the water. I sat on the bench and still nothing. Other people appeared that came here for a walk. It was getting dark. I wasn’t in the mood to keep sitting on the bench and so I moved to the stone stairs and looked at the water below. Suddenly I started to have a guilty conscience. I was so selfish. If only I had known that Jork had such power to fulfil everything I wanted I would have wished for something different. Not something for me, but for others who needed it. I would have actually wished something for the whole world. If Jork had such power, he would have been able to make it happen. He was able to make a miracle happen and I was promoted to be a director. It was very selfish of me. I’m such a donkey. I should have wished for something different. What if Jork was able to fulfill only one wish? Then that would mean that I was the biggest idiot in the world.I went down to the water, looked in every direction and couldn’t see anything. So, I went slowly up the stone stairs. Suddenly I heard a splash behind my back as if something jumped into the water. I turned around and only saw dark water. When I walked across Kerta I had a guilty conscience and a wish at the same time. I heard Jork’s laughter in the trees and the spring breeze. I saw how he was looking at me from behind the big trees. I saw him hiding in the bushes trying to imitate the barking of a dog. I saw him running across the park at the speed of sound. It seemed as if he was coming to me and laughing through his small sharp teeth. I saw him only in my memories. Today Jork didn’t come. He didn’t come to ask me about my life or anything that was difficult or insolvable for me. I left Kerta and returned home. The following year Jork didn’t appear at all. I visited Kerta lots of times and I will continue going there till I’m old, till Jork will appear and till I could talk to my old friend. I will continue going there till I’d be old, and my legs wouldn’t work as they used to. I will always find time and go to Kerta to get rid of my guilty conscience from the selfishness of my wishes. I would wait for the day and come to the places where we met in our childhood. The places where I had happy memories about my friend Jork. The small comedian who knew how to make every person laugh and shock them with his pranks. Jork is the biggest friend of all of us.

I have a secret wish for the whole world. But I will only tell it to Jork.