gesticulate in the background. One of them notices Kilian, whoâs dared to come a bit closer, still holding fast to Judithâs sleeve, and he taps the beautiful one on the shoulder. âCome on Marco, thereâs a kid! And Muratâs uncle, man!â Marcoâthe name sounds like vacation packages and celebrity crushesâreturns to his cronies, making a contemptuous gesture. Judith stares at the hair, sticky with spray-on color, the black streaks on foreheads and cheeks. They fidget before the window, their long, narrow limbs in constant motion, prancing right, then left, turning and jostling each other, almost as if some dull beat was thudding inside of them, forcing them to dance and flop around. They were raised on morning television, Judith thinks. Then she watches as Kilian heedlessly lets the gnawed apple fall to the ground and takes a step away from her, up to the glass. Marco grabs a limp, dirt-colored mask from one of the Turks and stuffs it over his head. Huge eyes stare from the pumpkin-face, and the familiar, vertically-striped fruit displays a tangle of angrily bared teeth, all made of Chinese plastic. Even though the other boy immediately tears the mask back off, yelling, âQuit it with the bullshit, man!â in Marcoâs face, Kilian flees into Judithâs arms with a soft cry of terror and begins to whimper. She picks Kilian up, presses her face into his warm neck, and murmurs, âBoo-boo go away,â even though he hasnât actually been hurt. She feels like smashing her fist through the glass and sending a shower of glass shards down on them. âHey kiddo, itâs only Hassan. Itâs just for fun, see? Just Halloween.â Murat slinks over from the side, visibly embarrassed, and waves a banana. Kilianâs face remains buried in Judithâs jacket. Nâzim opens the door: âMuratâs busy! Take your nonsense somewhere else, people are trying to work here. Beat it!â The boys are visibly shaken by the stream of Turkish that follows. Nâzim closes the door forcefully, to the accompaniment of the glockenspielâs frenzied tinkle. Judith wipes Kilianâs nose, shows him the embroidered rose on her handkerchief, and he begins to smile again. Judith catches a final glance of Marco through the window. He walks slowly, not rattled in the slightest, straightens his cap, shakes out the legs of his pants. His tongue pokes around his mouth, pushing out his fuzzy cheeks; he grins and calls over his shoulder: âJust wait an hour, manâthen weâll have a real party.â Murat looks out from behind the counter with a sheep-like expression. Nâzim hands Judith the greens for the soup, which heâs wrapped in brown paper. âIâm so sorry. Theyâre just dumb kids.â Kilian grips his basket tight. Judith lays a few coins by the old-fashioned cash register and leaves the shop.
Leonie
Leonie opens the dishwasher and puts in the two soup bowls. Little pasta ghosts still cling to the sides, the remains of a bag of instant Halloween soup: a consolation prize for Lisa, who was in fact delighted to fish ghosts out of the much-too-tomatoey-smelling liquid, and thereby gradually forgot her defeat. Leonie threw in a package of colorful plastic spiders sheâd gotten at the discount store as a bonus. With the distribution of the creepy animals, the washing off of makeup in the bathtub, and dinnertime, the night passes quickly. Feliciaâs swollen lips shine under a layer of ointment; she wheezes, open-mouthed, her breath warm and smelling of childrenâs toothpaste. Lisa is completely exposedâher nightgown has ridden up to her chest, showing her skinny legs, which are long and tight with muscles. Blue and purple bruises, the marks of monkey bars and bike crashes, dot the fair skin of her legs. A pair of underpants with cat faces covers her hairless crotch. It would be so easy to destroy her, Leonie thinksâit