Dichter bij huis - Poet at home

37.             ‘Laat mij eerst in contact komen met Charles. Ik leg hem de situatie uit op mijn manier. Met de juiste aanpak, krijg ik hem wel aan onze kant.’             Na deze woorden van Frau Hofmeister en zeker daar ze steunde op de laatste woorden, wist Katarina dat ze een sterke bondgenoot had gevonden. De situatie was haar een beetje boven het hoofd gegroeid en ze wist echt niet meer wat ze nu moest beginnen.             ‘Bedankt, Frau Bertha. Ik zal dit niet vergeten. Je bent een echte vriendin van moeder…en ook van ons, is het niet, Jean-Pierre?’             Jean-Pierre knikte. Hij was ook blij om deze vrouw in zijn kamp te mogen verwelkomen. Gezien de mannen die voor haar werkten en de beveiliging van de villa, zou zi...

6                         There was one thing that seemed to be very strange. Kemir had heard of the raids of the Dulkas. But mostly they occurred at the border of the departments Westerend or Konteki and only once in a lifetime in Spira. Why had they traversed the whole Forest of Bandar to search for slaves in Kamardam? It was a common knowledge that the Dulka people had a sacred fear for this wood. They said that it was haunted and that a powerful witch put a spell on those who still dared to travel through it. Kemir didn’t believe in fairy tales, but he would be careful. There’s no smoke without fire and didn’t want to be ambushed unexpectedly. Not by a witch and not by robbers or anyone who made the forest unsecure. How hard he thought about it, he couldn’t find an explanation why they had overcome their fear.         ...

6             Er was één ding dat Kemir heel vreemd vond. Hij had ook al gehoord van de raids van de Dulka’s. Maar meestal gebeurden die juist aan de grens in de grensprovinciën Westoord of Konteki, een enkele keer in Spira. Waarom hadden ze het woud van Bandar volledig doorgetrokken om slaven te vinden in Kamardam? Het was algemeen geweten dat het Dulka volk een heilige vrees had voor het woud. Het zou er spoken en een machtige heks betoverde zij die het toch aandurfden om het bos te doorkruisen. Kemir geloofde niet echt in die sprookjes, maar zou toch maar uitkijken. Waar rook is, is soms ook vuur en hij wilde niet onverwachts overvallen worden. Niet door een heks of rovers, of wie het woud ook onveilig maakte.  Hoe diep hij ook nadacht waarom die monsters hun vrees hadden overwonnen, hij vond hierop geen uitleg.             Hij had echter gemakkelijk het spo...

9             He had grown up without a father. His mother spoke of his biological father in terms of good-for-nothing, son of a bitch, that piece of shit with his mind in his dick, because a good brain he had never had or it had to be situated between his legs. All these nicknames didn’t witness of ‘the big love’ between his parents. She had thrown his natural procreator out of the house, during the first months of his tender age. One day she had taken his guitar, together with all his beautiful songs and had thrown them out of the window of the second floor down on the street where he stood before a closed door. The man instantly did take the tip she shouted at him. ‘Hit the Road, Jack’. His father silently disappeared and they had never heard of him again. Considering his own skin color his father had to be a foreigner. It happened sometimes rascals from the neighborhood called him ‘Mongol’ behind his back. The times he pe...

13. The question                         Jean-Pierre smiled at the woman who shared his bed. ‘How personal can you get when you see me naked, and I’m recovering from the best sex I’ve ever had? Please, ask.’ He kissed her softly on the lips. It was a tender kiss that wasn’t to be compared to the ones they had given during their foreplay.             She caressed his cheek. ‘You know, nowadays everybody is so unrestrained so that sex is a lot more acceptable for conversation. Some say people talk more about their sex life than about their money. In fact, my question is about money.’             His affirmative nod confirmed he agreed with her statement. There were a lot of taboos that were broken the last twenty years. However the exposé of one’s financ...

36.             Na een kwartiertje hoorden Katarina en Jean-Pierre voetstappen naderen. De deur werd ontsloten en Frau Hofmeister stapte de kamer binnen. Ze keek heel streng en fluisterde iets tegen de jongeman die haar vergezelde. Het was de man die hen onthaald had aan de villa met zijn twee kompanen. Deze waren nu nergens te bespeuren.             ‘Frau Hofmeister, laat…,’ Katarina wou direct haar verhaal doen, maar werd door een kwade stem halt toegeroepen.             ‘Schweigen, Sie bitte! Ik zal dit niet herhalen. Je antwoord pas als je iets gevraagd wordt. Begrepen?’ Frau Hofmeister klonk niet meer als de vriendelijke goedlachse mevrouw die Jean-Pierre op Château Dauphin had ontmoet. Haar ogen schoten vuur en haar lippen waren in woede op elkaar geperst.    ...

5 France, 19 July 1556             ‘Jules, you’re not leaving again, are you? It’s already dark and the roads are dangerous at this hour. You know I don’t like it.’ Martine sighed. She knew her son wouldn’t listen. He wasn’t afraid as was his mother, who by nightfall closed the house very firmly and would let nobody in. They didn’t possess much and they lived from what they cultivated on their own. Some vegetables, potatoes and they also had a few goats for the milk. Jules sometimes worked in town and so one week they had a bit more than the other when he hadn’t a job to do. However, Martine was pleased with this situation. She was happy when they had something to eat and when they could warm the house.             Her son, on the other hand, was something else. The wealth of the gentlemen who were of noble birth had made him jealous and rebellious. She knew h...