Heaven Tastes Like Peaches

"I'll give you an Arab millionaire!" Konrad was indignant. He really felt annoyed, although he knew that Sławek was joking. "He's too old for you," he grunted. "Too old."

Sławek smiled at him a bit mischievously and a bit coquettishly. His eyes were smiling too. He looked so wonderfully attractive at that moment that Konrad had a hard time trying not to pounce on him.

But why should he hold back?

"It was a crazy day," he began.

"Very."

"And exciting."

"Come on."

"What if I just pumped it up a little more?"

"Pump it up? How?"

"You know" Konrad moved a little closer and tilted conspiratorially "if we had jumped into bed a little earlier..."

"I am not tired."

"That's good. We'll be able to..."

"Sławek!!! Sławek, are you there?!!"

They both jumped at the call coming from the courtyard. For a moment, Skalski had the impression that his heart would pop out of his chest, he was so surprised.

"Really," he groaned, "so that at such a moment..."

Domejczuk chuckled and, passing him on the way to the door, patted his shoulder.

"That little brat..."

Konrad recognized that the voice belonged to the young neighbor of the Domejczuk family. Maybe that voice was not characteristic, but Inga was the only minor he knew in the area and his potential rival, so he recognized her right away. In addition, this brat interrupted them at such a moment!

Very unpleasant thoughts started wandering in his head, what would he do to this little girl when he got her without Sławek, and throwing in the nettles was the most delicate idea.

When he calmed down enough to face the girl without risking it ending up reddening from nettles on her little body, he went outside. It happened exactly at the moment when Sławek was waving her goodbye. He turned towards the house and lifted the net in a triumphant gesture.

Konrad's mood changed completely in an instant. He was not a gourmet, he used homemade jam, especially from juicy cherries from the Domejczuk orchard, but he had felt like it since he heard about it for the first time.

"Show me," he looked at the net.

There were a couple of jars inside. He took one of them out and examined it in the daylight. It was so dark that it was almost black and he could see a lot of fruit against the light.

"We will eat supper" decided Sławek. "With fresh rolls. Let's go to the bakery!"

Skalski nodded. The prospect of fresh rolls and homemade cherry jam was too tempting to resist.

***

During all the time Konrad spent with Sławek, Domejczuk left the house only a few times, always on Sundays, to go to church, visit the cemetery and pray for his grandfather's soul. Konrad, a Catholic only on paper, never accompanied him. Sławek used to lock himself in the studio and work on his pieta, and Skalski, bored, was shopping at that time. They were never in the village together. That is why he was a little surprised when, upon entering the bakery, the shop assistant smiled at him, not at the local Sławek. Of course, she greeted them both politely, but Konrad seemed to be more familiar to her.

At the beginning of his stay, Skalski visited a larger store with a large parking lot, but then out of laziness (he did not want to walk another five hundred meters) he entered this small one and it turned out that they had not only tasty bread, but also a slightly different, even more interesting assortment. That's why he started to come here more often. He probably even became a regular customer,

They did the shopping and said goodbye to the saleswoman. On their way out, they ran into an elderly lady.

"Oh, Sławek, it's good to see you" she said. "I was gonna come over and see how you were doing, but I didn't have time."

Konrad didn't like this woman at once. She addressed Sławek with superiority, as if she were God knows what important person. He appraised her with his gaze and immediately recognized that she was wearing a few years old suit of a poor quality, some cheap bazaar brand. And it's definitely not from a good bazaar. Her hair was cut short, unkempt, and her makeup cried out to heaven for vengeance. Of course, even at the age of eighteen, Konrad knew that people were not judged by their appearance, and certainly not by whether they wear expensive or cheap clothes (the best example is Sławek's wardrobe), but the tone of this woman made him feel avid.

"I'm so sorry about your grandfather's death." Even her condolences sounded like grace. "How are you doing?"

"Thank you, I'm fine," Sławek replied with a polite nod of the head.

"I haven't seen your name on the food package list. You should report to us. Maybe it's not much, but we try to help as much as we can."

Why did this woman sound so false? And why she spoke about such delicate matters like food support in public, in front of someone she didn't know at all."

"Thank you" Sławek looked embarrassed, to which he was very entitled. "I'm really doing well, and I don't need any gifts."

"You don't think it's a shame? Social assistance is there to help orphans..."

At this point, Konrad could not stand it. What a bastard!

"Sorry, madam," he said quite sharply. "I have no idea who you are, but don't you think that such talks should take place in more privet settings?

"I'm a social worker..." she was indignant.

"So you should have a bit of tact and professional discretion and contact Sławek by officially inviting him to the office or visiting him at home. Or maybe your office is a street?"

"And who are you to meddle?"

"I? Neither did you introduce yourself, although you saw that I am accompanying Sławek. But just for your information, I'm his manager. Sławek, do you need financial support from social welfare?"

"You know that I do not," he replied softly, but firmly.

"I know. For your information" he once again turned to the lady "Sławka's grandfather died a month ago. Where have you been during this time? Did you become interested then if a high school student is coping with the situation that has happened to him? Did you offer him material or psychological help then? I will tell you that I have seen many officials all over Europe and have never faced such blatant omission of duty. I'm tempted to file a complaint against you. It's once. Two. What tone do you address to people? Can you treat him as an underdeveloped child because Sławek is eighteen? Well, Sławek is an outstanding artist recognized abroad and in the coming month, indeed, week, you will begin to regret your behavior."

"What a cheeky puppy!"

"If you don't like my tone, why do you use it on others?"

"It's okay, Konrad, come on. Let's go okay? It's getting a crowd."

'Crowd' may have been too much to say, but a clerk with a customer came out of the store and another customer stopped a few steps in front of the entrance. Even an old gentleman, barely riding his bike, stopped and cocked his ears.

"Sorry," said Konrad, clearly not to the woman but to Sławek. "You're right. Let's go."