THE THIRTEENTH
From the Na Společenstvu tavern, where he left Figura with two unfinished beers, Martin went off to the Družba bar, which, despite its actual name meaning ‘The Groomsman,’ was popularly known as Medvídek, i.e. ‘The Teddy Bear.’ Why, no one knew. Perhaps, someone was there once who looked like a teddy bear. Say, Eva Topolská, when she would snuggle up in the halflight on a well-worn chaise, she could be that teddy bear, to stroke, to whisper secrets to. She probably still has one somewhere. Grown up girls don’t throw them away; although they might forget them in an old apartment when moving. The more idiotic of them never do; they drag them around everywhere with them. A love of shaggy things and plush animals remains strong even among downright whores, who again and again a
