That night, I slept with Mihai, the student that worked part time with us. He was very talkative and, of course, we discussed about the newcomers.
?Your pretty aunt found her godmother,"? he quoted a Romanian saying.
?What you mean?"?
?Olga always answers back at her. However, I like your aunt: she grips to her position like a lioness. Therefore, Olga looks for another argument to push Mira around, and so on... I learned about this behavior in college: it is called social Darwinism."?
?Social, what?!"?
?Never mind! If things go like that, sooner or later, one of them will finish by prevail on the other one. The bigger ferment will eat the smaller one..."? ? he said, snapping his fingers.
I didn?t understand all of his words, but I understood what he meant. It is then that I had this strange thought for the first time: and what if my aunt and Olga...
I asked:
?Do you think they?ll get to... you know..."?
?As far as I know your aunt, yes. And Olga doesn?t seem a weakling, either..."?
?You mean... They would even fight?"? ? I asked, as a weird feeling traversed me from head to toes. My heart began to pound and I felt a sudden discharge of drool in my mouth as I imagined the possibility that my aunt could fight the other woman.
?They would. They would and it?s gonna be an ugly fight."?
?Ugly? Why?"?
?Because your aunt had done it before,"? said Mihai, telling me what happened some four years ago, when Mira herself was hired. Mr. Vasilescu?s superintendent was a certain Larisa, a big brunette known as Madame because of her haughty attitude. Six months after Mira?s hiring, everybody realized that there was no way that she and Larisa could get along. In fact, it was obvious that they would settle their differences in a fight. The servants told Mr. Vasilescu about it, but he said that the two women should have it their way. One night, the two have fought on the hallway, under the eyes of all the servants. Larisa, aged 35, was very good but my aunt proved better with her fists, obliging the other woman to scratch and to bite. However, this didn?t help Larisa too much and, when Vasilescu came along, my aunt was already having a definite upper hand ? she had cornered her foe and she was pummeling her mercilessly.
?The fight had got out of hand by then and we all knew it, but Mr. Vasilescu showed no intention of stopping it. To say the truth, we liked it, we liked it very much, especially when seeing that your aunt was beating Madame to a pulp. Madame did her best to fight back and she tried to kick your aunt, but your aunt got her by the ankle ? I remember this as if it happened yesterday ? so, your aunt kept Madame?s leg up and she kicked her, right in the *****. Poor Madame crumpled to the floor and, from then on, your aunt took her time to finish her up. We were so excited by the whole situation that we didn?t realize that your aunt was very, very furious. She ended the fight by placing Madame?s face against a threshold and stomping her in the back of the head. It?s only when Madame erected her long legs in spasms and pissed herself that we took your aunt off her."?
?What happened to Madame?"? ? I asked, unable to believe my ears.
?We took her away in a blanket. We rushed her to the Iasi Hospital. She never came back. Your aunt has that scar on the forehead after that fight."?
I was terrified. But, on the other hand, I could not refrain from feeling a strange pleasure, a mix of fear and desire, when imagining my aunt fight this unknown woman. Instantly, the prospect of Mira having to fight Olga made me see the whole situation under a new, most exciting angle. How far would they go and who stood more chances, I asked myself, feeling shudders along my spine.
?You think that my aunt and Olga would fight that ugly too?"? ? I asked Mihai then.
?Look at their faces and you?ll get your answer."?
The next morning, my aunt and Olga had another argument. It had something to do with Rurak?s meals which had to be prepared in time before the two men left for the hunting party. It seems that the kitchen had never been so crowded with cooks and servants, since Olga insisted that her people HAD to prepare Rurak?s meals by themselves. On the other hand, I heard that my aunt backed off in front of Olga, who literally forced her way into the kitchen, ahead of her cooks.
Could that mean that Olga scared my aunt? ? I asked myself. Could that mean that Olga was the bigger ferment, as Mihai put it? The thought made me shudder, again... I found the answer to this question a little bit later.
Being responsible with the horses, I joined the hunting party in the deep forest around the property. As I was to find out, the two rich men knew what was going on between their superintendents. During the lunch, I heard Mr. Rurak say:
?You must know that Olga is very stubborn. My guess is that your superintendent did a smart thing by backing off this morning..."?
?Don?t be mistaken,"? smiled Mr. Vasilescu. ?I told her to let Olga have it her way... I care a lot for my superintendent. She is the best I ever had and I don?t want her to get into trouble with the Police, or things like that..."?
Mr. Rurak lit a cigarette.
?Really?"? he asked. ?Is this the only thing that scares you about her?"?
?Yes. She is very good at managing my property but I don?t know how good she?d be if they start to interrogate her at the Police Station... So, I?ll have to pay for good lawyers and good lawyers mean a lot of money. You know the drill."?
?How strange!"? puffed Rurak. ?I thought that Olga scared her."?
?No, no, no... Yesterday, Mira told me that she wants to teach your superintendent a hard lesson but I told her to leave Olga alone."?
?I see..."? said Mr. Rurak, thoughtfully. ?But, tell me, who do you think would call for the Police if things get out of hand?"?
?You. Your staff. I don?t know. I simply want to avoid this."?
Rurak took a deep drag on his cigarette.
?And what if I promised you that I?d never call for the Police?"?
I had to leave then, as one of Rurak?s bodyguards realized that I stood there doing nothing. I went to the other servants and, deeply impressed by the two men?s conversation, I began to think... My strong aunt and big Olga... ready to fight... traits contorted in fury... arms raised and eyes throwing flares...
Who would prevail? The strong younger woman, or the elder and heavier one?