Out running in the park.

One night, however, Nikolett didn’t enter the bathroom. Zoltán was already lying in bed, waiting for her to return home. The TV was on at a low volume, but Zoltán wasn’t paying attention to the program. He heard her enter the flat, kick off her shoes, and head straight for the bathroom. There she paused. She changed direction; Zoltán heard her walking towards the bedroom door. Then she stopped. Zoltán could hear her breathing, but maybe it was just his imagination. There was a long stretch of silence, and Zoltán started to doubt she was out there. Maybe he’d just fallen asleep and dreamt the whole thing. Maybe she was still out there, outrunning the police.

‘Turn off the TV!’ said the girl in a hoarse, raw voice.

Zoltán reached for the controller, but his hand stopped in mid-air. If he turned off the TV, he would admit to being awake. A thought crossed his mind: maybe he should pretend to be asleep, like the prey that feigns death when the predator approaches. He found this thought dreadful. Nikolett was his girlfriend, they lived in a healthy relationship, in almost complete emotional and financial interdependence. What reason could there be for lying in a relationship like theirs?

Zoltán turned off the television. He went blind in the sudden darkness. He shrank under the blanket, like someone anticipating an attack. The door opened with a quiet creak, and Nikolett entered. The room felt hotter. Zoltán wanted to neutralize the tension with a joke, or ask a meaningless question like ‘How was the run?’ or ‘Home so soon?’, but he decided to remain silent instead.

The girl cuddled up to him in bed. She was naked, her skin hot and sweaty. She pressed herself against Zoltán, tightly and possessively. Zoltán suddenly felt sick because over Nikolett’s usual smell he could smell something else, something he only perceived with the animal part of his brain and couldn’t put into words. The smell of power, the scent the body discharges when it has conquered something, when it wants to declare its superiority over other animals.

That was what he smelled, and the stink of a wet dog too.

Nikolett kissed the boy’s face. It wasn’t an act of love, but an animal sniffing its mate. Her mouth smelled of blood, and Zoltán thought about the pain of the bite that would be coming soon. He anticipated the sharp pain because he knew Nikolett was going to bite him with her already bloodied teeth.

Zoltán let the girl do whatever she wanted with him. She used him like he was an object, a subordinate. He had no say in what happened in the following hour, he had to take every bit of pain and joy soundlessly.