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22:51 TODAY

Businessman Artur Shehu breaks his silence: I am a long-time land owner in Zvërnec, I don't know the investors at all

Albanian businessman Artur Shehu spoke on the Opinion show...

From Agim Xhafka/ BROKEN LOVE

2024-09-22 11:40:00, Kulturë CNA

Dawn Xhafka

He was about to lie down to sleep when he heard the phone ring. At midnight, Marieta got scared. At this hour only bad news comes to the door, she remembered a saying of her mother. Grabbed the phone, read on the screen, Raqi. Phew, calmed down. He threw her on the sofa and went to the bedroom. The bell did not stop, but Marieta covered herself with a quilt and fell asleep. Until morning, he remembered everything but Raqi.

Raqi, or Sotiraqi as she called him at first, was her husband. In fact, it is the former today that they broke up quickly, after a few months of marriage. Marieta met him at the university. He was studying medicine, she was studying literature, but they were introduced by Raq's sister, who lived in a dormitory with Marieta. From the first acquaintance, the heart was pounding. They went as a couple. Tall, agile, smart, beautiful. They did not wait and opened the engagement. They left the wedding after graduating from college. As soon as Raqi finished medicine, he came to Tirana again for specialization, he was going to become a surgeon. And they finished university in the same year, except that Marieta was three years younger. Raqi started working in a hospital, Marieta in high school, literature teacher. After a few months they got married. With a wedding full of joy, Raq's company set fire to it that night. Everyone was happy. Then life entered into the obligations of work and family. Fatigue, commitments, but full of joy and peace at home. Until one day, the phone in the corridor did not announce the emergency of the hospital.

- We are talking to you from the police. Robert, your wife's father, has been arrested for agitation and propaganda.

In those days this accusation was equal to death. Not only for the one being arrested, but for the entire tribe. Raqi let the phone fall to the ground, held it against the wall. He didn't tell Marietta, but she heard everything. He sat down in the armchair pale. After two minutes he passed out. Raqi was scared, she was pregnant. He sprinkled her with a glass of water and they didn't speak until morning. When Marieta woke up, she kept running to her parents' house. He met his mother who was pulling out her hair and tearing her cheeks. He also learned the second lesson. They had also arrested the brother, he had just entered the gymnasium.

- Oh my god, keep my mind, - I cried internally.

He didn't go to work. He was found by his mother and learned from some cousins ??that his father was being accused, he wanted to invade the party committee, the son was a collaborator. She could not connect the accusation with her father. He didn't kill a single fly in the kitchen, and he never made a dirty word. They were proud that he was knowledgeable, prudent, kind. His anxiety was increasing because his brother was not being released. Even though he was a minor. Who knows what he is experiencing, thought Marieta.

Meanwhile, his eyes remained on the door. He was waiting for his brother, but also for Raq. She needed to cry to him, lean on her husband and cry, to be relieved somehow. But no one was knocking. He called her in the evening.

- Raqi, did you have many operations today?

On the other side.

- Are you coming to get me, or...

-Mariet, it's good to stay with your mother. I filed for divorce today.

-Huh?

But on the other side it was heard, pip, pip... From inside, it seemed as if a strong hand took away his heart and lungs. His chest remained empty. He didn't say anything to his mother, he had a lot of work to do. After a few months, the father and brother were sentenced to 15 years each. Marietta was fired from her job as a teacher, luckily they left her in the city. She worked in the municipality as a flower garden maintainer. Raqi did not live for a single day, the operations continued and people praised him as a surgeon. The mother got tired and took the bed. Every month, Marieta took the roads to Ballshi prison. He brought some food and some clothes, and that one hour with his father and brother was as delicious as the chocolate his aunt gave him when his brother-in-law brought it from America.

But there were also beautiful days. Violet was born, the beautiful daughter with blue eyes. The granddaughter stood up and Marietta's mother. He started to deal with the girl and his eyes brightened a little. He notified Raq, but he did not appear for Vjollca. He was not surprised. Dava the coward, sealed the thought to him.

One afternoon, my aunt came to visit.

- Did you understand, my? Raq's father was put in prison. They accuse him of agitation and propaganda, just like him.

Marieta was surprised, but not happy. God is not late, he said. The years flew by, Vjollca grew up, Marieta got in touch with Guri, her school friend. And the one with father in prison. He could not go to university, they did not allow him. He dreamed of becoming an engineer, he became an electrician. He didn't love him like Raqin, but he adored him for his behavior, respect and honor. When Vjollca called Guri, daddy, it was the most natural thing. Raq was taken by a doctor to the highlands, he came to the city once every two or three months. Marieta almost forgot. Now even when he saw Vjollca by her side, he always thought of Guri. Like a real biological father. But when evil comes, it opens the door, people say. The father died in prison. The brother got out before he was sentenced. When communism was overthrown, prisons were opened and he held his breath in Thessaloniki. The stone was caught by the current on top of an electric pole and remained there for several hours. There were years of chaos, no one knew how the state was going. Marieta remained with Vjollca between the four walls. He was almost depressed, but teenager Vjollca brought him to his senses. Fate brought her back to the school where she was a teacher. Raqi also came down from the highlands, started operations and apparently received money because he quickly built a villa far from the city and opened some shops in the center. One morning he went to Vjollca's school.

- I am your father, - he said.

- You have been a father even these past years, - she laughed.

Then he knocked on Marietta's school.

- Why don't we get together again? - said.

-Macchiato are we? - replied Marieta. -You coffee and I milk?

Raqi did not know how to continue the conversation further. He saw that he could not succeed with words, so he started the "war" with text messages. Yes, Marieta every time brought to mind the formula of union in marriage, "in sickness and in need"... Thus they swore and not a second was found. Friends, colleagues, tribe pressure to join. To throw away those who went. That he now has wealth, brings security, you have well-being, think about Vjollca...

But Marieta had sealed it. He did not want a man as a payer and as an insurance company. In her dreams, she thought of her husband as flesh and blood, with a big heart, strong shoulders, and a warm chest. This used to be Raqi, but now it is no more. Like that red apple at the top of the tree that pleases you with the color, shape and taste that it represents. But if it falls to the ground and rots, no one will pick it up with their hands. Step on it, crush it and move on...

The phone rang from the other side. It has become like a mosquito bite when it comes to your ear, she said angrily. He closed it tightly with his index finger and pressed it deep, as deep as possible into the bag. Gone like a butterfly to work, there to her literature...