24 Feb ALDEIA – 23 FEBRUARY 2020 – MIMI

Mimi has oppressed Momo for all his life. Maybe she didn’t oppress him, but she managed him in all ways possible… 

Mimi’s actual name was Maria and Momo’s Aurelian. If Mimi came from Maria, I never knew where Momo came from. 

Mimi never went to school. She didn’t read the newspaper that Momo devoured every morning or even watched TV.

Momo was only allowed to turn on the TV for an hour a day and that was only for the news. 

Mimi never talked about politics, economics or history, just about my dad and her neighbor, Tinca. She didn’t actually talk because she wasn’t addressing to anyone, she was talking about them to herself with a loud voice. 

She was calling my father by his last name, Voicu, while Tinca was just Tinca.

Mimi was spending her time looking out of the window or standing still on the balcony with a faraway look on the face. 

I never knew if she was meditating or thinking about anything.

If I try to imagine what might have been thinking, my imagination is hitting a wall and drop flat down. 

Mimi was a housewife and almost never left the house.

Everyone thought she was crazy, but she was very calm and reconciled with herself.

Only with Momo she had something and didn’t give him peace at all. In fact, he was giving him too much peace for how active he was. 

Mimi was not sleeping laid but supported by two pillows at a 45-degree angle. She said she was choking and not wanting to die suffocated. That’s how she was making Momo sleep also.

When she ate, she was standing and his hand was the fork. Just after she was finishing eating, she sat down in the chair. She said that “the food must fall from a higher place to settle down good.”

Mimi had two daughters, Aunt Gabi, and my mom. She was calling auntie Gabi, “The Queenie” and my mother simply “Aura.”

My mother looked like Momo, to whom she took her name, Aurelia. Just like Momo, Mimi didn’t give much credit to my mom.

When the postman came and brought Momo’s pension, he wouldn’t touch it and leave it scattered on the dining room table. Mimi managed the finances.

In Bahia, it rains nicely. A little bird nested in the roof of our house. She hatched for a few days two tiny eggs from which two chirping souls came out.

Every morning we are drinking our coffee with our eyes on them. Dad and mom is bringing them food one at a time.

The little birds seem to be going into a trance, shaking from all their body with beaks wide open. 

Mimi died a few years ago, almost 94 years old.

Otherwise, nothing, all good…  

***

MIMI

Mimi l-a asuprit toata viata pe Momo. Poate ca nu l-a asuprit dar l-a dirijat in toate.

Pe Mimi o chema Maria de fapt iar pe Momo, Aurelian.

Daca Mimi vine de la Maria, n-am stiut niciodata de unde-a derivat Momo. Mimi nu a fost niciodata la scoala.

Nu citea nici macar ziarul pe care Momo-l devora in fiecare dimineata si nici nu se uita la televizor.

Momo avea voie sa deschida televizorul doar o ora pe zi si asta doar la stiri. Mimi nu discuta despre politica, economie sau istorie, dicuta doar despre tata si vecina Tinca. Nu discuta de fapt pentru ca nu se adresa nimanui, vorbea singura despre ei, si asta din cand in cand.

Lui tata-i zicea dupa numele de familie, Voicu, pe cand Tinca era doar Tinca.

Mimi-si petrecea timpul uitandu-se pe fereastra sau stand nemiscata pe balcon cu privirea pierduta in zare.

N-am stiut niciodata daca mediteaza sau se gandeste la ceva.

Daca incerc sa-mi imaginez la ce s-ar fi putut gandi, imaginatia mi se loveste de un zid si se prelinge sparta in siroaie.

Mimi a fost casnica si n-a iesit aproape niciodata din casa.

Toata lumea o considera nebuna, dar ea era foarte calma si impacata cu ea. Numai cu Momo avea ceva si nu-i dadea pace. De fapt ii dadea prea multa pace pentru cat era el de activ.

Mimi nu dormea intinsa ci sprijinita de doua perne, la un unghi de 45 de grade. Spunea ca se ineaca si nu vrea sa moara sufocata. Asa-l obliga si pe Momo sa doarma.

Cand manca statea in picioare si mana-i era furculita. Dupa ce termina de mancat se aseza pe scaun.

Spunea ca “mancarea trebuie sa cada mai de sus ca sa se aseze bine”.

Mimi a avut doua fete, pe Tanti Gabi si pe mama. Lui Tanti Gabi-i spunea “Reginica” iar mamei-i spunea simplu “Aura”.

Mama semana cu Momo, caruia i-a si preluat numele, Aurelia. Exact ca si lui Momo, Mimi nu-i dadea prea mult credit mamei.

Cand postasul venea si-i aducea pensia lui Momo, el nu o atingea si o lasa rasfirata pe masa din sufragerie. Mimi gestiona finantele.

In Bahia ploua frumos. O pasarica mica si-a facut cuib in acoperisul latos al casei noastre. A clocit cateva zile doua oua minuscule din care au iesit doua suflete ciripitoare.

In fiecare dimineata ne bem cafeaua cu ochii la ele. De mancare le aduce si tata si mama, pe rand.

Puii parca intra in transa, tremurand cu ciocurile larg deschise.

Mimi a murit acum cativa ani, la aproape 94 de ani.

In rest, nimic, toate bune…