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The following story is based on a criminal case Jean Baudrilliard describes in his book "Der unmögliche Tausch", Merve Verlag Berlin 2000, English: The impossible exchange. It is also based on the fact that the term "life long imprisonment" actually means 15-20 years of imprisonment.)

The old man who is looking at these houses has just been released out of prison. He has spent more than half of his life inside and he has now come to see his former mistress. He has not been in touch with her for many years, but even so he is surprised to see that her house is gone. The only thing left are stains of white paint on the wall. It used to be a small two storey house where she lived with two cats and many plants. He had met her in a café not far from this house where she used to go for lunch every day. He had gone there one day to meet a dealer whom he wanted to do some illegal transactions with. The dealer never came, instead a young woman involved him into a conversation, asking where he was from and what a rich looking man like him was doing here. He tells her that he is waiting for a dealer to do business with. She starts laughing and asks what kind of business he does, pointing around the café which looks like it has seen better days, and that was a long time ago.


The man answers that he is doing illegal transactions. He tells her that he had failed his final exams to become a doctor and that he had never told his wife and his parents about it. He says that he makes his wife and children believe every morning he went to work at the hospital. The man starts sobbing and the café crowd gathers round the table where the man and the young woman are sitting. The young woman feels sorry for him, and so she takes him to her house.


They become lovers. They meet at the café for lunch every Wednesday and spend the afternoon at her house. After about a year the man stops coming to the café. She doesn't understand why. One morning she sees his photograph in the newspaper and the heading: "Mass murderer in court" in bold letters above it. The article reports about the case of Mr. Romans who is accused of murdering his wife, children and parents. A reporter arrives to ask the young woman some questions: "Wasn't she scared to be the lover of a murderer? Wasn't she glad that he was going to prison now so she was safe?" The young woman answers that she had always been safe because she had known the truth about her lover's life from the start.

[Tina Schimansky © 2005]


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