For a moment, she was beautiful

Author: Eva Bajgerova/Ms. Zapasnikova
Location: Usti nad Labem
Ms. Zapasnikova is about fifty, a simple woman but a great storyteller.
She told me this story in my office, where she likes to come. She always tells me something new and interesting.
"I was about fifteen when some boys from our village were playing in a cafe in Rimavska Sobota. I came along to sing. I put on these pants that were tight around the hips but large around the ankles.”
“Ms. Zapasnikova: we used to call them bell-bottoms,” I interrupted.
“That’s right, sweetie.” This is what she often calls me.
“With those pants, I put on a long blazer, down to my knees. I had long hair, smoothly brushed. And I began to sing. When I finished, everyone told me I sing like Helena Vondrackova.” Helena Vondrackova was a pop star in the seventies. “I wasn’t a great fan of hers, but that’s what they said. One day some important gentlemen came into the cafe.”
“How could you tell they were important?” I asked.
“Well, sweetie, they wore these big hats. I sang and they applauded. I’ll bet they liked me – but I was too young, and mother kept close watch over me. A few days later, I got a letter inviting me to Bratislava for a singing contest. The boys from my village and I went. Butthey got drunk. I saw the director and I asked: ‘What did you do to them? They’re drunk.'”
“So you didn’t get to do your performance?” I asked.
“No, sweetie: the director gave me a different band to sing with.”
“What was their name?”
“It was Drupi, sweetie.” Drupi was a popular Italian singer of that time. “He could play a guitar. And what a handsome guy! That’s right. I sang with Drupi. I wore another pretty pant suit and everyone applauded and said that I sang like Helena Vondrackova. They didn’t even want her. They wanted me!”
She left my office with a beautiful smile on her face. I couldn’t tell her that she had lied, that it was just her dream. She is a woman with a lot of problems, but for a moment she was beautiful, famous, and respected.