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PARTISAN REVIEW
He destroyed it. Ilka Leipke was enraged. She said that Mechenmal was
coarse. The little man had soothed her with loving caresses. Later he sat
down at the girl's writing table. He took a piece of stationery and wrote:
To
Kuno Kohn.
Miss Lei pke, my bride, hereby lets you know that she gladly gives up
any further poems; they serve no purpose at all. My bride has told me
everything. Be assured that your courtship makes us laugh.
Max Mechenmal
When Mechenmal had mailed the letter he became restless. He was
afraid that he had handled things carelessly.
Kohn came back immediately. He went to Ilka Leipke. Showed her the
letter. Howling, he asked whether she had forgotten the night wi th him.
She said: "Yes." He moaned. He wept unintelligibly about soul and suicide.
Ilka Leipke showed him out. His weakness was annoying to her; even as a
child she could not watch anyone cry.
But she was angry at Mechenmal. She began to tease him about Kohn.
She claimed that Kohn had often been her guest, and she always found him
to be nice. Mechenmal considered her stories to be true. Now he hated
Kohn.
He considered how to get of the hunchback, without being known as
the one who got rid of him.
It
did not take him long to come up with a
plan. Kohn died on a Sunday, suddenly, but without strange circumstances.
His body was released for burial without any difficulty. In the newspaper
The Other A
Theo Tontod provided a short obituary. And the Clou Club
sent a wreath. Ilka Leipke had herself taken to observe the body before the
burial. The coffin was opened quickly. In it Kohn lay somewhat askew,
because of the hump. The features of his face were distorted in a grimace.
His hands were rolled-up lumps. Dried blood stuck to his nose and hung
over his opened mouth. Ilka Leipke overcame her disgust. She had gaso–
line brought, took a little silk scarf out of her dainty handbag and dipped
it in the gasoline container. She cleaned the dead nose wi th the little scarf.
Then she left. Calm and weeping. Content with her goodness.
When Mechenmal heard of Kohn's death, he was very frightened. He
could not bear his room. He left the house quickly, not without first hav–
ing
Ii
t a cigarette. Church bells were ringing from the sunny sky.
Mechenmal was cold and pale. He kept thinking: if only it doesn't come
