ARS No.4 year 2003

The population of Bileća consisted mostly of reserve officer school cadets, about a thousand of them. Each of the classes in the school, the winter class and the summer class, had the same number of cadets. Each class in Bileća stayed six months. I was a cadet in the seventh class.

Bileća was a small town. There was a tall mosque and a market-place in front of it. The main street was actually the only proper street in the town. The school and some houses were spread around, and the most visible building was the military camp. Bileća was a small Herzegovinian kasaba*. The military camp had the remnants of the mid-century fortified town.

Around a thousand healthy lads were always in Bileća, and only Fata was available to them. Fourteen classes of cadets courted Fata, but she would choose only one cadet from each class-one from the summer class, the other from the winter class-and so forth. My group was the seventh class from which she had chosen her lover.

Fata had a house on the main and only proper street in the town. It was one of the more prominent houses. The windows on the house had bars made of tastefully entwined forged iron. It used to be the most famous commerce house in the kasaba but World War II made it less famous. Out of its numerous former inhabitants now remained only Fata and her old mother who rarely went out of the house. After the Muslim women took of their veils, a traditional custom which had been successfully abolished by the Communist government of Tito's Yugoslavia, Fata's mother remained in the group of these humble Muslim women who compensated for the removal of veil-the veil that hid their faces from sinful glances-by not going out in public.

Fata was as beautiful as the girl in a proverbial wedding song: she was slim with a proud walk, the crop of dark hair spread over her shoulders, the whites in her eyes were emphasized by her captivating bluish eyes, and her face and arms were of the same white color. The reflection of the blush on her cheeks was faintly visible, but not in the shape of a circle. The whiteness of her face had blushed her cheekbones in the shape of the thin thread, which had been very hard to see while the bluish shine from her eyes was spread over her lower eyelashes. Fata did not wear šalvare*, but the cut of her skirt resembled them. Her blouse was made of rosy silk, as if it had risen from the discreet rozyness of her cheeks. A discrete necklace looked as if it had lent a part of itself to her bracelet – belenzuka* on her left hand. She wore a wedding ring on the middle finger of her right hand, a wedding ring only; she wore no other rings. Her shoes with hardly noticeable heels as well as her purse were made of snake leather.

That was the Fata I had seen on the first leave of my class out of military camp. It was Saturday and all the cadets from the class stared at Fata in the same manner. Literally, all of us were in the street. Many of the soldiers had already heard about Fata, but I hadn't. They had already known that Fata would go out into the street when the new class was allowed to go into town and stay until dawn. Fata was heard about throughout almost all of Yugoslavia. She first appeared seven years ago, twice every year when new classes are for the first time allowed to go out. I was sorry that I hadn't heard about Fata before.

Fata was just about to graduate from high school when she fell in love with a student from Sarajevo, who used to visit his uncle in Bileća at the end of every semester. They got engaged and were supposed to get married after Fata graduated. As a married woman, she was supposed to study in Sarajevo, the place of birth and home of her fiancée. It is said that the masculine beauty of the lad from Sarajevo (Sarajlija), Fata's future husband, had dazzled the whole class of cadets in Bileća at that time. Fata was pleased that her fiancée was more handsome than any of the cadets who aggressively courted her as they passed under her windows with iron bars – demirluks*.

Sarajlija came to Bileća in June when Fata was completing her graduation exams; he joined her at the graduation ceremony, and they were supposed to get married the following week. But, on their wedding day, Sarajlija ran away from Bileća to Sarajevo with a lieutenant's wife, who had left her husband and son to be with this handsome man. It is not known how Fata's mother reacted when she heard the news that her daughter had been deserted, but she had ceased her rare trips to the grocery store. Fata's screeming was not heard, but what was heard were her actions.

On the disastrous wedding day, Fata went out into the street in the dress which she had prepared to take her marriage vows. She went for a walk wearing her wedding gown, just as I would see her on the pathway seven years later. It was, they said, late Sunday afternoon when almost all the cadets from Bileća were on leave. They had no other places to go to but went for a walk along the main street - the corso - and to the city's confectionery shop. Fata was walking alone, the eyes of all the cadets focused on her, and she acknowledged the most outstanding cadet. The man approached her, and they took a walk on the main street to the astonishment of all Muslim and Orthodox inhabitants of Bileća. The inhabitants of Bileća had pity for the daughter of the most famous and respectful commerce house; they also had pity for Fata's mother, a modest woman who was not seen on the street except when absolutely necessary. People imagined how that lady felt in the moments when the wedding of her only daughter had been ruined, as well as how she felt at the moment when she saw her daughter in the street with a soldier.

Among our people, both Orthodox and Muslim, there is a great distinction regarding the definition of the term whore. Whore, without any particular attributes, is a blight on the character of a woman which she must learn to live with. An ober whore does not hide her loyalty to men; she has removed her veil of shame. She does not care where she goes; all she needs is a strong sexual partner. Still, that is the lower degree of whore as compared to the soldier whore. That is the lowest degree of that female vice. The whore conceals herself; you cannot tell her that she's a whore -for, if you do so, you may go to court. An ober whore is not ashamed of her status, and the soldier whore is an ober whore who associates with soldiers who are interested in a female hole. That is the highest degree in the hierarchy of whoring. A specific subtype of the whore is the German whore. That is also a sort of soldier whore who chooses to be with German soldiers. That whore is a synonym for the country's female traitor. When the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians had been formed in 1918, later called the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the hair of German whores in Montenegro were publicly cut. Stories on how bald heads of German whores from Grahovo - Mara Lonek's and Ruža Bobek's - shone in the summer sun are still told.

That summer afternoon Fata became intimate with the most handsome cadet from the reserve officers school. It is said that he was a Dalmatian, as tall as a spear, athletically built with irresistible male charm. In the only hotel at the time, the soldiers could not reserve a room for a stay in the town with a woman unless she documented her arrival with a wedding dress, i.e. the proof that she came to visit her husband. Alas, the savior was Dobrana Ćulibrk who ran a "quarter for a night" room in the well-built ground floor house with plenty of rooms. Chauffeurs and travel tradesmen had their overnight stays. The cadets brought their "sisters" there to keep them company. The cadet would "sit" with his "sister" in one of the rooms at Dobrana's place for an hour or two, with no restrictions. Authorities had no reason to intervene. Dobrana ran an overnight "guest house." A Cadet brother was not forbidden to go to Dobrana's house with his sister and "The wolf is sated, and the sheep wait on line," so to speak. Dobrana earned money from the services she provided to chauffeurs, tradesmen and cadets.

Fata went to Dobrana's "guest house" with the Dalmatan casually, as she had been Dobrana's regular customer. When she would return with the Dalmatian to take another walk on the main street before his returning to the military camp, women, both Orthodox and Muslim, would close their curtains in order not to see the female blasphemy from the miserable house of the famous tradesmen family, the Aganics which had been respected by both religions.

During the six month period, the period of schooling of each cadet class, Fata would go out every week to the corso at the same time. She would take one or two walks with the Dalmatian, and then go at the appointed time into Dobrana's "guest house" for the night. After that, she would again take a walk and finally return home. She wouldn't look at the other cadets. All of them had respect for the Dalmatian, firstly, because he was the chosen one and, secondly, because of his excellent physique and good looks. During these evening walks, she did not dress in the wedding dress she wore when she met the Dalmatian. She was dressed normally as were other girls from Bileća.

Six months later, when the new class of cadets arrived, the same scenario was repeated. On their first Saturday in the town, Fata was in the street dressed in the wedding gown made for her marriage to the lad from Sarajevo and in which she met the Dalmatian. She went to Dobrana's to have sex on her erotic bed for an hour or two, dressed in these same clothes. And again everything was repeated. She had chosen the strongest cadet and walked with him once or twice on the main street. Then they went to Dobrana's for the night of erotic experiences, and then once again the two of them walked on the main street. The cadet would then go back to the military camp, and Fata would go home.

During the six months, everything was repeated: though differently dressed, she repeated the pattern. The next chosen cadet was from Kragujevac, in Šumadija. Then followed lads from other parts of Yugoslavia. Classes arrived and left, and the whole of Bileća got used to Fata's consistent behaviour, so inhabitants ceased to tell stories about her. But, stories were told about her in the whole of Tito's Yugoslavia. Many handsome lads wanted to go to the reserve officers school in Bileća. It was a pleasure to be chosen by the soldier whore as the most attractive of the thousand of lads who were carefully recruited for both their physical and psychological characteristics. Most important was the way of choosing, not the girl. You could find a girl anywhere, but it has never been heard before about that kind of choice and the masculine appreciation of the individual. Fata did not ask about their religion or nationality, or about their education or place of origin. All she needed was to notice you among a thousand other lads.

Some cadets knew the names of all fourteen lucky cadets that Fata had chosen until then. I was in the seventh class, that was Fata's seventh year of choosing and the fourteenth class. She chose from my class one lad who was from Belgrade. He was a failing student of law, the son of a general. He played basketball, but he even stopped doing that. He could sing Bosnian sevdalinkas* very well. Because of his height, they had to make a special uniform for him. Such a tall lad as he was not of unpleasant looks. He was well-built, a well-proportioned giant. In the soldiers' common bathroom, we were jealous of his masculine gift.

Fata had no problems as everything was working perfectly until the ninth class of cadets arrived. The ninth class was fatal for her. When, as usual, on the first Saturday when the new cadets arrived in town, Fata had chosen the most conspicuous cadet, but he was indifferent. It is said that he had been a lad from Novi Sad, a Hungarian. He was married and in love, and he did not want to accept the widely known Fata's offer.

The next day around noon, Fata was found dead in the spring of the river Trebišnjica. She drowned herself in the wedding gown she was to wear in her marriage to Sarajlija, the wedding dress that had entertained eighteen acquaintance on the main street of Bileća. Fata looked as if she were a bird with broken wings. The spring of the Trebišnjica is under the reserve officers school. It springs from several waterfalls near the rock which is at least a hundred meters high. Fata jumped from that rock into the spring of Trebišnjica. The waterfalls of the cold Trebisnjica washed away her blood. Although dead, she looked crystalline pure; her clothes were still clean and looked as if they had been made yesterday. The clear water of Trebišnjica washed both Fata and her clothes.
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* kasaba = small provincial town
* šalvare = Turkish national clothes (pantaloons)
* belenzuka = Turkish bracelet
* demirluk = window with iron bars
* sevdalinka - Bosnian songs

Translated by: Vladimir Radenović

 ARS No.4 year 2003