“I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.” JALAL AD-DIN RUMI
Chapter 1. Don’t Speak Malika Nööp sat uneasily on the 4th backseat of the yellow blue bus of Ekspressliinid. The bus was nearly packed, all the upscale comfy red leather seat chairs but one in mahogany toned interior were taken and light in the bus's saloon was almost dim. Thanks to tiny reading lights and dozens of operational tablet screens on the back of the chairs. Some people were watching different movies, reading e-books, e-mail or popular social network feeds on their devices. Others read books or magazines. And as always some did just nothing, eyes staring into the dimly lit landscape of the evening outside bus windows or slept their day fatigue off. Some had their glowing screens open to browse through the music list, earphones plugged into devices. So did Malika the 30 year old lass from Suur Pärnlinn. Her home city was de facto and de jure new capital of Estonia since re-administration reform of spring of 2019. Previous Centre Right-Left Coalition government of prime minister Georg Tatar of the Focal Party who finished the previous reform had a hard time staying popular and the general public didn't like their tax reform. Adding to their miserable 15 percent of approval rating, the country's E-Riigikogu had failed to adopt the State Budget and President Kristi Tiina Roosikalju had no option but to invoke Article 119. Call for extraordinary elections. Blitzkrieg-like campaign and parliamentary elections that followed brought majority seats to Centre Right- Conservative Alliance spearheaded by Readministration Party's new rising female leader Meeri Kala. New cabinet of Estonia’s first female prime minister ended up reopening former administration reform. Pärnu Parish also known as Greater Pärnu and City of Tallinn and all the municipalities along the road to both cities were honey-money talked to sit yet again behind tables of negotiations to unify those municipalities. No one believed that to happen, but the supercity parish of Pärnlinn stretching from artificial isles in Tallinn Bay down to sandy beaches of Pärnu Bay was finally forged thanks to mutual backroom and official agreements of deep state and party offices. Malika knew this well because not only because she grew up in Pärnu, now Southern Pärnlinn but she had keen interest for society and politics, even though she was born into family that were semi-devout God’s Witnesses of Final Era Church members who distanced themselves from politics and all stuff that was considered to be worldly and satanic by the Church and members. Her parents, Estonian father named Tormi and Bulgarian born mom Raina named her after grandma Malika, whose father Omar was originally from the sunny shores of Beirut, Lebanon. Cool exotic background some would think. Darn mixed-breed thought the others. Even in Malika’s case the only thing that betrayed her southern roots were raisin brown eyes and olive coloured skin. Those and maybe semi-long chestnut blonde hair. But that didn't matter to her now. She was not happy and somehow the playlist on screen enlisted a partly fitting soundtrack to her right into her face. As if someone who did that rock selection knew of her difficulties and dilemmas. And she was about to listen to rock. Rock n Roll, that dirty sticky wordly non-witness music. Elvis Pelvis music. If only her Church knew or parents, she thought. Don’t speak that out loud she told herself. Last thing she wanted everybody to know was that she was aboarding crazy train. But parents weren't here. Only her, music and busful of strangers. Alone in the whole wide world. Even though she was going home to parents and the Church. One last time. Time. That was running and going or dragging like chewing gum. Pink Floyd was right there on the list. This Flight Tonight. Nazareth. Oh how she adored rock. Even at her supermassive black hole moments it was her muse. A cloud with silver lining. Rock and metal too. It was an oasis to her. “Don't look back in anger” sang frontman Gallagher into her ears. “I won't” she decided, something snapped in her. I'll write the book, she thought. Yes, I'm gonna turn this around for me or at least I'm gonna give a shot...
February 1- 3rd 2018 - fixed bit, Pärnu Estonia
