Sein. Do you need to shave?
Erkin. I don’t know. Do you have a razor?
Sein. I do, but it’s for my legs.
Erkin. Can I see?
Sein. Here.
Erkin. Well, I’ll try it. I don’t know how close the shave would be, but I guess this would be closest to your legs I’ll ever get.
Sein. Um, okay? I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react to what you just said.
Erkin. This reminds me of a time I was in France. I stayed at a friend of a friend’s flat, and he has two daughters who are twins. They look exactly alike, but one has a port wine birthmark on her cheek, so it’s very easy to tell them apart.
Sein. Port wine birthmark? Like Gorbachev?
Erkin. Right, but on her cheek rather than her head. I actually know another girl who has a port wine birthmark on the side of her cheek. I don’t know why, but I found her birthmark extremely attractive. I think it was because of a novel I read about a protagonist who, one day found a blue stain on his cheek, and could not wash it off. Earlier, he made a friend with a young girl who lived nearby. She saw the mark and licked the mark on his face. What I read came toward the edge of what was right and wrong. So I imagined what it would be like if I licked my friend’s port wine birthmark on the side of her cheek, but she would knock me down if I got anywhere near her.
Sein. You do have that affect on women.
Erkin. Call it a power if you will. So in France, whenever I got up to brush my face and shave, the twin with the port wine birthmark on her cheek would come and watch me shave. She was mesmerized. I stayed with them for two weeks, and every day she would stand by the door and watch me shave. It was somewhat comforting to know someone was witnessing me shaving.
Sein. I guess it’s like when someone watches me prepare my bread. All my efforts into making the dough, letting it rise, and punching back down are seen, rather than just being eaten.
Erkin. Right, I take pride in my shaving techniques, but no one sees them or appreciates them.
Sein. Would you like me to watch you shave?
Erkin. Even though I’m using a woman’s razor, with women’s shaving cream, yes.
End. The Attraction of Gorbachev