Bad Memory

"Did you know Nicolas Burn? My brother asked me all of the sudden, sitting with his back to me and poking in his laptop.
"Why? I said, chewing the piece of sausage.
"Just asking. He said plainly without turning away from the screen.
"Um...Nicolas Burn... I put the fork away and scratched my head. Nicolas Burn. Sounds familiar. I went through dusty shelves of my memory, shuffling bits of half-erased images of people's faces and names. Nicolas Burn. Nicolas Burn. Yeah, there it was. "Isn't he the guy I studied with at the Saxon?
My busy brother didn't reply and I gave him additional information. "The fat, puffy chap.
My brother was still silent.
"He later became a cop, right? I made another guess.
"No, He said finally, "He wasn't a cop.
"Then I don't know... I felt somewhat disappointed. "But, hold on... Nicolas Burn, Nicolas Burn...
"Ah yeah! Nicolas Burn. I said rather merrily because I thought I managed to match the name with an image in my head. "Of course! How could I forget? My buddy Nicolas, the DJ. We were together at the university.
"No. This was Alexander. My sibling said with no emotions in his voice.
"Damn! I felt even more upset. Definitely, something was wrong with my memory. " I thought his name was Nicolas. I said to somehow indulge myself. My brother didn't react.
"Nicolas Burn, Nicolas Burn. I whispered thinking hard. "No, I can't think of any Nicolas Burn.
"Oh, well. Not big of a deal. My brother said and the conversation died.
The following twenty minutes we spent in silence. He was doing something in his computer and I was messing around with the cold sausage. I lost my appetite and was trying to remember who Nicolas Burn was. I didn't suceeded in that. Nonetheless, I was still curious about the guy and why my brother had mentioned him.
"What about him anyway?
"Who? My brother said.
"Nicolas Burn.
"Nothing. He just killed himself a week ago. He said.
"What?
"He hung himself.
"Really? I asked automatically but my brother didn't bother to answer.

Alexei Ogorodov
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