Chapter 1
He had golden hands and worked hard. Nothing was lacking in his home. At the construction company where he worked, people called him “Engineer,” even though he was not one by profession. He simply performed an engineer’s work so well that he had earned the title.
His wife, Elvira, worked at a municipal branch office. Since she had been there for several years, people called her “Boss,” although in reality she was not one either. Yet none of that really mattered, because the competence of that couple in their respective jobs truly justified those titles. Though applied separately, those designations suited both of them perfectly.
Each of them was highly capable in their own profession, especially when it came to solving problems.
They had two children: a daughter who was eight years old and a son who was five. Their family was highly respected among the neighbors, who felt a special affection for them. Their friends were no different, because just as that family always tried to help others whenever they could, others were equally ready to stand by them whenever they were in need.
When Drini’s father died, he remained immersed in his grief while his friends took care of all the arrangements—things that he himself had done for them in their own difficult moments.
Drini was a forty-four-year-old man. He was generally cheerful and exceptionally correct in his dealings with people, to the point that one could rely on him without fear. He always tried to help people or solve their problems whenever he was able to do so. Elvira was a thirty-eight-year-old woman, beautiful and elegant. Being still young, she liked to take care of herself and maintain her appearance because she knew the value of her beauty. She was so attractive that even other women greatly enjoyed her company. Besides that, conversations with Elvira were always pleasant.
Their daughter was exemplary at school. Teachers often suspected that Elvira sent her to private tutoring classes, but she always denied it. Their young son delighted everyone with his conversations, his requests, and even his manner of speaking, so much so that Drini himself often said that the boy relaxed him every time he returned home from work.
Their finances were average, but they were more than sufficient to build the happiness they enjoyed, because, as I said, Drini had golden hands. His mind paid attention to countless details that could make his home exceptional. Many of Elvira’s friends came specifically to their house just to see the “new project” Drini had completed.
Take the furniture, for example. Drini had nothing to do with carpentry professionally, since his field was electricity, yet he had built the furniture himself according to Elvira’s wishes. She had seen a set of furniture she liked in a catalog, and her husband had recreated it exactly as it appeared there.
I mention this to show who Drini was, because he had transformed a one-hundred-square-meter apartment into something resembling a millionaire’s salon, not to mention the way his house was illuminated, heated, and how the walls had been finished.
Elvira was proud of Drini. She saw how he exhausted himself for her and the children, how everything he did was for their comfort and happiness.
Let us mention something else. When he was twenty-four years old, Drini had spent about two years in prison after helping an acquaintance break into a pharmacy. They had taken medicines that his childhood friend needed for his father, because they had not had the money to buy them. The hospital doctor himself had requested those medicines, which were unavailable at the hospital.
In one sense, it turned out well because the friend’s father was saved from death. On the other hand, the law is the law. Drini had been seen entering the pharmacy together with the other man, and he was sentenced to roughly two years in prison, while the other received six months more.
Whenever the subject came up, Drini admitted that he was proud of having gone to prison to save a human life, and if necessary, he would willingly go to prison again for such a cause. He also maintained that those two years in prison had been necessary for the age he was at, helping him better understand the future, social norms, and human behavior. He often said that prison is a great school, one that teaches things ordinary schools cannot teach because such lessons do not belong to their domain.
He had retained the nickname “Did,” which he had inherited from elementary school. The nickname came from his first name beginning with the letter D and his surname Diko, giving him two D’s together, which eventually formed the nickname Did.
As time passed, only his childhood friends continued to call him by that nickname. In serious settings, everyone addressed him as Mr. Drini or Mr. Diko. Friends he met later in life simply called him Drini.
In truth, Drini was a gentleman in every sense of the word. For his mother, he would have given his life. He made sure she lacked nothing, even though she lived with Kroi, his younger brother, who, like Drini, cared deeply for her.
His sister, Foljeta, was also a great source of pride for him because of the care she devoted to their mother. For every important matter, Drini sought his mother’s advice. Besides being his mother, he felt she was also his friend and mentor, because her judgments were often remarkably accurate. Only in matters of electricity did Drini not consult her.
Ever since his father had died, Drini had increased his attention toward her. Not a single day passed without him calling to ask how she was doing, what she needed, or what she would like him to bring her. There were times when, if he could not visit her, he would inevitably call and explain why he had not come.
On two occasions, he had even sent a doctor to examine her, simply for a routine checkup or so that her concerns could be evaluated from a physician’s perspective. Drini’s mother would be surprised whenever she saw the doctor arrive, and afterward she would smile happily because of her son and offer heartfelt blessings that only a mother can give.
