‘Oh…’
‘… and the rebel leader has a kind of harem, of girls from the local population…’
‘For fuck’s sake, Alex.’
‘Sorry… Ah! Is that a new trick?’
‘Do you like it?’
‘… but his favourite one escapes, and it kind of ruins his… Oh My Fucking Christ… Ah!’
‘Okay, I give up. Keep going with the story. I’ll just…’
‘Jesus. And he goes looking for the girl…’
‘Wait, let me try it like this.’
‘And he finds her. In a…’
‘In a?’
‘In a brothel, in a local town…’
‘…’
‘…and he can’t touch her any more, because to him it’s as if she was… polluted.’
‘People are shit.’
‘Yep. This guy especially so.’
‘…’
‘Oh.’
‘Touch me here.’
‘…and he’s so pissed off that he goes back to the jungle and brings his rebels and burns down the brothel and burns and massacres half the town for good measure, just out of pique…’
‘…’
‘…and after the battle, he’s in his tent and a girl comes in at night and…’
‘And…?’
‘…and does… what you just did… and it… blows his…’
‘Uhuh?’
‘…ah… his mind. And he wakes up next morning and sees that it’s the same girl, escaped from the burning brothel.’
‘And?’
‘…and he realizes the error of his ways and embraces true love.’
‘…’
‘Oh God, May…’
‘Okay…’
‘Don’t stop… keep going…’
‘That’s it. That’s it. Oh yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.’
‘Jesus… fucking… Christ… on a… fucking… bike…’
‘…’
‘…’
‘That was good.’
‘You’re not kidding.’
‘But you know what?’
‘What?’
‘Your story sucks.’
9. Alex
You have to be fucking kidding me. A
10. Nong
She tucks her dick and balls between her legs and slips on the tight black trousers. Arranges her silicon tits inside purple lace. Practices her pout in the mirror. She is picked up and driven to the ambassador’s residence, showing her ID at the manned gate. ‘Hello Baby,’ she says to him.
They spend the evening doing all the things he likes, which are many and varied, and include, after the semen has dried on the sheets and used condoms litter the floor, talking about the international situation.
Over these last months, she has offered her advice on various matters, but this is the most important. Now the trouble has spread to several countries, including her own, and his country is considering sending in its military in support of its allies. Tomorrow’s negotiation is, as he puts it, the crunch.
She worries for him. She soothes him, says kind things, thoughtful things, insightful things. He will consider her advice, he says. Then she leaves, discreetly picking up the envelope of cash from the table on her way out to where a limousine is waiting, the driver trying not to make it obvious that he is staring from the side of his eyes in a fascination he would not admit to in front of his friends.
11. Charles
She asked him for a favour. There were so few flights, and her family were all back there, her children also, and she missed them, she was worried, and she was very sorry to ask and to bother him but she was due the vacation and he was so important and so smart, could he get her back home for Christmas?
No, he said, too dangerous, the jungle is full of terrorists, but when she wept, he couldn’t stand it. He relented and pulled a string or two. She was booked on one of the few flights still operating to Cebu City.
Now, in the quiet of the early evening, with the dark palms whispering outside in the garden and deep- throated bullfrogs honking in the trees like a broken accordion, the ambassador returns to his house with a heavy heart.
He sits in the leather armchair and rests his forehead in his hands. She brings him a glass of Highland Park with a single ice cube, and puts down a bowl of pistachio nuts.
He looks up at her. She has a kind face. ‘Thank you, Rosa,’ he says.
‘Is there anything else I can do, Sir?’ she asks. He says that there is not.
She steps forward, takes his hand and touches it to her forehead.
What follows could be construed as exploitation, as abuse of his power over her. This thought certainly crosses his mind briefly during the act, but he dismisses it. When he comes, it is with a strange feeling of peace, as if all his striving, all his work is doomed to futility, but that he doesn’t mind at all.
12. Rosa
Rosa is awake in the night. A gecko says “
The moon has disappeared now, and through the uncurtained window, Rosa can see the silhouette of the volcano against a backdrop of stars. She wonders what the stars are. Are they angels in Heaven? Are they the souls of dead children? Are they the frozen tears of God?
She flies up to touch them.
