“Where are they?”
“Hiding. They’re not used to visitors.”
“Where’s the bathroom?”
“Downstairs.”
“What’s upstairs?”
“My workshop and the computer.”
“Do you have friends?”
“People are friendly to me.”
“Are you lonely?”
“Sometimes.”
“Do you watch TV?”
“Al the time.”
“Do you watch Torture TV?”
“Yes.”
“El a said you had cable.”
“El a said you had cable.”
“I did, but it doesn’t work now. Everything’s messed up here, as you know.”
“I brought you a present. Not that you deserve it.” I pul ed the dressing gown out of my bag. It was creased from being scrunched up al day.
He came over and took the bundle from my hand. “What is this?”
“A dressing gown. It’s silk. I bought it for you the day before I was supposed to see you at the hospital. Wel , I saved it for you, even though you don’t need it anymore. It only got creased today—it was in perfect condition until now. I kept it in plastic.”
He unraveled the bundle, held up the gown. “It’s beautiful, Dana. Thank you.” He slipped it on over his clothes.
“You have to steam it to get the creases out. Is it true that you saw me from your window when I came to photograph?”
“Yes, once. I can only see a tiny part of the beach from my upstairs window, but suddenly there you were. I was sure you were here because you’d found me. But you never came. Then I found out you’d come to take pictures. I have your book of photographs.”
“Good for you.”
“I saw the review in the paper and I ordered a copy.”
“Hard to believe that it was once easy to come down here, that things were peaceful for a while.”
“It was never real y peaceful. That was just an il usion everyone was happy to maintain for a short time.”
“Actual y … I do remember a Leopold. Daniel, think. You knew him too. Think for a minute.”
“I have thought. I’ve thought about it a mil ion times, of course.”
“Remember the Italian restaurant where we used to eat? Near the embassy? There was a waiter there, his name was Leopold. He had long dark hair, he wore it in a ponytail.”
“I think I vaguely remember that waiter. I’m sure I never knew his name.”
“You did. We joked about it. That’s where that part of your dream came from.”
“You did flirt with that waiter, as I recal .”
“I didn’t.”
“You flirted with everyone, Dana. Not deliberately, maybe not even consciously, but you were always flirting. And those sexy clothes …”
“Okay, that’s it. I’m going. This is obviously hopeless. I’m not going to sit here and be insulted in every possible way you can think of. Go ahead and reinvent the past. I’m leaving.”
“Don’t go. Please stay a lit le longer. We can’t leave things hanging like this.”
“Daniel, you wanted me to wear sexy clothes. I did it for you, for us. So you’d be proud of me, so you’d be turned on, and also so I’d be turned on. I haven’t worn anything except jeans since you left. Why didn’t you ever tel me al these things?”
“You never had anything with that waiter?”
“Of course not. I don’t know anything about him except his name and that he had crooked teeth, as I remember. And he was nice. He was probably gay.”
“How’s Alex?”
“What do you care? You left al of us. You hurt your family, Alex, me. Al the people you loved, supposedly, and who loved you.”
“I had nothing to of er anyone.”
