MORNING SERIAL
“NOT my thing,” I said.
“No, but apparently he has a thing for drugging guys and then f***ing them in the back lanes.”
That pricked up my ears. “He rapes them?”
And Lou raised her eyebrows, as if to say, yes, but she said, “This is Cyprus, mate; they don’t really go in for labels like that. Just stay the f*** away from him.”
I tried to forget about him, but it lingered. As much what he said about Illie’s treasure as what Lou said about him. I had wanted to bring up the notion of the treasure with Lou, but it seemed absurd, despite the absurdity of it all. The whole island was absurd. For the first time since arriving I thought of getting out.
Lou noticed the change in my mood, and she offered to take me to another bar, or perhaps back to her place to talk more, for some relative quiet. The idea of going back to Lou’s digs – and she explained that although she had her own place, it was in a complex of hardworking, hard-partying Napa club and bar staff – made me think of the entire day in a different light.
Had I been wanting something to happen between Lou and I? Had that been what she wanted? Had some part of my mind already decided that me and Clare were over – because that is how it happens, isn’t it; one day you notice your chemical self has made the decision to leave and informs your public self of the way things are going to play out. I was sure Clare was going through similar phases back home. But my intention was never to f*** things up in this way. Adultery was something Francis would never have approved of – he had famously railed against such goings on, even in the height of his bohemian period after the war.
Lou and I embraced at the entrance to the alley that led to her complex. We were both more than a little p **** d by now. We kissed on the mouth, and it felt like a test run, to see if we could both get through some kind of earthly barrier, and I understood as we connected that she had some barriers of her own that stemmed from that abstract biography of hers.
> The Golden Orphans by Gary Raymond is published by Parthian www.parthianbooks.com