…from
somewhere in the station’s rafters Pahn
sees
the man is moving across
the
station floor in a raincoat long
black
Pahn
sees that he is skipping and thinks
“He would be skipping on his way
to
deliver the money
because
he is nervous
afraid
of
being caught”
but
then
Pahn wonders if it is just the
reverse
Pahn glides down
through the
station into
the
man’s body and continues
toward
his contact
Now he feels the weight of the package
He
wonders how it could be
so much money
in so small a box
He skips up the steps
to
the elevated area
where
the man reading a newspaper
is
facing the wall
The
man turns around with a smile
Pahn
gives him the package
and walks away
Halfway
across the floor he stops
and asks himself
“why am I leaving?
Why don’t
I get my wife’s share
now?”
And
so he turns around
walks back to the man
and goes with him
to the roof
where Pahn says
“I
think I will take my wife’s half now
rather
than
have you pay her for it later
I know it is not mine
but
anything that is hers is half mine
and what’s hers is
mine anyway
in a manner of speaking”
He
half smiles as he says the last
phrase
and
the man shrugs and opens the package
saying
almost
to himself
“I
wonder how they’ve sent it this time”
It
is two books
The
man gives one to Pahn
and
inspects his own copy He notes
disapprovingly
some
pages stuck together Pahn asks
“how
does this work?”
The
man answers
“Each picture of a painting has a price by it
You send away to redeem the money”…
…Pahn wonders how he will put so much money
in
his bank account without arousing
suspicion
…
Pahn
is in Italy with his accomplices
They have rented a hotel room for the night
Pahn
is sitting in the easy chair
contemplating
the book
He
is wondering what is the safest way
to
take it past customs
A
man and a woman come in the back door
The
woman is wearing
loose black
wavy fabric
not
lacy
not cut low
she
is not young
her
body barely shows
but there is no sense
of
restriction
in her clothes
She
takes an immediate interest
in Pahn
She
seems a little strange
on
edge
unstable
laughing out of time
moving
unexpectedly
grasping
at Pahn
Pahn
listens to her
lets her touch him
He
likes her enough
Pahn has always had a thing for nutty women
The
man she came with says something like
‘you
can have her
but you’ll be sorry—
she
puddles’
Pahn
thinks briefly of venereal disease
but dismisses it
and
he cannot imagine any way
she would hurt him
The
other men go off to have drinks
Pahn
stays in the room with her
She lies across the bed
on her back
with her head
tilting down
over
the edge
and he climbs on top of her
quickly and easily
finding her
He
wonders
if she could really be ready
so soon—
feels himself slip neatly inside
her—
begins
She
is wide
and
hollow
She
lies contentedly
as if out of breath
from
dancing
He
feels warm water
pouring
gently
from
her
He doesn’t care
it’s a hotel bed
He
begins to lose interest
but
continues
absentmindedly
until
he feels
he is
pooling
inside
her
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