I had to force my way through the mob of beggars again, but this time I threw a handful of coins to them. When they scrambled for the money, it made it easier to escape. I undipped my phone from my belt and spoke Saied the Half-Hajj’s commcode. I waited a few rings, and I was about to give up when he answered. “Marhaba, “he said.
“It’s Marid. How you doin?”
“Aw right. What’s happening?”
“Oh, nothing much. I got out of the hospital.”
“Ah! Glad to hear it.”
“Yeah, I get tired of that place. Anyway, you with Jacques and Mahmoud?”
“Uh yeah. We’re all sitting in Courane’s getting drunk. Why don’t you come on by?”
“I think I will. I need you to do me a favor.”
“Yeah?”
“Tell you about it later. See you in maybe half an hour. Ma’ as-salaama.”
“Allah yisallimak.”
I clipped the phone back on my belt. I’d walked all the way back to Chiriga’s, and suddenly I had a terrific urge to go in and see if Indihar or any of the girls had a few sunnies or tri-phets they could spare. It wasn’t withdrawal I was feeling; it was a hunger that had been growing for many days. It took a lot of willpower to fight off the craving. It would have been so much easier to admit my true nature and give in. I might have, except I knew that later I’d need my brains unaddled.
I kept on walking until I got to Fifth Street, when I was stopped by one of the most unusual sights I’ve ever seen. Laila, the old black hag who owned the modshop was standing in the middle of the Street, screaming shrill curses at Safiyya the Lamb Lady, who was standing a block away and yelling her head off too. They looked like two gunfighters from an American holoshow, screeching and snarling and threatening each other. I saw some tourists coming up the street; they stopped and watched the old women nervously, then backed away again toward the eastern gate. I felt the same way. I didn’t want to get in between those two witches. You could almost see the green rays shooting out of their eyes.
I couldn’t actually understand what they were saying. Their voices were strained and hoarse, and they may not have been screaming in Arabic. I didn’t know if the Lamb Lady’d had her skull amped, but Laila never went anywhere without a moddy and a handful of daddies. She could have been ranting in ancient Etruscan for all I knew.
After a little while they both got tired of it. Safiyya left first, making an obscene gesture in Laila’s direction and heading back down the Street toward the Boulevard il-Jameel. Laila stared after her, throwing a few final un-pleasantries her way. Then, muttering to herself, she turned down Fourth Street. I followed her. I thought I might find a useful moddy in her shop.
When I got there, Laila was behind her cash register, humming to herself and sorting a stack of invoices.
When I came in, she looked up and smiled. “Marid,” she said sadly, “do you know how boring it is to be the wife of a country doctor?”
“To be honest, Laila, no, I don’t.” Evidently, she’d chipped in another moddy as soon as she got back to her shop, and now it was as if she hadn’t seen the Lamb Lady at all. “Well,” she said slyly, giving me a wicked smile, “if you did know, you wouldn’t blame me at all if I considered taking a lover.” “Madame Bovary?” I asked.
She just winked. The effect was moderately hideous. I began browsing in her dusty bins. I didn’t exactly know what I was looking for. “Laila,” I called over my shoulder, “do the letters A.L.M. mean anything to you?”
“L’Association des Larves Maboules?” That meant the Association of Crazy Wimps. “Who are they?” I asked. “You know. People like Fuad.” “Never heard of it,” I said. “I just made it up, cheri.”
“Uh huh.” I picked up a moddy package that caught my eye. It was an anthology of fictional types, mostly Eur-Am defenders of the meek, although there was an ancient Chinese poet-king, a Bantu demigod, and a Nordic trickster. The only name I recognized was Mike Hammer. I still owned a Nero Wolfe moddy, although the companion hardware, Archie Goodwin, had died horribly under the heel of Saied the Half-Hajj.
I decided to get the anthology. I figured it gave me a wide sampling of skills and personalities. I took it over to Laila. “Just this one today,” I said.
“There’s a special on—”
“Wrap it, Laila.” I handed her a ten-kiam bill. She took my money and looked hurt. I thought about what I’d chip in to visit Gay Che’s. I still had Rex, Saied’s badass moddy. I decided I’d wear that, and carry this new one in reserve.
“Your change, Marid.”
I took my package, but let the old woman keep the change. “Buy yourself something pretty, Laila,” I told her.
She smiled again. “And you know, I expect Leon will bring me a romantic surprise this evening.”
“Yeah, you right.” I left the shop feeling as creepy as I always did around her.
I took three steps toward the Street, and then I heard blaam! blaam! blaam! A flying chip of concrete cut my face just under my right eye. I threw myself into the doorway of the gambling den next to Laila’s. Blaam! blaam! blaam! I heard bricks shatter and saw puffs of red dust drift from the edge of the doorway. I pressed myself in as far as I could. Blaam! blaam! Two more: Someone had just taken eight shots at me with a high-powered pistol.
Nobody came running. Nobody was curious enough to see if I was all right, or maybe needed medical attention. I waited, wondering how long before it was safe to stick my head out again. Was Jawarski still hiding somewhere across the street, a fresh clip in his .45? Or was this only a warning? Surely, if he truly wanted to kill me, he could have done a better job of it.
I got tired of being scared after a few minutes and left the safety of the doorway. I have to admit that I had a peculiar vulnerable feeling between my shoulder blades as I hurried down to the corner. I decided that this had been Jawarski’s way of sending me an invitation. I had no intention of declining; I just wanted to be prepared.
Yet even so, I still had other business to finish before I could turn my full attention to the American. I went to my car and threw the new moddy into the backseat, where I’d left my briefcase. I drove slowly and calmly through the Rasmiyya neighborhood to Courane’s. When I got there, I parked the car in the narrow street and took Saied’s moddy out of the briefcase. I looked at it thoughtfully for a moment and chipped it in, along with the daddies that blocked pain and fatigue. Then I got out of the car and went into Courane’s dim bar.
“Monsieur Audran!” said the expatriate, coming toward me with both hands outstretched. “Your friends told me you’d be coming. It’s good to see you again.”
“Yeah,” I said. I could see the Half-Hajj, Mahmoud, arid Jacques at a table near the back.
Courane followed me, speaking in a low voice. “Wasn’t that just terrible about Officer Shaknahyi?”
I turned to look at him. “That’s what it was, Courane. Terrible.”
“I was truly upset.” He nodded to let me know how sincere he was.
“Vodka gimlet,” I said. That made him go away.
I dragged over a chair and sat at the table with the others. I looked at them but didn’t say anything. The last time I’d been with this group, I hadn’t been very popular. I wondered if anything had changed.
Jacques was the Christian who was always patronizing me about how he had more European blood than I did. This afternoon he just closed one eye and nodded his head. “I hear you pulled Papa out of a burning building.”
Courane arrived with my drink. Instead of answering, I lifted the glass and sipped.
“I was in a fire once,” said the Half-Hajj. “Well, actually, I was in a building that burned down about an hour after I left. I could’ve been killed.”
Mahmoud, the male sexchange, snorted. “So, Marid,” he said, “I’m impressed.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I really just wanted to impress you bastards.” I squeezed the wedge of lime into the gimlet. Vitamin C, you know.