Page 51 - The Myth and the Moment

Afternoon

“All right, Nate. I’ll call him. You can hear what I tell him.”
Dialing. Knows his number by heart. So far I’ve come on like a
real nasty bastard: vindictive, irrational, downright ill-mannered.
Don’t know how else to put it. Just stay on the track, Nathan; sidings
are shooting off in all directions.
“Lin? This is Aestheria. Yes. A lovely poolside brunch. Everything
was so perfect! Oh, did they? That’s surprising, really; they always
seemed like such nice people. Listen, Lin: I need to talk to Phil. Well,
it is important. Yes. Thank you. All right, Nate, he’s coming. The
party is just winding down; the bar must have run dry. Hello, Phil?
Yes, yes, it is. I’m at home. Nate Evangelino is here. Ham Jefferson
just brought him over here. No, I don’t know how they met. Listen:
Nate is in a terrible mood. He’s sitting here fit to be tied. I’m talking
to you because he won’t. Wait, wait: just let me finish what he wants
me to say. His apartment was broken into while he was away this
morning; he lost some valuable papers, so he says. And he blames
you, Phil.”
She shifts the phone away from her ear; I can hear him squawking:
not consonants, not vowels, just a simple screeching. Yes, very good
to have an intermediary. An African solution, perhaps, but Ham was
right. I couldn’t be as calm as she is. Maybe she has found some kind
of spiritual force.
“No, I’m not. He also seems quite determined to follow up on his
suspicions, by—and I am not directly quoting—any means necessary.
His purpose in telling you this is to effect a return of his property as
soon as possible. Right. Phil, I’m not a lawyer; I don’t know if that
constitutes a threat. All right. No. No. Oh. Yes, but I don’t know for
how long. Right. Bye.”
Is that it? Well, that’s not it for me! He’s not going to get away
with any more of this—
“Nate. I’m sorry, but he had to say goodbye to some guests. He’ll
call back in a few minutes. You can imagine his reaction.”
“Can he imagine mine? I’ve worked for years on this project. Very
close to completion. I live very modestly, I’m not ashamed to say. As
you’re aware, being low on the economic totem pole does not
exempt one from being prey to burglars; fact is, poor people are
ripped off more often than rich ones, who can afford protection. But
I have nothing worth taking; my place has been hit before, and the

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