Gregory Roberts - The Mountain Shadow

‘But… I can’t talk about security in front of other people.’

‘Why not?’

‘It wouldn’t be… secure.’

‘Don’t we want our friends to be secure, too?’

‘But there are employees of the hotel here.’

‘And if our bein’ ’ere poses some kind of risk to them,’ Gemini said, shuffling the cards, ‘wouldn’t it be fair to include the ’otel employees in our security arrangements, especially the ones gambling with me, so that they can stay safe, too?’

‘What?’ Scorpio said, shaking his head.

Didier cut the deck, and Gemini paused, the cards in his hand.

‘How about this, Scorpio,’ he said, smiling at the friend he loved more than anyone or anything in the world. ‘Let’s just invite all of our friends and all their families to live ’ere with us. Everybody. We’ll rent three floors of the ’otel, bring in everyone, and all their families, to stay for as long as they like, and shower them with generosity and happy fun, and spend lots and lots of money at the ’otel, so they’re ’appy, and we’ll be safe. See? That’s your new security arrangement, right there, innit?’

He turned from his bewildered friend to me, the smile all hearts and diamonds.

‘Last chance, Lin,’ Gemini said, waiting to deal the cards. ‘Are you in?’

‘No, I’m gone,’ I replied, pressing my hand onto Didier’s shoulder to say goodbye.

When I left them, Gemini was dealing the cards expertly, a wicked gleam in his eyes. Didier Levy was the only man I knew who was a better card cheat than Gemini George. I didn’t want to stay long enough to see one of them lose.

In the corridor outside the suite, I found Naveen and Divya.

‘Hey, Lin,’ Naveen greeted me, a happy smile moving across his handsome face. ‘Are you leaving just now?’

‘Yeah. Hey, Divya.’

‘It’s Diva , sweetheart,’ she corrected, smiling and pressing her small hand against my forearm. ‘What’s the rush?’

‘Stuff to do,’ I answered, smiling back at them.

We stood there in silence for a moment. We were still smiling.

‘What?’ Divya asked at last.

‘Nothing,’ I laughed. ‘It’s just, you two seem to be getting on better.’

‘Well,’ Divya sighed, ‘he’s not such a chudh , when you get to know him.’

‘Thank you,’ Naveen said.

‘I mean, elements of the chudh are still there,’ Divya clarified. ‘And they’ll probably always be. You can’t make a silk tie from a pig’s ear, after all.’

‘That’s a silk purse ,’ Naveen corrected.

‘What?’

‘A silk purse , not a silk tie,’ Naveen insisted.

‘What’s this? You’re going to start carrying a purse now, or what?’

‘No, of course not. The saying is You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear . It doesn’t mention silk ties.’

‘What are you, the prince of fucking proverbs, all of a sudden?’

‘I’m just saying -’

‘I need a licence from you to change a proverb? Is that it?’

‘So, anyway, bye,’ I said, pressing the button for the elevator.

I stepped inside. They were still arguing furiously. The doors closed, and the elevator descended, but it seemed that I could still hear them through several floors.

On the ground floor I discovered that they’d actually stepped into a neighbouring elevator, and had argued all the way down beside me. They spilled out into the lobby, squabbling still.

‘Hello, again.’

‘Sorry, Lin,’ Naveen said, detaching himself from Divya. ‘I realised that I forgot to tell you something.’

‘Uh-huh?’

‘It’s about your friend Vikram,’ Naveen said quietly. ‘He’s moved into Dennis’s place. He’s sleeping there, on the floor, and he’s hitting the smack pretty hard. I haven’t been there myself, in a while, but I heard from Vinson that he’s in a bad way. Vinson doesn’t go there any more, and neither do I, much. I thought… maybe you didn’t know.’

‘You’re right. I didn’t. Thanks.’

I glanced at Divya, who was waiting near the bank of elevators. Until that moment I hadn’t really noticed how pretty she was. Her wide-set eyes tapered gently to almond-shaped points, where the long lashes were born. Her fine nose curled at the edges to meet the bow of her smile in lines that descended along a scimitar curve to the corners of her mouth.

I glanced at Naveen, and he was staring adoration at her.

And then, in that strange little moment of staring at Naveen and Divya, I felt a shadow pass through me. I shivered. I shifted my gaze to meet Naveen’s eyes, hoping that he’d felt it too.

My heart was beating fast, and the sudden sense of dread was so strong that I could feel it in my throat. I searched Naveen’s eyes, but there was nothing. He smiled back at me.

‘Listen,’ I said, taking half a step away from them. ‘Stay together.’

‘Ah, well… ’ Divya grinned, about to make some joke.

‘Don’t stop arguing,’ I said quickly, taking another step away. ‘But stay together. Look after each other, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Naveen laughed. ‘But -’

I fled, making my way quickly to my parked bike and wrestling it out onto the main road. A few hundred metres away I stopped the bike suddenly, and glanced back over my shoulder at the windowed tower of the Mahesh hotel. I rode away, fast.

I parked the bike outside the house where Dennis lived. The concertina of folding French doors was open on the long veranda. I stepped up onto the veranda, and tapped on the open doors.

Sandal-slap footsteps approached quickly. A curtain was drawn aside, and I saw Jamal, the One Man Show. He beckoned me inside, motioning for me to be silent.

I entered the room, squinting my eyes to adjust to the gloom. Hashish scented the air, mixed with a powerful drift from a large wad of incense sticks, burning in an empty vase.

Dennis was in his customary pose, stretched out in the centre of the large bed, with his hands folded over one another on his chest. He wore pale blue silk pyjamas, and his feet were bare.

I heard a rattling cough to my right and saw Vikram, stretched out on a piece of carpet. Billy Bhasu was sitting on the floor beside him. He was preparing another chillum.

A voice spoke from a darkened corner of the room. It was Concannon’s.

‘Look what the grimalkin dragged in,’ he said. ‘I hope you’ve come to join my little gang, boyo. I’m not in a mood for disappointing drugs, or disappointing men.’

Ignoring him, I went to Vikram’s side. Billy Bhasu crab-walked out of the way, and continued preparing the chillum. I pushed at Vikram to rouse him.

‘Vikram! Vik! Wake up, man!’

His eyes opened slowly, and then fell shut.

‘Last chance, Shantaram,’ Concannon said softly. ‘Are you with me, or against me?’

I shook Vikram again.

‘Wake up, Vik. We’re going, man.’

‘Leave him alone,’ Concannon chided. ‘Can’t you see the man’s happy?’

‘It’s not happiness, if you can’t feel it.’

I shook Vikram’s shoulder again.

‘Vikram! Wake up!’

He opened his eyes, looked at me, and smiled a sloppy grin.

‘Lin! How are you, man?’

‘How are you , man?’

‘Nothing to worry,’ he replied sleepily, his eyes drooping and closing. ‘It’s all cool, man. It’s all… cool… ’

He began to snore. His face was dirty. He was a shrinking form inside the clothes of a healthier man.

‘Vik! Wake up, man!’

‘Leave him the fuck alone,’ Concannon said aggressively.

‘Mind your own business, Concannon,’ I said, not looking at him.

‘Why don’t you make me?’

It’s childish, and we all know it, but it often works.