The Mountain Shadow

‘Scorpio, you know, he was getting angry, and he said, Nobody gives a thousand dollars to a complete stranger. I’ll give you a hundred dollars, but just so you leave me alone.’

‘Not very polite,’ I said. ‘How did the guru take it?’

‘He was calm and cool, you know, guru-like, and he said, If you gave me a thousand dollars, would you even notice its absence from your fortune?’

‘What did Scorpio say?’

‘He said, That isn’t the point.’

‘And the sadhu?’

‘He said, Your weakness is greed. And that awakening, itself, is worth a thousand dollars. I’ll remember those words, Lin, until the day I die.’

‘He had a point,’ I said.

‘That he did,’ Gemini replied, glancing at the doorway, needing a cigarette. ‘And he smiled, as he said it. I’ll never forget that smile. It was a spiritual poker face, like. And it might’ve been that smile, you know, what set Scorpio off. Just that smile.’

‘What happened?’

‘He tried to push past the holy man, and they kind of struggled. The bodyguards shouted for him to stop. Next thing, the holy man falls down, and bangs his head on the corner of a wall. It was a bad cut. There was a flap of skin missing from his forehead, above the eyebrow. The bodyguards ran to help him. I offered him my handkerchief, and told him we had to call the hotel doctor.’

Gemini stopped. He looked at the street. He wanted to be back out there, in the tide of trick and talent that had carried him so safely, for so long.

‘We’ll have a cigarette after the story, Gemini,’ I said. ‘I know you on the street, man. You walk out that door now, you’ll be gone in sixty seconds. So chase to the cut, and tell me what happened.’

‘Don’t you mean cut to the chase?’

‘Gemini.’

‘The holy man cursed him,’ Gemini said, shivering.

He was suddenly scared, and I didn’t like it, because I liked him.

‘And?’

‘That’s it.’

There’s no patience as pure as the patience we spend on loved ones, who make things harder than they need to be. I gave him a patient smile.

‘What, exactly, happened?’

‘The holy man cursed him. He said that his greed would become his murder weapon. He said that from the day his blood was spilled, Scorpio’s money was cursed, and would only bring him sorrow and regret.’

‘What happened then?’

‘The bodyguards bailed out, right there on the spot.’

‘And Scorpio?’

‘He ran away. I found him at the hotel, later.’

‘And the holy man?’

‘I waited with him. I tried to get him to come into the hotel with me. But then some more holy men came, and he told me to run, because they’d be so angry they’d kill me. So, I ran. You know how dangerous holy men are.’

‘And Scorpio thinks he’s cursed?’

‘He kind of is cursed,’ Gemini moaned. ‘I mean, the hotel staff have left our floor. They all think he’s cursed, and they won’t service his room.’

‘How are you getting on, at the hotel?’

‘Scorpio talked to the hotel, and hired new people, today. They come from Lithuania, I think. Nice people. Can’t understand a word they say. His new bodyguards are Russian. Can’t understand them either, and they’re speakin’ English, and all. He’s locked up in the penthouse suite again, but I mean really locked up, this time.’

‘Drop the poker game for a while,’ I said. ‘I’ll square it with Didier. Let’s find the sadhu, and have the curse lifted.’

I was thinking that the sadhu probably wasn’t a rich man. I was thinking that we could find him, ask him to forgive the fool who’d touched him without respect, and accept a substantial payment to lift the curse.

The sadhus I knew, and I knew quite a few, would accept the offer without hesitation. It would’ve worked. I was sure. I couldn’t know then that for Gemini, my innocent, loving friend, it would lead to rivers long forbidden, for good reason.

‘Fantastic! Lin, you’re a genius. This curse thing is rippin’ Scorpio to bits. I don’t mind tellin’ you, I’m not comfortable with it, meself. In my book, you should stand as clear of a holy man’s curse as you do from a hand grenade. I was in the spiritual radiation zone, so to speak, and I’d like this cleared up, as much as Scorp.’

‘You could ask Naveen Adair for help,’ I suggested, opening my suggesting mouth. ‘He’s running the Lost Love Bureau from the Amritsar, in the rooms next to me.’

‘Great idea! I’ll ask around, at first, and hand it to Naveen if I can’t find him. We’ll have Scorpio right as rain in no time.’

‘Good,’ I said. ‘Can I offer you a ride?’

He looked out through the open doorway to my bike, parked illegally at the kerb.

‘No, thanks all the same,’ he smiled. ‘Never was much of a one for motorbikes. I’ll scoot back to the hotel in a taxi. Thanks, Lin. I knew I’d feel better, if I talked to you.’