The Mountain Shadow

‘You can’t blame this on the moment, Naveen.’

‘But, if I was still with the old Diva, you know, who hit me in the balls every time I stood up, it couldn’t have happened.’

‘Bring new Diva along on the date. Benicia might like her. And Diva likes jewellery.’

‘It’s not that kind of date Benicia has in mind.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Those eyes,’ he said. ‘She did this . . . she was . . . you had to be there, but there’s no mistake. It’s more than a date she’s got in mind.’

‘And you agreed to that?’

‘I told you, I was carried away.’

‘Call off the bet.’

‘I can’t do that. Too many people have put too much money on the race. I’ve gotta give it all I’ve got.’

‘Well, when you have the date with Benicia, tell her you’re in love with another girl. Tell her then what you should’ve told her when she asked for a more-than-date, through her sunglasses niqab.’

‘I feel shitty,’ he said.

‘Don’t feel shitty. Win the race, and make it right.’

He hugged me so intensely that I was standing in a river, and water was rushing past me, chest high, just gently enough not to knock me off balance.

He dashed through the door.

‘See you there!’ he said, starting down the stairs.

‘Wait!’ I called, and he sprinted back to stand on the top step.

‘That girl, Vinson’s friend, Rannveig.’

‘Yeah,’ he said, standing on one foot, a deer waiting for velocity. ‘I spoke to him before. He’s with Didier, in the office.’

‘She’s a friend of mine as well. If you’re trying to find her, go spiritual. That’s where I’d start.’

‘Okay, spiritual. Got it. Anything else?’

‘No. Run.’

He jumped and bumped his way down the stairs.

For some reason, I wanted to close the door, lock the locks, clean my gun, sharpen my knives, write things, and get drunk enough to miss the race. In that moment, I didn’t want to know anything else, about anyone else’s love drama.

I stood up and walked toward the door, but Vinson beat me to it.

‘Got a minute?’

‘Fuck it, man, who hasn’t got a minute? And who doesn’t know that it’ll take a lot longer than a minute? Everybody. So leave your self-deprecating passive aggression at the door, come in, park your carcass on Oleg’s sofa, have a beer, and tell me what’s on your mind, or what’s on Oleg’s mind, if you’d care to guess.’

‘You’re in a mood,’ he said, sitting.

I threw him a beer.

‘Nice couch,’ he said. ‘Who’s Oleg?’

‘What’s on your mind, Vinson?’

He talked about her, that girl from the North Lands who carried the ice in her eyes wherever she went. He blamed himself for being overprotective, for making her feel like a prisoner, for withholding his affection, and for all the other wrong things.

‘You’re the prisoner, man,’ I said.

‘I’m the prisoner?’

‘You’re chained to what you do, Vinson. And she’s a free bird.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t want to talk about Rannveig unless she’s here to join in the conversation,’ I said. ‘But I’ll just say that I think she’s a sensitive person, and what you’re doing hurts something inside her. Her last boyfriend died at the business end of heroin, remember?’

‘I don’t take heroin.’

‘You’re a drug dealer, Vinson.’

‘I’ve kept her away from it,’ he said defensively. ‘She doesn’t know anything about what I do.’

‘Well, knowing that girl the little that I do, I think it matters to her what you do. I don’t know, Vinson, but I think it might come to a choice you’ll have to make, between the money and the girl.’

‘I can’t, like, live the way that I do, you know, without the money I make. I live big, Lin, and I like it.’

‘Live smaller.’

‘But Rannveig –’

‘Rannveig will love it, so long as you bring the maid. She likes your maid.’

‘I’ll have to find her, first.’

‘You’ll find her. Or she’ll find you. She’s a smart girl. She’s stronger than she looks. She’ll be alright.’

‘Thanks, Lin,’ he said, standing to leave.

‘What for?’

‘For not thinking I’m stupid to care so much. To love her so much. The cops think I’m crazy.’

‘The cops think that anyone who walks into a police station voluntarily is crazy, and they’ve got a point.’

‘Do you really think she’ll come back to me?’

‘She might come back to you, but not to what you do.’

He walked down the stairs slowly, shaking his worried head.

Faith is unconditional love, and love is unconditional faith. Vinson, Naveen and I were men in love, without the women we loved, and faith was a tree without shade. I hoped Vinson was lucky, and that Rannveig wanted to be found. I hoped that Diva would give Naveen the shelter of certainty. And I hoped that Karla’s scheme, whatever it was, wouldn’t cost us what we almost had.

Chapter Sixty-Five

I almost had the door closed, but Didier pressed his hand against it from the other side, and pushed it open.

‘I have a problem,’ he said, throwing himself on the couch.

‘I should charge this couch by the hour,’ I said. ‘It’s busier than I am.’

‘There is a special party, tonight.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘A costume party.’

‘I’m closing the door, Didier.’

‘There were only two costumes left, at the best costumier, and I have put them both on hold, but I cannot choose.’

‘What did they have?’