Outsiders. Part 19

"Not so much. I had fun when I was in my twenties and feeling invulnerable, but I'm feeling more vulnerable with every year. I'd prefer to just work with my parents since I'm afraid they only have a couple more books left in them and they work faster when I'm pus.h.i.+ng them. But they can live on the equivalent of ten thousand dollars a year. I can't."

"You have more expensive tastes?"

"Yeah. Definitely. And I'm also more realistic than they are."

"Realistic...how?"

Taj took a drink and leaned back in her chair. The chair was a standard wooden bar seat, but the way she draped herself upon it made it seem like a chaise longue. "Maybe the word is practical. There won't be anyone to help me out if I break a hip when I'm sixty. I've got to have some money put aside if I'm disabled and, given my line of work, that's not out of the realm of possibilities."

"Can you put enough away to provide for yourself?"

"Probably not. And I don't save as much as I should."

Laurie looked at her well-made linen s.h.i.+rt and snuck a glance at her big backpack. "How do you blow your money? I'm always interested in people's spending patterns."

"I don't blow much, to be honest. But I'd like to come to New York more often and spend some time in my home country. My parents lived here until they were in their thirties, but it's new to me."

"That must be odd. To not really have a home country."

"Not very," Taj said, shrugging it off. "I like not having a ferocious attachment to any one place. The world might be more peaceful if we all felt like earthlings."

Laurie narrowed her eyes, considering whether to proclaim her love of America and all that it stood for. She decided to keep her feelings to herself for the moment and find out more about Taj. "How else do you spend your money?"

"Well, I like to be able to stay in hotels and buy my own meals."

"Versus sleeping on the street and stealing?"

Taj's smile was warm and made her even more beautiful. "It's not that bad, but my parents are more than willing, h.e.l.l, they're eager to bunk with strangers and share whatever the people can spare. But I've had it with that. I want some privacy and some"-she frowned and paused a moment before she finished-"dignity. I don't like to take from people who have so little."

"I can understand that. Is that a bone of contention between you and your parents?"

"Not too much. They're not the types to argue with me or try to change me. They've simply decided I'm a spendthrift because I like to go to Singapore every year or so to buy some clothes and have a few great meals."

"Ooo...a great meal. I could really use a great meal."

Taj looked at her watch. "It's almost eight. Let's take a walk. I can take some photographs now that the light is really good and we can look for a place to eat."

"You've got a deal."

Their path was a meandering one, with Taj das.h.i.+ng off several times, looking for a good image. Laurie kept walking down Seventh Avenue, keeping her pace slow so Taj could catch up after her forays. The evening light had faded by the time they reached Soho, and it was now dark. As dark as Laurie had ever seen New York. Taj carefully put her camera into various protective appliances inside her backpack. "I wish I'd brought my tripod so I could keep shooting, but I think I got some good shots. As soon as my cell phone works I'm going to call my agent and see if he can find a buyer."

"I hope that's soon. I keep turning my phone on but I'm not getting anything. All I'm managing to do is run my battery down."

"My battery is full, so I'll turn my phone off to save it. We don't know how long this will last, so we'd better conserve."

"We're not in the third world," Laurie laughed. "They'll have this fixed in no time."

"I hope you're right, but I wouldn't count on it. I heard some people saying that the blackout is covering the whole Northeast. If that's true, this could go on for quite a while."

"No way. They've got some plan in place to make sure we'll get power. This is the twenty-first century."

"Uhm-hmm," Taj said, nodding while maintaining her sardonic grin.

"Who has the best sus.h.i.+ in town?" Taj asked. They'd pa.s.sed four subway stations, each closed, and had given directions and advice to at least forty people during the amble.

"Mmm, probably Hiro. It's not very far from here, but I've never eaten there. It's far too expensive for me."

Teasingly, Taj said, "An author with...what...thirty t.i.tles? You must be flush."

"I do all right, but I'm not rich enough to eat at Hiro. I think their omakase menu is three hundred bucks."

"Not tonight it's not," Taj said confidently.

Laurie stood near the entrance of the very high end j.a.panese restaurant watching Taj work her magic. The bits Laurie heard were persuasive, but she was confident that it was the way Taj presented herself and her arguments that carried the day. After a good five minutes of negotiation they were shown to a table. The manager stood there for a moment and said, "I can't offer our traditional service because most of our waiters went home, but we'll do our best."

"We'll take whatever you have. There isn't anything I won't eat," Taj a.s.sured him.

He gazed at her suspiciously for a moment then left to head for the kitchen. "I'm not as adventurous as you are," Laurie said. "There are lots of things I won't eat."

"Then there's more for me. Don't worry, we'll eat well tonight."

"How will we afford it?"

"We struck a deal. If the power comes back on, we'll pay half of the usual. If it doesn't, it's free."

"Free?"

"That's why I wanted to come for sus.h.i.+. Everything will be spoiled by tomorrow, so they have to move it or throw it out. I'm pretty confident that the power isn't coming back on anytime soon, but even if it does I figured it would be worth a hundred and fifty dollars if the food is really extraordinary."

Grinning, Laurie said, "I think you might be a spendthrift."

"No, but I am a gambler."

By nine thirty the restaurant was half full. The manager had offered Taj's deal to anyone who'd come, and people were happy to be there, even though the room was now hot and stuffy. The sake was still cold, and they had a couple of gla.s.ses along with their fantastic food. The chefs had done a masterful job preparing everything they had in their walk-in cooler and the freezer. Laurie had sampled things she'd never heard of, much less tried, and even though some of it was a little exotic for her, she managed to keep up with Taj bite for bite.

It was eleven thirty when they were finally too stuffed to eat another bite. The manager a.s.sured them that the restaurant's insurance would cover the cost of the food, so they ignored their guilt at having eaten hundreds of dollars of sus.h.i.+, but left the majority of their cash for tips. They walked out into the still steaming night, with ten dollars between them. "Want to try to hitchhike to Brooklyn?" Laurie asked.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. Brooklyn is closer than Riverdale, isn't it?"

"I think so, but don't quote me. I've lived almost every place in the New York area but I'm not great at measuring distances."

They started to walk again, the sidewalks still jammed with people. Traffic had hardly moved, and people looked less happy and more harried. "First worlders don't take well to discomfort," Taj said. "It makes them question all of their a.s.sumptions about being in control."

"Very philosophical. I've got my own Margaret Mead."

Raising an eyebrow, Taj said, "Did that offend you?"

Laurie surprised herself by saying, "Yeah. It did a little bit."

"I'm sorry. I was just making an observation, but I should have kept it to myself."

"No, I don't want you to do that. You're a very interesting person, and I want to hear what you have to say even when you are making fun of me and my ilk."

"I'm not making fun of you at all. We're all products of our environment. If a guy from the Taliban saw the dress you're wearing, he'd probably stab you." She grinned. "I think he'd be making a very big mistake because you look fantastic, but he wouldn't see it that way."

"I think there was a compliment in there. If there was, thank you."

"There was definitely a compliment. You really look lovely. It's been a long time since I've seen a woman's...legs," she said, her eyes fixed considerably higher on Laurie's body.

"How long have you been in New York?"

"I just got in yesterday. I'd been to see my agent in Soho, and I stopped in the bookstore to see if they had my new book. I don't get to see my stuff in bookstores very often. It's a treat."

"The circ.u.mstances aren't ideal, but I'm really glad you were there. Are you any good at hitchhiking?"

"My family has never owned a car, a scooter or a bicycle. I think I've hitchhiked ten times more than I've bought a train ticket."

"I don't know about anybody else, but I feel very, very lucky tonight. I couldn't have picked a better companion to travel with."

They tried for almost an hour, but no one would consider giving them a ride across the bridge. They discussed walking across along with thousands of others, but Laurie thought there were safer places to sleep in Manhattan than there would be if they couldn't make it all the way to Park Slope.

They walked over to West Side Highway, trying to get a breeze from the river. They weren't successful, and the noise from the traffic was even worse than it had been downtown. But there was something nice about walking near the river with only the lights of furious drivers to illuminate the night. "How is your hand?" Taj gently lifted Laurie's right hand and tried to get a good look at it.

"It's fine." She was tempted to pull it away, feeling embarra.s.sed about punching a car window when the solo driver wouldn't make eye contact, but it felt nice to have Taj's hand hold hers. "I thought people would be more generous. We were really nice to each other after the attacks."

"People are still being nice. I haven't seen any rioting, and that's what I would expect in a city of this size."

"I guess you're right. And people are talking to each other more than normal."

"Absolutely true. We've gotten a lot of information from people on the street. It's all been bad," Taj admitted, "but people are really interacting."

"It's hard to believe that there isn't one form of public transportation working. I thought you'd be able to get home on Metro-North. Doesn't it run on diesel?"

"I thought it did, but that guy we talked to said he was certain none of the trains were running. I guess we could walk over to Grand Central and check..."

"It's only a couple of miles, but I feel like I'm gonna drop. I'd love to sit down and rest my barking dogs."

"Those sandals are cute, but they've got to be pinching by now."

"They were pinching when we were still at the bookstore. If I knew you better I'd be whining."

"You don't seem like the type. As a matter of fact, I can't begin to figure out why you're single."

"Yet another compliment. Keep them coming." She smiled and squeezed Taj's hand. "I've only been single for a year. Before that I was in a relations.h.i.+p for over five years."

"What happened?"

"My girlfriend decided that she wanted to have a baby. I'm leery about getting a goldfish. Too much responsibility," she said, grinning. "To be honest, having her break up with me wasn't the worst thing."

"How come?"

"I'm still not sure. We got along fine, but...it was all too...predictable?"

"Is that a question?"

Taj smiled, the look so attractive that Laurie's breath caught for a second. There was a pause, then she realized she was supposed to answer. "Oh! No, I guess I know the reason. I might be a little embarra.s.sed about it."

"Come on." Taj's voice was low and teasing. "Don't hold out on me."

Laurie sighed. "Okay. She didn't challenge me. That's probably not the best reason in the world to break up, but it's all I've got. Life got boring."

"That would be enough for me. More than enough. Maybe that's why I'm single too."

"What's been your longest relations.h.i.+p?"

"For a full-time girlfriend? Six months. But I had a long-distance relations.h.i.+p that tortured me for almost three years."

"Six months? That's-"

"Embarra.s.singly short. Even more embarra.s.sing is the fact that I was fourteen when it happened."

They made it to Christopher Street, to Pier 45, in the far West Village. The pier was under construction, part of the reclaiming of the Hudson for a park that would span the length of Manhattan. They found a bermed area where Laurie could put her yoga mat on the dirt and sit with some back support. Taj took a rain poncho from her pack and stretched it out next to her. They sat watching a few boats plying the dark water.

"Tell me all about this adolescent love affair," Laurie said. "I barely knew what s.e.x was when I was fourteen."

Taj lay on her side and supported her head with her hand. "I didn't know much. We were in the Kalahari, doing a book on the !Kung San in Namibia, and I came down with a lung infection."

Laurie's eyes grew wide. "That sounds serious."

"Yeah, it could have been. A lot of that tribe's people die from lung problems. They don't have any antibiotics or modern medicines, and the desert winds can force a lot of nasty stuff into your lungs. But we used our first world privilege, and my parents got me transported to Gaborone in Botswana. They went back as soon as it was clear that I was going to be all right."

"They left you?" Laurie's tone showed how amazed she was.

"Yeah, but that was fine. There was a school run by missionaries, and a lot of the staff spoke English. My parents were only half done with the book we were working on, and they didn't think it was wise to take me back there and risk getting another infection."

"But they left you," Laurie said again, her voice softer this time.