The Ayatollah's Money
Page 26
Chapter 19. Laleh’s hair. Chapter 19. Laleh’s eyes. Chapter 19. Laleh’s neck. Chapter 19. Her mouth. He gave up. He is no Bill Clinton. He is no Roger June. He can’t manage a woman and a creative endeavor. He has one compartment, and right now it was filled with one thing, and that wasn’t Chapter 19. He wouldn’t get to know what happened to Nev anytime soon, Nev being the former Israeli commando, tough as nails, now bodyguard to the June’s enemy, Pmirhs Stirg. Nev having entered The Hall with the intention of intimidating two former ballet dancers, Peter and Pater, partners in life, and getting them to hand over a copy of the Stravinsky ballet that had been lost to the world since he wrote it in 1914 in Saint Petersburg. They, trained by Gwen, had gotten the drop on Nev, and then had been rescued by Roger as their nerve started to fail. Shim wouldn’t get to learn what happened to Nev, Nev now sitting in a chair on the stage of The Hall surrounded by a bunch of armed women, all silently saying to him, 'Tsk Tsk, Nev, not a good performance on your part.' Shim, and the breathlessly waiting literary world, would have to wait.