The Bellini Card

118

Yashim returned to his apartment. Elvan had brought the dishes back from the baker’s.

He peeled and chopped the cucumbers. He sprinkled them with salt, crushed two cloves of garlic, chopped them fine, and put them in a bowl with some yogurt. After a while he squeezed the water from the cucumbers and mixed them into the yogurt.

Then he washed his hands and sat silently on his divan, looking out across the rooftops of Istanbul.