~ ~ ~



Brown says, “I’m certain you’ll hear from her soon,” which is curious, since Zan hasn’t actually said anything about not hearing from her. Brown clasps his hands together and rubs them, torturing the empty space between his palms. “Hotel is satisfactory, I trust.”

“Sure,” says Zan.

“Working on anything these days?”

“Uh. . ”

Brown can’t be certain what this means, since Zan isn’t either, but replies, “A novel, I presume?”

“Yes.”

“Brilliant. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Since the last.”

“Yes,” says Zan, “and you?” changing the subject: Let’s talk about what you really want to talk about. “Still the journalism, of course.”

“Yes,” Brown says, “a proper piece about the impact that torture at Guantanamo has had on the Muslim world. The waterboarding, sexual humiliation. All that.”

Zan struggles to suppress a nationalist impulse, though not as much as the impulse to puncture what he regards as the other’s pomposity. “The president signed an order,” he says.

“Oh well, then, right,” Brown answers, “it’s all sorted.”

“I think an order against waterboarding is a good thing, James.”

“Yes, though he won’t let us see any photos, will he? The sexual humiliation, none of that.”

More fed up than he expected, Zan looks at the kids. “That’s not torture,” he says, surprising himself.

“No?” says Brown.

“Tawdry, stupid, puerile, counter-productive. Pick one or all of them, but not torture.”

“Really?” not actually said as a question.


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