Paris Trance Read Online Free PDF Page B

OK but the neighbourhood’s not so good. And my apartment – well, it’s a sad place. It’s seen better days.’
    ‘How long have you been there?’
    ‘Almost two months.’
    ‘And it’s the first place you lived in?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Everybody starts out in a dump. It’s a rite of passage. You do your time in a cesspit, you’re about to kill yourself, and then, hopefully, something better comes up.’
    ‘What if it doesn’t?’
    ‘Then you go ahead and kill yourself.’
    ‘And no one notices.’
    ‘Neighbours, generally, are alerted by the stench.’
    ‘My place smells bad enough already. No one would notice.’
    ‘That’s probably the previous tenant. Where would you like to live?’
    ‘Round here.’
    ‘You should. It’s great.’
    They walked in silence for a few moments, Luke hoping that Alex would suddenly remember that a friend of his was leaving an apartment just a few blocks away. Instead he asked Luke if he wanted a drink at the Petit Centre, the bar on rue Moret that is not there any more.
    The Centre was crowded: overspill from a gallery opening nearby. They stood at the bar until two stools became available. Then they found themselves in the best position in the place: sitting at the end of the bar, part of the crowd but not engulfed by its pushing and shoving. Alex ordered two beers.
    ‘My arms are so tired I can hardly pick up my glass,’ said Luke.
    ‘I know what you mean. Christ, what a day!’
    ‘Bridge on the River Kwai.’
    ‘Don’t worry. It’s not often like that.’
    ‘How long have you been there, at the warehouse, I mean?’
    ‘Since April, but I was away for the summer. I like it.’
    ‘Tell me about the guys who work there. I wasn’t sure who was who.’
    ‘OK, Bernard is the number two, the foreman. He’s French and so is Daniel. He and Matthias—’
    ‘The German?’
    ‘Actually he’s Swiss but you wouldn’t know it. Anyway he and Daniel are great friends – that is they’re both great dope smokers. They do a lot of acid as well.’
    ‘At work?’
    ‘It has been known. Daniel deals a bit too.’
    ‘What? Grass?’
    ‘Mainly. But he’s pretty good for most things if you give him a couple of days’ notice.’
    ‘How convenient.’
    ‘It is actually. Then there’s Ahmed who’s Algerian. He’s the guy I see most, out of work. And that’s it. There’s a woman called Marie who comes in occasionally to do secretarial work but you never know when she’s going to show up. Like Didier. The guy whose job you’ve got. He was becoming less and less reliable. Today was the straw that broke the camel’s back, Lazare’s back anyway. He’s been pissed off with him for a while but his not showing today clinched it.’
    ‘I thought Lazare was pissed off with everybody.’
    ‘That’s just front. It’s not even that his bark is worse than his bite. He’s all bark, no bite.’
    ‘So you think I can stay?’ said Luke.
    ‘Sure. I don’t see why not. Where are you from anyway?’
    ‘I lived in London for five years.’
    ‘Whereabouts?’
    ‘Brixton.’
    ‘Me too. On Shakespeare Road.’
    ‘I was on Saint Matthews Road.’
    ‘Where’s that?’
    ‘Just off Brixton Water Lane.’
    ‘I had friends who lived near there. Josephine Avenue.’
    ‘What number?’
    ‘I forget. A big shared house. They gave a lot of parties. The people I knew were called Sam and Belinda.’
    ‘Was it the house with the purple door?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I went to a party there.’
    ‘Were you at the one the police raided?’
    ‘By mistake?’
    ‘Yes, exactly. They got the address wrong.’
    ‘Yes. So we were at the same party. I bet we knew other people too. Did you know, oh what was that guy called? The artist, he had that great name—’
    ‘Steranko!’
    ‘Exactly.’
    They had known the same people, eaten in the same places, drunk in the same pubs, and now they were drinking in the same bar, in Paris. It felt like an achievement. Luke pointed at Alex’s glass