The Merchants of Zion Read Online Free PDF

nodded. “Have you kissed your boyfriend yet?” I teased.
    “No. Gross,” she said. “He's not even my boyfriend.” I finished my first slice and waited to see if she wanted the second one. The suits filed out of Pi without bothering to throw away their trash.
    “Do you have any crushes?” Elly asked.
    “No, those things go away as you grow up. It changes...” I trailed off, my mind wandering toward the phantoms of exes and broken hearts. And girls whose lives had split from mine, our feelings still unresolved. None of them were crushes, not exactly—
    “Do you love me Cliff?”
    “What? Yes, of course.”
    “I love you too. I love,” she started counting on her fingers. “You, mom, dad, and Skittles.” Deep-thought. “And I love Ryan. Even if he's gone. Have you ever, you know, like love loved anyone ?”
    I smiled. “That's a rude question.”
    “Why?”
    “It's very personal and not something people want to be asked about.”
    “Oh.”
    “But there's been a few girls I maybe love loved.”
    “Nooo waaay. A few! I'm only ever going to love love one boy.” She finished her first slice and I asked if she wanted the second one. Only the crust. I tore it off and ate the rest.
    “What if he breaks your heart?”
    “I'm gonna make sure and pick one who doesn't.”
    “And what if you break his?”
    A middle-aged man wearing a tuxedo came into the pizzeria, followed closely by a girl in a slinky cocktail dress who was my age or younger. She had an olive complexion and chestnut hair, and she was gorgeous. I would've thought she was his daughter but for the way he pressed his open hand into the small of her back, several inches too low. She turned to whisper in his ear and there was a flash of neon pink as her hair shifted, the dye stylishly hidden. In college I'd had a friend who wore her hair the same way. Except hers had been violet.
    Elly's curiosity was insatiable. She wanted to know how you could fall in love more than once. Or if you could love two people at the same time. Or if you could fall out of love as well as into it. I told her love was one of those things no one ever figures out.
    “But that doesn't answer any of my questions.”
    “It's the best I've got.” I hoped the mysterious couple would sit close enough for me to eavesdrop, but they chose a table in the back corner of the restaurant. They couldn't have gotten further from us if they tried. Which disappointed them, I'm sure; no doubt they wanted the entire place to themselves. Or was he worried about crossing paths with someone he knew, and trying to hide?
    They talked and she laughed, and I'd never been more jealous of two people I hadn't met. He wasn't even good looking. I could see his gut from across the room. It wasn't fair; I had no chance against older, successful men. She looked happy though, and I couldn't judge her for wanting that.
    I told Elly it was time to go, and made her help me clean up our mess. We wished the man behind the counter a good night as we left. He smiled and returned the favor.
    Back at the house, Elly wanted me to read her one of The Confectioner's Tales , a young adult series about Anne Precious, an orphan girl who works at a bakery on the Lower East Side. It's owned by her aunt, who also happens to be a vampire. A multitude of beasties frequent the place: werewolves, warlocks, and other vampires all come to eat her monstrous baked goods. Her specialty is blood biscuits, made with human blood stolen from a hospital across the street. Hilarious adventures ensue. In the latest book—the twelfth so far—Anne helps a leprechaun and werewolf who are in love, but whose families refuse to accept it. They get married at the end, Elly told me. She was rereading them all before the new one came out next month. The spooky thirteenth installment. No one ever seemed to worry about Anne's education—she never goes to school—or the poor humans who can't get blood transfusions because someone wanted to make a