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.’As she spoke, the group got up and left, the older one directing a wink at Nadia and Blume as he passed their table.‘They paid for my drinks to compromise me; now they’re taking a photo of me with you, presumably for the same reason.’‘Yes, if you had a wife, maybe.The bar boy will remember they paid – but it is not much.I am not part of some plot to discredit you.I am here for Alina.Have you made an enemy of Niki?’‘He sent those men and you.I mean, you’re his whore, right? How did you even know I was here?’‘It is not a large town.Yes, Niki sent them to watch you, but not me.I found out from them you were here.Niki doesn’t know I am talking to you.I have been talking about him to a policeman, a drunk and stupid policeman maybe.’‘I am not drunk.The way you tell the story, Niki sounds like a swell guy.But the way I hear it, he picked you two up on the cheap.Bargain basement whores.Or am I being too hard? You’re a dancer.That’s what you are.Alina, too.Does she dance?’Nadia sipped her wine and watched him, then nodded as if she had come to a decision.‘I know your type, Blume.People like you prefer getting praised to fucking.It’s something you learn quickly as a whore.’She flicked her wrist, as if tossing the word back across the table at him.‘The fucking itself? About a quarter of the time.The rest is spent telling men how great they are.Even when you men are fucking you need to be reassured, are always saying things like “you like this babe, you want this, you want my cock there, don’t you, baby?” Of course I don’t.Who would? But you have to tell them it is the best thing ever, because if you say no, they go crazy with rage.I said no once or twice at the beginning, then learned to stop.Even the ones who just roll, slobber, and grunt all over you without a word, will usually ask afterwards if you liked it.The answer, by the way, is always yes.Oh, you loved it.Maybe it’s true that men don’t like to talk so much, but they sure as hell want you to talk.They want you to ask about their nice suit, their muscles, the size of their cock, their patience, their wealth, their importance, their job, their looks.They have to hear this from you, so you have to talk to them.And that takes up three-quarters of the time, and it’s worse than the fucking, because it makes your head tired, no? And you are saying all these things you don’t believe, and in Istanbul I had to say them in different languages.It gets into your soul, and you think you are a liar in your soul, because you are.’She grabbed the bottle and refilled her glass.‘I have had all sorts of requests,’ she continued.‘Some you would not believe.But all men want you to suck their cock.You know why that is?’‘Well, it’s a nice feeling.’ Blume felt his voice go small.‘What I mean is.’‘I’ll tell you why.It’s because it’s the mouth.They want to control your mouth.That’s the most important thing for a man.Alina has a beautiful mouth.In the end, that is not good.Not for what we do.What we did.’Blume felt a trickle of sweat run down his neck, and the itching was starting up again.He dropped a few pills into his mouth, and drank his beer, which now tasted like floor cleaner, waiting for a break in the conversation into which he might slip some sort of apology.But Nadia was in full flow and no opportunity presented itself.When she seemed to have finished, he cleared his throat experimentally.‘So you don’t do that now? Maybe you can tell me about the arrangement you have with Niki?’‘It is simple.We dance in the club.We attract customers.Sometimes we may go with a man, but only if we like him.It is far better now than ever before.Or I thought it was.’‘Do they pay you?’ He intended it as a genuine question, not as an accusation.Nadia looked at him and burst out laughing.‘What do you think?’He was still feeling ashamed of how he had treated her a moment ago, and chose his words carefully.‘I think they might pay you.What I meant to ask is if Niki taxes you.’‘Niki gets nothing, also because a lot of the men prefer to pay with presents rather than cash.We pay Niki for the accommodation, but he lets us keep our money and he pays us weekly wages.I like Niki.Unless he killed Alina, which I think he could have.In that case, I hate him.’‘You think he could have killed Alina?’ said Blume.‘Yet you say you like him.What is there to like?’‘You should have met the others.’ She paused and gave him an appraising look.‘You think you’re different from those men I was talking about, don’t you?’‘Yes.’‘Hmm.’ She tilted her head and seemed to weigh up his body with her eyes, and he felt himself pushing out his chest a little and raising his chin.‘You know who you remind me of?’Blume had always fancied himself as having a certain resemblance to Harrison Ford, and wondered if she had spotted it.‘No.Who?’‘Niki [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]