“Thanks,” said Zack, taking a glass and turning off the TV.
Daniel set the cutting board on the coffee table and sliced off a piece of
cheese. “That’s a sweet kid’s picture on the refrigerator.”
“Osh drew that for me. When I was over there on Friday.”
“I thought so. Pretty picture of a pretty family.” Daniel smiled. “Is it sup-
posed to make me feel guilty?”
“No. Just a kid’s picture. I like the way kids see things.” In fact, Zack
wanted to remind them both that there was another family involved, one with
children. “So? How was it? Did you have fun?”
“We did. I did. To a point.”
“Oh?”
“We flew up on Friday, caught a cab into town . . .” Daniel began with his
usual we-did-this-we-did-that list of things, not so much storytelling as a
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C h r i s t o p h e r B r a m
download of data: the hotel where they stayed, the art dealers they saw, the
shops they visited. It was an elaborate way of clearing his throat. Zack became
impatient.
“You’ll never guess who we ran into at the Met. Amy and Tony. Amy asked
after you. She said to say hi.”
Zack was thrown to hear that Daniel’s sister had met Abbas. “How’s she
been doing?”
“Fine. They were in town to see Simone.”
Zack liked and trusted Amy but was surprised by how much the brother
and sister told each other. He told his own family very little about his private
life. “What did she make of Abbas?”
“I don’t think she made anything of him. I introduced him as just another
art teacher. Tony asked if he were Palestinian.”
But Zack shouldn’t feel upset if Daniel’s sister knew Daniel had an outside
boyfriend. It was between the brother and sister. It had nothing to do with him.
“You said you and Abbas had fun only to a point.”
“Did I say ‘only’? I don’t think I said ‘only.’ But we had fun. Yes. It was a
good weekend.” Daniel appeared undecided over how much to tell.
“Did you learn anything new about each other?”
Daniel smiled, a guilty, hesitant smile. “He snores. But not half as bad as
you do.”
Sleep was an intimacy like sex, but it wasn’t sex. Zack didn’t need to hear
about the sex. “What else?”
“What else? Not much we didn’t know already. He’s hungry for success.
So hungry he couldn’t enjoy the Met. He hated everything there. Even the
stuff he loved he hated. Because he resents the fact his stuff isn’t there yet.”
Daniel shook his head. “He’s a real piece of work. You should’ve seen him
with dealers. Very smooth. I was impressed. Although he didn’t get any fur-
ther than I do.”
Daniel spoke with a dry, amused, detached tone, like a man looking back
on an old folly. Yet the detachment didn’t feel sincere.
“He’s good company, perfectly charming for forty-eight hours. But totally
self-absorbed. He never asked a thing about me the entire weekend. It was al-
ways about him. But maybe that’s them. Does Elena ever ask you about you?”
E x i l e s i n A m e r i c a
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“No. But I’m not sleeping with Elena.”
Daniel didn’t miss a beat. “Thank God for that. Because there’s no telling
how Abbas would react. What’s good for the gander isn’t good for the goose
here.”
Zack decided to come right out with it. “But you’re still in love with him.”
Daniel nodded. “Oh yeah. Infatuated. Smitten. Whatever we want to call
it. Even now.”
“Why now?”
He sighed. “You wanted us to fuck each other out of our systems. Re-
member? Well, I didn’t fuck him out of mine but he fucked me out of his.
He’s already tired of me. One night was enough.” He sighed again, then
smiled. “He was never in love with me. He tricked me. He told me he was in
love only so I would fall in love with him. And now that he’s proved himself,
he can move on to his other loves. His art and family and future and the rest
of it.”
Daniel wanted sympathy, and Zack was tempted to give it, but not yet.
“We’ve gone as far as we’re gonna go. The fun part is over. It’s all downhill
from here.” He gave Zack a sad, hurt, Jocko-like look. The real Jocko lay at
his feet, head resting on his forepaws, studying the tip of Daniel’s slipper.
“Sorry, dear, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to bear with me for a few
more weeks.”
Zack frowned. “I thought the fun part was over when it went from sex to
love.”