Free The Best Australian Stories 2010 by Cate Kennedy

sip of the whisky and water. This time Marly thought she saw his jaw clench as he swallowed.
    â€˜Got it.’ Shaun reached behind and pulled a roll of paper towelling from the bench. He tore off four sheets and passed the roll to Azza before wiping his mouth and hands and tossing the used towelling at the bin in the corner. ‘You’re here to sell us Foxtel, right?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜That other one, then. Optus, or Star, or whatever it is.’
    â€˜Sir, I am not here to sell you a single thing.’
    â€˜Fuck, he’s really starting to piss me off now.’ Azza spoke to the ceiling.
    â€˜Your name is Azza, I believe you said? Where are you from, sir?’ Pran seemed unperturbed. He swivelled a little on his seat to face Azza.
    â€˜I’m from Thomastown, mate.’ Azza had gone quite still.
    â€˜And your family? They are from Thomastown too?’
    â€˜They’re from Lebanon. Not that it’s any of your fucking business.’
    Pran nodded and took another sip of the whisky.
    â€˜So come on, give us your spiel.’ Shaun rocked back on his chair and rested his thonged feet on the edge of the kitchen table like he was getting ready to hear a story.
    â€˜I have no spiel. All I have for you is a free offer. No obligations, no payments, no commitments.’
    â€˜Go on.’ Shaun was enjoying himself. Marly remembered the time he got the Mormons in and toyed with them for an hour and a half. She’d been drinking that night and so had he, and the evening was blurry – but the Mormons had never pressed charges, even though she’d found a piece of tooth in the glass on the floor the next morning, and it wasn’t Shaun’s and it wasn’t hers.
    â€˜Do Hindus believe in God?’ Marly interrupted. If she could break the chain, tonight might end differently.
    â€˜We have many gods, which are manifestations of a single reality. We believe in reincarnation, and in karma. What you choose to do in your life determines your destiny in this life and the next.’
    â€˜Sounds like that chick in the crystal shop.’ Azza tipped back on his chair like Shaun and took a swig of his beer.
    â€˜Take your feet off the table, boys. It’s not nice.’ Marly tapped her nails on the tabletop. The Indian’s clean white shirt and his polished shoes were flickering like soft candles in the corner of the room.
    Shaun and Azza were so surprised that they lifted their feet and dropped their chairs back to the floor.
    â€˜Jesus, Marl, where’d the manners suddenly come from?’ Shaun reached across the table. He picked up a tube of toothpicks from the bench. He offered them around the table, but Azza and Marly shook their heads. The room was quiet as he rooted around the back of his mouth and brought out the toothpick to examine it.
    The tip was bright with blood, like a thin match.
    â€˜So.’ Shaun rubbed the toothpick between his thumb and forefinger, twirling it up and down the length of his thumb pad. ‘So, Pran, mate.’
    â€˜Yes, Shaun?’
    Marly couldn’t believe how relaxed the little dark man was. Either he was stupid or he had some secret weapon.
    â€˜Pran, I don’t think we’ll be taking your offer of a free set of steak knives.’
    â€˜I am not trying to offer you steak knives, Shaun.’ Pran lifted his canvas bag and brought out a pamphlet. ‘I am giving you free of charge six months of—’
    â€˜I said we don’t want it, mate. The thing is—’
    â€˜Mr Pran, what did you mean by manifestations of a single reality?’ Marly knew Shaun and Azza would be cursing her for interrupting their entertainment, but she wanted to know. Maybe this calm little man had the secret. The secret of being happy, or of not always wanting to be someone else, somewhere else.
    â€˜You see, the Baghavad Gita says that there is a single essence that underlies all existence. You