Free A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism by Peter Mountford Page B

metamorphosis that required sophisticated foundations for the hilltop mansions, foundations that could easily cost twice as much as the buildings themselves. In San Pedro, Lenka's neighborhood, everything was cracked slabs of concrete. There was nothing living in sight. The cinder blocks hadn't even been painted on the more squalid houses.
    Looking at it all, Gabriel found himself overwhelmed with a desire for a luxurious and spacious store or restaurant, somewhere in Manhattan at Christmastime, maybe: a sparkling oasis of ravenous retail. And even though he knew the feeling that the place would give him would be a lie—satisfaction imitating joy—the mirage was still tempting.
    Lenka returned with her cell phone at her ear. She flung herself back behind the wheel so quickly he caught a whiff of her soapy shampoo. "
Bueno señor, pero, ya
"—she checked the mirror, put the car into gear
—"pero ya estoy con un periodista. Sí, ya.
"
    She listened, checked the mirror, released the parking brake.
    "
Pues, sí—hablamos entonces.
" She hung up the phone, shoved it under her thigh, started off down the street.
    "The future president?" Gabriel said.
    She just smiled. "Gabriel, have you been to Blueberries?"
    "Were you talking about me to Evo?"
    "Does that make you feel special?" She grinned at him.
    She kept smiling quietly, eyes back on the road. They drove through the tunnel connecting San Pedro and Sopocachi, and on the other side Lenka slowed and stopped at a red light. Dusk showed La Paz at its finest: the cool air, papaya sun in a cobalt sky, craggy mountains lit vividly. The comparatively well-heeled denizens of Sopocachi walked past, some muttering into cell phones.
    Gabriel asked her if she'd had a lot of press to deal with.
    "Yes." She pulled the parking brake, took her foot off the clutch, and scratched her ankle. "There were reporters from every newspaper calling us all afternoon. Fiona called, actually. I told her that I was going to meet you later."
    "Oh
God,
" he said and rolled his eyes, aware that he was tipping his hand.
    Lenka's smile widened and she checked to see that the light was still red. She looked back at him. She had magnificent eyelashes, like palm fronds dipped in pitch and dried in the sun, and when she blinked he could almost feel the breeze. "Why do you say 'Oh
God
' like that?"
    He shrugged. "What do you think?"
    "Did you sleep with her?"
    He grinned guardedly, stuck somewhere between embarrassed and proud. She shook her head. He was surprised by how relieved he was to make the admission. "Does it surprise you?" he said.
    "No, it's just funny." Now she was lying. "What was Fiona like in bed?" she asked.
    "Do you know what a mechanical bull is?"
    She laughed, shook her head. "You are bad, Gabriel."
    "That's true," he said.
    Someone behind them honked, and she put the car back into gear.
    A block later, she parked on the north side of Plaza Avaroa. The plaza slanted slightly to the southeast and was full of knobby, tumor-laden maples that stooped behind worn metal benches. Restaurants and cafés packed the promenades on two sides of the square; the other two were occupied by a mixture of colonial houses and old ministerial buildings. On the distant westerly corner, the American ambassador's former residence, a once stately mansion, was dark and abandoned now. The residence had been too exposed there on the square, too easily accessed by the mobs, and the ambassador had had to move down to the far corner of an obscure neighborhood in south La Paz.
    ***
    When she asked him what he wanted to know, Gabriel leaned back and thought it through. The boisterous restaurant was packed with people, mostly leaning over two-person tables and talking animatedly. It seemed as if all of them were smoking at once. He didn't know why they called it Blueberries; nothing on the menu involved blueberries. He said, "It's all deep background right now, nothing for attribution. So, if you could