Free Here & There by Joshua V. Scher

patted his shoulder. “So then, we done with the s’periment. We see this is the only way to do it, right.”
“We haven’t tried the caramelized sugar method,” he said, reaching for the Zippo.
Naelle sucked her teeth loudly. “They do it in one stupid movie and all of a sudden it’s a tradition.”
“It’s a Bohemian ritual.”
“Bo’emian ritual. Who ever looked to Eastern Europe for culcha
?
They just alcoholic pyromaniacs.”
“I have to agree with Naelle on this one, fire and alcohol never go well together,” she interrupted.
Reinier looked up at her and squinted, trying to place where he knew her from. She laughed quietly to herself at this. Any other man from the Centre, this would have been a ploy. Not so with Reinier.
“See, the Tremblement de Terre already kickin’ in. Mirages and hallucinations are filling up the place.” Naelle raised an eyebrow at her.
“Absent n’est point sans coulpe, ni présent sans excuse,” 27 she offered.
“Les absents ont toujours tort,” 28 Naelle quipped back.
“Un peu d’absence fuit grand bien.” 29
Naelle snapped a dishtowel in the air. “That’s only true with men. S’ok. I don’t need no flattering. I know the truth. The truth is you just scared to bring your visitin’ big shots to Maison de Mama. Lose them in my Oubliette,” Naelle said over her shoulder as she walked back to the bar, swinging her large hips to punctuate her innuendo. Her laugh filled the space between them. “Pour mieux le peindre, il faut quitter Paris.
30
But there’s no way to leave an oubliette.”
She sat down across from Reinier. He took another sip of absinthe, gazing at her with puzzled eyes.
“You lost me after ‘absent.’ I mostly only know slang and curse words. They’re all she’ll teach me.” He nodded his head toward Naelle.
She half laughed, half exhaled. “It’s only fair. You lost me today at public-key cryptography.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a flat, gift-wrapped object. Handing it to him, she said, “A peace offering
?
”
He took it from her but didn’t seem to know what to do with it. Just held it in midair, over the coffee table cluttered with absinthian concoctions.
“You can open it,” she suggested.
Shaking off the haze, he unwrapped the object.
“Interesting tie clip,” she said.
“It’s the secret of my success.”
“Really
?
Because it looks like you ripped a piece out of a computer and soldered it to a paper clip.”
“Close. A transistor from my first computer that I ever made. My Alpha chip, I guess. I like to keep my spark of ingenuity close . . .” He trailed off, having finished unwrapping her peace offering. He was left holding a hand mirror with a pink plastic frame and handle.
“Figured it was the least I could do for breaking your concentration and your mirror today.” She smiled. “Friends
?
”
He stared at the mirror, wiggling it a little in his grip. “It’s magnificent. And pink.”
“That’s what I thought when I looked at it,” she teased.
“I didn’t mean—”
“To be vain
?
”
“That’s not what I—”
“Vanity is just a word ugly people invented to make themselves feel better. I wouldn’t worry about it.” She flashed a big smile.
It wasn’t working. He still hadn’t looked at her.
“It’s very thoughtful.” He sat back and took her in. “Elle, is it
?
”
Her smile evaporated. She nodded yes.
“Thank you, Elle. Can I buy you a drink
?
”
“I’d say whatever you’re having, but from the looks of it, it might kill me.”
“How about a mojito
?
”
“If you can get Naelle to make one.”
Naelle already had an eye on him, so it wasn’t hard to get her attention. Although it did take some haggling to get her to make a mojito. Reinier would have to take a look at her gin still later.
“So, tell me, how does one find such a masculine mirror in Kourou
?
” Reinier asked.
“Special order. The store was overstocked with black-framed and silver-framed mirrors. But