"You are the only one of us she does not now hate, or has not hated at some time in the past. For Letitia, the statement I do not hate you is a poem of passionate love. She will listen to you. I am sure of it. And without you, the plan will fail. And the good Vikram-as if loving such a woman as our Letitia was not sufficient to prove his mental derangement-he has already risked his life, several times, to make the plan possible. You cannot imagine how much preparation we have made, Vikram and I, for just this moment."
"Well, nobody told me anything about it," I complained, still thinking of the delicious pulao at Leopold's.
"But that is exactly why I have searched for you all over Colaba!
You have no choice, Lin. You must help him. I know you. There is in you, as there is in me, a morbid belief in love, and a fascination for the madness that love puts in its victims."
"I wouldn't put quite that spin on it, Didier."
"You can spin it how you will," he replied, laughing for the first time, "But you have the love disease, Lin, and you know, in your heart, that you must help Vikram, just as I must help him."
"Oh God," I relented, lighting a beedie to stave off the hunger.
"I'll do what I can to help. What's the plan?"
"Ah, it is quite complicated-"
"Just a minute," I said, raising my hand to interrupt him quickly. "Is this scheme of yours dangerous?"
"Well..."
"And does it involve breaking the law?"
"Well..."
"I thought so. Then, don't tell me until we get there. I've got enough to worry about." "D'accord. I knew that we could count on you. Alors, speaking of worry, I have a little news that may be of some help to you."
"Let's have it."
"The woman who made the complaint about you, the woman who put you in the prison, she is not Indian. I have learned it, beyond any doubt. She is a foreigner who lives here, in Bombay."
"There's nothing else?"
"No. I regret, there is nothing more. Not at this time. But I will not rest until I know all."
"Thanks, Didier."
"It's nothing. You are looking well, by the way. Perhaps even better than before you went to the prison."
"Thanks. I'm a little heavier, and a little fitter."
"And a little... crazier... perhaps?"
I laughed, avoiding his eye, because it was true. The taxi pulled up at Marine Lines Station. Marine Lines was the first railway station after the central city terminus, at Churchgate Depot. We climbed the pedestrian ramp and found Vikram, with several of his friends, waiting for us on the station platform.
"Oh, fuck! Thank God you're here, man!" he said, pumping my hand in a frantic, two-handed shake. "I thought you weren't coming."
"Where is Letitia?" Didier asked.
"She's down the platform, yaar. She's buying a cold drink. See her there, just past the chai shop?"
"Ah, yes. And she knows nothing of the plan?"
"Not a fuckin' thing, man. I'm so nervous that it's not going to work, yaar. And what if she gets killed, Didier? It won't be a good look for us, man, if my proposal kills her!"
"Killing her would definitely be a bad start," I mused.
"Don't worry. It will be okay," Didier soothed, although he mopped his brow with a scented handkerchief as his eyes searched the empty tracks for an approaching train. "It will work. You must have faith."
"That's what they said at Jonesville, yaar."
"What do you want me to do, Vikram?" I asked, hoping to calm him down.
"Okay," he replied, puffing as if he'd just run up a flight of steps. "Okay. First, Lettie has to stand just here, facing you.
Just like I'm standing now." "U-huh."
"It has to be right here. Exactly here. We've checked it out a hundred fuckin' times, man, and it has to be just here. Have you got that?"
"I... think so. You're saying that she has to stand just-"
"Here!"
"Here?" I teased him.
"Fuck, man, this is serious!"
"Okay! Take it easy. You want me to make Lettie stand here."
"Yeah. Here. And your job is to get her to put the blindfold on."
"The... blindfold?"
"Yeah. She's got to wear a blindfold, Lin. It won't work without it. And she has to leave it on, even when it gets very scary."
"Scary..."
"Yeah. That's your job. Just convince her to put the blindfold on, when we give you the signal, and then convince her to keep it on, yaar, even if she's screaming a bit."
"Screaming..."
"Yeah. We thought about a gag, but we decided, you know, a gag might be a bit counter-fuckin'-productive, yaar, because she might freak out a bit, with a gag. And she's going to freak out enough as it is, without using a fuckin' gag on her."
"A... gag..."
"Yeah. Okay, here she comes! Get ready for the signal."
"Hello, Lin, you fat bastard," Lettie said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "You're really beefing out, aren't you, son?"
"You look good, too," I replied, smiling at the pleasure of seeing her.
"So, what's this all about then?" she asked. "It looks like the gang's all here."
"You don't know?" I shrugged.
"No, of course I don't. Vikram just told me we were meeting you and Didier-hullo, Didier-and here we all are. What's up?"
