The Fire Gospel by Michel Faber
Author:Michel Faber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canongate U.S.
Theo’s vision blurred; his heart beat too loud and too hard to spare much blood for his brain. I’m not ready, he wanted to say, but there would be no time for words.
‘Put it down, ma’am.’ Jennifer’s voice, echoing in the void.
Theo swayed on his feet, and the black woman’s face swam back into focus. A second gun had materialised in the space between them. One was pointing at his chest, but wavering. The other was pointing at the black woman’s face, the tip of its barrel jammed against the bridge of her nose, nudged into the hollow of her eye. A delicate white hand held this gun; an elegantly manicured finger was wrapped round the trigger; a slim wrist kept the weapon steady.
‘Put it away, ma’am,’ said Jennifer.
The black woman did as she was told.
‘Now get moving.’
The black woman took one last look at Theo, immolating him with a glower of hate. Then, in silence, she clamped her hands on the tyres of her wheelchair, swivelled roughly around, and rode away. Her wheels squeaked along the waterfront.
Theo dropped to his knees, coughed a couple of times, then spewed a soupy mixture of Pepsi and chocolate ice cream. He felt Jennifer’s hand on his back.
‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ he moaned.
‘Nothing to be sorry for,’ she said.
He looked up at her. She was amazingly, horribly calm.
‘I . . . I guess I’m not used to guns,’ he said.
‘This is Maryland,’ she said. ‘Everybody’s got one here.’
She had already returned her weapon to wherever she’d concealed it before. Theo couldn’t imagine a cavity in her snugly tailored clothing where a hunk of steel could be stashed away without causing a bulge, but it was done.
He shuddered, retched again. It was extraordinary how visceral an effect it could have on you, being threatened with a gadget you’d seen a million times for entertainment. In the movies, heroes under fire were always galvanised into action, leaping around athletically or standing firm, as though bullets were tennis balls to be fielded or ignored. Theo felt like he’d been blasted open. The vomit on his chest felt like blood. He wiped at it ineffectually.
‘Hey,’ said Jennifer, waggling his bag of purchases. ‘It’s a good thing you bought a new shirt.’
He hung his head. Her self-possession was not in the least reassuring; it made him feel worse. She should be on her knees sobbing, or having hysterics, and he should be comforting her, or snapping her out of it with a slap to the face.
‘Doesn’t anything faze you?’ he asked.
‘Sure I’m fazed,’ she said. ‘I’m only human. But we’ve all got to perform, haven’t we?’ She ran one hand through her hair, in a slightly trembly gesture that might have been a stress reaction, except that she managed to take a quick peek at her wristwatch while doing so. ‘We’ve both had a shock. Let’s go back to the hotel and get over it together.’
He nodded. But the nod wasn’t really assent, it was just a reflex. He didn’t want to be in a hotel room with Jennifer.
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