the spot you see when you close your eyes

Roof of the Hotel Babar. Late afternoon. Sun sinking behind a cloud bank on the horizon. Magic light on the magic walls of Obo.

Paul is looking through binoculars.

I see him, he says. Big yacht.

He's talking about Kyprios, who's rumoured to be in the area.

Big mother, he says. I see it in Port of Spain, swear I do.

Hands me the nocs.

I see it, I say. Like a clipper.
Party boat, says Paul. I see this baby in the keys.
This is Kyprios? I say.
Muthafugga, says Paul. That's what I want.
No you don't, I say. The up-keep is tres hideous.
I make it pay, says Paul. That is a fuggin money machine.
Kid, I say. Believe me when I say the insurance alone...
Captain Paul need no insurance, says Paul. I run with the pirates.

I'm watching... but don't know if he's coming or going... or just passing by.

No coincidence, I say.
He got money in this, says Paul.
The movie? I say. How do you know?
My boss, says Paul.
Thought these guys were enemies, I say. This Kyp guy and Cocteau.

Paul shrugs. Sometimes think he bullshits, makes it up as he goes along. Still, movies cost money. A Greek with Euros could be a producer.

Kate joins us, but stays back a bit. Jokes, says she has yellow fever... no longer looks like a chi chi Princess Di on a land mine mission. Gray like cigarette ash. Hides her face in a scarf. Yeah... she's caught something alright. Voice is husky.

I simply hate the food here, she says. They poisoned me.
Just a bug, says Paul.
Tried a doctor? I say.
Here? she says. In Obo? Not on your life.
Have a peek, I say... offer Kate the binoculars.
What am I expected to see? she says.
Fate, I say.
Kyprios, says Paul.

She takes a look.

That yacht is Kyprios? she says.
Paul thinks so, I say.
I think it's him, says Paul. Cecil say he coming.
Yes, but is he welcome? says Kate.
Sure, I say. He can stand in for me.
Are you leaving? says Kate.
Yeah, I say. This movie is bullshit.
Fed up, eh, says Kate. Don't blame you. I learned something new today.
What's that, I say. Obo is really Club Med?
"I" found out why the script you nicked doesn't have an ending, says Kate.
Oh... you gained an audience with his highness Roy Cocteau, I say.
No, says Kate. That Irish Shakespearean actor told me.
He tell you anything, chica, says Paul. He hot for you.
He told me the movie you're in is just a decoy, says Kate. Monsieur Cocteau is the real movie. That's why he has a camera on himself all the time.
You're kidding, right? I say. The 1st unit stuff is decoy?
What Liam says, yes, says Kate. Just fluff to deceive the Obo authorities.
What authorities? I say. The cops? The mullahs?
The authorities, says Kate. Whoever they are.
Lotta heavy dudes in Obo, says Paul. Knives, guns, religion.
Cocteau is his own movie? I say.
He's an auteur, says Kate. He's multi-media.
He the star, says Paul. He the man.
What about Naomi? I say.
Oh yes, says Kate. She the woman.

What craziness! Don't know if I'm pissed because my vanity is hurt or because I feel like a chump. If I was Jim Morrison, I'd drop my pants right now.

Kate, I say. Did you know this all along?
I swear, she says. No way.

Once again I look beyond the walls of Obo at the sea and the curve of the horizon. The yacht? With no binoculars, Kyprios is just a dot, like the spot you see when you close your eyes.

11. two large statues »»