In riddles and parables and legends and myth the female is
somehow always to blame. That crusty old slander about the greedy
woman and the man she suckered with love. But this was an outrage.
Anyone with any sense could see that the roles had been reversed. It
was man who, by dint of dissatisfaction, led us stumbling out of
paradise, and woman who had to tag along on his fruitless escapade.
All because of his insane dreaming, her imbecile devotion. It was a
fact of biology that woman existed first, not the other way around.
Man was invented to increase variety among species. It was no
coincidence therefore that the male psyche was so obsessed with
variation, chronically dissatisfied. It was his job. As Colin might have
put it, he was satisfied by ennobling his own dissatisfaction. The
Greek myth of creation thus seemed closer to the truth, but with a
slight modification: Pandora opened her box upon the world, and the
madness that tumbled out took the form of a man.
Prometheus didn’t warn her not to open the box. He was inside,
chomping at the bit. The snake. Firestarter. Now all was aflame.
3. Bad Fortune
By the time Roy got back to Undergrounds, Bennie was back and
serving a table of new customers. Though they had been released
from prison at the same time, Bennie needed some time to help his
family out—many of them had been deported. He also had to help
them clean up the aftermath of the rituals and subsequent public
spectacle.
“Sorry about everything that happened,” Roy said.
“I guess my mom overdid it a bit,” Bennie said apologetically.
“She let in some bad mojo. But it worked, didn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re still here. Bidden didn’t fuck you over.”
“Not yet. But he’s working on it. Did you see the new
Biddenbrooks store?”
Bennie just laughed. “You should see what my mom has in store
for them!”
Before Roy could object, Bennie hurried away with a tray of
lattés. They could talk later. Roy went back into the house to see if
anyone else was around, but the premises were otherwise devoid of
people.
ABYSSINIA
154
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