Oliver Benjamin
he continued, “is like truth. You have to wait a bit ‘till it comes to you.
Then it might seem bitter at first, but in the end it’s food for your
soul.”
The bartender changed the subject and went on to tell me a
story about his great-grandmother in law who was supposed to be a
faerie or something. I had a hard time believing this man wasn’t put
there by the tourist board. He just seemed so picture-perfect
standing behind the bar, with his greying reddish hair and his burly
forearms, spouting contrived colloquialisms and tall tales.
Mildly buzzed begat quite tipsy and quite tipsy gave way to solid
drunkenness. I was no longer nervous about seeing Charly, but I was
no longer entirely coherent, either. After stepping away from the bar
and sitting in a more comfortable chair, jet lag and a stomach full of
Guinness put me right to sleep. I was awakened by the bartender
some time later.
“Sorry lad. You can’t sleep on the floor,” he said. Apparently I
had slid off the chair and was curled up on top of my backpack.
“Oh shit! How long have I been asleep?”
“Not long. Maybe forty minutes.”
“Shit!” I stood up and brushed myself off. “Has the Cairo flight
come in yet?”
“Come and gone,” he said. “Just as well. Arabs don’t drink.”
“Aaaaaah!” I screamed.
“Don’t worry, lad. Your grandmother took care of everything.”
“What? My grandmother?”
“Yes. A lovely lady. She said that you needed your rest, so she
took your carry-on bag and brought it to the taxi. I figured she’d be
back by now.” The bartender scratched his head.
“This lady…what, I mean, who…”
“Yes, your grandmother, Madge…”
“Aaaaaaah!” I screamed again, this time attracting the attention
of some nearby security guards.
“Sir, you appear to have had too much to drink. Would you mind
keeping your voice down?” asked one of the guards.
“Please, you’ve got to help me. I seem to have lost my girlfriend
and my carry-on baggage. I think it was a robbery.”
“Someone robbed your girlfriend? No wonder you’ve been
drinking!” the guard smirked.
“No, no. I slept through my girlfriend’s arrival, and when I
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