He got out of bed, washed his face and hands, and dressed himself. He visited the latrine behind the house, outside the courtyard. He did not hear a sound. Then, an upper window over the courtyard opened, its hinge screeching, and a woman leaned out. He thought it was a woman only because she did not wear a man’s headdress, though she, or it, could as well be a man. A very old, very ugly man, with a huge, curving nose and a great box of a chin dotted with brown, hairy moles.
The person leaned farther, pouring water on a plant that sat on the ledge beneath the window, and as the person leaned out, Ben Shadouf saw that he, it, was wearing Afaya’s garments. But it was not Afaya. Its head was bald and wrinkled. It was hideous. He stared upward unbelieving!
The creature saw him and smiled, opened its horrid mouth and spoke in Afaya’s voice!
“Welcome, husband. I feel somewhat better today. Perhaps you can take me to the market, to buy supplies. Perhaps you can . . .”
He heard no more. His own scream of rage and terror covered anything else this horrid being had to say in Afaya’s voice. Every word in Afaya’s voice!
His rage and disgust carried him in a fury to the stairs. The being was still in the room where he had seen it, her, him, the afrit, the genie, the demon who had taken his wife.
“Where is Afaya?” he cried.
“I am here,” she said, in Afaya’s voice, turning to give him a welcoming and hideous smile. She came toward him, her arms wide, and he lifted his staff to split the ugly bald skull, but the blow never landed. Instead, he felt the blow he aimed at her strike himself, riving his head so the blood ran across his eyes and he fell senseless at her feet.
Benita—THURSDAY
Despite her anger, partly at Carlos, mostly at herself, Benita had fallen asleep almost immediately. She did not waken until about eight on Thursday morning, when the phone rang.
The voice was Chiddy’s. “Are you all right, Benita?”
She nodded, then realized Chiddy couldn’t see the nod. “Yes,” she said.
“You were unhappy last night. You don’t sound happy now.”
She didn’t mean to talk about Carlos, but the words spilled out. “My son, Carlos. He’s a very manipulative person. I hoped when he went away to school, he’d grow out of it. But he’s still doing it. I wish he’d just . . . grow up and let me alone.”
“This wish is not improper. Does your husband share this characteristic of manipulating?”
She thought about it. “Well, yes. Until I caught onto it.” Which had only taken, what? A lifetime?
Chiddy sighed. “It is one of the tragedies of your biology, Benita. Your men and women are often insufficiently selective in the mating practices. We have noted you people do not consider that your children will have the worst traits of either parent, often to a great degree. In our opinion, women in your world who are under the age of thirty and who wish to mate should require the approval of a board of qualified geneticists and behaviorists. Alas, that is unlikely to happen. Is that all you were upset about?”
His tone made her choke. It was so sympathetic and yet so very superior and above it all. “Well, General McVane didn’t keep his word to us about not telling anyone. But the First Lady was very kind, and I don’t think the media found out who I am.”
“Speaking from what we have seen of your people, they will find out, sooner or later. Your congressman has allowed himself to be persuaded by McVane and others. They already know who you are. They do not know where you are, however, which we will try to keep private for the time being.”
“Why do reporters have to dig into people’s privacy?” she fumed.
“Communication is much like sex.”
This set her back. “I don’t understand . . .”
A chuckle. “Being celibate is often wise and prudent. People know this, but the inborn drive to reproduce makes their organs wag. Keeping silent is often wise and prudent. People know this, also, but the drive to question and tell makes their tongues wag. Sex spreads genetic material, good and bad, prying spreads information, true and false, natural selection takes over and both ethical failings contribute to continuing evolution.”