room, the dog whimpered softly.

 

33

 

4

 

I worked hard all week. Raymond stopped by and told me he'd sent the letter. I

went to the movies twice with Emmanuel, who doesn't always understand what's

going on on the screen. So you have to explain things to him. Yesterday was

Saturday, and Marie came over as we'd planned. I wanted her so bad when I saw

her in that pretty red-and-white striped dress and leather sandals. You could

make out the shape of her firm breasts, and her tan made her face look like a

Hower. We caught a bus and went a few kilometers outside Algiers, to a beach

with rocks at either end, bordered by shore grass on the land side. The four

o'clock sun wasn't too hot, but the water was warm, with slow, gently lapping

waves." Marie taught me a game. As you swam, you had to skim off the foam from

the crest of the waves with your mouth, hold it there, then roll over on your

back and spout it out toward the sky. This made a delicate froth which

disappeared into the air or fell back in a warm spray over my face. But after a

while my mouth was stinging with the salty bitterness. Then Marie swam over to

me and pressed herself against me in the water. She put her lips on mine. Her

tongue cooled my lips and we tumbled in the waves for a moment.