Kitty and the twins stand behind a light standard. Careful, they call out to Chip. You don’t have a helmet.

High-end watches? Eugene joins me on the bench. Jesus, Birdman. What kind of pathetic asshole pays that kind of money for a watch?

Mimi has joined the tour group and is doing her Ginger Rogers impersonation.

Chip tries a grind on the iron railing and crashes into a trash can.

Eugene shakes his head and starts to laugh. You really want to be Two-Cent Jim?

When they blew up the Stalin monument, says Kitty, was anyone killed in the blast?

Didi and Desi help Chip to his feet. He has scrapes on his elbow, and his pants are torn at the knees.

I ignore the demons and concentrate on the clouds hanging over the city. One of them looks like a bear, while another looks like a swarm of bees.

It’s an allegory, says Eugene. The greed of the wealthy and powerful. The impotence of the hoi polloi.

“I know that,” I tell Eugene.

All the Bees have is a stinger, and each time a Bee stings a Bear, the Bee dies.

Who dies? says Kitty.

There’s only one way that the Bees win. Only one way they can hold the Bears at bay. Eugene rocks off the bench. When you see your breakfast buddy, tell him he’s full of shit.

Anaphylactic shock, says Kitty. It’s terrible.

Tell him the Bears will always win, says Eugene. As long as Bees make honey, the Bears will come for it.

I leave Eugene on the bench and wander over to the wall. Mimi has left the tour and is heading towards me.

“Good view,” she says when she reaches my side.

A sharp wind rolls through the park and turns the air chilly.

“But I’m cold.”

Mimi doesn’t wait for me to offer. She snuggles up against me and jams her hands into my armpits. Her fingers are freezing, but I don’t object or pull away.

“How was the tour?”

“The world looks peaceful from here,” says Mimi.

“Most things look good from a distance.”

“Are you sorry you didn’t get that T-shirt?”

“A little.”

Mimi gives me a squeeze. “What about the watch?”

“Didn’t see one I liked.”

Mimi stays where she is. “Watches and refugees,” she says. “How is that possible?”

I hold Mimi and rub her back.

“And yet this is the world we’ve created.”

We stand there, the two of us. The evening shadows have softened the land and turned the river silver. Soon, it will be dark, and all we’ll be able to see are the lights of the city.

VIII

In the middle of the night, I go to the bathroom in the dark and feel my way to the front of the toilet. I’ve just begun my business when I’m startled by a moan.