Condley stood nakedly before their laughing eyes, unshaven and ill-dressed, suddenly so weary of it all that he no longer even had a good retort. “Because I’ve seen it all before. And I know how it’s going to end.” He gave Van one final look and then turned to leave.

“Cong Ly, wait!”

She was standing at the table next to Petain, looking around the room, biting her lower lip. Her head was high in the air, as if she was measuring her chances without its false but glorious ambience, or perhaps taking it all in for one final time. Deciding, she glanced for a moment at Francois Petain, and then nodded to Condley.

“I’m going with you.”

“Of course she is,” said Petain, holding his amused grin and nodding to his friends as if the moment had been preordained. “These things must inevitably end, you know?”

“I am the one who is leaving. It was not your decision, Francois.” She bit her words off, throwing them at him like knives as she moved slowly past the cluttered chairs and stood next to Condley.

“Ah, melodrama!” chuckled Petain. “She is like you in that sense, is she not? Too filled with emotion. The two of you together will be a disaster.”

“I’m not here to replace you, Francois. She just needed a ride.” Condley took her hand, uncertain of where the moment was leading him but instinctively wanting to protect her. “See you later.”

“You can keep the dress, Van,” said Petain. “It looks very nice on you. Too bad about the rest of it.”

She began tugging Condley’s arm, pulling him toward the door. “Good-bye,” she said, not looking back at Petain.

The waitress had returned with a new round of drinks. Petain put an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. He called to them as they left. “With your emotions, the two of you will wear each other out within a week.”

The hustlers and the hawkers called lewdly to them as they left the East Wind, Rain. It began to rain again, light, pulsing breaths of it, as if a garden hose were twirling from high above. Without speaking, he put his poncho over her bare shoulders and squeezed it around her until it covered her. She grabbed his right arm in both of hers as they walked and put her head on his shoulder. After a few more steps he looked down at her face. She was walking with her eyes closed, letting him guide her to wherever it was that he wanted to go. He touched her cheek with his fingers. Finally she opened her eyes and looked up at him with a tragic confusion.