‘Unh’ she growled. ‘I am not pretty or good lookin’ or anythin’ like that.’

But it was clear my compliment had hit the mark. Her face had gone pink with happiness and after a pause she said, ‘You’re a nice ole man. Can I call you pop? I don’t know your name anyhow.’

Girls are more easy to seduce when they are sixteen than when they are a year or two older. At sixteen they are unsure of themselves and grateful for any reassurance you can give them about their looks or brains—either will do. Georgine, despite her brashness, proved very vulnerable. I took her to the Coffee House to, as I said, ‘show you off to my friends.’ She blushed again and repeated, ‘You are an ole lech, you know? But I like you.’

At the Coffee House we sat in the section marked ‘Families Only’. I ordered a Coke for her and went to greet my friends. They were not very complimentary about Georgine. Said my Sikh journalist friend: ‘From the way you described her, I thought you had picked up a Marilyn Monroe. Nice fat boobs and bum though!’

‘She’s no Noor Jahan,’ opined the political expert. ‘Like any American schoolgirl. Must have a nice pussy. But you must be madder than I thought; you try any tricks with that one, you will be in for seven years rigorous imprisonment.’

Ugly, vulgar words. I rejoined Georgine. ‘What did they have to say about your girl-friend?’ she asked.

‘Girl-friend? Oh, you mean you?’ I replied pretending to have been taken by surprise. ‘They said you were very beautiful.’

‘Liar! I bet you a hundred dollars, they said, “What are you doin’ with a lil girl like that? Foolin’ around with anyone under seventeen can land you in a jail.” How ‘bout that for a guess?’

‘Wrong, wrong, wrong,’ I protested vehemently. I could see she was happy.

This time she put my fee in an envelope and gave it to me with ‘Thanks a whole lot.’

That evening I was by turns exhilarated and conscience-stricken. In my confusion I rang her up without having anything to say to her. Her uncle picked up the phone. ‘You must not let Georgine make a nuisance of herself,’ he said, ‘and let me have your bill for the time she’s been with you.’ He put down the receiver without asking me why I had rung. But I was excited to know that Georgine had paid me without telling her uncle.