Emi felt him step away from her. She imagined him examining her marks carefully, head on one side, like an artist looking for flaws in a masterpiece.... She was afraid that, like the artist, he might decide that he’d missed a bit, but instead of a paintbrush, he’d take up his belt again and correct it. Emi held her breath, not daring to move until he told her to. Apparently satisfied, Birch moved round to stand in front of her. He bent down, putting one finger under her chin and tilting her. Half the pot later, the phone is still silent. I’m too tired to keep pacing, I’m too wired to sit down. I notice that I’m picking at my fingernails, scratching my beard, and clicking my tongue. What an idiot. And speaking of, anybody with half a brain would not be striking any sort of deal without an appropriately-skilled lawyer to help them out. I probably got boned on the contract for the song. No. I did get boned. I got almost nothing aside from a producer’s credit to put on my resume. But. Pahale usnenipple ko apnemuh me liya phir thori si chunchee apne muh me bharkar jor jor sechusne laga. Phir chachee ne apni dusree chunchee uskemuh se lagakar boli, “ab tum dusree chunchee ko bhi chuso.” “Abmeri sareeutaro” chachee ne Ajeet se boli. “aur mai tumhe apnijhanto se bharichoot dikhaungee. Mai tumhe sab kuch dikhaungee. Maitumhe asman kisair karwaungee.” Ajeet ne tab apni chachee ki sareeaur phir unkipetticoat utar diya. Chachee ne apna chutar hila dulakar apnipetticoat utar diya aur. Your friend pay me to suck you-fuck you all night long."I returned her infectious smile and shook my head."No can do," I said.Then I switched to Vietnamese and told her why.Her bar name was Suzie; Su-Lin was her real name. I called her by the latter, just to reinforce that, regardless what Rick paid for, there would be no hanky-panky. Su-Lin liked me calling her by her real name, and she liked me speaking to her in her own language. Those little things helped her forget for a while that she was.