Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

tahar ben jalloun

well but death never once occurred to me. My worries come from elsewhere, maybe even from childhood. I was always worried; it was in my genes. It passed from father to son. One sleepless night, I see ever y thing in black. In the evening, I spoke with Professor J.F. We had spoken for a long time, but now, I review all the women that I loved, all those I kind of loved, those I only had sex with, and those I fell crazily in love with. Those aren’t that many. Catherine comes to mind. I see all of them in erotic positions. I recall our evening of pleasure. I started counting and giving them names… Gazelle, Caramel, Cinnamon, Source, Spiritual, Famished, Brown Riddle, Russian Riddle, Embellished, Cat on a Hot Tin roof,

Captive, Elegant, Screw, Tireless, Insatiable, Petite, Round, Large, Winter Sun… I give up when I feel signs of tiredness that often precede sleep. I’ve conquered my insomnia. While I am drifting off, the last visit I made to my uncle in his hospital bed came to my mind. He had trouble speaking; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Charcot or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) attacked, among other things, his vocal cords. I leaned in towards him to understand what he wanted to say: “I’m leaving this world without regrets because I drank a lot and I fucked my fair share…” I thought he was going to tell me his last will and testament or give me some advice to follow. But, on his last breath, he was still thinking about his track record. I loved him a lot. I

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