"Thomas M. Disch M - Casablanca" - читать интересную книгу автора (Disch Thomas M)

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The office of the American Consul seemed to have been bombed. The front door was broke
off its hinges, and Fred entered, after some reluctance, to find all the downstairs rooms emp
of furniture, the carpets torn away, the moldings pried from the walls. The files of the consu
had been emptied out and the contents burned in the center of the largest room.
Slogans in Arabic had been scrawled on the walls with the ashes.
Leaving the building, he discovered a piece of typing paper nailed to the deranged door.
read: "All Americans in Morocco, whether of tourist or resident status, are advised to leav
the country until the present crisis is over. The Consul cannot guarantee the safety of those w
choose to remain."
A shoeshine boy, his diseased scalp inadequately concealed by a dirty wool cap, tried t
slip his box under Fred's foot.
"Go away, you! Vamoose! This is your fault. I know what happened last night. You and y
kind did this. Red beggars!"
The boy smiled uncertainly at Fred and tried again to get his shoe on the box. "Monsieur
monsieur," he hissedтАФor, perhaps, "Merci, merci."
By noonday the center of the town was aswarm with Americans. Fred hadn't realized the
had been so many in Casablanca. What were they doing here? Where had they kept themsel
hidden? Most of the Americans were on their way to the airport, their cars piled high with
luggage. Some said they were bound for England, others for Germany. Spain, they claimed,
wouldn't be safe, though it was probably safer than Morocco. They were brusque with Fred
the point of rudeness.
He returned to the hotel room, where Mrs. Richmond was waiting for him. They had agr
that one of them must always be in the room. As Fred went up the stairs the manager tried to
hand him another bill. "I will call the police," he threatened. Fred was too angry to reply. H
wanted to hit the man in the nose and stamp on his ridiculous spectacles. If he'd been five y
younger he might have done so.
"They've cut off the water," Mrs. Richmond announced dramatically after she'd admitted
husband to the room. "And the man with the red hat tried to get in, but I had the chain across
door, thank heaven. We can't wash or use the bidet. I don't know what will happen. I'm afra
She wouldn't listen to anything Fred said about the Consulate. "We've got to take a plane
he insisted. "To England. All the other Americans are going there. There was a sign on the
door of the ConтАФ"
"No, Fred. No, not a plane. You won't make me get into an airplane. I've gone twenty ye
without that, and I won't start now."
"But this is an emergency. We have to. Darling, be reasonable."
"I refuse to talk about it. And don't you shout at me, Fred Richmond. We'll sail when the
boat sails, and that's that! Now, let's be practical, shall we? The first thing that we have to d
is for you to go out and buy some bottled water. Four bottles, and bread, and тАж No, you'll
never remember everything. I'll write out a list."
But when Fred returned, four hours later, when it was growing dark, he had but a single
bottle of soda, one loaf of hard bread, and a little box of pasteurized process cheese.
"It was all the money I had. They won't cash my checks. Not at the bank, not at the Marh
not anywhere." There were flecks of violet in his red, dirty face, and his voice was hoarse.
had been shouting hours long.
Mrs. Richmond used half the bottle of soda to wash off his face. Then she made sandwic
of cheese and strawberry jam, all the while maintaining a steady stream of conversation on