"Geoff Ryman - Pol Pots Beautifull Daughter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ryman Geoff)

5
 Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter
by Geoff Ryman


alms. Her life began yesterday, which was effectively the
same as today.
Every day, her driver took her to the new Soriya Market. It
was almost the only place that Sith went. The color of silver,
Soriya rose up in many floors to a round glass dome.
Sith preferred the 142nd Street entrance. Its green awning
made everyone look as if they were made of jade. The
doorway went directly into the ice-cold jewelry rotunda with
its floor of polished black and white stone. The individual
stalls were hung with glittering necklaces and earrings.
Sith liked tiny shiny things that had no memory. She hated
politics. She refused to listen to the news. Pol Pot's beautiful
daughter wished the current leadership would behave
decently, like her dad always did. To her.
She remembered the sound of her father's gentle voice.
She remembered sitting on his lap in a forest enclosure, being
bitten by mosquitoes. Memories of malaria had sunk into her
very bones. She now associated forests with nausea, fevers,
and pain. A flicker of tree-shade on her skin made her want to
throw up and the odor of soil or fallen leaves made her gag.
She had never been to Angkor Wat. She read nothing.
Sith shopped. Her driver was paid by the government and
always carried an AK-47, but his wife, the housekeeper, had
no idea who Sith was. The house was full of swept marble,
polished teak furniture, iPods, Xboxes, and plasma screens.
Please remember that every word of this story is a lie. Pol
Pot was no doubt a dedicated communist who made no
money from ruling Cambodia. Nevertheless, a hefty allowance
arrived for Sith every month from an account in Switzerland.
6
 Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter
by Geoff Ryman


Nothing touched Sith, until she fell in love with the
salesman at Hello Phones.
Cambodian readers may know that in 2004 there was no
mobile phone shop in Soriya Market. However, there was a
branch of Hello Phone Cards that had a round blue sales
counter with orange trim. This shop looked like that.
Every day Sith bought or exchanged a mobile phone there.
She would sit and flick her hair at the salesman.
His name was Dara, which means Star. Dara knew about