‘Me? Are you asking me ifIhave decided on a car?’
‘Mmm-hmm.’ He nodded and showed his teeth even more.
‘You know, in the primate kingdom, showing your teeth to that extent is often perceived as a sign of aggression.’
‘Oh.’ The salesman closed his lips and folded his arms.
‘Anyway, since we’re very closely related to primates, I just thought it was good for you to know.’
The salesman’s lips pulled tightly across his mouth and he looked at me as if he was sucking on a lemon.
‘I’ll take that one.’ I pointed at the red car that I may seriously regret buying a little later today but was going to anyway. I could always trade it back in if I hated it and get a more practical car again.
‘Great, let’s do the paperwork.’ He sounded way less enthused now. The big-toothed salesman started walking away and, just before I turned to follow him, I looked back at Andrew. His eyes were glued to my face with a red-hot intensity that unnerved me. It felt like his eyes had claws that were trying to dig right into me.What was happening?Why was he looking at me like that? I was so busy trying to decipher his look that, again, I stumbled. To break my fall, I put my hand against a car.
‘Careful, that’s a 1967 Ferrari. It costs twenty-two million rand,’ the salesman barked at me.
I jumped away from the car as if it were infected with a deadly virus. ‘This costs twenty-two million rand?’ I pointed at the generic-looking sports car. ‘What’s so special about it?’
‘You’re joking, right?’
‘I’m not good at joking,’ I replied. ‘What on earth is it made of?’ I continued. ‘Surely there’s nothing in its manufacturing process that can justify that price tag?’
Andrew looped an arm through mine and started walking me away from it. ‘Think of it as a work of art. A Picasso, if you like.’
‘I don’t get that either. Anyone can paint a Picasso, and certainly a Jackson Pollock. The idea that some paint on a canvas, thrown around in such a haphazard manner, should cost that much money is actually an obscene concept.’
‘I think Rothko is the worst,’ Andrew said, showing he was knowledgeable in another field outside of aviation. I was impressed. ‘Imagine paying eighty million dollars for an entire canvas painted red.’
‘How do you know so much about art?’ I asked. I only knew a lot because I’d gone through a phase of being obsessed with art theft after I’d watched a documentary about how theMona Lisahad been stolen twice. And so I’d immersed myself in the world of art for a while, until I moved on to the next obsession, which happened to be North Korea. And after North Korea, I’d become utterly fascinated by medieval surgical techniques and, after that, child psychopaths.
‘My sister Emma studied art and I often helped her type up her essays. She hated typing and used to pay me for it. I’m also pretty knowledgeable on life orientation and graphic design.’
‘I doubt that comes in handy as a pilot,’ I said, trying to imagine under what circumstances learning about graphic design would ever come in handy.
‘But at least it’s equipped me with the ability to have meaningful conversations in order to impress perhaps the smartest person I know.’
‘Who’s that?’ I stopped walking and looked at him.
‘You.’
‘Me?’ I knew I was smart; that was a given. But I was more interested in the part where he’d said he was trying to impress me.
‘You’re also smart,’ I said quickly, because it’s always polite to compliment someone back when they compliment you.
‘I wasn’t saying that so I could get a compliment back, but thank you.’
‘Not as smart as me though.’ I smiled at him, playfully, teasingly.I could do this.I could do witty banter with Andrew, and I loved it.
‘By the way, have you told your mom you’re bringing a boyfriend to the wedding yet?’ I’d told him how I’d been putting this off.
‘No,’ I admitted. ‘I’ll do it today though.’
‘You’d better, or I’ll have to sit on your lap.’
Mmm, that didn’t sound too bad, actually. Maybe I could sit on his lap. Perhaps my mom didn’t need to know after all.
CHAPTER24
