was most likely wealthy. Somehow the store received camel milk. The store sold it for three days, and on the fourth day the milk disappeared so instantly, as if Allah had cleaned up all the camels at once. But it was the three day camel milk trade that introduced them. At first, Sargel ran into the store every day he loved camel milk. Then they agreed to meet after work. Leaving the store, Malika saw Sargel standing by the payphone booth, waiting, frozen as if he had been put on a wooden corset. Malika, laughing, approached him, loudly tapping her heels. “Oh, it’s you? Hello! Waiting for me?” “Oh no! For a girl like you, I’ll be happy to wait without closing my eyes until dawn!” said Sargel some what pompously. “Then you’ll be happy for six whole days!” “Hmm, I don’t understand,” he said with a forced smile. “We have five girls here who are like me, so six of us in total.” “Oh my!” Sargel was falsely delighted, throwing back his head and loudly, as if in a drum, clapping his hands. From such an unexpected and unpleasant movement, Malika broke off her laughter and looked at him in surprise. “What a miracle! Well, you’re quite the joker! You scared me. Are you a composer by any chance?” “No. I’m an assistant professor! A historian.” “Oh, a scientist then!” Malika hooked up with Sargel out of idle interest for the sake of spending time, but quietly got used to his attitude. Moreover, the historian took on all the costs of the wedding and she began to perceive him without alienation, his grey hair, his manner of speaking, his emphathes on every word, him holding his body as if it were carved out of wood, him to moving his head when walking, him looking at people meaningfully, searchingly. She got used to his jacket and tie, which he wore despite the unbearable heat, to the French perfume that spread a sickening smell, to his scrupulous and zealous character, and even to undisguised stinginess. She got used to all this without difficulty because all these qualities met in different combinations in young and old men with whom she was familiar, and Sargel’s character was not a surprise to Malika. In addition, Sargel simply captivated her by the fact that the next day after they met, he did not call with

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