Page 35 (1/2)

He shook his head "Shwe le maw," he said

What on earth did that ain, because I couldn’t think of anything else to say

"Shwe le ain, and reached into a crate and produced a pint bottle, the glass a cobalt blue It didn’t have a label "Shwe le maw," he said, and brandished the bottle I reached for the bottle, and he smiled, drew the cork, and poured an ounce or so into an earthenware teacup They never give out saesture took me by surprise, but I accepted the cup and inhaled the ses I took a taste, then tossed off the drink It had a full-bodied burnt orange taste, and a reasonable kick to it It was neither as raw nor as potent as ayet piu, but there was definitely alcohol in it

I asked the price – Beh laut the? – but couldn’t make out the response, so I took out my supply of kyat and let him help himself He took twenty-five kyat and seemed happy, and I couldn’t believe this stuff was cheaper than beer

Maybe it wasn’t et any benefit froht Especially at these prices

And so when I shucked ateway to the monastery, I had three flasks of shwe le er than beer

She was curled up in a ball when I got back, her hands clutching her shoulders, her knees drawn up to her chest She was , and at first she didn’t even knoas there Then she opened her eyes and looked at ot out a flask and poured her a cup of the stuff

"I se juice? No I also sood," she said "Not as strong as ayet piu, but better tasting"

She reached for the bottle I held on to it for a moment, then let her have it She tipped her head back and took a long s, then looked at hts couldn’t have been more evident if they’d been written on her forehead She knew she should offer me some, but then there would be less for her

I didn’t wait to see how she’d resolve the dileo slack with relief She gave ave it back to her I wasn’t running a fever myself, and the mosquito bites I’d sustained over the past week hadn’t done anything worse than itch, but you can’t be too careful, can you?

So she took a drink and I took a drink, and she took another and I took another, and lo and behold, the bottle was empty I capped and traded it for one of the full ones inwithout thinking about it And I passed the bottle to Katya and watched her tip it up and drink deep

Her Adao up and dohen she sed, I noticed That was because she didn’t have one, it not being part of the standard equipment for females The presence of an Adam’s apple was one of the tip-offs to h I’d read that some of theically That sounded a little extreh of a nuisance to have to shave the outside ofHad anybody thought about Adam’s-apple i new frontier for Medicare, though the HMOs would never cover it

An even better opportunity, it see shwe le maw into the States In taste it ran soh it wouldn’t make the bottles of either turn pale and reach for the Valiu a lot of bang for the buck

No question It was stronger than beer

And it orking As we h the second bottle, I could see that it was the best thing forand her color was better She was still running a considerable fever, but the wild stare was gone froitation had passed She took a last long drink that left Bottle Number Two as empty as its predecessor, pulled all the blankets over her, buried her face in the crook of her arm, and left the land of the conscious for a better world by far

I sat beside her, looking down at her Her breathing, easier and less ragged noas the only sound I could hear in all the ht about where ere, and e had done, and what the futurethat may seem questionable in retrospect, but which made perfect sense at the time I opened the third bottle of shwe le maw

I didn’t put that much of a dent in Bottle Number Three I just nipped at it froone when Katya stirred at my side I capped the bottle and turned to her

"I am better, Evan," she whispered

And indeed she was The fever hadn’t merely broken It had shattered into bits The blankets were soaked, as were her red robes and the pallet she lay on She cast the blankets aside and stood up, peeling off her wet red wrapping, and I turned the pallet over so she would have its dry side to lie on

And she giggled and plopped herself down on it

"Vanya," she said "My little Vanya My Vanushka"

And she giggled again

Well, every medicine has a side effect What lowers your blood pressure calcifies your liver, and what clears up your acne makes you break out in hives Shwe le maw had knocked malaria down for the count, and now she wasn’t feverish or delirious or twisted in pain She had slept and rested, and she felt much better

But she was stoned out of her mind

And, see, she wasn’t the only one We were both of us pretty well oiled If she’d had a little more than I – the lioness’s share, say – it had been offset by the fact that the booze she drank used up a good part of its fury on the etting -down drunk, because you can’t fall down if you haven’t stood up in the first place Not roaring drunk, either, because a Buddhistlouder than a whisper

What I was, all the sa Drunk

Which may explain what happened next

"My God," she said, wide-eyed in wonder "What happened?"

"Nothing," I said "It was a malarial dream"

"It was better than a dream It onderful"

"Well," I said

"I don’t kno you could bear to touchbefore I must smell foul"

"You probably do," I said, "and so do I, in all likelihood If we bathed in the Irriwaddy we’d leave a ring But evidently not bathing knocks out the sense of smell, because I didn’t notice"

"Neither did I" She yawned, stretched I reached out a hand and stroked her breast She purred

"I hope I didn’t make noise"