Night Secrets Read Free Page B

it might all be over, with one body sprawled across the cement, another hanging limply from the fence.
    He looked away, toward the only other people in the park. It was a family of four. The man and woman bounced up and down on the seesaw, one small child cradled in each lap. The woman said something, and all of them laughed. Watching them, Frank wondered what contentment felt like, whether it was real, or just a dream you hadn’t questioned yet.
    â€œDo you know the tarot?” Farouk asked, in a question that seemed to come from nowhere.
    Frank shook his head.
    â€œIt is an ancient way of learning the future,” Farouk explained. “Like palm reading. Only with cards.” He glanced over at the two men, who were still arguing loudly beside the fence. “One of them should do a reading, to see if he has stepped too near the snake.”
    Frank nodded as he watched. One of the men moved up close to the other, pushed him hard with the flat of his hand, then rotated on his heels and slowly began to walk away, his back turned arrogantly to the other man.
    â€œTo insult and then turn your back,” Farouk said. “One should never be that sure of the weakness of another man.”
    Frank dragged his eyes away from them, let them settle on the gray metal steps of the slide. He started to think of his daughter, as he always did in playgrounds. He blinked quickly, batting her away, then stood up, suddenly tense, agitated.
    â€œWhere are you going?” Farouk asked.
    â€œI don’t know,” Frank said. “Just moving.”
    Farouk groaned as he rose beside him. “Then I will go as well.”
    They headed back down the avenue. The traffic was moving rapidly alongside them, cars, trucks, Chinese delivery boys on rusting bicycles, and as he walked along, watching it speed by, Frank felt his own unease like thousands of tiny arrows whizzing down the blue corridors of his veins. He didn’t know where it came from, or where it would lead, but only that it was the most authentic part of his character, the part he couldn’t direct, anticipate or control.
    â€œLook, there, my friend,” Farouk said after a moment. He pointed to a small storefront on the east side of Tenth Avenue. A plain neon sign hung between a dark blue curtain and the unwashed glass: FORTUNES READ.
    Frank stared at the sign. “It’s been there for a few weeks.”
    â€œYes, I know,” Farouk said. “I have been watching it.”
    â€œWatching it?” Frank asked, surprised. “Why?”
    Farouk’s face seemed to grow very thoughtful. “It is an odd thing, memory,” he said. “To think that it might move in both directions, that it might be possible for one to remember the future.”
    Frank regarded him quizzically, but said nothing.
    Farouk drew one side of his coat over his large belly, then pulled his tie up to his throat. “Do you wish to join me?”
    â€œJoin you what?”
    â€œTo discover the future.”
    Frank looked at him unbelievingly. “You don’t believe in that stuff, Farouk,” he said.
    â€œBut it is just an entertainment,” Farouk told him. “A way of passing the time. Will you join me?”
    Frank shook his head.
    â€œWhy not? It can do no harm,” Farouk said insistently. “And besides, it is possible that one may sometimes find a truth stuck in something false.”
    Frank shook his head again, then started to move away.
    Farouk grasped his arm. “Then at least come and observe,” he said insistently. “The Gypsies are an ancient people.” He smiled and tugged Frank forward. “Come.”
    Frank hesitated a moment as Farouk headed across the avenue, then he moved forward slowly, following him reluctantly until they reached the door.
    Farouk knocked gently, and the door sprang open like a trap. A small, very slender woman stood in the hallway, her hand still on the knob. She wore a blue