Page 126 of The Impossible Fortune

Ibrahim continues, ‘But I can ring on Joyce’s doorbell and she’ll be happy to see me. Though I’m still fuming about Venezuela – it was apure guess. And I know that you and I can sit and chat, and I haven’t really had that for so many years. Friendship, I would call it. A deep friendship allied to a deep care.’

‘I’ve only said I love you to three men in my life,’ says Ron, ‘Jason, Billy Bonds after West Ham won the cup final in 1980 and I saw him down Broadway Market, and now you. When Kendrick turns eighteen, he’ll be number four.’

‘And I can be helpful, I suppose,’ says Ibrahim. ‘I was helpful with the code. The right order, Holly, and then Nick.’

‘Couldn’t have done it without you,’ says Ron. ‘You got that bang on.’

Ron raises his delicate china cup, and Ibrahim raises his in return. Both men concentrate on sipping, neither wanting to speak next. Eventually the silence is broken.

‘Do you need me to say it in return?’ Ibrahim asks. ‘That I love you?’

‘Not now,’ says Ron. ‘One day though. God knows how long we’ve got left, Ib, the four of us. Might as well let people know how we feel.’

Ibrahim nods. ‘What you did was very dangerous, Ron. Very foolhardy. But I think you had no choice. You had to protect your family.’

‘Had to show I still could,’ says Ron.

‘Had to show you still could,’ says Ibrahim. ‘And a few years ago I wouldn’t have understood. Not particularly. But if anyone were ever to threaten Joyce, or Elizabeth, or … you, I would move heaven and earth to protect you. I want you to know that.’

‘Sounds like you love us,’ says Ron.

‘I care about what happens to you,’ says Ibrahim.

‘Sounds like you care alot,’ says Ron.

‘I care a great deal,’ says Ibrahim. ‘But I choose not to put a label on it.’

‘Has Tia left?’ asks Ron. ‘I thought the police were still looking for her?’

‘Elizabeth took her out for lunch,’ says Ibrahim.

‘Poor Tia,’ says Ron. ‘From Connie’s clutches to Elizabeth’s.’

Ibrahim looks down. ‘Okay, Ron, there’s something I’d like to say.’

Ron sits forward.

Ibrahim takes a deep breath, looks at the ceiling and then looks at Ron.

‘The reason that Timothy Dalton is the best James Bond is his mixture of elegance and his training in the Shakespearean tradition.’

Ron throws a cushion at his best friend.

73

‘When you say prison?’ the man asks.

‘Just regular prison,’ says Tia. ‘Metal toilets, punishment beatings, art classes.’

‘Sounds like my school,’ says the man. ‘Except we didn’t have art classes. And have you kept out of trouble since you left prison?’

‘Yes,’ says Tia.

‘She robbed a warehouse at gunpoint,’ says Elizabeth.

The man nods. ‘But other than that?’

Tia looks at Elizabeth.