The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux Page B

recovered her strength, and climbed the stairs to the apron of the pool. She found that she was out of breath, her chest tight, and panting from the simple effort of backing up. But she was still afraid.
    "Don't worry, madam," the man said—he was young, hardly a man, in white pants and a white smock, barefoot. He looked beautiful.
    Beth was choking with anxiety, unable to speak, her upper body rocking for balance.
    "They are very bold," the man said. He retrieved his sandals and slipped them on. He was smiling—lovely teeth, great confidence, not even breathing hard, not fazed at all. Audie would have been gasping.
    She made a grateful, approving sound, meant to be "thank you," but it was just a nervous exhalation.
    "You see, they have been around humans for so long they have lost their fear. They are used to being fed by hand, and others—at the temple in town—they are like little gods, spoiled children, you can say. Are you all right, madam?"
    Because she hadn't said a word.
    "Where did you come from?" Beth said, with difficulty.
    "Hanuman Nagar."
    "No, no," she said—he had misunderstood, thinking she'd asked him where he lived. She rephrased the question: "Were you watching them?"
    "I was watching you, madam."
    He faced her squarely, not smiling, looking intently at her.
    "Thank you."
    He did not blink. He said, "Since you arrived at Agni, I have not stopped watching you."
    That made her pause, and she was at a loss to reply. She had felt giddy, joyous at having been rescued from the monkeys. But now she felt awkward—unaware of the young man's gaze, she had been observed. He was forcing her to concentrate, as though this episode was not over yet, something more was required. He was hovering.
    "I don't know how to thank you," she said. "Please take this," and she went back to her bag by the chair and took out some rupees. They felt like cloth in her hand, they were so worn.
    "Oh, no, madam," the young man said, and put his hands behind his back in a prim gesture, complete with a show of dimples.
    "Isn't there anything...?"
    "Yes." He was quick. Already he had control of the situation. "You can request me."
    "Request you?"
    "For treatment," he said. "Ask for Satish."
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    The slow drip of hot oil on Audie's back, the pressure and heat, suggested her fingertips, and when she drizzled the oil in widening circles it was as if she were caressing him. The brass pot was set down on the heater with a clunk and then he felt her hands. She did not say much, had only greeted him, and she hardly spoke unless he asked a direct question. Yet there was a confident intelligence in her hands as they moved down his back, a wise inquiry in the motion of her fingers. She was able by touching him to find parts of his body that, until that moment, were unknown to him, and so her insinuating hands awakened a knotted muscle, her thumb rested on it and pushed, giving it life.
    "That's nice."
    Anna paired her thumbs and pushed again, swiveling downward along the meat of his spine, gliding through the oil to the small of his back.
    "You are having this in America, sir?"
    "Doubt it."
    She went silent. Perhaps she hadn't understood his grunt. She worked harder, still on the bundles of muscles next to his spine.
    "I would like to go to America. Where is your home, sir?"
    He did not say: That's a hard question—we've got a place in Florida, an apartment in New York, a house in Maine...
    "I'm from Boston," he said. "Near Boston."
    "Boston Tea Party. Boston Red Sox. Boston beans."
    He laughed into his towel, then raised his head and asked, "Ever been outside of India?"
    "Only to Delhi, sir. School trip, sir."
    That reminded him of how young she was. He said, "You could probably make a lot of money in the States. Doing massages."
    "But also to meet people, sir. To be happy, sir. To be free, sir."
    "You're free here, aren't you?"
    "No, sir. Not free. It is very hard here for me. As I mentioned, I am Christian, sir."
    She was