The Pure

tell?’
    ‘All you guys smoke.’ She took out a packet of Marlboro Lights, looked over her shoulder and put it back in her pocket.
    ‘Aren’t you going to give me one?’ asked Uzi.
    ‘I didn’t come here to give you a cigarette. I came here to see if you found my phone.’
    ‘You lost it?’
    ‘Obviously.’
    ‘Seems like I’m not the only one in a bad mood,’ said Uzi.
    She smiled slightly. ‘OK, so I need a cigarette too. Can I smoke in here?’
    ‘Are you joking? This is England.’
    ‘I know. I just didn’t know whether you cared.’ She shifted her schoolbag from one shoulder to the other. ‘So nobody handed in a phone?’
    ‘No. Give me a description and I’ll tell you if I see it.’ Uzi beckoned her into the shed and hunted for a pen.
    ‘It’s an iPhone,’ she said, ‘pink case.’
    ‘Nice,’ said Uzi, writing it down. ‘You should be more careful, kid.’
    ‘OK, Dad.’
    She took the pen and wrote down her name and details in loopy, girlish handwriting. Gal Liberman. On the top of the ‘i’ she drew a heart.
    ‘Now,’ she said, ‘I’m going for a smoke over the road. Are you going to stop me?’
    ‘Why should I?’
    ‘Rules.’
    ‘I’m not a teacher. My job is to keep you safe.’ He surprised himself with those words, even more so because – somehow – he meant it.
    ‘Can I borrow a lighter, then?’
    Uzi rummaged in his pocket and gave her a lighter.
    ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘naughty boy.’
    ‘What?’ He followed her gaze. There, lying on the floor at his feet, was a small bag of cannabis. He stooped to pick it up and waved her out of the room.
    ‘Wait,’ she said, ‘wait a minute.’
    For a moment they stood without speaking. Uzi saw her – really saw her – for the first time. Her skin was pure and childlike; her wiry hair fell like a mane over her shoulders. She seemed frozen in that briefest of moments between childhood and adulthood. A barely ripe fruit. Her top buttons were undone; the schoolbag over her shoulder was pulling the neck of her blouse open. He could see the beginnings of a little swell of breast, and a thin sliver of underwear.
    ‘How old are you?’ he said.
    ‘Old enough.’
    ‘To do what?’
    ‘To buy some of that from you.’
    ‘Some of what?’ said Uzi, playing for time.
    ‘Oh please,’ she said sarcastically. ‘That.’
    ‘I’d lose my job.’
    ‘Now that would be a tragedy.’
    ‘I only sell to friends, kid.’
    ‘I’m a friend now. Do this for me. At a good price.’
    ‘It’s not going to happen.’
    She rolled her eyes in the way that only a teenager can. ‘What’s your name?’ she asked.
    ‘Daniel.’
    ‘OK, Daniel. I know your little secret. If I told people you had drugs in here, you’d lose your job anyway.’
    ‘You’re not going to tell anybody.’
    ‘No? What would you do to me, Daniel?’ She looked at him levelly and he felt a rush of electricity into his groin. ‘What would you do?’
    ‘Don’t be stupid,’ he said.
    ‘You don’t be stupid. All I want is an eighth.’
    He paused. ‘You tell nobody.’
    ‘How much are you going to charge me?’
    ‘Thirty.’
    ‘I’m a kid, for god’s sake.’
    ‘Don’t you get pocket money?’
    ‘I’m not paying any more than twenty. Take it or leave it.’
    ‘Do I have a choice?’ said Uzi.
    ‘What do you think?’
    ‘You drive a hard bargain, Miss Liberman.’
    ‘Call me Gal,’ she said, and laughed.
    ‘Fine, twenty then.’
    ‘And I get to keep your lighter, too.’
    ‘Have the fucking lighter. Anything else?’
    ‘There might be,’ she said, shifting her schoolbag from one shoulder to the other. The sliver of underwear widened. ‘That depends on you.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘You’re here tomorrow?’
    ‘Sure. All day.’
    ‘I have a free period at eleven. I’ll get it from you then.’ Oddly, she shook his hand. And she was gone.

 
14
    That evening, Uzi needed to let off steam. He was sick of sitting all day cooped up in a shed, watching parents and students going to and fro like ants, hour after hour. He was sick of raising and lowering the barrier. He was sick of not being able to smoke. He was sick of Avner Golan, for making him agree to this kamikaze project.
    He went home, ate some instant noodles, watched a Bruce Lee movie on his two televisions. The Kol was mercifully quiet. He ate a strawberry mousse, then got ready to go out. Before leaving his apartment he almost gave Avner a call to schedule the meeting with