blond bimbo.’
Natalka suddenly looked angry. ‘Screw him. He’s getting tight with Boris and Alex and their manners are rubbing off on him.’
‘Partying with Chinese girls, I heard,’ Ethan said.
Natalka tutted again and changed the subject. ‘So, you got the memory key from Leonid’s office?’
Ethan nodded, then patted the pocket of his jeans. ‘I pulled it when I went to play Wii with Andre last night. We’ll find a web café and upload it for Ryan. But it’s been four weeks, so I hope he’s not forgotten about me.’
‘Can’t you look at what’s in the files yourself?’
‘Not without my own computer,’ Ethan said. ‘And it might be risky spending hours going through Aramov stuff in a web café. The good news is, every kid has to have a laptop at my new school. And since I’ll need it for homework and stuff, I don’t see how Leonid can stop me from bringing it home for holidays.’
A trashed Mercedes M-class 4×4 was rolling up outside. One of the Aramovs’ many Kremlin-based flunkies put a hairy arm out of the driver’s-side window.
‘Taking you to the bazaar, yeah?’ he shouted.
The driver was stubbly and looked like he’d gone a while since his last decent wash, but he got excited when he realised he’d be driving an Aramov and made a big fuss of getting out and opening the door for Ethan, while Natalka fended for herself.
‘Cigarette?’ the driver asked, as he floored the accelerator and got a little squeal out of the back tyres.
‘Thanks,’ Natalka said, as she snatched the packet off the armrest.
*
Ning swished a changing-room curtain and looked at herself standing before a mirrored wall: grey tights, grey pleated skirt, blue and white striped blouse and a straw hat.
‘I feel like such a twonk,’ Ning said.
They were in the school uniform section of one of Dubai’s biggest department stores. Alfie was in no position to criticise, because he looked almost as bad in the boys’ version of DESA’s uniform, but Ryan was only in Dubai to dole out Ethan-related advice and couldn’t resist taking the piss.
‘Don’t worry,’ Ryan said, as he looked on dressed in cargo shorts and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt. ‘You’ve only got to wear those monkey suits for ten or twelve hours a day, six days a week.’
‘Wool makes me itch,’ Alfie said, as he rubbed his blazer. ‘And who makes kids wear a get-up like this in the middle of a desert?’
Over at a glass counter, Amy Collins stood by a mound of brand new PE kit, while an Indian clerk with a dodgy wig went through drawers looking for gym shorts in Alfie’s size.
‘The computer says we have them,’ he said, when his head bobbed up. ‘But this isn’t my department and I can’t find them.’
Ryan looked at Alfie. ‘If you don’t have shorts, I bet they’ll make you do PE in your underpants.’
Alfie tutted. ‘Ryan, if you don’t shut up I will fart on your head when we get back to the hotel.’
‘I’m greased lightning,’ Ryan said, adopting a boxing stance and throwing half a dozen quick punches. ‘You wouldn’t get that fat piggy butt of yours anywhere near me.’
‘I’m starving,’ Ning moaned, as she stepped back into the changing cubicle, swapping the uniform for jeans and a singlet. ‘Can we get something to eat after this?’
They’d only arrived in Dubai the night before, but only Amy seemed to be suffering jet lag.
‘One shopping trip with you three is more than enough to persuade me never to have kids,’ Amy said wearily, as the assistant blipped several hundred dollars’ worth of school uniform and PE kit through a barcode reader. ‘It’s probably easiest to get room service back at the hotel.’
‘Can’t we just get something quick?’ Alfie asked. ‘Burgers or something.’
‘There’s a food court,’ Ning added. ‘I think we’ve got to go back past it on the way to the hire car.’
‘When I get back to my room I’m having at least three gin and tonics from the
Natalka suddenly looked angry. ‘Screw him. He’s getting tight with Boris and Alex and their manners are rubbing off on him.’
‘Partying with Chinese girls, I heard,’ Ethan said.
Natalka tutted again and changed the subject. ‘So, you got the memory key from Leonid’s office?’
Ethan nodded, then patted the pocket of his jeans. ‘I pulled it when I went to play Wii with Andre last night. We’ll find a web café and upload it for Ryan. But it’s been four weeks, so I hope he’s not forgotten about me.’
‘Can’t you look at what’s in the files yourself?’
‘Not without my own computer,’ Ethan said. ‘And it might be risky spending hours going through Aramov stuff in a web café. The good news is, every kid has to have a laptop at my new school. And since I’ll need it for homework and stuff, I don’t see how Leonid can stop me from bringing it home for holidays.’
A trashed Mercedes M-class 4×4 was rolling up outside. One of the Aramovs’ many Kremlin-based flunkies put a hairy arm out of the driver’s-side window.
‘Taking you to the bazaar, yeah?’ he shouted.
The driver was stubbly and looked like he’d gone a while since his last decent wash, but he got excited when he realised he’d be driving an Aramov and made a big fuss of getting out and opening the door for Ethan, while Natalka fended for herself.
‘Cigarette?’ the driver asked, as he floored the accelerator and got a little squeal out of the back tyres.
‘Thanks,’ Natalka said, as she snatched the packet off the armrest.
*
Ning swished a changing-room curtain and looked at herself standing before a mirrored wall: grey tights, grey pleated skirt, blue and white striped blouse and a straw hat.
‘I feel like such a twonk,’ Ning said.
They were in the school uniform section of one of Dubai’s biggest department stores. Alfie was in no position to criticise, because he looked almost as bad in the boys’ version of DESA’s uniform, but Ryan was only in Dubai to dole out Ethan-related advice and couldn’t resist taking the piss.
‘Don’t worry,’ Ryan said, as he looked on dressed in cargo shorts and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt. ‘You’ve only got to wear those monkey suits for ten or twelve hours a day, six days a week.’
‘Wool makes me itch,’ Alfie said, as he rubbed his blazer. ‘And who makes kids wear a get-up like this in the middle of a desert?’
Over at a glass counter, Amy Collins stood by a mound of brand new PE kit, while an Indian clerk with a dodgy wig went through drawers looking for gym shorts in Alfie’s size.
‘The computer says we have them,’ he said, when his head bobbed up. ‘But this isn’t my department and I can’t find them.’
Ryan looked at Alfie. ‘If you don’t have shorts, I bet they’ll make you do PE in your underpants.’
Alfie tutted. ‘Ryan, if you don’t shut up I will fart on your head when we get back to the hotel.’
‘I’m greased lightning,’ Ryan said, adopting a boxing stance and throwing half a dozen quick punches. ‘You wouldn’t get that fat piggy butt of yours anywhere near me.’
‘I’m starving,’ Ning moaned, as she stepped back into the changing cubicle, swapping the uniform for jeans and a singlet. ‘Can we get something to eat after this?’
They’d only arrived in Dubai the night before, but only Amy seemed to be suffering jet lag.
‘One shopping trip with you three is more than enough to persuade me never to have kids,’ Amy said wearily, as the assistant blipped several hundred dollars’ worth of school uniform and PE kit through a barcode reader. ‘It’s probably easiest to get room service back at the hotel.’
‘Can’t we just get something quick?’ Alfie asked. ‘Burgers or something.’
‘There’s a food court,’ Ning added. ‘I think we’ve got to go back past it on the way to the hire car.’
‘When I get back to my room I’m having at least three gin and tonics from the
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