other-side-of-deception-victor-ostrovsky

well. He turned to face me, one hand on the bell ready to press the littlered button. "Just remember, we are from the Shaback, we're all single,and we live on base in . . . " He turned to Haim. "Where do welive?""Natania.""Why Natania? Why Shaback?" I asked."Natania is far enough yet not that far, and Shaback because wecan't tell her Mossad, now can we? We don't want to be police, sothat is the closest thing.""Okay, I can live with that. How often does all this come up?""We gave her the story once," Haim said in a low voice."Never spoke about it again," Yosy remarked. "Come on, hit thebell."I was calm only because I was beat. It wouldn't have taken muchfor me to fall asleep at that point. The guilt associated in my mindwith this sort of activity was dulled. I'd managed subconsciously to getmy punishment before I did the deed.The sound of the buzzer was harsh and unpleasant. It was followedby a soft, barely audible voice. "Just a minute."The peephole blacked out for a second, then the door swung open."Hey, guys, I thought you weren't coming, so I was about to go tobed." She backed away from the door, letting us in."Don't let us stop you." Yosy said with a sly smile. "We might justjoin you."She closed the door behind us. Haim headed straight for the largebed in the center of the small living room, dropping himself right intothe middle oi it. Yosy made his way to the bathroom. The place wasdimly lit, and the air stood heavy with the moisture of a recently takenbath and a faint scent of perfume. The smell was sensual: I could allbut feel the softness of the woman's skin. The place was simple, warm,and seductive. I could feel my heart pumping harder with every passingmoment. The excitement was pressing against my Adam's appleitfelt good. Dina was beautiful in her long robe. Her movements wereflowing, somewhat unconcerned, casual. Except for her hair, everythingabout her was long. Her lazy blue eyes stayed on me after I saton the end of the bed, still tense.She moved slowly to the bathroom, then flicked on the light in asecond room I hadn't noticed before. It was a small kitchen. Shepaused and asked, "Would anyone like something to drink?"''I'll have a coffee," Haim answered, not even turning his head."Forget it," came a shout from behind the bathroom door. "Weh;ive things to do. We'll pick Dan up later." We always managed tofind a reason for a code name, whatever the activity. It was secondn.1tur.e; \ve just did it all the time.Yosy stepped out of the bathroom, pulled the girl toward him, andkissed her. She showed no resistance. He let go of her and said toHaim, "I-et's go, we have things to do, and so does Dan." He turnedto me. "Keep the bed warm until we come back."Somehow his manner irritated me. It was as though 1 was takingoffense where she should have but didn't. It was her submission andhis abuse that angered me. She locked the door after they left andstood facing me, leaning on the door she had just closed. I felt veryawkward."Would you care for something to drink?" she asked, smiling forthe first time.'1'11 have a coffee, please.""Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back in a moment."She glided across the room, spreading her scent as she passed. Itivas a naked smell, teasing; I could feel the pressure in my loins.Dishes clattered in the kitchen. I lit a cigarette and picked up whatseemed like a notebook from the small coffee table by the bed.I opened it and saw it was filled with tight small handwriting. Myiirst reaction was to put it back on the table. Then 1 looked again;there were no markings on the cover. If whoever wrote this had notwanted it read, he or she would not have left it where it was. My firstguess was that it was Dina's diary. I wasn't eager to read it, but therewas little else to do, and I was not going to sit there like a dummyuntil we got into bed like two awkward strangers doing what we bothknew we had intended to do in the first place. Obviously, she didn'tthink my friends had dropped me off to have a friendly chat with her.And Yosy told me he had asked her if she wanted me to come after shehad caught a glimpse of me at the base, and her response was positive.So there might be something in this little book to break the ice andmake things a bit smoother.I realized I was starting to feel guilty again. What the hell was athirty-seven-year-old married man with two children doing here,seated on the bed of this twenty-three-year-old woman? I was one sonof a bitch.I started to read. At iirst it made no sense-short sentences thatrhymed but meant nothing to me. She came back with two cups ofsteaming coffee and sat next to me on the bed. Her knee slid out fromunder the heavy robe and as though by accident touched mine. I