I stepped through the doorway and set out across the kitchen towards the balcony overlooking the street, which had been glassed in three years earlier; my folding bed was waiting for me there. I heard footsteps following me in the darkness, but I didn’t turn round because I thought it was Eldar. I only realized my mistake when the heavy hand that descended on my shoulder swung me round sharply and I found myself face to face with Marat.
“Why are you insulting us all like this?” His face was distorted by an expression of resentment and the clear determination to get a quick, simple explanation for my behavior.
“I’m not insulting anyone,” I said. Only dispassionate, precise words could calm him down now: any attempt to shrug off his question and avoid an answer could end badly for me, he w
