ONE Mario was obsessed with prostitution was an expert at navigating its insidious and ensconcing labyrinths, but he kept refusing to arrange any more meetings, arguing that he was still waiting for you to keep your end of the bargain and bring him an Arab w***e. As you weren’t a native of Tripoli however, you didn’t didn’t know how to find a prostitute to satisfy Mario’s curiosity. You wished you knew where to find the woman who had tried to seduce you in the shoemaker’s shop when you had still been young and callow, but you didn’t. You even contemplated the risk of going to Sidi Umran to search for a woman who would agree to venture outside the official brothels with you, but you didn’t even know where that street was situated. You had never gone there, nor did you have any experience

