there were gunshots, the french woman said. the whole crowd was running.
friday i call kim, she was at work late. i called her from the office. i wanted to know what she do. she know something. she said the conference was cancelled due to events in france. it was a concert hall. someone was video taping it. you could tell people were dead already.
i was in shell shock, the american woman said.
it’s not a france problem, the french woman said. it’s a world problem. i’m afraid for the world.
the short haired american woman is thrilled. the french woman is mildly
depressed. they are into each other. terrorism electrifies. everyone is
sedate and bored.
you can’t worry about it, the french woman said. you spend every day worrying about everyone.
the french idealize. this terrorism has nothing to do with liberty and everything to do with insanity.  the french speak for everyone? they are universal? On facebook africans question the lack of media coverage and empathy on kenya.
it will be very dangerous war, the french woman said. france is going through a difficult time. he was weak as a person, as a president.
i cant see the french woman. her face is blocked by a column. she has short black hair. she’s obsessed with the accordion. she has a video of her teacher playing it and her dancing to it. she forces her american buddy to look at the ten minute video. she’ll play the noisome instrument for a decade and give it up for something else. she plays a video of a crowd fleeing from the concert hall in paris.
it’s a question of balance, i said.
what, the french woman said. we are private here. we are having a private talk.
please excuse.
i overheard your conversation, i said. things are out of balance.
we heard you, the american woman said. we agree.
yesterday 32 people in kenya were killed and nothing was said, i said.
should me go someplace else, the american woman said.
terrorism is like mental illness, i said. they contain it. they poison it with chemicals. it can’t be assimilated. maybe there is another way to treat it, not to only kill it but to possibly bring it into the light of day; to think differently about serious disease, not to have the mania to cut everything out.
are you a robot, the french woman said.
BALANCE IS PARAMOUNT MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!,i screamed.
wow, the american woman said. we agree with you.
yeah, said the french woman. we are in agreement.
there should be something to protect the average citizen other than the police, i said. these attacks are predictable. they know the players. when i think there hasn’t been an attack is when one usually happens. we have already been trained to expect them periodically by the media and the terrorists. typically they coincide with elections boosting a politician.