The Human Body by Paolo Giordano Read Free Book Online Page B

everyone, constantly.”
    â€œWhat a life,” Ietri says.
    â€œYeah, what a life. Not like today. The girls nowadays are all no-I-don’t-drink, no-I-don’t-smoke, no-I-don’t-put-out.”
    Ietri laughs. Di Salvo is right; girls today don’t put out.
    â€œYou practically have to marry them before they’ll go to bed. Although it depends on the location.”
    â€œWhat do you mean, the location?”
    â€œThe ones from the Veneto hop into bed right away, for instance.” Di Salvo snaps his fingers. “Not in Belluno, though. You have to go farther south, where the students are. The students are little sluts. Once I was in Padua, I got three of them in bed in a week.”
    Ietri makes a mental note of the number and location.
Padua. Three
. You can be sure he’ll go there, once he returns.
    â€œThe students shave it—did you know that?”
    â€œWhy?”
    Di Salvo spits on the ground, then covers the spit with sand. “It’s a fad. Plus it’s more hygienic.”
    Ietri is dubious. He’s never seen a female with shaved pubes, except in certain videos on the Internet, and little girls at the beach, of course. He’s not sure he’d feel comfortable.
    The Afghans stick their foreheads in the sand, as if they want to plant their heads in it. Again Ietri feels the urge to kneel down and join them, see how it feels. Di Salvo arches his back and swivels his neck around, yawning. The sun is roasting them. Ietri has some sunscreen in his backpack, but he doesn’t know how to smear it on himself and he doesn’t feel right about asking his buddy. A soldier doesn’t rub cream on another soldier’s back.
    â€œCan you imagine? Coming here when there’s no war and roaming around the country, free, with a girl beside you,” Di Salvo muses. “Smoking marijuana leaves just picked off the plant.”
    â€œThat would be cool.”
    â€œIt would be awesome.”
    He moves closer to Ietri. “Do you smoke?”
    Ietri, puzzled, looks at the cigarette he’s holding between his fingers.
    â€œI’m not talking about those, asshole. Grass.”
    Ietri nods. “I’ve tried it, once or twice.”
    Di Salvo puts an arm around Ietri’s bare shoulders. His skin is surprisingly cool. “You know Abib?”
    â€œThe interpreter?”
    â€œYeah. He has grass to sell.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œNever mind that. You can come with me if you want. We’ll each pay half. For ten euros he gives you a bag this big.” Di Salvo uses his hands to show him.
    â€œAre you nuts? If they catch us we’re screwed.”
    â€œWho’s going to catch us? Does Captain Masiero sniff your breath or something?”
    â€œNo,” Ietri admits.
    â€œThis is different from the stuff you find at home. This stuff is natural, it’s . . .
wow
!” Di Salvo tightens his grip around his neck and puts his mouth to his ear; his breath is just slightly hotter than the air. “Listen to this. Abib has a small wooden statue in his tent, one of those tribal statues, you know? With a big head and square body and enormous eyes. It’s some old carving that his grandfather gave him. He told me the whole story, but I was smoking and I don’t remember. Anyhow. The statue stares at you with those huge yellow eyes, and the last time, there I was smoking Abib’s grass and looking at the statue while it was looking at me, and at a certain point,
bam!
—I was stoned and I realized that the statue was death. I was looking death right in the face!”
    â€œDeath?”
    â€œYeah, death. But it wasn’t death like you imagine it. It wasn’t angry. It was a peaceful death, not scary. It was like . . . indifferent. It couldn’t care less about me. It looked at me and that’s it.”
    â€œHow did you know it was death? Did Abib tell you?”
    â€œI just