221
a r e y o u s e e i n g m e?
“No, I’m not addicted, Perry. I’ve quit lots of times.”
I nod as we reach the ground and come to a stop.
“You don’t have to quit again because of me.”
v
We are seated on a
bench near the bumper cars, eating
lunch. I’ve got chicken strips and chips. Leonie has a
burger. She throws it in the bin after two bites.
“When did you leave Australia?” I ask.
“After my mother died.”
“Where did you go?”
“I backpacked around Europe, South America, parts
of Asia. I ended up in India, living in an ashram.”
“What is that?”
“It’s a quiet place away from the world, where you can
study and pray and meditate.”
“And do yoga?”
“Yes. I learned yoga and how to teach it in the ashram.”
I tap the seismometer with my fingernail. The
plink,
plink
sound it makes—it resembles dripping water.
“And then you went to Canada?”
“Yes,” she says. “I came here after India. My biological
father was Canadian. I’d never met him, so I thought it
was about time I did.”
