I pull his pants in desperation and he stops, not because he notices me but because he has a distraction.
I can see he has a new plan in his mind.
He raises his sign.
No! Bruno! No!
Wasim and his brother look at each other in surprise and fear, I don't understand why, until I see a man sitting at the end of the catwalk with his sign up as well.
He looks like an Arab sheik, with his endless layers of white cotton and his very expensive Ghutra.
He has the number one.
Bruno notices the same thing and shouts, “I double my bid.”
The atmosphere changed. Tension rises, you can feel it in the air.
“I triple,” shouts the sheik.
Shit.
Shit!
Bruno, what are you doing!
“Times five!” Bruno yells with a defiant tone.
He and the Sheik look at each other; I can see the thunderbolt coming from his eyes.
I'm going to throw up.
Kaled holds the boy by the shoulder and says, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a feisty auction tonight! To keep the show moving, the bidding for this parcel will continue in private. Thanks to both of you gentlemen for so vividly showing your interest.”
Something weird is going on and I don't understand what it is, but Bruno is determined to snatch the kid from the sheik no matter the cost.
They take the boy off stage and the anguish of not seeing him drives me crazy.
I want to kill them all, all of them!
The Arab sheik stands up, visibly offended by the events that just transpired and leaves the room, followed closely by Razzag, they both disappear from my sight walking behind Dante. Who watched everything unfold as he surely did so many times before.
