Chapter 13

Before abandoning the Father Project, I decided¹ to checkRosie’s estimate of the number of father candidates. It occurredto me that some possibilities could be easily eliminated. Themedical classes I teach contain numerous foreign students.
Given Rosie’s distinctly pale skin, I considered it unlikely thather father was Chinese, Vietnamese, black or Indian.
I began with some basic research – an internet search forinformation about the medical graduation class, based on thethree names I knew.
The results exceeded my expectations, but problem-solving oftenrequires an element of luck. It was no surprise that Rosie’smother had graduated from my current university. At the time,there were only two medical courses in Melbourne.
I found two relevant photos. One was a formal photo of theentire graduation class, with the names of the one hundredand forty-six students. The other was taken at the graduationparty, also with names.
There were only one hundred and twenty-four faces,presumably104/290because some students did not attend. Since the gene²-shoppinghad occurred at the party, or after, we would not have toworry about the non-attendees. I verified that the one hundredand twenty-four were a subset of the one hundred andforty-six.
I had expected that my search would produce a list ofgraduates and probably a photo. An unexpected bonus was a‘Where are they now?’
discussion board. But the major stroke of luck was theinformation that a thirtieth anniversary reunion had beenscheduled. The date was only three weeks away. We wouldneed to act quickly.
I ate dinner at home and rode to the Marquess ofQueensbury.
Disaster! Rosie wasn’t working. The barman informed me thatRosie worked only three nights per week, which struck me asinsufficient to provide an adequate income. Perhaps she had aday job as well. I knew very little about her, beyond her job,her interest in finding her father and her age, which, based onher mother’s graduation party being thirty years earlier, mustbe twenty-nine. I had not asked Gene how he had met her. Idid not even know her mother’s name to identify her in thephoto.
The barman was friendly, so I ordered a beer and some nutsand reviewed the notes I had brought.
There were sixty-three males in the graduation party photo, amargin of only two over the females, insufficient³ to supportRosie’s claim of discrimination. Some were unambiguouslynon-Caucasian, though not as many as I expected. It was thirtyyears ago, and the influx⁴ of Chinese students had not yetcommenced. There was still a large number of candidates, butthe reunion offered an opportunity for batch⁵ processing.
I had by now deduced that the Marquess of Queensbury wasa gay bar. On the first visit, I had not observed the socialinteractions, as I was too focused on finding Rosie and initiatingthe Father Project, but this time I was able to analyse mysurroundings in more detail. I was105/290reminded of the chess club to which I belonged when I was atschool.
People drawn⁶ together by a common interest. It was the onlyclub I had ever joined, excluding the University Club, whichwas more of a dining facility.
I did not have any gay friends, but this was related to myoverall small number of friends rather than to any prejudice.
Perhaps Rosie was gay? She worked in a gay bar, althoughthe clients were all males.
I asked the barman. He laughed.
‘Good luck with that one,’ he said. It didn’t answer thequestion, but he had moved on to serve another customer.
As I finished lunch at the University Club the following day,Gene walked in, accompanied by a woman I recognised fromthe singles party – Fabienne the Sex-Deprived Researcher. Itappeared that she had found a solution to her problem. Wepassed each other at the dining-room entrance.
Gene winked⁷ at me, and said, ‘Don, this is Fabienne. She’svisiting from Belgium and we’re going to discuss some optionsfor collabora-tion.’ He winked again, and quickly moved past.
Belgium. I had assumed Fabienne was French. Belgianexplained it.
Gene already had France.
I was waiting outside the Marquess of Queensbury when Rosieopened the doors at 9.00 p.m.
‘Don.’ Rosie looked surprised. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘I have some information.’
‘Better be quick.’
‘It’s not quick, there’s quite a lot of detail.’
‘I’m sorry, Don, my boss is here. I’ll get into trouble. I needthis job.’
‘What time do you finish?’
‘Three a.m.’
106/290I couldn’t believe it! What sort of jobs did Rosie’s patronshave?
Maybe they all worked in bars that opened at 9.00 p.m. andhad four nights a week off. A whole invisible nocturnalsubculture, using resources that would otherwise stand idle. Itook a huge breath and a huge decision.
‘I’ll meet you then.’
I rode home, went to bed, and set the alarm for 2.30 a.m. Icancelled the run I had scheduled with Gene for the followingmorning to retrieve⁸ an hour. I would also skip karate⁹.
At 2.50 a.m. I was riding through the inner suburbs. It wasnot a totally unpleasant experience. In fact, I could see majoradvantages for myself in working at night. Empty laboratories.
No students. Faster response times on the network. No contactwith the Dean. If I could find a pure research position, with noteaching, it would be entirely¹⁰ feasible. Perhaps I could teach viavideo-link at a university in another time zone.
I arrived at Rosie’s workplace at exactly 3.00 a.m. The doorwas locked and a ‘Closed’ sign was up. I knocked hard. Rosiecame to the door.
‘I’m stuffed,’ she said. This was hardly surprising. ‘Come in –I’m almost done.’
Apparently¹¹ the bar closed at 2.30 a.m. but Rosie had to cleanup.
‘You want a beer?’ she said. A beer! At 3 a.m. Ridiculous.
‘Yes, please.’
I sat at the bar watching her clean up. The question I hadasked sitting in the same place the previous day popped intomy mind.
‘Are you gay?’ I asked.
‘You came here to ask me that?’
‘No, the question is unrelated to the main purpose of my visit.’
‘Pleased to hear it, alone at three in the morning in a bar witha strange man.’
107/290‘I’m not strange.’
‘Not much,’ she said, but she was laughing, presumably makinga joke to herself based on the two meanings of strange. I stilldidn’t have an answer to the gay question. She opened a beerfor herself. I pulled out my folder¹² and extracted the partyphoto.
‘Is this the party where your mother was impregnated?’
‘Shit. Where did this come from?’
I explained about my research and showed her myspreadsheet. ‘All names are listed. Sixty-three males, nineteenobviously non-Caucasian, as determined¹³ by visual assessmentand supported by names, three already eliminated.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding. We’re not testing … thirty-onepeople.’
‘Forty-one.’
‘Whatever. I don’t have an excuse to meet any of them.’
I told her about the reunion.
‘Minor¹⁴ problem,’ said Rosie. ‘We’re not invited.’
‘Correct,’ I said. ‘The problem is minor and already solved.
There will be alcohol.’
‘So?’
I indicated the bar, and the collection of bottles on shelvesbehind it.
‘Your skills will be required.’
‘You’re kidding me.’
‘Can you secure employment at the event?’
‘Hang on, hang on. This is getting seriously crazy. You thinkwe’re going to turn up at this party and start swabbingpeople’s glasses. Oh man.’
‘Not us. You. I don’t have the skills. But, otherwise, correct.’
‘Forget it.’
‘I thought you wanted to know who your father was.’
‘I told you,’ she said. ‘Not that much.’
108/290Two days later, Rosie appeared at my apartment. It was 8.47p.m., and I was cleaning the bathroom, as Eva theshort-skirted cleaner had cancelled due to illness. I buzzed herupstairs. I was wearing my bathroom-cleaning costume ofshorts, surgical¹⁵ boots and gloves but no shirt.
‘Wow.’ She stared at me for a few moments. ‘This is whatmartial-arts training does, is it?’ She appeared to be referring tomy pectoral muscles. Then suddenly she jumped up and downlike a child.
‘We got the gig! I found the agency and I offered them shitrates and they went yeah, yeah, yeah, don’t tell anyone. I’llreport them to the union when it’s over.’
‘I thought you didn’t want to do this.’
‘Changed my mind.’ She gave me a stained paperback¹⁶.
‘Memorise this. I’ve got to get to work.’ She turned and left.
I looked at the book – The Bartender’s Companion: AComplete Guide to Making and Serving Drinks. It appearedto specify¹⁷ the duties of the role I was to perform. I memorisedthe first few recipes before finishing the bathroom. As Iprepared for sleep, having skipped the aikido routine to spendfurther time studying the book, it occurred to me that thingswere getting crazy. It was not the first time that my life hadbecome chaotic¹⁸ and I had established a protocol¹⁹ for dealingwith the problem and the consequent disturbance²⁰ to rationalthinking. I called Claudia.
She was able to see me the next day. Because I am notofficially one of her clients, we have to have our discussionsover coffee rather than in her office. And I am the oneaccused of rigidity²¹!
I outlined the situation, omitting the Father Project component,as I did not want to admit to the surreptitious collection ofDNA, which Claudia was likely to consider unethical. Instead Isuggested that Rosie and I had a common interest in movies.
109/290‘Have you talked to Gene about her?’ asked Claudia.
I told her that Gene had introduced Rosie as a candidate forthe Wife Project, and that he would only encourage me tohave sex with her. I explained that Rosie was totally unsuitableas a partner, but was presumably under the illusion that I wasinterested in her on that basis. Perhaps she thought that ourcommon interest was an excuse for pursuing her. I had madea major social error in asking her about her sexual orientation– it would only reinforce that impression.
Yet Rosie had never mentioned the Wife Project. We had beensidetracked so quickly by the Jacket Incident, and after thatthings had un-folded in a totally unplanned way. But I saw arisk that at some point I would hurt her feelings by telling herthat she had been eliminated from consideration for the WifeProject after the first date.
‘So that’s what you’re worried about,’ said Claudia. ‘Hurting herfeelings?’
‘Correct.’
‘That’s excellent, Don.’
‘Incorrect. It’s a major problem.’
‘I mean that you’re concerned about her feelings. And you’reenjoying time together?’
‘Immensely,’ I said, realising it for the first time.
‘And is she enjoying herself?’
‘Presumably. But she applied²³ for the Wife Project.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said Claudia. ‘She sounds pretty resilient.
Just have some fun.’
A strange thing happened the next day. For the first time ever,Gene made an appointment to see me in his office. I hadalways been the one to organise²⁴ conversations, but there hadbeen an unusually long gap as a result of the Father Project.
110/290Gene’s office is larger than mine, due to his higher statusrather than any actual requirement for space. The BeautifulHelena let me in, as Gene was late in returning from ameeting. I took the opportunity to check his world map forpins in India and Belgium. I was fairly certain that the Indianone had been there before, but it was possible that Olivia wasnot actually Indian. She had said she was Hindu, so she couldhave been Balinese or Fijian or indeed from any country witha Hindu population. Gene worked on nationalities rather thanethnicit-ies, in the same way that travellers count the countriesthey have visited. North Korea predictably remained without apin.
Gene arrived, and commanded The Beautiful Helena to fetch uscoffees. We sat at his table, as if in a meeting.
‘So,’ said Gene, ‘you’ve been talking to Claudia.’ This was oneof the negatives of not being an official client of Claudia: I didnot have the protection of confidentiality²⁵. ‘I gather you’ve beenseeing Rosie. As the expert predicted.’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but not for the Wife Project.’ Gene is my bestfriend, but I still felt uncomfortable about sharing informationabout the Father Project. Fortunately he did not pursue it,probably because he assumed I had sexual intentions towardsRosie. In fact I was amazed that he didn’t immediately raisethe topic.
‘What do you know about Rosie?’ he asked.
‘Not very much,’ I said honestly. ‘We haven’t talked muchabout her.
Our discussion has focused on external issues.’
‘Give me a break,’ he said. ‘You know what she does, whereshe spends her time.’
‘She’s a barmaid.’
‘Okay,’ said Gene. ‘That’s all you know?’
‘And she doesn’t like her father.’
Gene laughed for no obvious reason. ‘I don’t think he’sRobinson Crusoe.’ This seemed a ludicrous statement aboutRosie’s paternity111/290until I recalled that the reference to the fictional²⁶ shipwrecksurvivor could be used as a metaphorical²⁷ phrase meaning ‘notalone’ or in this context ‘not alone in not being liked by Rosie’.
Gene must have noticed my puzzled expression as I worked itout, and elaborated: ‘The list of men that Rosie likes is not along one.’
‘She’s gay?’
‘Might as well be,’ said Gene. ‘Look at the way she dresses.’
Gene’s comment seemed to refer to the type of costume shewas wearing when she first appeared in my office. But shedressed conventionally for her bar work and on our visits tocollect DNA²² had worn un-exceptional jeans and tops. On thenight of the Jacket Incident she had been unconventional butextremely attractive.
Perhaps she did not want to send out mating signals in theenvironment in which Gene had encountered her, presumably abar or restaurant. Much of women’s clothing is designed toenhance their sexual attraction in order to secure a mate. IfRosie was not looking for a mate, it seemed perfectly²⁸ rationalfor her to dress otherwise. There were many things that Iwanted to ask Gene about Rosie, but I suspected that askingwould imply a level of interest that Gene would misinterpret.
But there was one critical question.
‘Why was she prepared to participate in the Wife Project?’
Gene hesitated a while. ‘Who knows?’ he said. ‘I don’t thinkshe’s a lost cause, but just don’t expect too much. She’s got alot of issues.
Don’t forget the rest of your life.’
Gene’s advice was surprisingly perceptive²⁹. Did he know howmuch time I was spending with the cocktail³⁰ book?

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

3 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

4 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

5 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

9 karate   

n.空手道(日本的一种徒手武术)

参考例句：

• Alice's boyfriend knew a little karate.艾丽斯的男朋友懂一点儿空手道。
• The black belt is the highest level in karate.黑腰带级是空手道的最高级别。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 folder   

n.纸夹，文件夹

参考例句：

• Peter returned the plan and charts to their folder.彼得把这份计划和表格放回文件夹中。
• He draws the document from its folder.他把文件从硬纸夹里抽出来。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

15 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

16 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。

17 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

18 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

19 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

20 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

21 rigidity   

adj.钢性，坚硬

参考例句：

• The rigidity of the metal caused it to crack.这金属因刚度强而产生裂纹。
• He deplored the rigidity of her views.他痛感她的观点僵化。

22 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

23 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

24 organise   

vt.组织，安排，筹办

参考例句：

• He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
• It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。

25 confidentiality   

n.秘而不宣，保密

参考例句：

• They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。
• Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。

26 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

27 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

28 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

29 perceptive   

adj.知觉的，有洞察力的，感知的

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• He is very perceptive and nothing can be hidden from him.他耳聪目明，什么事都很难瞒住他。

30 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。