whenever I took out my wallet in the street, he would turn his whole body away and light a cigarette, as though I had pulled out a thong instead of the soft, fraying banknotes. As though he were ashamed of my money or performing respect for my privacy. But why do I say performing respect instead of respecting? Does the fact that I noticed his behavior around my wallet and remember it now with cinematic lucidity imply an underlying suspicion? Was I watching him from the corner of my eye for signs of theft or envy? Did he notice and is that why the money was always pointedly—aggressively, even
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