Atdtda33: Stormy dawn, 942-944

[Paul Nightingale]

At the start of the new section "an innocence in which everything was still
untouched by cause and effect"; and then, top of 943, a "first time"
explained by Yashmeen in causal terms. At the outset, history will lead to
the loss of said "innocence" as, in transit, "the points are thrown one by
one ..." etc (942). The send-off party (and "innocence") is succeeded by the
journey and "spectators ... want[ing] to be fooled". Subsequently the
narrative will position the reader with Reef when he leaves Yashmeen and
Cyprian, and his explanation of their relationship ("shooting pool, he
supposed") emphasises causal relationships that appear unpredictable but can
be rigorously exposed after the event.

Before then, however, Cyprian's status as observer is compromised, "as if
[Yashmeen] could sense something wheeling to a close" (943). The "first
time" for Cyprian here (and cf another "first time", bottom of 721) is
succeeded, down the page, by Reef's fantasy: "he did wonder now and them how
it might be if Cyprian fucked him for a change. [...] Not that it had to
happen, but then again," an idea established. What follows is a reading of
Cyprian that sees him as an alternative Reef, rather than an alternative to
Reef. Hence, "Cyprian [can] handle himself if he ha[s] to" (944). The
"region of cool self-control" that Reef describes here makes Cyprian perform
as Reef himself might, neutralising any possible threat posed by
"professional lurkers" or "flaneurs".


 If we go back to the previous section and Yashmeen's introspection, we see
her structuring her identity in opposition to Reef and Cyprian: "Yashmeen
certainly was the one ..." etc (942). Earlier, Cyprian has either dwelled on
Yashmeen (937 and 938) or his own personal trajectory (939); again, this
process isolates him. Reef, however, is distanced from his "personal
history" (944) in order to address "the three of them together" and, within
this set-up, bring himself and Cyprian together.