3-21

21.

Three weeks later I was getting an HIV test at a drop-in clinic in Barbados.

With Rihanna.

Royal life.

The occasion was the upcoming World AIDS Day, and I’d asked Rihanna, at the last minute,

to join me, help raise awareness¹ across the Caribbean. To my shock she’d said yes.

November 2016.

Important day, vital cause, but my head wasn’t in the game. I was worried about Meg. She

couldn’t go home because her house was surrounded by paps. She couldn’t go to her mother’s

house, in Los Angeles, because it too was surrounded by paps. Alone, adrift, she was on break

from filming, and it was Thanksgiving time. So I’d reached out to friends who had a house sitting

empty in Los Angeles, and they’d generously offered it to her. Problem solved, for the moment.

Still, I was feeling worried, and intensely hostile towards the press, and I was now surrounded

by…press.

The same royal reporters…

Gazing at them all, I thought: Complicit.

Then the needle went into my finger. I watched the blood spurt² and remembered all the people,

friends and strangers, fellow soldiers, journalists, novelists, schoolmates, who’d ever called me

and my family blue bloods. That old shorthand for aristocracy, for royalty³, I wondered where it

had come from. Someone said our blood was blue because it was colder than other people’s, but

that couldn’t be right, could it? My family always said it was blue because we were special, but

that couldn’t be right either. Watching the nurse channel my blood into a test tube, I thought: Red,

just like everyone else’s.

I turned to Rihanna and we chatted while I awaited the result. Negative.

Now I just wanted to run, find somewhere with Wi-Fi, check on Meg. But it wasn’t possible. I

had a full slate⁴ of meetings and visits—a royal schedule that didn’t leave much wiggle room. And

then I had to hurry back to the rusty⁵ Merchant Navy ship taking me around the Caribbean.

By the time I reached the ship, late that night, the onboard Wi-Fi signal was barely a pulse. I

was only able to text Meg, and only if I stood on the bench in my cabin, phone pressed against the

porthole. We were connected just long enough for me to learn that she was safe at my friend’s

house. Better yet, her mother and father had been able to sneak⁶ in and spend Thanksgiving with

her. Her father had brought an armful of tabloids⁷, however, which he inexplicably⁸ wanted to talk

about. That didn’t go well, and he’d ended up leaving early.

While she was telling me the story the Wi-Fi went out.

The merchant ship chugged on to its next destination.

I put down the phone and stared out of the porthole at the dark sea.

1 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

2 spurt   

v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆

参考例句：

• He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
• After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿，莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。

3 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

4 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

5 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

6 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

7 tabloids   

n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片

参考例句：

• The story was on the front pages of all the tabloids. 所有小报都在头版报道了这件事。
• The story made the front page in all the tabloids. 这件事成了所有小报的头版新闻。

8 inexplicably   

adv.无法说明地，难以理解地，令人难以理解的是

参考例句：

• Inexplicably, Mary said she loved John. 真是不可思议，玛丽说她爱约翰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inexplicably, she never turned up. 令人不解的是，她从未露面。 来自辞典例句