【时间旅行者的妻子】45

“Hmm, my, you should take this to the security guards, hmm, there’s quite a bit of cash in here, yes,” the man wears thick glasses and peers at Henry through them as he speaks and Henry reaches around under the man’s jacket and steals his wallet. Since Henry is wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt I walk behind him and he passes the wallet to me. The tall thin brown-suited man points at the stairs, explaining to Henry how to turn in the wallet. Henry toddles 1 off in the direction the man has indicated, and I follow, overtake Henry and lead him right through the museum to the entrance and out, past the guards, onto Michigan Avenue and south, until we end up, grinning like fiends, at the Artists Cafe, where we treat ourselves to milkshakes and french fries with some of our ill-gotten gains. Afterwards we throw all the wallets in a mailbox, sans cash, and I get us a room at the Palmer House.
　“So?” I ask, sitting on the side of the bathtub watching Henry brush his teeth.
　“ What?” returns Henry with a mouth full of toothpaste.
　“What do you think?”
　He spits. “About what?”
　“Pick-pocketing.”
　He looks at me in the mirror. “It’s okay.” He turns and looks directly at me. “I did it!” He grins, largely.
　“You were brilliant!”
　“Yeah!” The grin fades. “Henry, I don’t like to time travel by myself. It’s better with you. Can’t you always come with me?”
　He is standing 2 with his back to me, and we look at each other in the mirror. Poor small self: at this age my back is thin and my shoulder blades stick out like incipient 3 wings. He turns, waiting for an answer, and I know what I have to tell him—me. I reach out and gently turn him and bring him to stand by me, so we are side by side, heads level, facing the mirror.
　“Look.” We study our reflections, twinned in the ornate gilt 4 Palmer House bathroom splendor 5. Our hair is the same brown-black, our eyes slant 6 dark and fatigue-ringed identically, 
 

他踱着方步，尽情地吹嘘，丝毫察觉不到左后侧裤子口袋里的钱包。他肚子很大，却几乎没有屁股，那钱包正呼唤着我的手呢。我溜达到他们背后，亨利亲眼看着我的拇指和食指如何轻巧地伸进目标的口袋，然后解放了那只钱包。我向后退，他们则继续前进，我边把钱包递给亨利边往前走，亨利把它稳妥地塞进裤子的口袋里。
    我还示范了另外一些绝活：如何从西装的内侧袋里取皮夹，如何用一只手掩护在女士挎包里的另一只手，如何在扒窃时转移受害人注意力的六大窍门，如何从双肩背包中偷皮夹，还有就是如何让别人无意中暴露出自己的皮夹。亨利逐渐放松下来，甚至有点乐在其中了。最后，我说：“好了，现在你去试试吧。”
    他立即吓傻了，“我不行。”
    “你当然行。看看周围，寻找猎物。”我们站在日本版画陈列室里，里面全是老太太。
    “别在这儿。”
    “好吧，哪里好呢？”
    他想了一分钟，“餐厅行吗？”
    我俩静静地走进餐厅。一切我都记得清清楚楚，当时自己完全被恐惧包围。我转过脸看我自己，千真万确的，他面如土灰；而我暗自微笑，因为我知道接下来会发生什么。我们排在队伍最后，等待花园里的座位。亨利四处张望着，心事重重。
队伍前面是个高大的中年男人，一身棕色的、裁剪得极其考究的休闲西装，根本不可能看清他的钱包在哪儿。亨利走近他，举起一只我刚刚偷来寄放在他那儿的钱包。
    “先生，这是您的吗？”亨利轻声说，“它掉在地上了。”
    “嗯？哦，不，不是。”男人检查了他裤子右后侧的口袋，确信钱包正好好地在里面，为了让亨利更清楚地听到他的话，他弯下腰，接过亨利手中的钱包，打开说，“嗯，你应该把这个交给保安，嗯，这里还真有不少钱呢。”他边说边透过厚厚的镜片打量亨利，亨利却把小手伸进这个男人的衣服，偷出了他的钱包。亨利穿的是短袖T恤，所以我赶忙走到他背后，他把战利品传给了我。高个男人还指着楼梯，向亨利解释如何交给警卫，亨利朝他指的方向走去，我跟在后面，追上他并领着他穿过美术馆，来到出口。过了保安处，我们往密歇根大街的南面走去。一路上呲牙咧嘴的，就像两个妖魔鬼怪。我们在艺术家咖啡馆，用这些不义之财点了奶昔、法式炸土豆条，好好自我犒劳了一顿。接着我们把所有偷来的钱包塞进邮筒，当然现金除外。随后我们来到帕尔玛酒店，开了一间房。
    “怎么样？”我坐在浴缸对面看着亨利刷牙。
    “喔——”亨利满嘴全是牙膏沫。
    “你觉得怎么样？”
    他吐出牙膏沫，“什么怎么样？”
    “偷钱包啊。”
    他先从镜子里看我，“还行吧。”然后他转过脸直面我，“我得手了！”他咧开嘴得意地一笑。
    “你太出色了！”
    “是的！”但笑容消失了，“亨利，我不喜欢一个人时间旅行，和你在一起更好。你能一直陪着我么？”
    他背对我站着，我们彼此看着镜子里的对方。可怜的小亨利：在那个年纪，我背部消瘦，肩膀像刀刃般突出，就像一对刚发育的翅膀。他转过身，等我的回答，我知道我该对他——我说些什么。我伸出手臂，温柔地扶住他转回去，让他站到我身边，我们肩并肩地站立，两个在同一平面上的脑袋，对着镜子。
    “看。”我仔细端详着这两个影像，在豪华的帕尔玛酒店的镀金浴室里，在明艳灿烂的灯光下，我们是一对独特的孪生兄弟：我们的头发是一色的棕黑；我们的眼睛在同样的疲劳下显出黑眼圈和细皱纹；