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him automatically.
    ‘ Flyblown.’
    Lars’ smile
was infectious. ‘That’s the one.’
    ‘ So how have
you found life here?’
    ‘ Ya, it’s a good place, for sure. The people are crazy maybe
and the government’s rubbish mainly. The women are beautiful, but
too much of this hijab thing. The ones that aren’t wrapped
are crazy. The wrapped heads are not so fun.’ He waved the tin at
me. ‘The local beer’s shitty, but I think you can’t have
everything.’
    We sat and
chatted for a while about settling into Jordan, about the Ministry
of National Resources and my magazine. Lars knew of the
Ministry.
    ‘ It’s a new
Ministry, you know. They formed it two years ago. They realise
finally they’re causing problems by not regulating the extracting
industries. You say extracting?’
    ‘ Extractive.’
    ‘ Okay, so.
The extractive industries. They went crazy licensing it all off
before and they’re having problems with over-working some of these
natural resources. You can’t replace the potash, or the Dead Sea
mud, you know?’
    I nodded.
‘That was my understanding from the Minister. I had a meeting with
him the other day. He’s an impressive guy. They’re trying to bring
it all back under control. And the water’s a problem,
too.’
    ‘ Yah. They
lost most of the water they had in ’67. It’s all Israeli now. You
should go up there and take a look at Lake Tiberias. It’s huge and
they just lost it in a crazy war they were never going to win.
They’re like that. Crazy.’
    I sipped at
my beer. ‘Well, I’m off to see the potash people later this week.
It’s all down by the Dead Sea, apparently. I’ve got a fixer from
the Ministry to hold my hand.’
    ‘ The Dead
Sea’s some place. You’ll like it. Who you are working with at the
Ministry?’
    ‘ Aisha
Dajani? She works with the secretary general there, Emad
Kawar.’
    ‘ Yah, I’ve
heard of her. Her family owns this place, you know?’
    I soon
realised Lars had a massive network of friends and followers and
was totally plugged in to the beating heart of Amman’s social
scene. ‘Yes, she found it for me.’
    Lars nodded
sagely. ‘Makes sense. It’s a big family, spread across this whole
area. They’re Palestinian. A lot of money. She’s the pretty one?
Drives a Lexus?’
    I shrugged.
‘I guess so.’
    He raised his
can, his index finger pointed at me. ‘That’s big trouble. Big
family, big money. I tell you, Arab men are crazy jealous. Stay
away.’
    I laughed
lightly. ‘I’m nowhere near. I’ve got a girlfriend back in the
UK.’
    Lars was
thoughtful. ‘These guys here,’ he gestured at the house. ‘They had
big problems early last year. A cousin got involved with Hamas,
blew himself up in an Israeli bus full of kids. Usual thing, bomb
belt and a green bandana, a goodbye video and all. You know about
it? I think he would have been the brother of your girl with the
Lexus. The other brother got lifted up by the security people, but
I think they let him go.’
    I took a long
pull of beer before answering him. ‘I don’t know. I’ve not heard
anything about that before.’
    Lars threw me
a calculating look. ‘It was a big deal for the family. It made the
papers, which they would have stopped if they could, I think. A
suicide bomber. Big fuss. The other brother, he runs the family
business now. The father died, too, a few years ago, you see? A lot
of deaths in the family, these people. A lot of trouble. You want
to watch out. Renting a house is one thing, but that is close as
you want to get, no?’
    I could
hardly believe a wealthy Jordanian family like Aisha’s would have
nurtured a suicide bomber and Lars must be wrong about Aisha’s
father – Ibrahim seemed pretty much alive to me. I finished my beer
and stood.
    ‘ Well, look,
it was nice meeting you. I’m actually supposed to go to their place
for dinner, so I’d better smarten up a bit,’ I said, standing.
‘Thanks for the beer.’
    ‘ Anytime