--What was the dinner like that Kazem attended? --It was not a dinner, but the sip of the man's coffee in the den. It consequently led to the proposal of a dinner. --And did he accept the proposal? --He did. --On behalf of the family of brothers? --That would seem to be a correct assessment although the eldest was not expected to attend. No definitive date was scheduled because the senator hesitated about this issue. It was a tacit declaration that could only be read in a scarce trace of caution on his countenance. It indicated that he was reluctant to be associated with these thugs. This irritated Kazem and yet he pretended as if he wasn't bothered by it. He probably told himself that he needed the time to rehearse his lines. --What would he need to rehearse? --His part as the benevolent older brother. He thought he was that but he had trouble convincing others of its veracity. --I don't understand. --A typical female reaction. Let me be more lucid. It is my impression that he intended to use this first meeting for future ones where he could use sympathy as a way of extorting money from the aging man for this group of leeches and quasi-pariahs. --As Kazem and the senator/former governor of Pattaya/former uncle-in-law drank coffee together, what was the lure that kept him interested in these boys? After all, he knew them only by name apart from that time or two of being irritated by their noise when the two families came together. That was over a decade ago. Isn't that right? --Yes, you are not ignorant. It was 11 years ago. I believe his new founded interest in them was what they call empathy? --Empathy? I know about that. It is a rather rare and abnormal form of behavior sometimes seen in those evolving beyond their species. From the research I've done on such aliens empathy and compassion seem to be the only emotions that aren't destructive and hedonistic. In small quantities all emotions aid judgment calls in social situations but unfortunately they are produced and expended in bulk. Unlike other emotions that are rampant, empathy and compassion tend to be quite rare. Could you elaborate on his nascent burgeoning of empathy for them and the disingenuousness that prompted it? --It was no different than their aunt who hustled a marriage out of him years ago. Kindliness and loneliness, from what I can tell, have always been his weakness. It was a simple calculating maneuver on Kazem's part, really. Kazem affected being uncomfortable and shy. He waited until this uncle asked directly about his circumstances and then he gave a modest biographical summary of their move to Bangkok after selling their parents assets. He was careful not to mention Kumpee, the need for money, or any real description of how they were living. The uncle's attempts at finding out information on those putrescent issues were only marginally successful. As a result, it seemed to the senator that Kazem was earnest and unassuming. He became more curious and anxious to help these pariahs as a result. --And can you be more specific on how this was done? --It's rather mundane. I don't wish to really. --Human studies and our intellectual copulation require more information. One would have to be ignorant to not know that or male. --He chitchatted, my dear, in a logical sequence that was a bit desultory at times. Humans call such an inexact order "variation." After he told the location of where they were living and that the move had taken place because of Kumpee's desire to be near his girlfriend, he answered the senator's question on what his brothers were doing in their state of unemployment (Jatupon with his comic books and Suthep with his snookers). Then he moved to large ideas outside of his personal life: the upcoming elections for prime minister, the question of the government's role for the flood victims in Hattayai, and if the senator would run for re-election in a couple years. It was done to create a mystique about he and his brothers as well as to elicit the approval of the senator who preferred people who could break out of their own skins. It was deferential. It was noble. It was all of those things that were manipulation in a consummate performance. Kazem played the part so well that he even began to think that he was this shy, vulnerable, unpretentious, and caring person despite trying circumstances. --Did he directly attempt to exploit the man's feelings of sympathy for their plight or the senator's loneliness? --In some respects he did. He reminisced about his mother whom this high governing uncle had sympathy. The senator of course entertained this sympathy because his wife (their mother's sister) had always carped, disparaged, and vilified her for such a marriage to an illiterate street person.