Chapter 2

Abstract

Freed from the public responsibilities of being “The Professor,” Omar hastily made his way to the rue des Ecoles. The street glistened with the remains of a passing shower. Thick gray clouds gave the sky an ominous sheen. A cold northwest wind ripped down the street. Chilled to the bone, Omar reached the Boulevard St. Michel, wide, busy, and full of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Turning right he made his way toward the Seine and descended into the Paris Metro’s warm embrace. He entered a packed car and stood among a motley assortment of passengers: tall, short, fat, thin, clean, dirty, white, brown, yellow, and black. Some of the passengers wore business clothes-suits, which, like Omar’s outfit, had been crafted from muted black and gray fabrics; others sported jeans and tee shirts, which, from their sheen and odor, hadn’t been laundered in a very long time. Omar noticed a young African man, who, like him, stood tall in the car. Like Omar, he had put on a charcoal gray sport coat. When their gazes locked, Omar nodded, silently signifying a bond between them—two sapeurs acknowledging their camaraderie.