WIDE AND NARROW

‘Are they army boots?’ he said as he sat watching me.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Ex- German para, I think.’
‘What size?’ he said after a short pause during which I wondered what he was doing asking me these things.
‘Twelve,’ I said, ‘forty-six euro.’
‘I need wide boots and these are a bit narrow.’
‘You can get these in a wide fitting,’ I said.
I didn’t really want to talk to him but he persisted. He’d been a friend but had behaved in a way that made it impossible for me to feel other than a mug if I made any pretense at friendship now or in the future. I can be civil if required but no more.
‘Do you want these boots?’ he said pulling his trouser legs up to show me the boots he was wearing.
I looked at them and said, ‘no thanks, they’re not high enough,’ and pulled one of my trouser legs up so he saw what I meant.
‘Oh yes,’ he said and smiled, having despite my obvious reserve, managed to engage me in a brief exchange, which for him I imagined was a victory.