“Did you stain the suit?” Jules calls after me.
Arun trots up behind us, followed by Prateek, who looks stricken. How much can this suit be worth?
“What’s going on?” I ask Prateek as we walk past the set and toward the row of trailers.
“Faruk! Khan!” He sputters the name like a cough.
“What about Faruk Khan?” But before Prateek can answer, I’m pulled up the stairs and pushed into one of the trailers. Inside, Faruk Khan, Amisha Rai, and Billy Devali are sitting in a huddle. They all stare at me for what seems like an eternity, until Billy finally booms, “There! Did I not tell you?”
Amisha lights another cigarette and kicks up her bare feet, which are covered with vinelike henna tattoos. “You are absolutely right,” she says in a lilting accent. “He looks like an American movie star.”
“Like that one,” Billy snaps his fingers. “Heath Ledger.”
“Only not dead,” Faruk says.
They cluck in agreement.
“I think Heath Ledger was from Australia,” I say.
“Never mind that,” Faruk says. “Where are you from? America? UK?”
“Holland.”
Billy wrinkles his nose. “You don’t have an accent.”
“You almost sound British,” Amisha says. “Close enough to South African.”
“This is closer to South African,” I say in a clipped Afrikaans accent.
Amisha claps her hands. “He can do accents.”
“Afrikaans is close to Dutch,” I explain.
“Have you ever acted before?” Faruk asks.
“Not really.”
“Not really?” Amisha asks, arching an eyebrow.
“A little Shakespeare.”
“You cannot say ‘not really’ and then say you’ve done William Shakespeare,” Faruk says scornfully. “What is your name? Or should we call you Mr. Not Really?”
“I prefer Willem. Willem de Ruiter.”
“Bit of a mouthful,” Billy says.
“Not a good stage name,” Amisha says.
“He can change it,” Billy says. “All the Americans do.”
“Like the Indians don’t,” Amisha says. “Billy.”
“I’m not American,” I interrupt. “I’m Dutch.”
“Oh, yes. Mr. de . . . Willem,” Faruk says. “No matter. We have a problem. One of our Western actors, an American named Dirk Digby, he lives in Dubai, perhaps you’ve heard of him?”
I shake my head.