1

Generations ninotchka rosca decided that death was a sin of omission where the dead forgot
to live. It
Mumbling calmed the soul. To Selo, this was knowledge that was all as simple as that. The dead didn't do anything. The
came with old living mumbled
age. He would sit outside on the front ladder, his bare feet like him, shouted like his daughter-in-law, cursed like his son,
resting on the cried like his
last rung, and mumble. Words would push up from between grandsons, or turned into beauties like his granddaughter. She
his lungs, past his was fifteen
tonsils, and work their way between his toothless gums. His years old and had dark brown skin and straight black hair
lips spat them out reaching down to
in small explosions. There were any number of things to the small of her back. With her large eyes, her nice mouth, she
mumble about: could have a
sometimes he told a story, sometimes he just followed the future. Selo glanced at the sacks piled near the shed-brown jute
movement of the sun sacks fat
from east to west, sometimes he grumbled about the house, the with rice grains. It had been a good harvest.
road, the harvest. His claw itched. His left hand caressed it. Like all the men in the
Today he made sounds. It was summer, but enough water village, he .
remained in the. had indulged in man-talk in his youth. He and the other men
irrigation canal to feed the seedbeds. Viewed from the house, had been members
the canal was a of a supposedly national society of peasants. They had
shimmering distortion in a brown palm of land distorted by gathered in the empty
heat waves. schoolhouse during evenings and had made plans for the
The two boys playing in the yard had grown used to Selo's future. It had been
mumbling. The exciting to think of cramming the landlord's genitals down his
older, nine years of age, drew a circle on the ground with his throat. It had
dirty forefinger. He been exciting to talk of snaring and roasting his dogs grown
was not quick enough, and two drops of sweat fell from his vicious on a diet of
brow into the circle. meat. The dogs had chased old Selo once, when he had tried to
Against the soil's glitter, the sweatdrops were black, shallow deliver the
holes. He studied landlord's share of the harvest himself.
them for a moment; then, carefully, he covered the holes with In high hopes, Selo had had the society's insignia tattooed on
two chipped the skin web
marbles-one orange, one blue. Just outside the line he had between his thumb and forefinger. Other men in the village
drawn, his brother's carried the blue
toes dug into the powdery earth. The older boy ignored his sickle on their bodies-on the chest, above the heart; on the
brother just as he thigh; on the skin
ignored Old Selo. web between thumb and forefinger. It betrayed them when the
Grandfather's bad humor, their grandmother used to say, had landlord's goon
started with squads started kicking house doors down. The massacre went
the withering of his right hand. The bird-claw that resulted had on for months,
not been her with the odor of putrid flesh mingling with the harvest
fault. As a matter of fact, she had saved his life. The claw was fragrance. The rivers
nothing more than seemed full of crocodiles then, with all the bodies floating in
an extraneous addition to the whole-regrettable but the water.
unimportant. She had saved The landlord's men hadn't reached their village yet, but old
his life. Because of the debt, the boys' memories of the old Selo's wife was
woman were rimmed already screaming that he was a dead man. Taking his courage
with guilt. No one had been able to help her when her turn to in hand, he whetted
die came. his fan-knife and prepared to excise the tattoo. At the last
It took place at the height of the monsoon season. The house moment, however, he
was so remembe~ed his friends, bodies fertilizing the fields. He
waterlogged the bamboo posts had split their brown skins and dropped the knife. His
were mottled wife cursed him for three hours and finally lost her patience.
green. A translucent pair of leaves even sprouted from the She heated a silver
middle node of the coin in the charcoal stove and with her blackened firethongs
bamboo holding the kitchen wall up. Grandmother, who had dropped it on Selo's
complained of tattoo. The house posts shook with the old man'? bellows, and
chest pains for weeks, had a coughing attack so fierce she disconsolate
sounded like a joyous screams answered him from a cloud of ricebirds hovering over
frog. The fit lasted for hours. It would take her by the throat the field. The
and snap her small trick worked. When the metal cooled, his wife ripped the coin
head back and forth, while bits of matter-red, flecked with off Selo's hand,
foam-ejected from deftly stripping the flesh underneath. Selo, angered by his
her mouth and darted around like tiny bats. Mother, a Lysol- wifes triumph, wrapped
soaked rag in her his hand in a rag. He refused to let anyone look at the wound.
• hand, chased the steaming bats and shouted for the rest of The boys waited for the vehicle to come into sight before rising
the family to keep to their feet.
away. It was hard work, but she would not allow anyone to It was a jeep with a trailer and a dust cloud streaking behind it.
help. Finally, When the jeep
grandmother gave a terrible series of yelps. Her eyes stopped before the bamboo gate, the dust cloud blew towards
disappeared into her head. the house, forcing
She fell, cutting her brow on the pallet's edge and overturning the boys to avert their faces. Old Selo remained as hewas and
the chamber pot. tasted gritty soil
Since that time, the boys had known that a man's interior was on his lips. Four men jumped off the jeep. All had tooled leather
dark red and gunbelts around
gray, spongy and feamy. This was wisdom uncovered by death: their waists. One wore a bun hat.
a man's interior "Your father home?" the man with the hat asked.
was uninteresting, made up of tissue so dark-red it turned The boys looked at each other. Finally, the older one shook his
black in the gaslight. head.
A man was neither good nor bad inside, only uninteresting. "That's all right," one of the men called out. "The rice is here,
Old Selo, on the other hand, could not remember that e~ening. anyway."
One day The hatted man scratched his nape and frowned.
his wife was there; the next, she wasn't. After thinking about it, "Listen now," he said to the boys. "Tell your father he left only
Old Selo thirty sacks
 2
of rice for the propietano. He should have left fifty. Then, he what in god's name had the law got to do with people? Laws
owes me ten more were paper and ink;
for the seeds and five more for the weeder. So, we're talking they were kept in filing cabinets in offices in town and city
thirty-five sacks buildings. Now, if it
now. Can you remember that?" were the law of the sun or of the seas or of the earth, that
The boy felt he should say something but could not find the would be an altogether
words for what different matter. People's laws had nothing to do with people.
he wanted to say. He gave a shrug and nodded. The girl smiled at herself in the cracked mirror on the wall. Her
"Okay," the man turned to his companions. "load up." eyes sought
One of the men was strong enough to lift an entire sack by out the photograph of an actress pinned to the wall. Like her,
himself. The the actress had
other two worked together. As they moved back and forth, the limpid eyes and a small mouth. The girl sighed and lifted the
pile of sacks sank weight of her hair
closer and closer to the ground. from her nape. God willing, she would have a future. She smiled
"Come on, come on," the man with the hat said, "it's tricky again, then
business. picked up a thin blue towel draped on a battered bamboo
Never know what these peasants will do." chest.
He tugged at a sack impatiently Old Selo scuttled off the ladder, "Where are you off to now?" her mother asked in her usual
drew something harsh voice.
hanging on the nearest house post. He rushed towards the "To the canal," she said, "to take a bath."
men. The boys shouted: "Take the boys with you."
It was enough warning. The man with the hat evaded the The girl crinkled her nose. "Why do I have to?"
downward slice of the "Because you're no longer a child," came the answer. "Because
machete. The blade buried itself in the topmost sack's belly. of what could
Old Selo tugged at the happen which must not happen."
hilt, and gold kernels bathed the jute sacks. Without hurry, the "It's not as if I take my clothes off," the girl muttered, but her
man with the hat voice had lost
seized Old Selo's wrist and wrung the weapon from him. its conviction.
Reversing the machete, he "Take the boys with you."
struck Old Selo's chest with the hilt. A cry escaped the old man. They tried to keep the canal's lips as bare and hard-packed as
His spine hit the the summer
ground and the man with the hat pinned him with a foot. fields, but green things somehow managed to make their way
"It's okay," he said to his men. "I'll keep him quiet. Hurry up there. They took
now. I don't root overnight, dipping hair tendrils into the water: bizarre
want more trouble." flowers of purple
When the jeep with the trailer disappeared, the boys helped and yellow, stringy weeds, and the mimosa pudica. The girl
Old Selo back hated the mimosa
to the ladder. He seemed to have forgotten the incident and for its deceptive shyness. At the least touch, its leaves folded
resumed mumbling, and drooped but
his lips speckled with blood. The boys looked at each other. only to bare the thorns on its stems.
They walked to the The boys stripped immediately and dived into the water. They
gate, squatted down, and waited. swam,
It took some time for the horse-drawn rig to appear at the transformed into sleek brown puppies with iridescent limbs
road's rise. It and bodies. The girl
moved so slowly that the boys could hardly keep still. They lost • watched. Then she too entered the water. First she washed
control when her hair, scrubbing it
they recognized their mother and sister among the passengers. with crushed herbs and leaves. Then groping beneath the
The older boy water, she cleaned the
was aware of his incoherence, but impatience pushed the soft secrets of her body. Her fingers cupped her unfinished
words out of his mouth. breasts. Sighing, she
The afternoon's story had to be told. Still shouting, he watched leaned back in the water and lifted her face to the sky where
his mother climb the sun was beginning
down the rig and help his sister maneuver a basket past the to cool.
dirty wheel. The It was nearly dusk when they left the canal. The boys shared
• horse, its flanks covered with sweat and whipmarks, snorted; the weight of a
its skin trembled. pail of water while the girl shivered in her wet clothes. At the
The mother tried to wipe off the blood from Selo's mouth, but backyard's edge,
it had dried the girl abruptly signalled for the boys to stop. From the house
and would not come off. She released her skirt's hem came her father's
impatiently and pushed the growls, her mother's shrilling. The boys' eyes widened. They
old man up the ladder. Meanwhile, the two boys menaced the turned to the sister,
basket their sister but something in her face made them look away. A clatter of tin
was carrying. She threatened them with a flst. They shied plates erupted
away, returned and from the house. There was the sound of a slap, a sharp cry.
tried to peer into the basket, sending it banging against the Then, the creaking of
girl's shins. She shouted the ladder as someone came down in a hurry. The girl showed
at them to leave her alone. There was nothing in the basket but her teeth.
food. The Dinner was ready. The mother was picking up plates from the
distressing news set the younger one wailing. Mother leaned floor. She
out of the window pointed to the table. The boys smiled and carried the pail into
and ordered him to stop or else ... the kitchen. The
Inside the house, Old Selo had clean lips again, his daughter-in- girl changed her clothes.
law having "Rice!" the older boy exclaimed. "Not gruel. Real rice."
used a wet rag on his face. He watched as she prepared the "Might as well eat it," the mother said. "It won't last very long."
evening meal. She She drowned the rice mound on Selo's plate with soup. A
held an eggplant down with her left hand, forefinger extended twinge of anger
and pressed against shot through the girl. It was a shame and a waste. Grandfather
its end, while her right hand stroked through the eggplant's couldn't take
flesh with a knife. anything solid anyway. But that was the way it was, the way it
Her fingertip was never more than a hair's breadth away from had always been.
the blade as it Even with eating, one took a vow akin to marriage- one ate as
sliced through the vegetable. She grumbled as she worked. She the others ate,
had warned Old for richer and for poorer.
Selo's son, she said, but he would not listen. He kept talking Old Selo waited for the table to be cleared. It seemed hardly
about the law. But possible that
 3

the day was over, as the day before had been over. The sun was "Son-of-a-whore," the boy muttered. "He'll hit a checkpoint for
born in the east, sure."
died in the west; the dry season came and merged with the The girl broke into a run. The boy followed his eyes darting
monsoon season. with suspicion
Flood and drought. And all through the changes of time, men among the strangely lit objects of the night world. The girl
worked in the shied suddenly,
fields, holding on and holding out, coaxing the earth into bumping into her brother.
yielding the golden "A snake," she said.
kernels, so tiny they seemed like babies' gasps. Why couldn't "1 don't see anything."
the sun and the "1 heard it. Never mind. Hurry."
rain clouds be nailed to the sky? Instead of men, the elements It was too late. Three shadows broke the silver road. The father
should hold on. was trying to
Hold on, as his wife used to say. convince the two soldiers that a man had the right to get drunk
Obediently, the old man lowered his body to the mat spread where and how it
out by his pleased him. Particularly when the harvest was involved, yes,
grandsons. His body loosened its moorings and entered the sea sir, particularly ... One
of sleep. He of the soldiers replied by pummelling him in the ribs and
dreamt, his dream melting into the dreams breathed out by his stomach.
daughter-in-law "Pests," the boy whispered and spat on the ground.
and his grandchildren. One dream now possessed the house, "Sssh," the girl held her brother's hand. "It will be all right. He
each member of pays now.
the family giving to it. There were scenes of joy, a morning Don't worry."
rimmed with hope, a "Pay for what? They'll take him to the barracks now."
child's universe of a toy. "Sssh. I'll take care of this. Go home and tell mother
"Wh-wh-what?" the granddaughter murmured. everything's all right.
Something was in the yard. It moved, its bulk rustling against I'll bring him home."
the nipa fronds "Sure."
of the house's walls. In the dark, the boys' eyes were pitted "Believe me. Trust me. I'll get him out."
stars. The girl looked at "How?"
her mother; the older woman was also awake, listening in the The girl did not answer. Looking at her, the boy saw her lips
dark. Before she had pulled
could say anything, the door blew open so violently it tore its back, her teeth were bare. In the moonlight, her mouth seemed
upper rope hinges. In full of fangs.
the doorway, a man's shadow stood, his head and shoulders She entered the room on tiptoe but hardly a second passed
dusted by moonlight. before a man's
Resentment came into the room. The man halted, prowled voice exclaimed: "Well, what have we here?"
about the accusing There were two of them-one seated behind a varnished table,
air of his family. His insulted soul gave him pride. Son-of-a- the other on
goat, he said, he was a canvas bed. The first held a notebook and wore fatigues; the
a man, and a man had rights. So the law decreed. Circling, he second was in his
came upon a face. undershirt and pants and was polishing his boots.
His grief balled itself into a fist. Without a word, he smashed a "Please, sir," the girl said, "my father ..." The room smelled of
blow into his wax and detergent.
wife's face. Light spilling from a naked bulb overhead turned the floor
Something heavy struck his back and clung to his neck with bloodclot red.
little claws. "Which one is he? The men here are so active it's hard to tell
The man beat at the thing on his back. He swept it off and who has sired
threw it to the floor. whom," the sergeant said.
He began to kick at it. But the white bat shrieked in his "He was picked up, sir, just a while ago." The girl swallowed. In
daughter's voice. The a softer
man stopped. The shadows were unravelling themselves. voice, she added: "He was drunk, sir."
There were his wife, She told herself that nothing had changed in the room. The
his sons, his daughter and Old Selo, his father, curled like a bulb still swung
gnome in the corner. from the frayed cord; the light was as harsh as before. There
He found the door and lost himself in the night. was no reason for
"Stop him," the mother cried out. the hair on her nape to stand.
"Not me," the girl said. "He kicked me. The son-of-a-bitch "What do you want with him."
kicked me." "I've come to take him home."
"Don't say that," the mother said. "Follow him and see he's all "Child, it's not as simple as that. First, we have to take him to
right." the judge.
"He's drunk." Violating curfew, disturbing the peace. And so on. Then we'll
"Do as you're told," the mother said, dabbing at the blood on have a trial. Since
her mouth. it's Saturday, we have to wait till Monday to even begin. The
"It's curfew time. If the soldiers find him, everything will be judge will either fiI:le
over for sure." him or send him to jailor both. It may take weeks, months-
The girl did not move. maybe years."
"Please follow him," the mother said. She was still stroking her "Please, sir, my mother's waiting."
mouth. "I suppose you can pay the fine."
"Please. We have to-to hang on." "We don't have money," she said, flushing. "But we have rice."
The girl kicked at a pillow. The soldiers looked at each other. The sergeant said there was
"All right," she said. "But if he kills me, it will be on your head." nothing to be
"Take your brother with you," the mother called out. done. As a matter of fact, the girl herself was violating curfew
The older boy was already running after his sister. He caught and he was tempted
up with to arrest her, too. The soldier on the cot laughed.
her in the yard. She took his hand, murmured something that "You want to see him?"
sounded like She nodded. The sergeant stood up and motioned for her to
everything had to be over and led him to the gate. Moon-touch follow.
had "We locked him in the toilet," he said.
transformed the world, and the two halted before the alien It was an outhouse. The father rose from the cement floor
landscape. The when the door
boy felt he was gliding on silver water. From a distance came was opened. He bleated at the sight of his daughter.
their father's "Go away," he said. "Go away. Tell your mother I'll be all right.
voice. He was cursing the night. Go on home."
"He's making for the town," the girl said. His left eye was swollen. A blue-grey lump glistened on his
forehead. The
 4
girl swallowed again. She stretched out a hand to him but the "Well, now" he said, clearing his throat, "I suppose we have to
sergeant pushed tell. Tell your
her away. He closed the door on the father's voice. mother."
"Well, he stays there," the sergeant said, "at least until he's "Let's not talk," she said.
sentenced." He quickened his pace, leaving his daughter behind. At that
The girl stood before the table. instant the sun
"Please, sir," she said, "I must take him home." touched a tree so violently that its branches crackled. The tree
"Can't do. Not unless you pay the fine. Do you have money?" absorbed the
The girl bit light. Soaked through, it began to glisten, returning the suds'
her underlip. warmth. Openmouthed,
"No? Maybe you can pay some other way.What do you think?" the father looked at the tree. He was still looking at it when
The sergeant something
turned to the other soldier. "Can she pay some other way?" hard and jagged smashed in the back of his skull.
The man laughed. His eyes glittered. "I have the right," the daughter said.
"I should think so. She's old enough. And peasant girls are It was the boy who found them. He had left his younger brother
strong." in the fields
"How about it?" the sergeant asked. "You owe your father that and had wandered off, asking himself what had happened to
much." his father and sister.
The girl's mouth opened. "Whoreson," he said, "they killed him."
"Any self-respecting daughter would do much more. How "Yes."
about it? We'll "Why?"
give him a bed, make him comfortable while you're paying. At "There was no one else to kill."
dawn, we'll give The boy looked at her curiously. Her skirt was splattered with
him to you. How about it?" blood and
The other soldier yawned. The girl looked at the lightbulb. If white matter.
only the light "You tried to lift him," he said-tentatively, as though it were a
had not been as harsh. suggestion.
"How about it?" the sergeant repeated. "There are only four of The girl smiled. "I learned so much this night."
us here. You're "Well, we have to hang on. Hang together."
lucky." "We can take him home now."
Sometime in the night, the toilet door was opened and the The boy took her hand. "Not yet," he said. "We have to hang on.
father was Hang
taken out. He was given a cot in the barracks. Gratefully, he together." He guided her to the path. "We'll tell mother. But
stretched his first, we must take a
limbs, his sore muscles creaking. Sleep came to him, but he was bath. Whoreson. They must have struck him a hundred times.
awakened His head's nearly
almost immediately. He had turned over and had nearly fallen gone. A hundred times. Whoreson."
off the cot. It A whimper broke from the girl.
must have frightened him, for his heart beat furiously for "Ssssh," the boy said. "It's all right. We'll tell mother. She'll find
several minutes. someone
His fear was transformed into a woman's cry. After listening else. But first, we must take a bath. In the canal."
for a few seconds, They left the road and took a short-cut across the field. They
the father decided it was a bat shrilling in the dark. He went saw their
back to sleep youngest brother playing near the canal and waved to him.
and was awakened again, this time by a dog's barking. He lay After a while, the boy said: "It's all right. Who'll complain
with his eyes against
open, looking at the shadows of the strange room. From soldiers?"
somewhere in the They picked up the youngest and proceeded to the canal, the
building came a man's low laugh. older boy still
It was morning when he rose from the bed. The Sun was On the busy with what could happen. The girl, he said, could be
brink of indentured now, as a
rising. A soldier came and led him to the office. It was empty, servant to the landlord. "Mind you take care of yourself there,"
the blankets on the he said. "Mind that
cot neatly folded. The soldier pushed him towards the door. you do that. And someday, someday, maybe we can all go to
"I can leave?" the father asked. town and live there."
The soldier smiled and nodded. He patted the father on the In the house, the mother was teasing old Selo by pretending to
shoulder. A carryon a
smile cracked the man's dry lips. He bounded through the open conversation with him. Since the old man paid no attention bu t
door. The cool merely mumbled,
of the morning eased the creases on his face. Under a she was forced to comment on a variety of subjects. She made
kamachile tree, his daughter coffee for him and
waited, a scarf tied about her head. . sat beside him. Together, they gazed out of the window. A fly
"What are you doing here?" the father shouted. hovered, and the
"Waiting," she said, dropping her eyes. "Waiting for you." mother flicked at it with her hand. Old Selo said something.
He looked at her with suspicion, but she did not seem to have "What?" The woman asked, laughing. "of course, flies are
changed. lovely, with
"Come qUickly," she said. "Mother's waiting." She stepped rainbow wings. But let them settle on you and they'll lay eggs.
away from him. They breed maggots.
She turned too quickly and stumbled On a pebble. The scarf Don't ask me why. Maybe because they're forced to breed on
slipped off and trash, garbage, all
when she bent to pick it up, her skirt rose, revealing a bruise at the sick things. Maggots."
the back of her Old Selo mumbled on. The mother saw the children crossing
• left thigh. The father looked away. the fields. She
"Waiting," he mumbled. "That's another word for it. Waiting." smiled and waved to them. They were free-so her man must be
He gave a coming home
short bark of laughter. soon. Yes, there they were, the three of them, the boys and the
Thin wisps of smoke-dewdrops evaporating-curled from the girl. They were
ground. The headed for the canal which was shimmering a distortion in a
air was cool and carried the scent of roasting corn. The father's brown palm of land
head turn, his distorted by heat waves. Old Selo looked and mumbled.
eyes scanning the fields. A softness lay in his chest. His Though it was summer,
daughter walked in front enough water remained in the canal to feed the seedbeds.
of him and he was seized by an impulse to tell her how he had
first met her
mother.