She turned away from Kumaresan and sat up. Since it was a wide cot, it sank in the middle with the weight of their bodies. She had to raise herself up just as though she was climbing out of a pit. She stood up and arranged her clothes properly before adjusting his, even as he continued to sleep. Otherwise, he might get up and walk outside just as he was. Some nights, he washed himself with warm water while wearing a loincloth, the sight of which made her laugh. He’d wash, change into a different loincloth, and lie down beside her without donning anything over it. Embarrassed, she would tell him, ‘Why don’t you walk around without that too?’ He’d say, ‘This is enough for this village.’

She now tucked the loose end of the lungi at his waist and tried to wake him. The sound of her mother-in-law shooing away the dog calmed her down. She sat back down and adjusted her hair. Hearing the voices outside, she could tell that there were at least three visitors. It was about the village council meeting. The dog’s barking had completely subsided by then. She tried to listen to the conversation.

Her mother-in-law was saying, ‘What is this, maama? You have all come here at this early hour.’ Marayi didn’t sound like herself; she was anxious about what the village was going to say. Saroja always wondered if her abusive rants and litanies were a way to channel her anxiety. After all, Marayi had never lived anywhere else. She had come to the rock when she was twenty, and had been here ever since, raising her only son. Her morality was her only shield. Perhaps she now feared that her son had compromised it.

A tired voice answered, ‘We had to come, Aaya. What your son has done has deprived us of sleep at night.’

Another voice, this time accusatory: ‘What if he goes away somewhere once day breaks? It was midnight by the time the meeting ended. Who can sleep at that hour?’

‘Please wake up Nōndi and ask him to step outside, Marayi. It is with him that we must speak,’ said another man.

‘Do you think that wretched dog is going to rise for me?’ Marayi wailed. ‘Even when things were all right, he had no respect for my yelling. If she calls him, I’m certain he’ll wake up immediately. I don’t have that magic.’

Saroja immediately renewed her efforts to wake Kumaresan up by patting him gently and muttering ‘Ttha, ttha!’ She finally whispered in his ears, ‘People from the village are here. They want to talk to you. Get up. Your mother has started her insults.’