The two old men shook their heads. Sciocchezza!

Turning to Saba and Jamal, the grandmother asked, And how about you? What do you think about love and its fruits that ripen in the bodies of lovers?

And now she is asking these two? said the man in pink. They don’t even know how babies are made.

The two men chuckled.

Saba and Jamal exchanged glances before looking away from each other.

Ignore these old men, said the grandmother to Saba and Jamal. But for fairness, just as the old impart their wisdom, the youth must share the lyrics of their fantastical imaginations with the old.

What are we going to do with these? asked the man in blue. At our age, what one needs is more sleep, not excess alertness.

The man in pink lit a cigarette that he passed to the grandmother. Do the honour of passing the flame of love to the next generation then, Mebrat, he said.

The grandmother took a long drag, to satisfy her young heart, she said, before passing the cigarette to Jamal.

Jamal, tell me, said the grandmother. And don’t be shy, I have heard it all. As a farmer, I have sown the seeds of desire in my skin at the same time as I planted my land with pumpkin seeds.

Saba turned to Jamal when she noticed him staring at her. He looked away quickly. He hooked a foot around the stool, put his hand inside his pocket and took it out again.

I can’t say now, Jamal said, his voice shaking.

I hope I will be alive when you are ready to talk, said the grandmother, chuckling.

Jamal scrambled to his feet and went around to stand behind the white sheet.

Let me tell you this story, said the grandmother. On my wedding night, when we retreated to our bedroom, my husband dimmed the light and stood naked in front of me. He expected to jump on me. I said to him, I want a lover. So I made him lick my toes that night. And my fingers the next evening. And the third night he spent discovering the length and width of my back. Like this I made him make love to every bit of me. There is no virginity, I told him. No one is a virgin only once. With every new lover, we turn virgin again. Because it is not a hole you make love to but a body, a mind and a heart. And I did the same. I remember when I parted his buttocks, how he protested, God bless his soul. You don’t fuck me. We fuck each other, I said to him. To be honest, he dropped his guard with one gentle stroke. Men are like that, they have no idea of the treasures on their bodies. If they did, they would not go around forcing women with violence.

The grandmother and the men left soon after, but Saba stayed behind. She tilted her head and observed Jamal, who stood behind the makeshift screen sheet. It was like watching a film in the way he appeared to her through the square hole on the white sheet. It was strange to her that it was she who fed his desires. She could see it in the softness of his skin, the lean shape of his body.