Silence.

Their mother coughed.

Ah, well, that’s all. Actually, I am going for a walk. Hagos, the businessman said, I could do with some company. Would you like to join me?

I am sorry, Mr Eyob, the mother said. But my son would be no good. He doesn’t talk.

Silence can make company even more interesting, Eyob smiled.

And as Hagos and Eyob entered the bustling square, where people asserted their existence with endless conversations, Saba felt as though Hagos was finally stepping outside his silent world.

Hagos was no longer invisible, she thought. People could see him now that he walked beside the businessman.

Hagos and the businessman walked daily. The businessman would come to pick up his new friend every evening. And the two would find their way to the outskirts of the camp. It is peaceful, Eyob told Saba and her mother one evening, as he waited for Hagos. He pointed to the wild hibiscus-filled hills bathing in the sunset. It suits us both.

But what suited them up in the hills? Saba wanted to ask. Was it the silence, the rugged landscape, the fresh air, the wild hibiscus or being away from people? Saba longed to hear Hagos’s thoughts and feelings now that he had found a friend other than her.

Soapy water streamed from under the door.

Saba, tell your brother to hurry up, said the mother. How long does it take him to finish his bath?

I am not in a hurry, said the businessman.

A group of men and women crept up nearer. Their murmurs grew. Saba looked away from them. Hagos emerged in white T-shirt and shorts, smelling as if he’d bathed in Indian coconut oil.

The crowd parted. Eyob and Hagos set off to the outskirts of the camp where the sunset had settled into the curves of the hills adorned with wild flowers.

MEN ARE EASY TO READ

One evening, soon after Hagos and the businessman had set off for their walk, Saba took out a bucket to wash herself. Her mother was out having coffee with Samhiya’s mother. Saba sat inside the bucket and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Peace in this place was only present in her imagination, so Saba imagined she was in a river, floating naked past trees, wilderness, villages, animals, life. She felt the rain on her body.

Peace, Saba mumbled, pressing her weight into the bucket, into a moment alone so blissful. The wind caressed back. It was making love to her, or so she felt as it blew through cracks in the door and walls and gaps in the thatched roof, stroking her wet skin from all directions, kissing her ears, the bone at her nape, the curves of her breasts. Saba wanted to possess. So she arched her back, revealing more of herself to the wind, directing this mysterious lover to where she liked to be touched and how.

With the elements at her behest, suddenly the door opened, her mother storming in past her, pulling her scarf over her face.