The next to arrive was Yanti who now lived in the new house next door. She stood, head on one side, looking him up and down and smiling broadly. Then, without touching him, she led him into the house with her shoulder dropped submissively and her hand extended to guide him up onto the verandah and through the open doorway. One by one, other members of the family began arriving – on foot and by motorbike – his brothers and their wives, neighbours, Yanti’s husband Goenawan and, finally, his father Totot who hurried back from the rice fields when he heard the news.
The house bubbled with voices, laughter, curiosity. Glasses of hot tea were brought by the trayful. Snacks were placed on a table. Adi’s suitcase and other bags stood like orphans on the verandah, and the visitors made their way a
