At the end of dinner she leaves for the cabin to count the day"s proceeds. I look at her through the doorframe, catching a composed glimpse of her, sitting in the chair, the safe beside her. Then, before putting the money away, she looks at me and asks me never to leave her alone so long again. And she closes the safe with a thud.
I disobeyed Nena. The next day I left her alone to join Miradija in her sleep. She lured me into the house with an excuse. She told me she had made a delicious cake.
It is almost night. The cot is soft, on my head her hand is a languid caress. It resembles the leaves of the mahalla"s amber trees that hung downward as if they wanted to pick up their fallen daughters.
"Feel how soft my bed is." She whispers to me. I nod and let her cuddle me in ecstasy, in a slu
