20Home for the weekend, he slept in his old camp bed under the raintree, a regular NS bloke in his army fatigues, marking time waiting for the day when he would ROD and see the last of Inche, his foul-mouthed sergeant, the tanks, the night marches, barbed wires and his gun. She’s closer to you than your f*****g girlfriend! Understooded? The sergeant had barked. Yes, sir! the recruits yelled. How he hated life in the barracks.
Did Ping miss him? He pictured her sleeping in air- conditioned bliss in the large house with the Mercedes. Was she thinking of him tonight? He smiled at the stars peeping among the leaves, pleased with his father’s news that she had returned sheepishly one day to the clan association, and had been practising hard since.
“Hey, Weng, back from camp? Long time no see!
