December
Hasnah sat sewing clothes for her unborn child. According to the doctor, she could expect it by the middle of February. She had asked Sugeng to choose two names for the new baby—one for a girl, and one for a boy. They both wanted Maryam to have a baby brother. But Hasnah’s joy at the coming of the new child was now often clouded when she thought about her husband and the great change that had taken place in their family life. Their luck in getting a house of their own had not brought the happiness they had hoped for. On the contrary, doubts kept assailing her. She didn’t enjoy the refrigerator, the large radio set, the electric record player Sugeng had bought for them. They stirred up uncomfortable feelings and troubling questions.
She felt more keenly than anything that a kind
