Estuary 6

We returned to the village by noon. We had a light meal of rice and vegetables with the women. The men were at their tasks, and one of the ladies assured me they would not be neglected nor left wanting. Malu said little, he in fact appeared uncomfortable. I took this to mean that were it not for his employment to me, he would be in the fields with the rest of the men, stooped and cultivating those enamel-like grains, his toes growing wrinkly in the paddy water, alert for snakes, following the dictums of culture rather than sullying his manhood indoors. As he did not speak to anyone but myself, I understood that none of the present women were betrothed to him. If he had a wife he did not mention her. Perhaps because he was a refugee, an outsider of different blood. Anthropology was not so difficult. I allowed myself an open, mysterious smile.

I requested permission to observe the women and dismissed Malu for the afternoon. I detected a lightening of his brow, but he replied he would remain nearby and at my service. I sat writing at a table near the window looking down upon the chocolate milk river, but that view was for the pane alone. The women captivated me and I let my gazes linger. They were heavy-set creatures with broad shoulders and backs, their long dark locks resisting taming as they spilled and stacked upon themselves in a lovely directionless dollop, their skin the color of a fawn. They wore calf-length formless dresses with floral prints in the most wonderful sunrise gradations. They took no notice of me as they performed their chores, and this only increased my affections. Their children found me a singular curiosity, however, and though they must have been instructed against nuisance, from time to time I'd catch a brave one in the window just before he yelped and hastened back to his peers.

I wrote letters home and put them aside without addressing them. The recipients I'd decide later. My attentions were elsewhere. Were I to pass one of these ladies on the streets of my town, decorum would prevent me more than a nod with perhaps a quick glance. Here, I was in their home, drinking in their bends and lifts. Because I'd paid for it, it was allowed.