the empire was that only the man could divorce unless the woman could prove her
spouse was too diseased to have children or was impotent.
She whirled and walked towards the wash-basin. As she passed her mother, a hand
stopped her.
Wallu, peering at her with one half-good eye, said, ‘Child! Something has
happened to you! What was it?’
‘Tell you in a moment,’ Masha said, and she washed her face and hands and
armpits. Later, she regretted very much that she hadn’t told Wallu a lie. But
how was she to know that Eevroen had come out of his stupor enough to hear what
she said? If only she hadn’t been so furious that she’d kicked him … but
regrets were a waste of time, though there wasn’t a human alive who didn’t
indulge in them.
She had no sooner finished telling her mother what had happened with Benna when
she heard a grunt behind her. She turned to see Eevroen swaying in front of the
curtains, a stupid grin on his fat face. The face once so beloved.
Eevroen reeled towards her, his hands out as if he intended to grab her. He
spoke thickly but intelligibly enough.
‘Why’n’t you go after the rat? If you caught it, we coulda been rich!’
‘Go back to sleep,’ Masha said. ‘This has nothing to do with you.’
‘Nothin do wi’ me?’ Eevroen bellowed. ‘Wha’ you mean? I’m your husband! Wha’ss
yoursh ish mine. I wan’ tha’ jewel!’
‘You damned fool,’ Masha said, trying to keep from screaming so that the
children wouldn’t wake and the neighbours wouldn’t hear, ‘I don’t have the
jewel. There was no way I could get it – if there ever was any.’