The teacher taught them simple grammar and rudimentary arithmetic. She made them practice the letters of the alphabet and introduced them to new words, writing them out on the blackboard in short sentences that no one but Adam could make sense of. It did not seem to matter to her that almost everyone in the class was asleep or staring red-eyed out the window at the grassy plains pockmarked with blackened heaps of half-burned rubbish, where skinny goats picked through the piles of waste, dragging plastic bags out of the cinders. CITIZEN. REPUBLIC. PRESIDENT. REVOLUTION. WESTERN IMPERIALISTS. I am a citizen of the Republic of Indonesia. The president of the Republic of Indonesia is President Sukarno. President Sukarno led the revolution against the Western Imperialists who destroyed
Its hot, someone whispered, I have to go home. Adam turned around and saw the girl with the birthmark slumped on her desk, twirling a dry strip of coconut leaf in her fingers. She brushed the leaf lazily against Adams back. Are your parents expecting you home too?
Adam nodded. Close up, he could see that the discolored patch of skin on her face was not a birthmark but a scar, an inky mass of tissue that looked almost smooth, like a pebble on the riverbank, crisscrossed by long-dead veins. She was a few years older than Adam but no taller; her fingernails were dirty and worn.
Actually, I only have a mother at the moment, she said.
At the moment?
Yeah, my fathers in jail. Dont know when hell be out. Im an orphan! Thats what my mother says when she gets in a mood and starts crying. I am a widow! I am nothing! My daughter is an orphan! Oh, my daughter is an orphan!
Adam giggled. She was much darker than he was, yet she did not seem entirely like the other kids; she spoke with a different accent too.
My names Neng. Whats yours? She tickled his neck with the leaf.
Adam.
I have to go and collect this months rice from the district office later. Want to come with me? Its not a long walk. Besides, you have a bicycle. Her smile showed off two gaps in her teeth.
Umm, I dont know. My father will be worried if I dont come home.
Come on, it wont take long. She reached out and brushed the leaf softly across his cheek, giggling as she did so. I know a shortcut back to where you live.
By the time they left school the sky had dulled slightly with patches of silver blue cloud, and it was no longer oppressively hot; the sea breeze had picked up, signaling the possibility of the sudden sharp showers for which Perdo is famous. Adam and Neng had just reached the end of the path that led to the main road when they saw a group of boys from school waiting for them, squatting at the edge of the broken tarmac in the shade of a sea almond sapling.
Umm, I dont know. My father will be worried if I dont come home.
Come on, it wont take long. She reached out and brushed the leaf softly across his cheek, giggling as she did so. I know a shortcut back to where you live.
By the time they left school the sky had dulled slightly with patches of silver blue cloud, and it was no longer oppressively hot; the sea breeze had picked up, signaling the possibility of the sudden sharp showers for which Perdo is famous. Adam and Neng had just reached the end of the path that led to the main road when they saw a group of boys from school waiting for them, squatting at the edge of the broken tarmac in the shade of a sea almond sapling.
Hi, friend, one of them said, standing up. He had taken his shirt off and tied its arms around his forehead so that it fell down his back like the headdresses of Arab sheikhs that Adam had seen in books. This boy was bigger than the others, and when he spoke his voice cracked, alternating between a childs high-pitched squeak and a manly croak. This is the little orphan who lives with that European man. Youre his servant, yeah?
No, Adam said, hes my father.
The older boy threw back his head and laughed. There was a circle of dried-up spittle around his lips. Behind him Adam noticed that one of the other boys was playing with a dead bird, stretching its red and black wings across the sand as if willing it to fly. Yeah, yeah. You lick the shit from his toilet. He pushed his fingers into Adams collarbone with a rough, jabbing motion, making Adam lose his balance; his bicycle fell from his grip and dropped to the ground. The other boys laughed. What a weakling, the gang leader said.
Adam tried to pick himself up but found that his legs had turned to jelly; his face felt hot and he could not speak. Pressure filled his head, and he felt like vomiting. His ears filled with a great rushing noise, the kind you might hear if you are standing on the seashore before a violent storm, when the froth of the waves blanks out all other noise and makes you lose all notion of where you are. He lay on the ground, kicking feebly at the coppery leaves of the sea almond that lay scattered on the ground. The people standing over him seemed blurred, wobbling as though shaken by gusts of wind. He began to shiver.
I am just like everyone else I am just like please I am just
Anyway, he could hear the man-boys croaky voice, whatever the white man is to you, hes rich. He can buy you another bicycle. This ones nice. Adam saw feet moving around him and heard the chain of his bicycle ticking. Someone tugged the strap of his satchel, which came away from his body as if it no longer wanted to belong to him.
Stop! Neng shouted. She put her hands under Adams armpits and hauled him into a sitting position. This is not fair. Leave the bike or Ill kick your balls.
Oh-oh, look whos talking, the croaky voice said. What you going to do, help this weakling? Look how tiny he is! Look at those little fat legs. Hes not worth getting beaten up over. Right, boys? The voice was steadier now, threatening.
At least he can read and write. Youre nearly an adult and you still cant read. Neng was trying to yank Adam into a standing position but Adams legs were still weak.
You just want the bike for yourself, that right? The man-boy took a step toward Neng; he looked nearly twice as big as she was.
Just leave him alone.
The boy raised his hand and hesitated a second before slapping Neng hard. Youre just a dirty foreigner too, he said. Look at you, a dirty monster. Neng stood blinking at him, as if she had not been struck.
Careful, Yon, a smaller boy said in a quiet voice. Shes Madurese. You know what theyre like.
I dont care, the boy croaked. These bloody foreigners, they come here and all they do is cause trouble, taking our land. Theyre going to chase us off our own island soon, therell be nothing left for us. Therell be more of them than us! Thats what my dad says. Hes fed up with them. Need to teach them a lesson from time to time, he says.
Yon, cmon, lets take the bike and go. Dont get mixed up with the Madurese. Theyre big-time trouble.
But this ones only a girl. My dad says all Madurese women are prostitutes anyway. The sooner we teach her whos boss around here, the better.
Adam had managed to get up to a half-kneeling position, one leg still trailing on the ground, when he saw Neng raise her knee, swiftly, in one firm, neat motion; it thudded into the boys crotch with a loud squashy noise and he crumpled silently to the ground. He put his hand between his legs to protect himself but it was no use. Neng stood over him and continued to kick him in that same spot, sometimes hopping up and down to stamp on his crotch as if putting out a cigarette. His cries cut through the ringing in Adams ears and made him feel less sick; it was as if someone had doused Adam with cold water, and he was able to rise slowly to his feet. The other boys had backed off; Neng was straddling the bicycle and ringing its bell. Come on, she said gaily to Adam, as if nothing had happened. She patted the horizontal bar in front of her. You sit here, Ill cycle. Okay? Great. Off we go!
Along the coast road the wind was fresh and tinged with the softness of impending rain. The clouds strained the sunlight that fell on the waves, and this made the sea look calm in places but dark and mysterious in others. It was often like this on Perdo, where the slightest shift in the weather could change the very nature of the island. On those days when the sun was high and unflinching the possibility of rain would seem ridiculous, and on rainy days, when water soaked through everything, you might believe that even if the sun were to reappear, it would never be able to dry the moisture from the earth. But there were other days too days such as today, when you could feel both the dry dustiness and the heavy moisture that made up the very air on this island.
Neng produced a banana from her pocket. It was blackened and squashed, the pulp beginning to ooze from its tip where it had been torn from its comb. You look tired, she said, handing it to Adam. Eat this. Itll make you feel better.
It was very ripe and mushy and sweet. Adam ate it quickly and wiped the stickiness from his fingers on his shorts. Maybe it was the fresh breeze, maybe it was his imagination, but the trembling in his chest began to subside, his heartbeat calming. He blinked; there was dust in his eyes and he turned his head from the wind. His face was very close to Nengs now, and he could see the tiny imperfections, the fragile creases of skin on the scar on her face. She was smiling and stuck out her tongue at him, just as she had done on the first day of school. It was beginning to rain. The first heavy drops of a shower fell through the leaves above them.
Hey, its getting late, said Neng. You look tired. I think you should just go home. Were not far from where you live.
But I want to go with you you know, to help you collect your rice.
The bicycle slowed to a halt and Adam had to hop off. Dont worry, Ill go on my own. Your father will be worried. Besides, you look really tired. I dont want to get the blame Ive been blamed for enough things already! She handed him the bike and began to walk off into the distance, heading away from the coast into the hills. The rain was falling heavily now, an earnest downpour that would not ease up for at least an hour, maybe two. Adam felt a sudden panic at being left behind and started to follow her. She turned around and said, If you follow me Ill kick your balls too.