3
THESE DAYS, Melissa lived on the other side of the island, not far from the station.
I walked there with Thayu and Nicha, through the leafy courtyards, shaded underpasses and service areas with shops selling basic things and also with plenty of eating houses, although none were busy.
Melissa’s apartment was quite small, the type for single, minor delegates. Sometimes I considered that if everything had gone to plan when I first came here, Nicha and I would have shared an apartment like hers; we’d have gone quietly about our business and spent lots of time attending assembly meetings, cooking our own food, writing our own correspondence and cleaning our own house.
Instead I’d been shunted into one of the largest, most expensive and prestigious apartments on the island—at least at the
