Then he spoke to Chalita, who looked a lot like Lek and who also spoke English quite well, Craig suspected, but she always seemed as if she needed a week’s practice with a native speaker. She struggled for words, but knew them when reminded, a little like Ben.
And finally he sat with Beou and Lek – The Inseparables. It was easy to talk to them as Beou’s English was almost as good as Lek’s. The three of them were friends, but he knew that Lek out-ranked him and always would, although Beou always referred to him as cousin these days and had done off and on for about eight years.
As last time, when they were all three together at the Western New Year, Craig went home early and left them to it.
∞
Lek hadn’t got in before he went to bed and she wasn’t there when he woke up to the sound of m
