Chapter 10

Ana was seeing a great deal of Binta these days. On those days when her friend was not working late, she rarely returned home directly after work. She would wander along to Binta's room and the two girls would chat together or go swimming in the Brothel pool. On some evenings, they would meet in the roof garden: high above the city and the only part of the Brothel open to the sky. Like many others, Binta had a small plot in the garden she could tend when she could. It was a very small plot that grew only a few flowers and herbs, but Binta had taken the option of working there, precisely for the freedom of an empty sky above her head. Ana enjoyed these visits which, because of Binta's chosen dress, were only possible on dry warm evenings. She enjoyed standing by as Binta knelt down on the ground: her trowel deep in the earth and mud on her knees.

Ana wasn't at all sure why she felt the need to see Binta so often. The most obvious reason, and the one she preferred to believe, was that Ana had very few friends in Blad and Binta was the closest of them. She could speak freely about all she missed from Rif and her life there. She could ramble on about her flat in Jadid and her neighbours: the couple who argued quite loudly; the young man on the floor below who tried engaging her in conversation when they passed on the stairs; the old woman who would open her door slightly and watch her as she passed by. Binta often prompted her to continue if she lost the thread of her thoughts.

Ana felt empty on those evenings when Binta was working. Time seemed to drag and she was unable to concentrate. Weekends were even worse. She often had to think of excuses to come to the Brothel, as she had when she escorted Ferhana to the cathedral, for the occasion of spending time with Binta.

"I never enjoyed gardening in Jebel," admitted Binta. "Indeed, I never did any at all. I couldn't tell geraniums from hyacinths. I would have hated getting any of this muck on my fingers. Look at it all!" She splayed her fingers to display the earth that discoloured them. "But, now, I just couldn't imagine a day not spent tending this little garden. I've read all the books in the Brothel library on gardening and I know far more than I used to do. Some girls here have much better plots than me. That Delta with the jacaranda over there: I don't know how she does it! Her plot always looks immaculate. And she manages to make it look good all year round. Most of the time, there are either things waiting to sprout or flowers which have just died. There's a real art to it!"

Ana smiled appreciatively. She thought Binta's plot was quite delightful enough. She followed Binta's gesture to all the other plots that lined the narrow paths around the roof garden. Other girls were working at their plots, but they were mostly Deltas and Epsilons who were also serving time, and wore nearly as little as Binta as they didn't wish to dirty the satin, silk or leather of their working clothes. Prostitutes were not offered the sort of clothes that would normally be appropriate for working on a garden.

"What do you enjoy most about it?" Ana asked, standing against a small tree in the evening sun, her arms folded and a hand stroking her chin.

"The open air more than anything else. It's so oppressive being indoors in the Brothel all day. A country girl like me just can't take so much neon and claustrophobia. There mightn't be a lot more space, but there's a lot of air. You can't see much more of the world up here. No more than I can see through the window in my room anyway. But it's nice to know that there's nothing but sky above my head. It's a kind of freedom. But it's more than that! I like getting my hands deep into the soft unresisting earth. I like to help things grow. I love watching the first leaves of a bulb sprout from the earth, and then bit by bit watch the flowers open. I like to take my secateurs to the roses and prune them. It's so restful. You just don't notice the hours go by. I can forget the misery of the Brothel and just concentrate my thoughts on what to do with this plant or that plant. Where to put what seed. What needs to be trimmed. I wouldn't mind growing vegetables here. Carrots or cabbages. But there's nowhere to cook them. And anyway the Brothel only supplies us with a limited variety of decorative garden plants. You can order other plants, but whatever you order just doesn't seem to be available this month or any other month for that matter. What do you think, Ana?"

"I don't know. I like looking at all these flowers and I love watching the way the garden changes, but I just don't know whether I'd be so keen even if I were in your position."

"But you seem to enjoy coming up here and watching me work."

"That's because you enjoy it," Ana remarked. She instantly felt embarrassed. What was she trying to say?

"What do you mean, Ana?" asked Binta standing up and turning her naked body towards her friend. "You only come here because I come here?"

"Well, no. I mean, yes. I mean, it's just because ... you know ... it's nice to watch you at work and enjoying yourself at work that..."

"You like watching me enjoy myself?"

"Not so much watching you..." rambled Ana, her ears burning with embarrassment, not at all sure what she was trying to say. "It's just nice chatting to you while you're happy and not ... when you're sort of your own person and not being ... I just think it's nice that..."

Binta leaned over and tenderly kissed Ana on the cheek. "I enjoy your company. I don't care why you want to spend time with me. It's just nice to be together."

"You think so?"

Ana felt the heat from her ears spread across her cheeks and forehead. What was causing her so much embarrassment?

Binta looked at the earth-pasted hands with an amused smile. "How did they get this muck onto the roof? Anyway, I must wash it off." She picked up her trowel, fork and a small bucket. "Let's go to the taps."

These were lined against the wall by a series of shrub-like trees in wooden tubs and a small greenhouse where an indistinct figure was tending to some tomatoes. Binta carefully packed her tools in a small locker, its green metal rusted a red tinge, locked the door and hid the key in a small pot just above her locker. Ana stood back as she rubbed her hands under the sparkling water of the tap as it gushed out, splashed over her wrists and fingers, and then spiralled down the small grate at her feet which were also getting washed.

"It's unbelievably cold!" she exclaimed, shaking the droplets off onto the wall's peeling paint. "My fingers are so numb! Feel them!"