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Gabi looked down and cleared her throat. “Well, how about you make some things for me, and I’ll take them to the market and sell them for you. The money you make you can keep.”

Marta looked to Aisha with wide eyes. Aisha nodded, and Marta looked at Gabi. “Really?”

Gabi nodded. “Absolutely.”

Marta threw her arms around Gabi’s neck and squeezed her. “Thank you. Thank you,” she said, then let go and ran out of the room.

She kissed Gabi tenderly on her cheek and whispered, “Thank you.”

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

Aisha smiled. “I’ve been thinking. I’d like to go to the beach.”

“What, now?”

Aisha laughed. “I’ll need to arrange things at home.”

Gabi took Aisha’s hands, the excitement bubbling inside her. “I’ll hire a car. We can find somewhere secluded, have a picnic, and watch the sun go down.”

Aisha kissed her on the lips quickly. “I’d like that. But I have to catch the last bus home.”

Gabi frowned. “I can drop you back home.”

Aisha shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’ll get the bus.”

“Is it to do with Nicolás?”

“It’s him, it’s Mama, it’s the fact that people are always watching, and I don’t need anyone asking questions about you.”

“Fuck them.”

“Yes, and I still have to live here.”

Gabi pulled Aisha into her arms. “I know. I’m sorry,” she whispered and kissed her tenderly.

The rucksack was almost as heavy on the return journey as it had been on the outbound one. Only now, her bag was filled with pieces of jewellery for sale. Whether they had no one to give them to or they preferred the idea of making money, Gabi didn’t know and frankly, didn’t care. She smiled all the way back on the bus and didn’t register the distinctive aroma, though it must have been there. She smiled all the way back to the apartment too because she couldn’t stop herself, and the only thing that would have made the day perfect would have been if Aisha had come back with her.

22.

AISHA TOOK OFF HER sandals and stood on warm sand for the first time. She squeezed her toes and watched the tiny grains close around her feet and wondered how far she might sink. “It’s different from the soil. Warmer and softer,” she said.

The gentle breeze brought more heat than it did in the hills, and the lapping of the waves created more noise than she imagined they should, given the idleness of the sea. “I never realised how blue it was,” she said. “The sky and the sea together. It’s hard to appreciate the scale of it without feeling so small.” She felt vulnerable and a little scared, and she didn’t know whether it was because she was here alone with Gabi, or it was just that she was somewhere she’d never been before and this immense blue space in front of her seemed to extend into infinity.

“The sea is fickle. Sometimes it’s as grey as thunder clouds, and sometimes it’s emerald, like it reflects emotion.”

“It’s happy today,” Aisha said.

“Are you happy?” Gabi asked.

Aisha noted the mild concern in Gabi’s expression and smiled. “Nervous about being here with you, but yes, very happy.”

Gabi nodded. She hoped Aisha could stop looking over her shoulder and enjoy the experience. It was quiet, and they were highly unlikely to come across someone who knew either of them.

Aisha looked out to sea. “It’s so big and looks like it never ends.”

Gabi took her hand. “It takes you to North Africa at some point, I think.”

“I’d like to visit Africa,” Aisha said.