What are you crying for? He'd strapped his leg back on. You asked to see it, you giryanok,
you crybaby! If I'd known you were going to bawl , I wouldn’t ' t have shown you.
"A stamp," he said.
"What?"
"The riddle. The answer is a stamp. We should go to the zoo after lunch." "You knew that
one. Did you?" "Absolutely not."
"You're a cheat."
"And you're envious." "Of what?"
"My masculine smarts."
"Your masculine smarts? Really? Tell me, who always wins at chess?"
"I let you win." He laughed. They both knew that wasn't true.
"And who failed math? Who do you come to for help with your math homework even
though you're a grade ahead?"
"I'd be two grades ahead if math didn't bore me."
"I suppose geography bores you too."
"How did you know? Now, shut up. So are we going to the zoo or not?"
Laila smiled. "We're going."
"Good."
"I missed you."
There was a pause. Then Tariq turned to her with a half grinning, half grimacing look of
distaste. "What's the matter with you?"
How many times had she, Hasina, and Giti said those same three words to each other,
Laila wondered, said it without hesitation, after only two or three days of not seeing each
other? /missed you, Hasina Oh, I missed you too. In Tariq's grimace, Laila learned that boys
differed from girls in this regard. They didn't make a show of friendship. They felt no urge,
no need, for this sort of talk. Laila imagined it had been this way for her brothers too. Boys,
Laila came to see, treated friendship the way they treated the sun: its existence undisputed;
its radiance best enjoyed, not beheld directly.