That morning the market breathed hotter than usual. A basket of mangoes had tipped, fruit rolling like small suns across the stall. Children dove after them with shrieks of triumph. Acha stooped, scooped up a gem of yellow, and—without thinking—squeezed it until juice ran down her wrist. The small catastrophe drew them closer: strangers, vendors, the two of them. Tobrut laughed softly and said, “Spill utingnya,” as if asking the fruit itself to reveal what it had held inside.