(Art = 9)

Mali's favorite spot was behind the supply shed and under the old mango tree that no longer bore fruit. She liked to tear at the dry edges where lightning had cracked its trunk seasons ago, peeling the bark away in long, squiggly strips that she piled into small mounds. It sat in front of a beautiful mango tree with an abundance of fruit. The contrast was off putting to most others, but not to Peach. She patted the tree trunk and said, "They were like family. This one is busy making fruit, this one is sad and needs care, and that banyan tree over there is strong but sensitive." Mali didn't know if trees had feelings, but she liked that Peach gave them roles.

The wind blew through the courtyard, carrying the scent of overripe mangoes fermenting in the heat.

Peach would lie on her back, staring up through the branches. Sometimes when other not so nice kids would start to approach ready to tease, she would throw her arms up in the air and mutter broken Thai in fluctuating volumes, chopping her teeth together until they backed away, weirded out. "Trust me Mali when I say ghosts are lonely," she'd whisper once they were gone. "When you talk to ghosts, they are so grateful that they keep bad things away from you. Teachers, bullies… sometimes even the director!"

Mali would sit beside her, writing her name or drawing in the dirt with a stick. Their conversation was a language all their own.

"Today's going to echo," Peach murmured one afternoon. Her eyes were closed. Her voice was calm.

Mali's stick paused. "Echo like thunder?"

"No," Peach said, keeping her eyes shut. "But it's gonna have teeth, like a wolf." Peach lifted her hands and crept around for a moment, pantomiming a stalking wolf.

Mali broke her stick in a few small pieces, tossing each piece to the side until she was just holding a tiny nub of wood. She scraped the ground with it, making a narrow hole.

"Will it hurt?" she finally asked.

"Not you," Peach said. "Maybe the brooding one. Maybe the quiet one. Depends who forgets to be present."

"Phi Thanom's pacing again," Peach pointed out, shifting her head toward the fence. "He only does that when the wolf starts biting."

Mali pressed her palm into the soil and dragged it backward, getting her hands filthy and packing dirt under her fingernails.

Thanom found them a few minutes later. He crouched beside Mali, letting one knee sink into the earth. He wiped sweat from his upper lip, swallowing hard before he spoke.

"You okay?" he asked, forcing his anxious mind into an even tone.

Mali opened her dirty hand and gave him a smooth stone she'd been holding since breakfast.

He took the gift. It was warm from her grip. He rolled it over his palm once before slipping it into his pocket.

"You don't have to worry," he said. "I'll always be here for you, you know." He put his arm around his sister, giving her a sturdy squeeze.

Peach was still sprawled in the dirt, whispering to herself.

After Thanom was sure Mali was okay, he stood up and walked away, still looking tense.

"He's always sizzling," Peach said once he was gone. "But only to keep people warm. You'll understand better when you get older."

Mali wiped her muddy hands on her skirt and pouted. "How much older?" She asked, frustrated. Mali hated when people told her that.

"You're five now?" Peach asked. Mali nodded.

"Hmm. Let me see. You will know when you're about…" She paused, touching her cheek and looking upwards in a mock thinking gesture.

"… six and a half hours older." Peach said with a smile. Mali giggled.

Peach sat up and got to her feet. She stretched her arms out above her head and let out a small yawn, walked over to the fruit-filled tree, looked up, and plucked a mango leaf from a low branch of the lively tree, and handed it to Mali.

"You'll want this later."

"Why?"

"The tree said it's for happiness."

Mali turned the leaf over in her hands, running a finger along its veins. She held it like a precious treasure.

"Okay. Thanks."

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

That night, a staff member found Peach barefoot in the courtyard. She was kneeling in the damp grass and humming, facing up at the clouds drifting by.

"What are you doing out here?" the staff member asked, shining a flashlight at her feet.

"Waiting," Peach said without moving her head. "For something that won't happen yet."

Upstairs in the East dorm room, Mali found Art sitting on his cot. He was hunched over, staring at a hole in his blanket. He had a fresh bruise swelling along his cheekbone and looked kinda sad. She climbed up beside him and placed something on his lap. "I think you need this."

Art glanced down at it and frowned. "A leaf."

"Maybe the tree wants you to have it," Mali said, frowning, "Because you were the one that got bit…" She paused a moment, looked downwards and tugged at her shirt hem.

Then abruptly, Mali looked back up at him and smiled brightly. "But Phi Thanom kept you warm!" she exclaimed, as she wrapped her arms around Art and hugged him tightly for a long time.

Art hugged her back. He was confused, but happy just the same.