Their plan to visit the dam got thwarted by a cyclone. It rained relentlessly for the remainder of the week. The whole island donned a variety of raincoats and jumped about on the roads that were mostly puddles.

Wei and Xie were among the puddle jumpers.

"I hate rain." Wei said on their way back home from school. Storms meant no fishing and that meant no food and no job for his parents and friends.

Xie had no such direct impact from rain. He loved to get soaked in rain and jump in the puddles and ride his bike splashing water around. "Me too." He said, not wanting to contradict his friend. "Do you want to come to my house? We can play some board games."

"Um... no. It's okay." Wei couldn't possibly go to his house with his dripping clothes. Also he would have to invite Xie to his house in return which was not happening. Wei had seen the houses in the middle town, they're big with neat lawns and gates. Not like his house. There's no way Xie would stay friends with him if he saw their house.

The negative response wasn't what Xie expected to hear. He was sure they had become close friends now. Then why did Wei say no? Didn't he like board games? He cursed himself for not asking first.

"Ok. Some other time, huh?" He said.

"Ok..."

****

When the next week dawned with boiling sun and blowing cool wind, everything went back to normal.

Every other day Wei brought meaty rikla for Xie, which Xie accepted with a sincere smile and fed to the stray cat on his way home. Wei started riding bike without assistance. By Thursday he was circling the whole playground on his own.

It put such a big grin on Wei's face, Xie almost flew up due to the airy feeling inside him.

"You did it!!!" He exclaimed when Wei came to a halt in front of him.

"Thanks. Did I bend my body?"

"No. Now it doesn't matter. You got the balance. Another week you would be ready for dam."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. From now on you ride the bike and I will sit in the front."

Wei agreed. He was so proud of himself. Nowadays he almost forgot about his disease. All his free time was consumed by bicycle. He was ready to show off his new skill.

So the streets of the island witnessed two grinning boys on a bike, flying as if they owned the world.

All was well until next Thursday.

"Towels, water bottles, coins for snacks, anything else?" Xie asked, getting down from the bike and taking it from Wei.

"That's it. We can go directly from school. I can't wait to eat mangoes." Wei said excitedly.

"Me too. Okay, see you." Xie took off waving bye to Wei.

Wei started on his way. After five minutes or so he remembered that they may need raincoats for tomorrow's excursion to the dam. So he turned back and walked towards Xie's street.

What he witnessed broke his tiny heart. Xie was shaking the rikla box, dumping its content on the street corner before throwing the box away. Wei could recognize many empty boxes at different stages of decomposition around the litter. He turned back with blurred eyes and ran.

He couldn't believe what he saw. Xie never ate his Rikla. The rikla he made with so much stress and care. Every morning while sorting fish he stole the meatiest shrimp for Xie so that it won't get counted by his mom. He hid it under the other shrimp until evening and marinated it. After cooking, he stole the shrimp again from the pot and packed it for Xie.

It was so stressful to do something stealthy, that too in his own house, but he did it to see Xie smile and say how tasty it was.

But Xie never ate it.

If mom had sold it, she would have got more than sixty dollars now.

Wei cried over his stupidity. He stole from his mom, from their own income to make Xie happy.

What a fool he was.

Xie was too good to eat east shore food. He was too high up for Wei. He was no friend. He was a liar. He was worse than the other boys who openly hated him.

At least they were honest, they didn't lie to his face and threw away his gift in trash. They didn't act like his friend and laughed at his back.

Wei was sure that Xie and his other friends were having a laugh at his expense. Xie must have told them how he threw away the rikla and how clueless Wei was.

He should never have gotten close. They're all bad. He hated school. Hated it anew.

Of course he couldn't tell his inner turmoil and his friend's betrayal to his parents. He dried his eyes and went about his evening duties.

Friday evening he didn't wait in the playground for Xie like usual. He left right after school.

He was more than three quarters of distance away from school when a bike screeched to a halt in front of him.

"Hey! I was waiting for you. What happened?" Xie asked, he was worried something happened to Wei.

"We're done. Go play with your middle towner boys. I hate you. I hate you so much!" Wei said in a shaking voice all his anger from yesterday bubbling to the front.

Xie stood there uncomprehending. His eyes pooled at the words and the anger in his friend's eyes. "Why?"

"WHY? You are asking me? You know why very well! I'm an east shore boy, that doesn't make me any lesser than you. You insulted our friendship. You insulted my.... do you know how much effort goes into... of course you don't. You don't care... you dumped my friendship in trash. Move." Wei roughly pushed the other boy away and ran. He didn't want to cry in front of Xie.

He didn't want to cry. Xie wasn't worth it.

Xie watched the running boy, his mind reeling. What did he do wrong? His friendship was the most valued thing for Xie. He made sure to keep Wei happy. Where did he go wrong?

He didn't try to hold back the tears. Wei was worth it.

He would talk to him again on Monday and solve this fight. He would do anything Wei wants.

But Monday came and went, he couldn't catch hold of Wei. He even came all the way to the east shore but didn't know which way was Wei's house.

Xie felt horrible. He missed Wei, all over the weekend he analyzed Wei's words and came to the conclusion that it was the rikla. Someone must have told Wei that he didn't eat it.

If eating rikla was the only way to gain back Wei's trust he would do that too. He was ready to give up everything to get Wei back.

Wei spent an equally horrible few days but he managed. It was difficult during the nights though, right before he went to sleep. He remembered all the good times they had together and it made his chest ache. So by Wednesday night he decided to listen to his parents chat instead of thinking about Xie.

"They have blocked the whole road for it." Meana said from Wei's right.

"You mean the entire Willow block?" Rong said from his left.

"The same. There is no way I can take the cart in until they're done with the ditch." She replied with a sigh.

"Oh." Both dad and son said together. Willow block was the major residential area for the factory workers. That's where Meana had most of her customers.

Thinking about Willow block made Wei think about Xie. Because the next road-Naya was where Xie's house was. Where Xie dumped his Rikla.

"Mom, you can still sell on Naya street right?" He asked.

His parents laughed as if he was joking.

"What?"

"When have you seen her selling in that street, huh?" Rong asked, flicking his son's ear.

"Oww... you don't?" Wei turned his head to his mom.

She combed his hair away from his eyes, smiling. "No."

"Why? It must have at least forty houses."

"The count of houses doesn't matter if they're not going to buy. Does it?" His mom asked, eyes twinkling.

"For real? Are they all stuck up people?" Wei got indignant on his mom's behalf.

"No, baby. They are nice. They just don't eat fish."

"What?" Wei shot up from the mat, shocked. Did that mean Xie too?

"Yeah, I know. Their loss." His dad said, chuckling.

"Stop it. You shouldn't tease their beliefs." Mom chided dad.

"What belief?" Wei asked.

His dad pulled his shoulder back making his head thump on the pillow.

"They worship fish god Naya." Meana said simply.

Wei stared at her. "Fish is not a god."

"To us it's not. To them it is. So long ago, far long ago, there was a big cyclone that destroyed the whole island. There was no single building left standing. No food was left, no boats to go to the sea. There was nothing. The rain and wind demolished everything and fed it to the sea."

Rong moved closer and hugged Meana, squeezing his son in between. Wei sighed content with the warmth and hugged her, turning on his side. They both loved to hear her soothing voice in the dark of the night.

"A group of fishermen went to the sea goddess begging her to stop the howling wind and punishing rain. The prayers weren't answered. Or so they thought. But two days later an old grandma had a dream in which six men were drowning in the sea and a big Naya fish dragged them to shore saving their lives. But those men, instead of thanking the fish, tried to kill it. Grandma told the dream to everyone and the six men confessed to their guilt. To appease the fish the men swore never to kill a life from the sea.

"The cyclone cleared the same day. From then on those six men and whoever went to pray that time kept their promise. They started worshipping the fish god. It is believed that Naya fish was a knight of the sea goddess and if you angered the knight you angered the goddess. So the knight became a god. The people who follow this custom live on the Naya street. They don't eat any seafood. It's their way of paying respect to the Naya god for forgiving their ancestors and keeping the island safe." Meana finished her history lesson. She expected her son to be fast asleep by now. He surprised her by shooting out of her embrace.

"Oh, God. Oh, God."

Both his parents sat up too, watching his panic.

"What's it Wei?" Rong asked.

"I gave rikla to my school friend. He lives in one of the Naya streets. I saw him dump it in waste and fought with him. I didn't know." Wei rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"Good riddance." Rong said, patting his son on the back. "You don't need a friend who doesn't respect food."

"Rong..." Meana gave a warning glare to her husband, "what did he say Wei?" she asked softly.

"I didn't talk to him. He should have told me right? He should have said that he doesn't eat fish. Why accept it and throw it away secretly? Why lie to me?"

"Is this the same friend who is teaching you to ride a bicycle?" Meana asked.

Wei nodded with a glare. "I have only one friend in school." He blamed her, it's because of her, dad forced him to go to school.

Meana had loved school but being a girl, a sickly girl, hadn't worked out for her. She never went to middle school. Before their marriage she made Rong promise that they would send their kids to school and college no matter what.

"Sometimes friends lie. Make mistakes. You should talk and make up." Meana said, pinching her pouting son's cheek.

"I don't want a lying friend!"

"Everyone lies. It's human nature Wei. We aren't perfect. Sometimes we panic and say things we don't mean. That doesn't make us bad people. I had a friend, a very close friend in school. Once she offered me eggplant curry, I hated it but she looked at me with bright hopeful eyes. I lied to her. I said it was delicious. From then on she brought a separate box of curry every time they made it at her home. I had to eat it. I never told her the truth. I still hate eggplant but I'd still eat a whole box of curry if it meant she'd smile at me. That's friendship. Maybe your friend did the same. My friend moved to the main land, even if I wanted I wouldn't get to see her. I miss her. Talk to him. Do you want to miss him or forgive him and be friends?" Meana asked with a tilt of her head.

She was wondering for the past couple of days why her son was acting weird. Now she understood. He was missing his friend.

"Mea... is it a good idea for him to have a Naya friend? They won't have anything in common." Rong said, laying back down.

"You don't need the same eating habits to be friends. Do you Wei?" She asked, hugging her son who was chewing his bottom lip, deep in thought.

He shook his head. "I don't." He murmured, returning her hug.

**** End of Chapter Five ****