As lunch got over, Mapuii told Jojo about an old man, ‘He is a great man, I tell you! He knows so many stories from the old scriptures and he narrates them in such a good voice. He would be in our village this evening. You would be coming to hear him, won’t you?’

Jojo had heard him before and didn’t care much for his stories, but she wanted to be with Mapuii. ‘Yes, of course’, she nodded.

In the evening many people gathered around the old tree. The old man started talking, ‘...and the spirit asked the righteous king, who is higher than the sky?”After a dramatic pause, he said.. ‘Father. …A father is higher than the sky, replied the righteous king. He...’

‘But Uncle!’ a young girl interrupted from the last row of the gathering. All heads turned towards her, some in amusement raising eyebrows, and some in displeasure.

‘What if the father comes home drunk and beats his family. Is he still higher than the sky?’ said Afaki. There was a silence and everybody could feel the discomfort.

‘You think you know better. What do you know of holy scriptures?’ the old man burst out.

Afaki realised that it was best for her to keep quiet now. She noticed a few children giggling and pointing towards her and a few elders staring at her..