Leading Hand

Yesterday was one example and this afternoon another. Surprise was always a factor. Diabetes was rife in this region, as were motorcycle accidents. Male in both cases these. In the afternoon a chap coming over from Block 11 was on the phone, clutched to his ear. On the right side the short, empty sleeve of his grey polo swung free as he walked. Not a known face; easy & loose in his stride. Yesterday in the shade of the veranda at Upper Geylang returning from town, a man coming on was thanked for making way in the passage. Short wave of the hand at the midriff. Orange-saffron tee or polo; dark forearm. Not possible for this man to answer in kind as there was no hand appended . The flesh of the stump seemed properly formed; neatly rounded, as if machined smooth. A foreign worker—at that age local amputees were rare. (Even the motorcycle cases were older men, usually the first generation of riders.) Stony and unresponsive the Orange-saffron. Sometimes one could convey something even in passing; in fact there had been a tap on the shoulder of a younger man in a chair that same day, pretty well received. This other did not allow. It was usually impossible of course. In this culture people often approached the elderly, lame or crippled to present a quick note in the hand. Both men here were the right too. As it might have been in medieval warfare, the leading right.