I stayed on the porch until the house was bleached in daylight . I found the woman in the kitchen . She was studying the walls intently .
‘ Did you know you have two hundred and seventeen tiles in here ?’ she asked . ‘ I thought it was two hundred and fifteen ?’ I said . We sat on the kitchen floor with our eggs and tried to speak of normal things . She told me how she never properly learnt to tie her shoelaces .
‘ I can only do nots ,’ she said , ‘ Recently , I ’ ve stopped wearing shoes altogether .’ I offered to teach her . She liked that . The woman polished off her eggs quickly and hopped to her feet . ‘ I feel so much better !’ she cried , ‘ I must get some fresh air .’