Two silver wheels gleam in the light as an old Mustang pulls up to the curb next to the window. The car door opens and soft piano tones creep into the basement. Brown leather shoes drop to the street and the car is slammed shut. There is a soft sneeze and a jingling of keys, and then Michael s father answers the door. In Zanzibar, the rainy season has begun.
Tropical heat blasts the coastland and violent rainstorms flood the central plateau.
Men, women and children rest under roofs or coconut palms to escape the angry sun. Some of them head for the mainland. Others stay on the island to work and have children and grow old. All of them are alive and very real.