Summary

In "Maly, Maly, Maly," cousins Maly and Ves wait for their grandmothers to make preparations for the ceremony. They have "been banished outside" because the grandmothers see them as "too masculine and too feminine" (59). Maly and Ves whine while wandering around outside. Ma Eng, Maly's grandmother, is thrilled, because she believes Maly's "dead mother's spirit" has been reborn "in the body of [their] second cousin's baby" (61). Maly scoffs at the notion.

Ves considers how they are similar. Growing up, Ves would spend a lot of time with Maly and Ma Eng when his father was drunk and his parents were fighting.

Maly's boyfriend, Rithy, meets up with them. They go off to have sex, leaving Ves alone. While waiting, Ves meditates on his story and Maly's story. He also wonders about the reincarnation ceremony, and their cultural past. Afterwards...