Afan dug another hole to plant a bulb as the two women chatted behind his back. As was often the case he found himself doing most of the grunt work while someone else watched. This seemed to have become a familiar pattern to his life.

"So if you're teaching Coffee about gardening, why am I the only one down here digging around in the dirt?" Afan inquired.

"Well I'm instructing, and she's observing. Your job is to be the demonstrator," replied Yasmeen, with a matronly sort of authority, "Now stop interrupting."

Afan returned to digging holes with visible annoyance. "Women sound just like officers," the veteran soldier grumbled, "I thought I'd be done with this when I retired."

Coffee just snickered at him.