Meanwhile, the women—the so-called heads of the households—were either lingering lazily outside the storefront smoking thin bamboo pipes, or standing off to the side of the shop with their arms crossed, chatting loudly amongst themselves. Some had accompanied their husbands out of obligation, but they seemed perfectly content to lean against the doorframes and let the men handle the tedious, domestic details of purchasing kitchenware.
Heena, on the other hand, had absolutely no intention of leaving the most important room in her empire to the judgment of someone else.
