She plucks the wax apple out of his hand - gives it a funny look - and rummages in her bag and comes up with a bit of dried papaya. She holds them up so he can clearly see them.

Step by step, the wax apple changes in color, and sheen, and her hand dips a little as it gets heavier, and the smell of papaya wafts from it.

The piece of papaya she started with turns wax-apple-colored and glossy.

She digs her thumbnail into the ex-wax-fruit, takes a chunk out of it, and tucks it into her bag. She hands him the rest of it.