‘You call that nothing?’ Kamal looked at his wife as though she had lost her mind. He turned to his son. ‘What did you think was going to happen when you brought that . . . girl here and put her in the shed? Her mother still warm in her grave and she, with that reputation she has.’
‘Girl?’ Rajnath’s face grew blotchy red. ‘What reputation?’
‘Why is it,’ Kamal said, clearly annoyed, ‘that because you have some hair on your face, you think everybody round you is stupid?’
‘And why is it that you think that it’s me who is stupid?’ Rajnath retorted.
‘Raj, son, don’t talk to your father like that,’ Parbatee chided. ‘Show some respect.’
‘He talks to me as if I come out of my mother’s belly just yesterday!’ Kamal complained, staring angrily at his wife. ‘It’s all your fault.’
‘When the pundit comes, he will tell us exactly what is what,’ she replied calmly.
‘And how much money and provisions are you going to give him for that?’ Rajnath demanded insolently.
‘What do you have against the pundit?’ Kamal wanted to know.
‘He’s keeping us Indians together,’ Parbatee told her son. ‘You young people better watch your step. And don’t think I haven’t heard that you’re getting close to that Banderjee girl too,’ Kamal put in. ‘You trying to upset her family? And are you doing things to cause gossip about you and that whore, Sumati?’
‘There’s a lot you don’t know about her, Pa!’ Rajnath said hotly. ‘Sumati’s good looks aren’t her fault. As for the Banderjee girl, she is Sumati’s friend – that’s all. Sumati needs help. But people in the village are more interested in criticising and punishing those who need guidance and understanding. As for me, I’ll never get thanks for helping anyone, but when did I care what people think of me? It’s not a wonder they ran away from this place. Who could blame them. It could have been me.’
Rajnath stalked away, leaving his parents staring at him stunned and puzzled by his insinuation about running away.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Amina stormed out of the house. She was adamant to uncover whatever secrets were being withheld from her. She was no child. It was time she had a frank conversation with Sumati.
When she marched into Sumati’s yard, Roopchand was standing at the window. Her blood ran cold. She strode forward, willing the man to do his worst. His eyes followed her as she continued boldly down the path till she got to the back door.
‘Come!’ he called. ‘Sumati is inside.’
She hesitated, surprised at his friendliness that seemed like a trick to get her inside.
‘Come,’ he repeated. His voice was strangely gentle.
‘I wanted to tell you,’ Amina began, ‘that Sumati is my friend, and I would never do anything to hurt her.’
Roopchand’s breathing was laboured, his eyes red and staring. Amina gazed back up at him from the step below. He looked lost, and confused. She began to feel pity. Not even his own daughter liked him. She wondered if he was finally breaking – ashamed of his behaviour at last. What kind of a man would threaten to kill a vulnerable and loving woman? She saw a glimpse of a grown man, so afraid of his daughter’s behaviour that he resorted to threats that would hang over his wife all her life, until she took it herself.
As he looked at Amina, a spark of light shone from his dull eyes. ‘You remind me of her,’ he said. ‘Daya.’ Tears began rolling down his cheeks. ‘You are the only one that will save her now. I failed.’
‘Save Daya? How?’
‘Come in. Don’t mind me. Don’t be afraid of me. I’m just an old fool who can’t tell gold from a piece of coal.’ He gestured to her. ‘Come inside. I am talking about Sumati. Talk with Sumati. Young people need other young people to talk to. She and you are friends. She has nobody else now. Come. Stay as long as you want.’
Amina nodded. She slipped through the gauzy curtains that were blowing in and out of the doorway, and took off her shoes. Inside, Sumati was sitting on a bench, picking out stones from the rice in a calabash bowl. She looked up and smiled one of her special smiles, and her face lit up like a ray of sun.
‘What’s going on?’ Amina asked Sumati. ‘Still not bleeding?’
‘No, but trying everything I can to throw away the thing.’
‘What?’ Amina’s eyes were bulging. ‘But why are you so happy?’
‘Because I don’t care,’ Sumati said. ‘I’ve done everything I can. I ate a whole big hot pepper in my food, lifting the heaviest things I can find. You know how many buckets of water I carry every day?’
‘Wouldn’t that just make your arms hurt?’
‘I was hoping it strains my belly enough to get rid of the thing.’
‘You’ve got to talk to somebody,’ Amina said gravely. ‘You don’t even know who the father is. You really need a real grown up to help.’
‘That will just get me in trouble.’
‘But you are already in trouble,’ Amina said. ‘Ignoring the problem will not solve it.’
‘The truth is, there’s nothing I can do. So, my father went to see the man I’m going to marry and everything’s going ahead.’
‘What! And you’re happy with that?’
‘Yes.’ Sumati smiled as if a heavy shower of rain had just washed her troubles away.
‘So, you don’t want to find Farouk?’
‘Why do you think I’m here all alone? Farouk left me.’
‘Does your father know you’re having a child?’ Amina whispered.
‘Yes. He guessed.’
TWENTY-EIGHT
Rajnath decided to talk to his mother about the problem on his mind.
‘Ma,’ he began quietly, ‘did you know that Kalouti left Uncle Amrit?’
‘My brother told me that she went back to her mother’s house. Shame on that woman. If they still lived in Granville, the whole village would be talking. Good thing they live in town.’
‘He has some other woman there, helping him with the jobs. But there seems to be a lot of people coming and going.’
‘That’s because your uncle is running a big business there. He needs plenty of help in that shop. He is a good man – he gives people work. And keeping a big hotel too, with big-shot white-mans all the way from England, coming and going to the cane field. Engineer men from America and England too. They are testing the ground for oil. Didn’t he tell you?’
‘He said about the hotel. The rest I didn’t know. He seemed more concerned about Dillip misbehaving.’
‘Misbehaving? How?’ Parbatee sounded doubtful. ‘Like you, Dillip is a good boy. He might have a little mouth on him, but what boy don’t have a mouth at that age? Don’t get mixed up in that. Nobody will thank you for interfering between father and son.’
‘He wanted me to talk to Dillip, but Dillip never came home while I was there. I don’t know if he’s keeping bad company.’
‘Let me tell you something. My brother is my brother – I care about him. But all I want is for you and Annan to be happy. Get married and give me grandchildren one day. Soon.’
‘And what about Pa? All he wants is to get rid of me. Uncle Amrit said he will look for a girl for me. I laughed.’
‘That is not a bad idea,’ his mother said thoughtfully. ‘He must know many good families in San Fernando.
Maybe Amrit will also find Dillip a wife soon. A wife and children will give him responsibility. Keep his feet on the ground.’
‘Is that why you are trying to look for a bride for me?’
‘I think I might be lucky. There is a girl up in Chaguanas who . . . ’
‘Ma, I was joking. I will find my own girl when I am ready. How do you know that I haven’t already found one?’
‘By yourself? You? Ha!’
‘Why are you looking at me like that? You think I can’t find someone myself?’
‘You are my son,’ she said sternly. ‘I can look at you however I please. And I also know when you are hiding secrets. I was the one who made you – d
on’t forget that. You didn’t make me.’
‘Ha! But you’re not as clever as you think,’ Rajnath chuckled.
Parbatee pulled a white sheet off the clothes wire extra hard and it rewound back onto itself. She stood frantically trying to unravel the sheet, while Rajnath stood laughing.
‘I’m so glad you find everything a matter of amusement and a good excuse to laugh at me,’ she said stiffly. ‘But don’t think I know nothing. Gossip will travel like dysentery spread on the Fatel Razack – and smell like it too! But don’t forget that the Fatel Razak was a ship on the seas and they could leave the stink behind. Here, it will remain.’
‘Oh, Ma! That’s disgusting. I’m not stopping to listen to this. I’m going for a walk.’
TWENTY-NINE
Devinia worried herself frantic about Amina’s behaviour. Balancing on the rope between her husband and her daughter in trying to please them both, was looking more like a noose. If Amina’s bleeding came too soon, that would bring more bad luck and she couldn’t bear that. Dealing with Amina’s typhoid had been more than enough. She longed for her mother to talk to, but had to resort to Sankar.
‘I think I’ll try to get something from somebody to stop her bleeding from coming,’ she told him.
Sankar looked at her. A deep frown crinkled the smooth skin over his eyes.
‘Somebody like an Obeah-woman?’ he asked, startled. ‘That is foolish.’
‘I don’t know what else to do.’
‘You shouldn’t even consider going to Obeah,’ he said. ‘It is not Indian. You don’t know what kind of poisons they will concoct for you.’
‘There is something else – but I don’t know where to get it from. Wild pepper.’
‘Wild pepper? Is that what they call monk’s pepper? Have you lost your mind, woman? That will stop the child from growing altogether.’
‘But not for long,’ Devinia replied, already regretting talking to him. ‘I shouldn’t have even asked you. You just don’t understand like a woman. Carrying the shame.’
‘I understand that it’s stupid to give the child something that will stunt her growth! I might want to get to heaven, but I am not that foolish or selfish. You must let life take its course. Remember dharma? And karma? Don’t go against nature. You have no business stopping what is natural.’
‘Nothing is making sense these days. Our daughter doesn’t want to get married, but that is in the way of you going to heaven. And what will happen to the rest of us? I don’t even know if I believe in that. I agree with her! I agreed with her in the first place. It’s your dharma and karma causing the confusion.’
‘You are like a ship on stormy seas, my sweet rose,’ Sankar said, folding his work trousers carefully, and looking at her with pity.
‘And you keep rocking the boat.’
‘But we have found her a good boy. I don’t believe we can do better. Karma is good to us. We must take what we get. He is bright and educated. But you are right – our daughter is not herself. She is not the child we used to know. It seems she is going to cause us worries.’
‘It’s as if she doesn’t want to be Indian.’
‘Well, she is Indian,’ he said firmly. ‘And she will live like an Indian if it kills me.’
‘I think we are making it difficult for her,’ Devinia said. ‘It’s like taking her hungry to a dinner, and then telling her she is not allowed to eat, because the food is not Indian enough. Do you see? She’s bound to eat it in secret if it looks good.’
‘Why would she want to eat something that wasn’t Indian food?’
‘Because she spends every day in a place where they teach everything that is not Indian. Not a single thing is Indian at school.’
The following evening, Sankar brought home earrings he had made for Amina’s dowry. He also wanted to talk to her quietly while everyone else was out of the house.
‘Amina, my little rose petal, my sugar-flower,’ he began in his sweet voice reserved just for her. A big, broad smile covered his face. ‘I hear you’re not going to school these days, my little gold-piece.’
‘Why is everybody lying?’ Amina flung the question at him like a sharp knife.
Sankar stepped back. ‘What is wrong with you? Your mother’s right.’
‘About what?’
‘Your mother is concerned for you, and now I can see why. You are behaving unreasonably. Like an overfed cat that has nothing to do but lie around and wait for the unsuspecting bird.’
Amina gasped. ‘So now you’re calling me idle and lazy? What have I done? You are ruining my life.’ A tear fell from her eye.
‘All I did was ask you a simple question and you jump at me like a tiger in the Bengali Forest.’
‘Getting married is not a simple question,’ his daughter replied passionately. ‘You will ruin my life.’
Amina visited Sumati that same afternoon. ‘You’re showing,’ she remarked.
Sumati pulled at the tight material stuck to her hips and jerked the skirt down hard. ‘I’m just eating too much,’ she replied in a huff.
‘Well, you should slow down on all that dasheen and yam then, because you are going to have to explain to people when they ask how all that food in your stomach got there and stayed there.’
‘Nobody comes to see me anymore. It’s as if I have consumption or something.’
‘You had better decide what’s wrong with you, because Mr Clifford has been asking.’
‘What can he do to me that is worse than this?’
‘He’s concerned about your education.’
‘Well, I am not. I have more to worry about. Did you find the wild yam?’
‘I’m not doing anything that mad, Sumati. Nothing is worth you taking poison.’
‘You’re so ignorant! You know nothing.’
‘Yes, that is what you always say. At least my ignorance didn’t get me in this mess.’
‘I was wondering when you were going to throw that at me. Thanks! It takes a real friend to tell you the truth.’
‘If I was any kind of a friend, I would have stopped you from running away with Farouk in the first place.’
‘How? Oh don’t bother to answer that. You’re a little girl who knows nothing. Nothing at all about feelings. I am fourteen and a half, and you come here with your twelve and a half self, and tell me Clifford is concerned about my education? Look where school got me!’
‘I was good enough for you last year when you didn’t have any friends left in school,’ Amina reminded her.
‘That was when I could trust you to keep your mouth shut.’
‘And I have. I told no one.’ Amina blinked fast, realising too late that she was telling another lie. She’d already told Rajnath because she had to tell someone. ‘Well I...’
‘My plan is this,’ Sumati interrupted. ‘Listen hard.’ She pointed to her stomach, poking it hard. ‘It’s to get rid of it. This thing.’
‘And how do you do that once it’s already there?’ Amina asked.
‘You really are stupid!’
‘You know what? I don’t know why I bother about you. I have enough worries of my own. Go on – do what you want. Kill yourself. You call that a plan?’
THIRTY
Rajnath opened his eyes, startled to find himself on the cold ground flat on his back. It was pitch black and the air was cool against his face and bare chest. It had to be the middle of the night, but he wasn’t in his bed. He tried to think why. As he reached up to rub his painful ankle, a mound of earth glowed in front of him in the moonlight. The hairs on his body stood upright and a shiver shot through him. The hoot of an owl made him jump to his feet.
‘You don’t listen.’ A voice swished in the wind.
Rajnath spun around. He realised where he was. The air turned thin and cold. ‘Who is it?’ Rajnath asked shakily.
A rustle of leaves on the trees around the cemetery blew in another owl-voice.
‘You are the only one,’ the voice said.
‘Who is it?
’ Rajnath asked. ‘What do you want? And why are you following me?’ A worrying thought crossed his mind. ‘Is that my grandmother? Nanny? Is that you?’
‘Your nanny left with disappointment in your mother.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘But who are you? And why’re you here?’
‘I want to help you to help her. Help my daughter.’
‘Who is your daughter?’ His teeth were chattering.
‘And him. Find him.’
‘Find him? Who?’
‘Find your friend. You are no friend if you don’t find Farouk. Go to Bonasse. Before the edge of the water, you will see a house . . . three coconut trees . . . fishing boat under a sea grapes tree.’
The air became hot and stuffy. Rajnath began sweating.
‘I think I must be coming down with something,’ he said to himself.
The air had thickened again and grown clammy, making it difficult to breathe. The voice had vanished, and Rajnath found himself alone once more. Had it all been a dream?
Parbatee was up early as usual the next morning and couldn’t believe her eyes.
‘Boy!’ she shouted up to the house, but no one replied. She marched up the steps and into the bedroom, but Rajnath wasn’t there. Only his brother.
‘Annan?’ Parbatee called. ‘Where is your brother?’
Annan grunted, still half asleep.
‘Where’s that fool of a boy gone again?’ she repeated.
‘I don’t know, Ma. He must have gone to work,’ Annan mumbled.
‘Two foolish boys!’ she shouted. ‘One gone to work on a Saturday, and the other one too lazy to even get a job.’
Annan opened his eyes. ‘What’s the problem, Ma?’
‘Your brother put on his new shoes last night and now they are thick with mud. And he left them out in the dew to get wet. Now he has disappeared.’
Annan sat up and rubbed his eyes. ‘I think I heard him making some strange noises last night, but I didn’t hear him get up this morning.’
‘Well, he can’t have gone to work,’ his mother said. ‘It’s Saturday.’
The Wedding Drums Page 15