The Wedding Drums

by Marilyn Rodwell

  Just then Rajnath himself appeared. Parbatee stood shocked, staring at him, while Annan’s mouth dropped open an inch.

  ‘What’s happened to you?’ Parbatee asked, her eyes filled with horror. ‘Did you get in a fight?’ She clutched her chest. ‘So early in the morning you fighting?’

  ‘I have to find him!’ was all Rajnath said. His expression was set with determination. He picked up some clean clothes and took them out to the bathroom, together with his boots.

  ‘Go with your brother,’ Parbatee instructed Annan. ‘I’m frightened for him. Something has happened.’

  ‘Go where?’ Annan yawned and stretched.

  ‘Anywhere!’ Parbatee shouted at him. ‘Don’t ask silly questions.’

  ‘Right,’ Annan grumbled. ‘Doesn’t matter that I’m still half asleep then.’

  Parbatee flung her arm sideways and landed her younger son a heavy backslap across his cheeks. He let out a scream.

  ‘You want me to bust the other side of your face?’ she warned him. ‘Don’t give me no lip! Just go with your brother. Keep an eye on him. I have a bad feeling he’s in trouble.’

  ‘Well, that is his business?’ Annan retorted, rubbing his stinging cheek.

  ‘His business is your business! There’s no way your brother would’ve worn those new-expensive-catalogue-shoes in mud if something wasn’t wrong. I know him. He is particular about his things. And always fighting for other people. He doesn’t think of himself. You watch out for him – I’m relying on you.’

  Annan was still sulking. ‘One day, Ma. One day, he will go too far.’

  Rajnath, meanwhile, didn’t say a word. He bathed, ate a small breakfast and went out.

  ‘Go!’ Parbatee urged her younger son. ‘Go with him, boy! Put on your shoes fast.’

  Annan threw his arms up in the air. ‘He doesn’t want me with him. I’m just wasting my time.’

  ‘What time?’ Parbatee said. ‘You have time to do anything but waste? Get your backside after him!’ She picked up a stick and raised it at Annan, which sent him running.

  ‘Wait up!’ Annan shouted to Rajnath. ‘Since you are insisting on being a complete idiot, I am coming with you!’ When he caught up with his brother, he was breathless. ‘Are you going to tell me what this is about? Ma’s not here now, so you can tell me the truth. Why are you behaving as if you’ve see a ghost?’

  Rajnath did not answer. He walked as fast as he could, with Annan hot on his heels.

  ‘Slow down please!’ Annan said. ‘I think I know what this is about. It’s that Banderjee girl, Amina. Isn’t it? I have a feeling about you and her.’

  ‘Who told you that?’ Rajnath turned and stared at him.

  ‘I am right then,’ Annan said gleefully. ‘So, what’s the problem with the little ...’

  ‘Careful what you say,’ Rajnath warned. ‘She’s done nothing to you.’

  ‘But she’s done something to you,’ his brother quipped. ‘You are not yourself since you’ve been hurrying down the road to the standpipe for no water. Of late.’

  Rajnath quickened his pace, leaving Annan struggling to keep up.

  ‘I definitely know what’s making you behave from mad to madder,’ Annan continued, breathlessly.

  ‘Really? What are you talking about now? You, who can’t be bothered to get a proper job. The fact is, something’s badly wrong and I can sense it. Farouk and the girl from the village went to stay with Uncle, and she has come back, as you know, but in one hell of a state. But Farouk is still missing. I have to find him. No one is talking but somebody knows something, and I mean to find out.’

  ‘Oh!’ Annan said. ‘Well I better get back home, see what Ma wants me to help with.’

  ‘Ma told you to help me. Or have you suddenly got disobedient and helpful at the same time?’

  Rajnath grabbed Annan by the collar and shook him. ‘You will tell me what you know. I am not playing with you now. It’s somebody’s life! But I know you don’t care!’ He pushed him away in disgust.

  ‘I care,’ Annan said, straightening his clothes. ‘Of course I do. Why do you think I made Dillip send Farouk somewhere else? Because I care. Listen, Rajnath, who in their right mind would keep those two lovey-dovies like husband and not-married-at-all-wifey, under Uncle Amrit’s roof? And my own brother sent them there. You caused me shame, I’m tellin’ you. Raj, big shame.’

  ‘So that is where you used to disappear to for days,’ Rajnath said. Things began to make sense.

  ‘So what? You expected me to cut cane in the hot sun and mud, like you? For twenty- five cents a day? Snake bite and scorpion sting might be nice for you but not me. No sirree. Some days you come home so black with cane-fire ash all over you, that not even Ma recognises you.’

  Rajnath ignored him, saying, ‘What were you doing there, Annan? You went to play with Dillip? Is that it?’

  ‘At least Dillip knows how to play,’ Annan sniggered.

  ‘So, what can he play? Latin verbs?’ Rajnath asked indignantly.

  ‘Jealous-jealous.’

  ‘If it was me who spent nearly two hundred dollars a year on education for my son,’ Rajnath said, ‘I wouldn’t want to be as disappointed in him as Uncle Amrit is in Dillip.’

  ‘Two hundred dollars?’ Annan looked shocked.

  The brothers walked, heads down in silence, for a while.

  ‘So, when we were small, and we went over there, where did you think Dillip was?’ Rajnath asked. ‘He was never there on a weekday. Remember when Ma used to take us to Friday market on Mohammed’s horse and cart?’

  ‘Yes, but where did Uncle get that kind of money for school fees in those days?’ Annan asked.

  ‘He was running the shop, probably making a good profit, even then. According to Pa, Uncle Amrit’s life was never straightforward. I think he never really got over Tanti Rani dying. You remember his first wife?’

  ‘A bit. Fair-skinned and pretty, with a heart-shaped face. Deep brown eyes and long wavy hair. Tall and shapely. It was sad she died. I liked her.’

  The sea was in open view now, the air smelling of surf and seaweed. Sea gulls swooped down against the bright blue sky and pecked at the white sands of Bonasse beach. Three coconut trees stood high and lean, and curved towards the road and away from the house that snuggled in the triangle between the sea, sky and the road. He’d never noticed it before, and Rajnath felt a cold wind swirl surround him.

  Annan began to shiver. ‘I need to go and see somebody,’ he said hastily.

  ‘Hey! Where are you going?’

  But Annan was already far down the road, not even looking back. Left with no choice, Rajnath continued towards the house at the edge of the sea. The clump of coconut trees swayed, and dropped three coconuts on the sand in front of him. Wide stone steps snaked from the ground around the side of the house to the upper floor. The green shutters were closed, but the door looked open.

  ‘Good morning!’ Rajnath stood on the bottom step and shouted up. But his words came out in a whisper as the wind blew them away. Then someone appeared.’

  Rajnath was quiet for most of the walk back home. Annan didn’t speak either.

  ‘Tell me something about Dillip,’ Rajnath eventually said. ‘Anything at all.’

  ‘What exactly did you want to know about our cousin? One question, then it stops.’

  ‘Farouk went to that house on the beach,’ Rajnath said. ‘Did you know this?’

  ‘Yes, Uncle sent him there.’

  ‘Why would Uncle do that? And don’t lie to me. Why send him to that place?’

  ‘That is three questions, big brother.’

  ‘I will finish when I’m finished,’ Rajnath warned him.

  ‘Uncle must have told you when you went there,’ Annan said.

  ‘No, he didn’t tell me anything.’

  ‘Maybe Uncle didn’t know because it was Dillip’s idea about that particular house.’

  ‘Who lives there?’ Rajnath asked. ‘And what goes on there? Because
Farouk’s not there now. The old man said.’

  ‘And you believed him. Poor you.’

  ‘He looked honest. He said I could go inside and check for myself.’

  ‘And did you?’

  ‘Maybe I should have gone in,’ Rajnath admitted sheepishly. ‘But if you knew something, why didn’t you tell me, instead of getting caught up in all this crookedness. And whose idea was it? We had better go back and check it out now.’

  ‘Not me!’ Annan said immediately.

  ‘I’m not surprised. You can’t take any sort of responsibility.’

  ‘Very well. I’ll do my best to find out,’ Annan promised, relenting.’

  They had already gone to bed that night when something occurred to Rajnath. He jumped up and threw on his clothes.

  ‘What now!’ Annan rolled over, hearing the commotion in the room.

  ‘I’m going out,’ Rajnath whispered.

  ‘Take care if you are meeting that girl,’ his younger brother said insolently. But Rajnath ignored him.

  The following morning Parbatee couldn’t believe that once again, Rajnath had left his expensive shoes outside. ‘This boy doesn’t care at all,’ she groaned, picking up the shoes carefully. ‘He has it too easy. Some people are going barefoot without a single pair of shoes to their name. And this son of mine sends away for catalogue-shoes from England, like he is the plantation manager. And then mistreating them. Is not like him.’

  Parbatee went to the kitchen, tore a strip of rag, and cleaned the shoes. She placed them near the open fire where she was boiling a pot of cocoa tea.

  ‘It’s your fault,’ her husband said, meanly. ‘You spoilt him by not making him pay his way. Everybody else does.’

  ‘I know,’ Parbatee replied. ‘But at least he is the one out of both our sons who is working.’ She looked worried. ‘Something bad is happening, and I’m not sure what it is. But I can feel it drawing near.’

  THIRTY-ONE

  The next Saturday couldn’t come quickly enough for Rajnath, who intended to make another trip to Amrit’s. Early that morning he walked the same route that he’d walked so frequently of late: the road to Bonasse – the road to that house – the same road to catch the sloop from Cedros to San Fernando. The morning was cool and still dark when he set out. An owl hooted, and he flinched. He speeded up, slowing down every hundred steps or so to fill up his lungs.

  As he approached Bonasse beach, the sky was dawning pink, with a semicircle of gold drawn sharply on the grey-white horizon. The Port of Spain ship from Cedros was being loaded.

  ‘Is this one stopping in San Fernando?’ Rajnath asked the man at the booth.

  ‘Yah. Stoppin’ by San’do wharf. After they done load up.’

  Rajnath bought a ticket, sat down on a rock and reached in his canvas bag for his breakfast. He watched the boat rocking gently in the shallow waters as he ate the roti-wrap, savouring the salty sweetness of the pumpkin talkarie inside the floury dough – then almost choked. Someone appeared in his vision – someone he had never expected to see.

  Meanwhile, in San Fernando, Amrit was up early, sweeping the leaves off the concrete path next to the new building where guests were staying. It was shady and still cool, and the breeze rustled down the gap between high-sided wooden buildings from across the wharf. Amrit’s properties stood in two acres of land, halfway between the town and the wharf, with a view of the Colonial Hospital that was fifteen minutes’ walk up the hill. Dogs were barking furiously, competing with engine noises from the growing number of automobiles on the road. The tooting horns brought heads out of windows in houses high and low, but the dogs took it as provocation, and raced after the cars, never managing to catch up with them, unless they happened to get caught below the wheels – with a thump and a squeal, before the ensuing silence.

  As he swept the yard, Amrit heard noises coming from an open window upstairs – a punter and one of Dillip’s “girls”. It reminded him of Kalouti, and the reason why she had left him. It plagued him not to be able to resolve his disagreements with his son. The more he tried, the worse Dillip responded, and Amrit felt ground down. Dillip was winning. That school in Port of Spain had been an expensive mistake. The boy had learnt little else that was useful. To make matters worse, Dillip had started drinking Scotch – too much and too often. And now here was Rajnath asking questions about Farouk and Sumati. Amrit had liked Farouk, but Dillip seemed to prefer the girl. Amrit had argued that Rajnath was family, and Farouk was Rajnath’s friend . . . but Dillip wasn’t bothered. The couple needed to be split up, Dillip insisted, otherwise it looked as if they were encouraging shameful behaviour. How could Amrit disagree with that?

  At that moment, Dillip himself appeared on the path right in front of Amrit. He spat on the stones. ‘I said I will get rid of her, and I mean it,’ Dillip told his father.

  ‘I’m not starting another argument this morning,’ the man answered tiredly. ‘You said enough last night.’

  ‘Don’t you think you’re a bit too old to be getting up to this kind of rudeness behind my mother’s back?’

  ‘Your mother’s back?’ Amrit stopped and looked shocked.

  ‘You chased my mother away so that you could put another woman in her place.’

  ‘You’re saying I chased Kalouti away?’

  ‘Kalouti was not my mother!’

  ‘Your mother died. Kalouti was like a mother to you. The worst part is . . .’ the man sighed.

  ‘What?’

  ‘That I paid good money to send you to that damn expensive college, in Port of Spain – a school that no Indian boy could normally get into. I turned Catholic to get you in there, just so you could talk to me like this now? So disrespectfully? How do you think I feel?’

  ‘Feel? You sent me away to Port of Spain to get rid of me when Ma died. Did you care how I felt? And don’t call my Ma a bitch again.’

  ‘I never called your . . . oh, I see. You are talking crazy to make me annoyed.’

  ‘Crazy? You called me a sonofabitch last night!’

  ‘You really think you’re smart!’ Amrit exclaimed, red with anger. ‘Trying to tie me up with your cross-talk you learned from that college! Boy, get right out of my sight.’

  ‘So that’s it?’ Dillip said, in a choked voice.

  Amrit was close to tears. He looked at Dillip. His face was red.

  ‘Now you are telling me that I am stupid?’ Dillip stormed. ‘Insulting my intellect. If there is one thing I learnt from that expensive college, it’s that I am not a fool.’

  ‘Intellect? It was me who paid for them to teach you big words, and you pay me back with disrespect. Didn’t they teach you any of the simple things in life?’

  ‘Nothing I learnt in school was simple. They didn’t charge you for simple. If you wanted simple, you should have sent me to cut cane like Rajnath. Instead I learnt how to cope with being beaten up by white boys and pestered by father priests. You know what things those priests wanted me to do?’

  ‘Silence! You are just being ungrateful,’ Amrit said. ‘And selfish.’

  ‘You’re the selfish one, Pa. What payment do you want from me? My mother paid you with her life – my real mother, the one I barely remember. You sent me away because she died, and you didn’t want me reminding you of her. That’s what you paid for. But I paid too – in ways you don’t want to know.’ Dillip was wound up – spitting with anger.

  ‘You really want to know why Kalouti left?’ his father asked.

  Dillip looked at Amrit through tear-filled eyes. ‘I’m not interested in talking about Kalouti!’ he screamed. Bringing his real mother into the conversation was not having the desired painful effect on his father.

  Amrit could see that Dillip was in pain. ‘Look, son,’ he tried. ‘I should not have said what I just did. Kalouti was like a mother to you in every way. She loved you like she would have loved a son of her own. That’s why she couldn’t put up with the way you were treating her. She told me, but I wouldn’t listen. I put
you first. And I shouldn’t have. That is why she really left.’

  Dillip’s mouth dropped open.

  ‘I should have stopped you from sending Farouk away,’ Amrit said, bitterly. ‘I was too weak.’

  ‘They came like beggars looking for favours,’ his son scoffed.

  ‘No, they were like family, looking for a place to stay until they found work, and to build up a life for themselves. I promised my nephew! Rajnath – you remember him? You have had it too easy. You have no idea what it’s like to have to start from nothing. From nothing! That is what I had to do!’

  ‘And you did it. Nobody helped you.’

  ‘How would you know? We Indians were like brothers on the ships. Yes, people helped me. You can’t be too proud when you have nothing. But how would you know?’

  ‘I know what it takes to build a business, Pa.’

  ‘You think you did it on your own? It is my business I built that you are taking over. Now you’re forcing me to lie to my own nephew! Making me look like a fool.’

  ‘That’s because you are one,’ Dillip said carelessly. ‘Rajnath and me just happen to be blood cousins. That’s all. I owe him nothing, and neither do you.’

  ‘Blood is everything,’ Amrit said. ‘The simple things in life, again. One day you will realise that when it is too late. You hear me? Too late.’

  ‘Why’s he working in the cane field?’ Dillip sneered. ‘Rajnath is nothing but a damn loser! Although Annan might be different. But neither of them have what it takes to do business. And while we are talking about business, Pa, I’m expanding. I’ve got some brand new ideas . . .’

  Rajnath sat on the rock, looking at the boat. Two men were struggling to haul aboard what looked like heavy jute bags. Eventually they loaded the cargo, and a third man joined them. It was time to get on board. He could delay no longer.

  The deck rocked as Rajnath walked along, which was comforting in a way as his mind rolled in turmoil wondering what would happen next. He sat between the tightly packed, sourish-smelling jute bags and a familiar figure walked past. The boat set sail, and the bags shifted and squeezed him tight. The man walked past again. This time he was sure it was Farouk. Rajnath hauled himself up hard, almost knocking himself out on the tea chests opposite.