The Sea Singer

by Shome Dasgupta

  ‘How can she speak?’ March asked.

  ‘She does that from time to time,’ Jonas said. ‘To make sure my head doesn’t fall off.’

  Jonas looked up at the ceiling fan.

  ‘We are your parents,’ he said. ‘I know that. But you ran away because of the Forest.’

  March realized that Jonas was mixing up different stories.

  ‘You had strong lungs, strong eyes,’ Jonas said. ‘And so you went away.’

  March, who was still standing, looked down at her legs and noticed that they were shaking. The sunlight made Jonas’s eyeglasses sparkle despite the dust on them. She sat on the floor facing Jonas.

  ‘Please remember,’ March said. ‘You loved me and took care of me. And you didn’t want me to go to the Forest so you sent me to Koofay to live with the Armers.’

  Then March changed the subject. ‘You need to eat or else you will die like a street dog that only has its own

  bones to eat.’

  ‘I have forgotten how to eat,’ Jonas said.

  ‘All you have to do is chew and swallow,’ she said.

  She took out a small bowl of rice from a brown bag and walked up to Jonas. Being close to him, March saw the skin on his bones sagging; his white button-up shirt was covered in dirt and grime, making it look black, rather than white. It barely clung to his body. The smell of his onion-scented body made March’s eyes water. She turned towards Maria and smelled roses – the scent of her body had not changed since the day she was stabbed. March scooped up a few grains of rice and put the spoon near Jonas’s mouth.

  ‘Open your mouth, please,’ March said.

  Jonas turned his face away from the spoon and looked at Maria. March jumped back as Maria spoke. Her eyes didn’t open. Her voice was strong.

  ‘Jonas,’ Maria said. ‘Eat. Or your eyes will fall out.’

  Jonas turned his head to March and opened his mouth. March gently put the spoon into his mouth. She saw his black gums; his teeth had holes. Once the grains were in his mouth, March told him to start chewing and then to swallow. Jonas did as he was told and March continued to spoon-feed him.

  ‘How come she still talks as if she is awake?’ March asked again.

  Jonas finished chewing his rice.

  ‘She lives in a world between life and death,’ he said. ‘Between the ocean and the sky, she exists. Every now and then, she will tune in to the living world.’

  Jonas opened his mouth again and March fed him some baby carrots.

  ‘Do you think she will ever be truly alive again?’ she asked.

  ‘She is on her way,’ Jonas said. ‘She’s leaving this world.’

  ‘How will you know when she is gone?’ March asked. ‘When I die,’ he said.

  ‘When was the last time you bathed and cleaned your teeth?’ March asked.

  The birds were back in the kitchen. March and Jonas could hear them chirping in their nest.

  ‘I have forgotten how to bathe,’ Jonas said.

  ‘You are in bad shape,’ March said. ‘You must clean yourself. Let me help you.’

  Jonas agreed to bathe, but he would not leave Maria’s bedside. March found a large, tin tub and filled it with hot water. In the bathroom, she found soap, which the Medallions had given him as a gift.

  Jonas got up from the chair and walked to the tub. He didn’t take his clothes off. March laughed. She took off his shirt and pants and told him to sit in the tub. The bin was just big enough to fit him. He had to scrunch his knees to fit properly. March used the rag and soap to bathe her father. Layers and layers of dirt and skin fell off, revealing a fresh skin.

  ‘Like a snake,’ March said.

  Jonas remembered the feeling of bathing. He remembered that, years ago, every morning he would wake up and bathe before going to work.

  ‘The morning cleansing of the soul,’ he said.

  After she finished cleaning his body, she brought him a clean pair of pants and a fresh white shirt that had not moved from his closet in years. He had forgotten how to put on his pants, so March helped him one leg at a time. After that, she buttoned his shirt.

  ‘One more thing,’ she said. ‘You must clean your gums and teeth.’

  Jonas opened his mouth to show his teeth and March scrubbed them with a toothbrush.

  ‘It tickles,’ Jonas said. ‘I will laugh.’

  After she had finished cleaning him, Jonas looked at Maria and then at the floor. He laughed.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  ‘Ah yes,’ Jonas said.

  March placed the glasses on his face.

  ‘Today is my birthday,’ Jonas said. ‘And you are our daughter.’

  For the first time, March saw him smile, revealing his shiny white teeth.

  ‘And we loved you with all our might,’ Jonas continued. ‘And that is why we sent you away, so they would not scorn you and send you to live in the Forest.’

  He nodded his head.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘You are March, the baby who sang from Maria’s womb.’

  ‘You remember,’ March said.

  ‘It came to me all of a sudden,’ Jonas said. ‘Probably from Maria somehow.’

  Jonas yawned.

  ‘All that bathing has made me tired,’ he said. ‘I will go back to my chair and nap.’

  March told him that she would leave the house and get something to eat and that she would be back in the evening.

  ‘I will bring you dinner,’ she said. ‘Gradually your appetite will grow again.’

  ‘I’m afraid I’ll be gone soon,’ Jonas said. ‘But while we are all here, let us enjoy each other’s company.’

  March left the house to see Mr Thenly waiting outside. He had a sandwich in one hand and he fed apples to his horse with the other. He was just taking his last bite as March walked up to the carriage.

  ‘The sun is on its way down,’ he said.

  ‘I think I will go for a walk,’ March said. ‘You should take the rest of the day off. I think I will only go back and forth between the hotel and the house. I should be okay.’

  ‘If you do need me,’ Mr Thenly said, ‘just ask the hotel clerk for my whereabouts. He will know.’

  Mr Thenly rode away. March walked around the corner to see another small market. It was similar to the one she had been to. March was not accustomed to seeing a market on almost every other block, because Koofay had only one market. She walked around and looked at the fruits, jewellery, clothes and walking canes. In a corner, March saw a child selling clothes. She recognized the boy from the other market. Again, no one was at his stall and he just stood there and looked at the people as they walked by.

  ‘You didn’t let me pay you for the skirt,’ March said.

  The boy’s face was covered with dirt. March handed him some coins, but the boy put up his hands and refused.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘It is a gift from me.’

  ‘But it looks like I am your only customer,’ March said and grinned.

  ‘But my best customer,’ the boy said, grinning back.

  ‘So you make all these yourself?’ March asked.

  ‘That I do,’ the boy replied. ‘I learnt how to stitch and make clothes when I was a baby. But since I am from the Forest, no one will buy my clothes.’

  ‘I think they’re beautiful,’ March said. ‘Be patient. People will eventually see the talent in your eyes.’

  She crouched down and kissed him on the cheek. The boy shyly slid his right foot across the dirt and looked up at her.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said.

  ‘Thank you for the skirt,’ March said. ‘I will wear it for a beautiful occasion and everyone will be wondering where I got such a skirt. I must leave now and attend the Medallion funeral service.’

  ‘Yes,’ the boy said. ‘The Medallions are travelling today.’

  ‘You know of them?’ March asked.

  ‘Yes. They were among the few from Kolkaper who actually cared about those who lived in the Cave Forest. Mr Nirana tried t
o get rid the barrier between the Forest and the city, but the Council would not have it.’

  March began to walk away, but then stopped and turned around. ‘What is your name?’

  ‘Raj,’ he replied.

  ‘Raj,’ she said. ‘I am March.’

  Raj nodded, his huge smile never waning. March laughed to herself as she walked away. She thought that it was cute that such a young boy had such charm. She asked a nearby carriage driver for a ride to the harbour. When she arrived, she saw a large number of people there. Night-time was approaching and the harbour was lit by candles held by those at the funeral service. She saw Mr Thenly in front of the crowd. It was the first time March had seen him with a solemn face. Next to Mr Thenly, to her surprise, were Jonas and Maria. Jonas was sitting in the same rocking chair that was his room and Maria was lying on the same bed. Mr Thenly had helped them get to the service.

  ‘They should be there,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘The Faccinises are their ghosts.’

  March slid through the crowd up to the front where they were. Jonas, who was staring into the ocean, glanced at March. He remembered that she was his daughter. He tugged on her arm and March bent down to his face.

  ‘Who’s the service for?’ he asked.

  ‘The Medallions,’ she whispered.

  ‘Who?’ Jonas asked.

  ‘The Medallions,’ she said. ‘They helped you take care of Maria and they helped you and Maria to send me off to Koofay.’

  Jonas nodded.

  ‘And with a sneeze,’ he said. ‘She was gone.’

  He began to rock the chair back and forth. Mr Thenly placed his arm underneath Jonas’s and helped him stand up.

  ‘They have chosen you to release their ashes into the ocean,’ Mr Thenly said.

  He placed the urn in Jonas’s hands and helped him walk towards the edge of the cliff. As he was about to throw it into the ocean, a seagull came and took the urn from Jonas’s hands with its talons. With one big yelp, the seagull flew away. The crowd, in awe, began to murmur.

  ‘What happened to the Medallions?’ Jonas asked.

  ‘The seagull took them away,’ Mr Thenly said.

  March noticed that Mr Thenly wasn’t distressed or agitated. After a few minutes, the service ended and the people walked away.

  ‘You don’t seem worried about the urn being taken away by the seagull,’ March said.

  They both walked towards the carriage.

  ‘It is all a circle,’ he replied.

  ‘A circle?’ March asked.

  ‘Not too many people know this,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘Perhaps only their closest friends – the Medallions were not born in Kolkaper.’

  Mr Thenly went on to say that no one knew where they came from, or who their parents were. A seagull had brought both of them over in a basket. One day Nirana came and the day after, Francesca followed. They came from nowhere. His father had found Nirana on the doorstep and Francesca had landed in the Forest.

  ‘And what about Francesca?’ March asked. ‘No one cared that she was from the Forest and lived in the city?’

  ‘Most people would worry about it,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘But they didn’t know that she was from the Forest.’ They stopped at the carriage and faced each other.

  ‘I was born in the Cave Forest and lived there for some time,’ Mr Thenly said. March found out that his mother, Bornea, and his father, Pangaea, secretly loved each other. They would travel in the night, either to the Forest, where his mother lived, or to his father’s house in Kolkaper. After the seagull dropped her off, Francesca was brought to the house of his mother’s neighbour and that’s where she lived.

  There was a cool wind. March’s hair fluttered around her face. She tucked it behind her ears.

  ‘I was not born yet,’ he continued. ‘So whenever my mother and father rendezvoused in the Forest, Nirana would go to the neighbour’s house and play with Francesca.’

  Mr Thenly put his hand on top of his hat to keep it from flying away.

  ‘By the time they were five years of age, Nirana and Francesca had fallen in love with each other and vowed that they would marry when they were sixteen.’

  ‘And so it is a full circle?’

  ‘They came and went with the seagulls.’

  ‘But how did everything work out – if everyone was living in secrecy?’ March asked.

  ‘My father told everyone that Nirana was a friend’s son, visiting from overseas,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘One night in winter, my father snuck my mother, Francesca and me from the Forest and into Kolkaper.’

  ‘Did anyone notice?’

  ‘When people asked who they were, my father would reply that they came in with the North Wind and left it at that.’

  ‘But I thought that the Medallions were rich people who came from a long line of wealth,’ March said.

  ‘My parents were the wealthiest in the city of Kolkaper,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘But no one knew it. My father loved being a carriage driver and mother rarely thought about money, only about her love for her husband.’

  He told March that in their will, they had left him all of their money, but also entrusted him with the care of the Medallions.

  ‘And I did,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘I supported them until Nirana was able to work. He worked hard and became successful. And soon enough, they became the wealthiest in the city.’

  ‘What about you?’ March asked.

  ‘I drive these two beautiful horses around. That is all I need.’

  While he talked, Mr Thenly had driven all around the town, until finally they found themselves at the Faccinises’ house.

  ‘Have you ever gone back to the Cave Forest?’ March asked.

  Mr Thenly nodded. ‘People here think that those from the Forest want to come to the city and live here and take over the city. It’s quite the opposite.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘The Forest is a beautiful place,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘It’s a world of its own, and its citizens don’t want anything to do with Kolkaper, except perhaps to make amends.’

  As they got out of the carriage, March saw Raj hiding behind the bushes of the house.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ March asked.

  Raj walked out from behind the bush, with that familiar smile on his face. He looked at Mr Thenly and continued to smile. Mr Thenly patted his back.

  ‘You know him?’

  ‘He is my connection to the Forest.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘He is my son – he lives with my wife, who lives in the Forest.’

  March looked at Raj and then at Mr Thenly and noticed the similarity in their facial features, especially their eyes.

  ‘I have decided to carry on the tradition of my parents – bearing love that is as secret as a thief’s belongings.’

  ‘Will they ever move here?’ March asked.

  ‘Raj wants to continue to sell his skirts, and then someday become a brilliant mayor of the Forest who will bring Kolkaper and the Cave together,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘And that way love will have no boundaries. Go home, Raj. It is getting late, Mother will worry.’

  ‘I have a new idea,’ Raj said. ‘Sunglasses. I will make sunglasses. People will wear them over their eyes, so they won’t have to squint in the sun.’

  Raj hugged his father’s leg, and kissed March’s hand.

  ‘Very charming,’ March said.

  Raj ran off.

  ‘He will make a great husband and father one day,’ Mr Thenly said. ‘Go now and see how Jonas and Maria are doing. I will wait outside.’

  March told him that he need not wait and that she would walk home. They said goodbye and March went into the house. For the first time, all the lights in the house were on. The birds were sleeping in the kitchen. March could hear Jonas’s chair rocking. His room was the only one without a light. March walked in and turned the light on. Jonas was in his chair and Maria was in her bed.

  ‘Hello, Father,’ March said.

  Jonas opened his eyes and smiled. His glasse
s were on his face.

  ‘Good evening,’ he said.

  ‘A beautiful service, earlier today,’ she said.

  ‘There was a service today?’ Jonas asked.

  March had to remind him about the Medallion funeral service that they had gone to earlier that day and how the seagull came and took the urn away.

  ‘The seagull,’ Jonas said. ‘I thought it was the sky’s hand that took it away into the ocean.’

  Jonas continued to rock in his chair. She could tell that Jonas was not feeling too well. He was breathing hard and his eyes were barely open.

  ‘Father,’ March said. ‘You only have one shoe on.’

  ‘I forget these things,’ he replied. ‘I am a lost life now.’

  He turned and looked at Maria. ‘Maria has passed now. She is gone from this place.’

  March looked at Maria. She looked the same as before.

  ‘How do you know?’ she asked.

  ‘She told me she was going,’ he replied. ‘And I am not too far behind.’

  March bowed her head.

  ‘I never knew her,’ March said.

  Without opening his eyes, Jonas spoke, ‘If you know yourself, you will know her. You two are two bodies with one soul.’

  The birds in the kitchen woke up and started to chirp.

  ‘Ah yes,’ Jonas said. ‘It is time for me to go. I remembered to love you, March. Take care of yourself. And now I must remember to die.’

  He drew his last breath and his head tilted down. His chair continued to rock back and forth. March closed her eyes. She walked up to the chair and stopped it from rocking. She moved Maria to the side and placed Jonas next to her on the bed. Curious about the rocking chair, she sat on Jonas’s throne.

  ‘Comfortable,’ she said.

  She pretended that she was asleep on the chair and thought about Mario walking towards her. She thought about the ocean and the sky and giraffes. She thought about the Armers. She pretended that she was dreaming. The next morning, March told Mr Thenly of the news and they contacted the funeral home to start preparing for the service. The service was held four hours later. It was a small one, with only March, Mr Thenly and the birds from the kitchen.

  ‘A great journey,’ Mr Thenly said.

  It was a short service and then the Faccinises were no longer.