Page 125 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

“How are they doing?” I asked, taking out my phone from the backpack.
“She said the baby was fine.”
“Oh, really? Where can I charge my phone?”
She showed me the charging point. When three bars appeared, I phoned Choki for like one hour. Her
voice sounded tender and miserable, and there wasn’t a reason words wouldn’t choke me. As our talk
ended, I sniffled.
The next morning, I phone her again. “I am going back to Kerong. Is there anything you want to say?”
“Um, no. Take care of yourself.”
“Thanks. I will phone you next week.”
“You need not come every weekend. It’s risky.”
“Okay. Take care of the baby. Pass it to Tsheulthrim, please.”
“Yes, Apa?” she said.
“Tshelthrim,” I said in a quivering voice. “Take care of your little brother. Don’t play on the road,
okay?”
“I won’t,” she said.
“Love you, bye.”
Tears pricked my eyes as I pressed the end-button. Next Sunday, I went to Yangmalashing, a
neighboring village with a satellite phone. I was happy to know everything was fine with them.
One evening, the village messenger knocked on my door. “A telegram for you, sir,” he said.
“From whom?” I asked.
“From Tshering Zangmo,” he said, wiping the sweat from his face. “She said you should phone your
wife, ASAP.”
My heart thudded. “Why? What could be the problem?”
“I don’t know. You should phone her.”
After the school was over, I hurried to Yangmalashing and phoned her. “Everything okay there, Ama?”
“Not so good,” she said. “They operated on the baby again. I am worried.”
“Oh, no!” I said. “What happened?”
“He had a rectum prolapse.”
“What’s that?”
“The colon came out of the stoma.”
My shoulders slumped with a sigh. “My goodness. How did the operation go?”
She paused in her sobs. “Dr. John said it went well. He said it recurs with some babies.”
“Is the baby in the hospital or discharged?”
“Discharged,” she said. “At Paro.”
“I am sorry I couldn’t be with you.”
Her sniffles echoed in my ear. “It’s okay. Take care of yourself. How’s school going on?”
“Good,” I said as words choked me. “This place is hell without you all.”
She chucked and maintained a long silence.
“Are you there?”
“You are getting late. Go straight home.”
“Please take care of the baby and Tsheulthrim.”
“We are working hard. Aunt Choden is taking care of us.”
“I am grateful to her,” I said, dabbing the corner of my eyes with the sleeve. “I don’t know how we
should repay her family. Okay, bye.”
As the darkness crept in after me, I descended the hill, muttering, “Wish you weren’t born to suffer this
way, my poor baby.”

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