Page 45 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

He shot me a worried face. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, worried.
We hitched a ride on a truck till the T-junction at Kheri. The truck left for Mongar. From there, we
walked up to the gas station and stood at the roadside and waved at vehicles for a lift. The sun rays were at
their most powerful at midday, and beads of sweat dripped from our heads. Finally, a white Toyota Hilux
stopped at the gas station.
I scurried toward the chauffeur. “Sir, could you give us a lift till Wamrong, please?”
“Ask the boss,” he said in a low-toned voice.
I traipsed to the window and bowed. “A lift, Dasho.”
He rolled down the glass and studied me from head to toe above his dark goggles, and said, “Where’re
you headed?”
I stooped low. “Wamrong, la.”
“Hop on,” he said.
The mini-truck scaled up the mountains, and through the Kharungla pass. The crisp wind whipped
across our faces. I breathed into my hands to warm my numb fingers. Trees and mountains reeled before
me. “Hell no, I am dying.”
“Almost there now,” said Darjay, crouching down. “Stay down and go to sleep.”
I closed my eyes, but my motion sickness worsened.
Miles later, the driver pulled over the truck beside a restaurant. “Get down, boys.”
I staggered to the window. “Thank you, Dasho.”
Dasho nodded, and the driver waved at us and drove away.
“Oops! I am sick, buddy.” I grimaced, pressing my head. “Everything reels before my eyes.”
“Wait here,” said Darjay. “I will find the police camp.” And he returned soon. “Come, it’s way up
there.”
I trudged up the hill after him on my numb toes.
The dusk crawled in. A group of men, about six, were playing darts in a tiny ground below the police
camp.
Darjay said, “There he is, my brother-in-law.”
A mustached man waved and scurried down to us. “Darjay?” he said, beaming. “What a pleasant
surprise.”
Darjay waved back and turned to me. “He’s Nidor.”
“What brings you here?” said Nidor.
“Just accompanying him to his brother’s place,” said Darjay
“Where?” said Nidor.
Darjay looked at me. “Name of the place, buddy?”
“Um, I think it’s Tsangpo,” I said.
“Tsangpo is over there,” said Nidor, pointing at the tall mountain in the west. “At the bottom of that
mountain. Can you see it?”
I squinted. “Really?”
“You look tired. Come, please.”
We lumbered after Nidor into his room. I went to bed straight out.
After breakfast, Darjay and I resumed the journey. We tracked down the well-trodden path and soon
trudged along the riverbank.
Darjay wiped the sweats from his head. “Oops, how far do you think we should travel?”
“May not be far, buddy,” I said. “Keep walking.”
The journey never ended. At sundown, we met a bevy of women carrying bamboo baskets.
“Hello?” I waved at them. “Where’s the Basic Health Unit?”
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