Page 73 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

A row of clustered buildings towered along the highway. Seeing the luminous restaurant signboards
made me starve more.
I leaned on Lambu’s shoulder and whispered, “I think I am gonna die tonight. I am starving.”
“Yeah, let’s have bathup,” he said.
“I would love to have rice.”
He nudged me on my shoulder. “Bathup is tasty,”
I construed his message, so I said, “Yeah, bathup is tasty.”
The driver said he wasn’t hungry. So, Lambu and I went around looking for bathup. Instead, we had
noodles. We clambered onto the cabin of the truck and spread our sheets.
At dawn, the driver woke us. “Let’s continue our journey.”
“I am alighting here,” I said.
Lambu gaped. “Why, Uncle?”
“Change in the plan, buddy,” I said. “I’m gonna alight here.”
“Why here?”
“I am gonna visit my brother.”
“You told me nothing about your brother. Where on earth is your brother’s place?”
I picked my backpack. “Behind that mountain, three hours walk from here.”
“You sure you wanna stay here, buddy?”
I grinned at him. “Yeah, I haven’t met him since last year.”
“Take care, buddy. See you soon.”
“Thanks, buddy. Safe journey.”
He held out a fifty-ngultrum note from the window. “Keep it.”
“How much you got?”
“Thirty.”
“Um, it’s only three hours walk from here,” I said, scratching my head. “You take it.”
“Buy something for the kids.”
“You take it, buddy.”
He frowned. “Take it, man!”
As the driver turned the ignition on, I chortled. Lambu chortled too. We burst out laughing as we
distanced from each other.
“Bye, Uncle. Take care.”
Words choked me. “See you soon.”
As the truck disappeared behind the bend, tears filled to the brim of my eyes. I would miss him even
though it was only a month. We slept in the same room and ate at the same dining table. We quarreled but
never separated.
In less than two hours, I arrived at my brother’s place. Though summer heat seared my skin, I traveled
just to meet my brother and his family.
“What a coincidence,” said my brother. “Yethrolma is home.”
I wiped the sweat from my head and stared into his face. “For summer vacation?”
“She is sick.”
“Oh, really? I think I should visit her.”
“You should, but take heed of her mom.”
“Don’t worry,” I said.
The next day, I went to Yethrolma’s house. Her mom was stacking firewood in the lumberyard in the
backyard.
“Hi, Aunty?” I said.
She gasped. “Hello.”
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