Page 57 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

The color her temper drained to her fair cheeks glowed like a freshly-picked apple. She spoke with an impeccable
English accent. Later, when I heard she had read over five hundred novels, I wowed. “You meant that to us. Say
sorry or we’ll take this matter to the director.”
“No way,” said Bajim. “Do whatever you want.”
Lady Macbeth glared at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to say sorry?”
“Never.”
In the assembly ground the next morning, they came searching for us.
“Here they are,” said Lady Macbeth, keeping her hands on her hips. “Say sorry or we’ll take this matter to the
director.”
Bajim sneered. “Never.”
“You sure you don’t want to say that?” said Lady Macbeth.
“I won’t,” said Bajim. “Why should I?”
“Fine,” she said. “Let’s see in the director’s office.”
After the assembly, Lady Macbeth came and said, “The director wants you both in his office.”
“Oh, no!” I whispered. “We are done, Bajim.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle,” he said, rolling up his sleeves. “I will deal with them.”
The director was a saber-toothed tiger whom even lecturers shunned at. As we tiptoed into his polished
chamber, he gawked at us. He removed the reading glass and set it on the table. “What’s your problem, boys?”
My legs trembled as I bowed low. “We did nothing, Dasho. Bajim just teased them.”
“Why did you tease them?” he blurted. “Did you make any sexual comments?”
I pointed to Bajim, “He only teased, Dasho.”
The director glared at Bajim. “You tell me. Did you make any sexual comments?”
“I didn’t,” replied Bajim.
The director removed his watch and set it beside his reading glass on the table. “Only wild animals fight in the
forest. Are you savage beasts?” He grasped Bajim by his collar and pressed him against the door. “If this is a lie of
yours, I am gonna throw you out of the window. Is that understood?”
Bajim flinched. “I swear I didn’t make any sexual comments, Dasho.”
The director sat in his chair and sighed. “Girls, write whatever you heard them say.”
The two girls scribbled down together.
“Hey, young lady,” said the director and tossed Lady Macbeth a paper. “Go there and write on your own.
Separately!”
She flinched and moved away from Scarlet Rose and scribbled down on the paper. As the girls wrote their
statements, the director rubbernecked us. I avoided his eyes and tried to stand steady on my wobbly legs. Bajim’s
eyes glittered with tears and his legs were shaking.
After the girls were done, they gave their papers to the director. The director held up their statements and
juxtaposed, crinkling up his nose. “What’s this?” He stared at them. “Girls, your statements don’t mesh.” He hurled
the papers on their faces. “Boys, you may leave.”
As we walked out of the office, I said, “Next time you tease girls, I will bash you.”
Amidst tears glimmering in his eyes, Bajim grinned. “I won’t.”

***

The summer vacation was for a month. We had enough time to go home and see our families. So, I talked to
Lambu about the journey.
“Which route should we take?” I said. “Bumthang or Pling?”
“Pling route,” he said. “It’s shorter.”
“The Bumthang route is much shorter and safer.”
“It’s summer,” he said. “Torrential rain blocks the roads. So, we get stranded.”
I gave deep thought to it. “When should we go?”
“Right after the exam.”
Lambu was my closest friend in the institute. Tall and dark, he was pugnacious and fastidious about dressings but
generous. And unlike mine, his leather shoes gleamed all the time.
I relied on him to handle the accounts of our journey as he was frugal. At Samdrup Jongkhar, we scrimped on
meals to save money for our remaining journey. The sweltering heat drenched me in sweat even on cloudy days.
And heat rashes appeared on my limbs.
Lambu tapped his fingers on the windowsill. “Why is the damn truck not moving even today?”
“It was supposed to move yesterday, wasn’t it?” I said.

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