Page 58 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

“Darn it,” said Lambu. “We have been in the hotel room like three nights, and we are almost broke.”
I leaned against the wall and sighed. “I can understand your frustration, but I am starving.” I winced, pressing my
rumbling belly. “Let’s have something, please.”
“What?” he blurted. “What’re we gonna eat tomorrow? And we haven’t yet cleared the hotel bill. You gotta
understand that, man.”
“What’s the matter with you?”
“What’s the matter with me? You know everything, man.”
Jaw dropped, I blinked at him.
I craved not for gluttonous meals, but for light nourishment to get rid of the stomach cramps. But Lambu
wouldn’t spend a penny even on light meals which cost twenty-five ngultrums. The last time we had a satisfying
meal was two days back at Phuentsholing and we skimped on tea and snacks. That whole day, I trailed him,
expecting he’d offer me something. But something unusual happened. It was like a walking race in the sweltering
evening. He walked ahead of me and I dilly-dallied after him. And when he waited, I strutted away past him. A few
distances away, I waited for him, but he swaggered past me. At the far corner of the street, he waited for me, but I
swaggered past him again. We continued the race-like walk to our hotel.
“Stop it,” I said. “It’s absurd for us to behave like kids.”
“Then don’t act like a kid,” he said, hobbling straight to the hotel room.
The day ended like a child’s day for me, like any child would get distraught with the parents for refusing a
request.
The next day, our truck moved at 3:00 pm. The truck rumbled up the mountain road at a snail’s pace as it was
loaded. At nightfall, we arrived at Wamrong town.
Pulling over the truck beside a hotel, the driver yawned. “I am feeling sleepy. We should halt here.”
“Yeah, we better halt here,” said Lambu.
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.

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