Ride on Time

Chapter 133

Chandrika insisted that the best place for Shree to get Mitsuo a nice jippa for a good price was at a shop in Section 8. Apparently, the owner of the said shop was her student so she would definitely give them a good price upon seeing her.
"So I'll come with you," Chandrika said. "But first, we go to Section 8 Grocer and get some things."
"Yeah, like I'm running out of coconut oil and that red cooling oil," Shree added. "I need some incense too, but that shop don't have..."
"I need to buy ghee and a few other things," Chandrika agreed. "Hopefully, that place got parking. There always full, what, for no reason."
"I'll stay at home," Devi added, turning the TV on with her remote. "You all go."
The others just shrugged, bade farewell, hopped into their red Viva, and headed off to Section 8.
They first went over to the grocer a few shops away from the Indian garment shop. Shree was quick to grab a few bottles of her favourite hair oil and spent the rest of her time in the shop following her mother around with Vasu at her heels.
"Eh! See got incense now!" Shree excitedly said as she quickly grabbed a box for every flavour of incense cones.
"I think we should take a basket," Vasu suggested as he stopped beside the stack of orange baskets, dumping whatever he was carrying into it before taking one with him.
His sister and mother gladly relieved their arms of their luggage and continued shopping empty handed. Vasu groaned at the weight as he went after them, now carrying their stuff together with his. What made it worse was the fact that both Shree and Chandrika went on and on, stuffing the basket with more things when all they said they wanted were two bottles of hair oil and a can of ghee. Vasu scanned the basket, finding onions and garlic, a big bag of Atta flour, and two packets of wheat flour.
He sighed and rested it on a freezer box while Chandrika closely compared two packs of tofu.

Mitsuo got out of the Grape car and skimmed through the row of shops for the one Indian boutique amid the grocers and liquor shops. Section 8 seemed to be the nightlife area of PJ, seeing how there was one bar after another, nightclubs, followed by liquor shops, and then a few grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, and clinics. It was like a township on its own.
Finding the shop was a little tricky at first, but Mitsuo eventually spotted it and went over. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, making him heave a sigh of relief since he could walk back to Sheralbon without getting too wet.
Everything was pricy in the shop, making Mitsuo's eyes widen in surprise. Even the cheapest of clothing had a three-digit price tag on it.
In the end, Mitsuo approached the woman in charge and asked her if there were any sarees on sale. To his dismay, she started showing him a wide range, making him dizzy just by looking at the semi-identical designs.
"How much is this one?" Mitsuo asked, pointing to a soft red cotton saree with intricate gold designs.
"RM90," the shopkeeper said, slightly dismayed that he had chosen one of the cheaper sarees.
"I'll take it," Mitsuo nodded, grabbing it.
The lady nodded and led him to the counter so that he can pay for it. She was being so slow, for some reason, but Mitsuo didn't really mind since he wasn't exactly in a rush anyway.
The bell by the door suddenly jingled as someone stepped in, letting in the sounds of the streets as well.
"Eh, Ms Rika!" The shopkeeper suddenly lit up. "Hi!"
"Vaishali!" Mitsuo paled when he heard the familiar voice. "How are you?"
To his dismay, Vaishali stepped away from the counter and excitedly went over to her favourite lecturer from when she was in college. Mitsuo fumbled to pull his hood on and refused to turn around.
"This is my daughter," Chandrika said, much to his horror. "And my son."
Mitsuo turned the slightest bit and saw Shree and Vasu with their mother, smiling as they gave their salutations to their mother's ex-student. He panicked and leapt behind the closest mannequin to hide, hoping that this Vaishali person would return and quickly deal with his purchase so that he could leave.
"Wait ah, I got customer," Vaishali chuckled as she returned to the counter. She was surprised that Mitsuo had disappeared and was even more perplexed when he stepped out from behind the mannequin.
"Please make it fast," Mitsuo frantically said in a low voice. "I need to get going urgently."
Vaishali nodded and started picking up the pace, packing the saree and placing it in a big showy yellow bag before handling the payment.

Chandrika skimmed through the rack of jippa with Vasu while Shree merely looked around the store, more interested in the grandly designed Anarkali dress worn on a mannequin beside the counter. Vaishali was still busily working on the other customer's purchase, whom Shree found vaguely familiar though he wore a hood and had his back turned to her. She caught sight of his wrist, which poked out of his sleeve as he impatiently waited with one hand tapping the counter and the other on his hip.
A woven red thread was wrapped around his right wrist, evidently a blessed thread from a Hindu temple. There was a big difference between the ones from Buddhist temples and the ones from Hindu temples, the former was a lot thinner than the other. This one seemed to have come from a Hindu temple, Shree was sure of it, but the stranger in question seemed more Chinese than Indian. Then again, this wasn't really a surprise since Shree had seen Chinese people praying at Hindu temples more times than she can count and she had been to Buddhist temples too.
Her gaze fell on the orange string worn on her own right wrist, one that Sherry had brought for each of her family members from a well-known Buddhist temple, and then at the red one she got at the temple in Gasing Hill right below it. It was also red, much like the one the stranger was wearing.
"Nika, come see whether nice or not," Chandrika called, gaining her attention. "See the size also."
"Ah," Shree nodded and frowned at the royal blue jippa that her mother held, then shook her head. "Nice, but I don't think it suits Mitsuo. This one..." she took it from her hand and held it in front of her brother. "Looks nice on Vasu."
Vasu grinned. "How much is it?"
"Seventy-five," Shree said, looking at the price tag. "How? You want or not?"
Vasu shrugged, unable to refuse yet unable to accept.
Shree smirked and folded it on her forearm. "Now, we choose for Mitsuo."
She took the jippa and handed it to her brother, who looked at it in awe, and went on to choose one more for Mitsuo. Vasu took a few steps back and let them choose, walking around the store to see what else they had. Vaishali was finally done with the other customer and came over to assist Chandrika and Shree, giving Vasu a friendly smile as she went over. He returned it, but was more interested in the embroidered tapestry on the wall.
Vasu took a step back to take a better look at it when the fumbling customer collided with him in a hurry to leave. He turned to look at the strange guy and was surprised to see that it was Mitsuo. Vasu could do nothing but gape at him in surprise. Mitsuo, on the other hand, gave him a wide awkward smile and ran off without saying a word.
Vasu shook his head as he watched the older man leave, practically running out of the shop with his head slightly lowered to hide his face. When he asked him to come up with a Plan B for Shree's gift, Vasu didn't expect him to actually come to the same shop where his sister was shopping for him.
This was getting out of hand, them bumping into Mitsuo in public.