Stories of LITA 2

V - Lost - 3 (Finale)

Phayu:

After ten whirlwind days of University rounds, and almost actively trying to approach an unapproachable Rain, I am exhausted. I plop down on the couch, head thrown back, eyes closed. "I think we should go home for the weekend," Fah says, as he nudges my foot and hands me a glass of water when I finally look at him. "Phi chai, it's been a couple of years since we went home. It's always Mae and Phaw coming here to meet us. Time we took the initiative," he adds. I nod, feeling a bit guilty. After Rain left, and Mae's words, and the fact that I had started the company without my love by my side, I never took time off to go to Korat. And being busy at the garage meant that even Saifah had not done that. "Okay, let's go early tomorrow morning. I just hope they will be there. Remember last year, and the year before last, they told us they were going on vacation around this time only. I have no idea where they went, but we should probably check," I say to him. "They informed us and went Yu, that they would be travelling. They didn't do that this time, so I am sure they are there," Fah sounded extremely sure.

The almost 5 hour drive to Korat was one of the best ever. We stopped only once, for breakfast, wanting to reach home and eat food cooked by Mae. When we entered the garage that Phaw had there, we were surprised. Apart from Phaw's Range Rover, and Mae's Mercedes convertible, there was another car. A MG electric, that looked really sexy. We parked beside it and went in, wondering who was visiting and if they were the reason Mae and Phaw had not taken a vacation this year. My jaw dropped to the floor at the sight that met my eyes. Mae was in the kitchen, stirring something, with Rain hugging her waist from behind. She used a smaller spoon to feed Rain, and the guy he had come with sat at the table, saying something, all three of them laughing in joy. Suddenly Phaw stepped in from the garden with the girl, who was Rain's friend. "They never come here, which is why we could easily visit you guys in the US," he was saying, probably talking about us. I was so shocked, and I was pretty sure that Fah was also stunned. One of us must have made a noise, because every eye in the kitchen turned to us, and the easy smiles that we had seen on the faces dropped away.

Rain tried to step away from Mae, but she kept her hold on him. "What are you both doing here?" Phaw asked, the shock we had been feeling mirrored on his face as well. "You both never come home," Mae said, accusingly, almost as if she was saying, 'You never usually come, so why did you now?' Suddenly Saifah and I feel like strangers in our own home. What the hell just happened? "Mae, Phaw, I will take Keya and Alan to Mu Si. It's been a while since even I went there," Rain says. My parents nod, and the three of them waii politely and leave. "How are they here Mae? And what did Phaw mean by vacations with them?" Fah asks. I am probably still too stunned to speak. "They came here last night. We have been in touch with Rain throughout. We knew what was happening with you both long before Rain left. And he came to meet us before he left for the US," Mae says. "As for visiting them, we went the last two years to Rain's home in Los Angeles. That was the vacation we took the last two years, when we told you we were going out of station," Phaw says.

I am pretty sure that by now, my mind is dead. All my brain cells seem to have leaked out. To say I am shocked, is probably going to be the understatement of the year. I stare at my parents, completely numb by now. Mae and Phaw knew where Rain was, all this time, but they never told me. They let me suffer, and cry without Rain in my life. "Why?" I whisper. But they hear anyways. "Why not Yu? Why not? Do you have any idea how broken that boy was when he came here? He had lost that vital spark that made him Rain. His eyes spoke of the damage your thoughtlessness had inflicted upon him. You never understood the fragile and insecure heart hiding behind the cheery smiles and the sunshine nature. Why should we have made anything easier for you, especially since we had accepted Rain as our son. We could not hurt one son to protect another since one of our sons had been responsible for hurting him in the first place." My heart curled up in shame as Mae spoke out what had been in her heart for two years.