Everlasting Love

Chapter Two: What Happened to That Girl?

Siva

~Someone broke the door of our house. He raced into the house in search of a piece of paper. Appa was in his study while Amma was boiling some turmeric milk for Appa. I was playing in my room with my new action figure that Appa bought from America. The sudden outbursts brought the two adults back to reality. I rushed to see what all this commotion was about. The next thing I knew was that Amma's sari pallu caught on fire in an attempt to loosen the man's grasp on Appa's neck. There was also a bullet in her stomach. Amma did everything she could to save Appa. Meanwhile, Appa writhed in pain, unable to see the light. The man's visit proved to be futile when he could not find what he desired. Dissatisfied, he left the house.

Raadhika Athey (aunt in Tamil; it can be translated to dad's sister) came to our house to find us in a blunder. She asked me what happened. I blubbered in response. She quickly called the ambulance and rushed us to Jai Shree Krishna Hospital. Amma was admitted to the ICU. Appa and I sat outside the room, praying for her life. A nurse named Divya exited the room.

Appa asked, "Ms. Divya, how is she?"

Divya said, "Your wife is in critical condition. As she is pregnant, there are a lot of risks in this operation. As the burns are quite deep in her body, there is very little chance that both she and the baby will survive. Since she is weak at the moment, we are hoping that the milk will be able to not only give her some strength, but also give the baby its necessary anti-bodies that it would have gotten from its mother." As much as she described the importance of milk in Amma's diet, there was a level of uncertainty as she kept looking everywhere except at Appa. There was definitely some story behind her strange behaviour. I was too fatigued to put A and B together, so I let her eyes wander without asking any questions. She was going to be even more frazzled if I asked her anything.

Amma's plight was too much to bear, so I acted on the first idea that came to mind. I ran. I ran as far as my legs would allow me. Due to my small legs, I could not get very far. I was still within earshot of the conversation. I listened on despite the fact that I didn't want to listen.

Appa brought his two hands together and implored, "Save the mother and the child, Divya."

Divya took his hands in her hands and said, "Mr. Karthikeyan, we will do everything in our power to save them both. Trust me." Divya went back into the room.

After a couple of minutes, Divya came back with tears in her eyes.

Appa asked, " Ms. Divya, yennaachu? (What happened?). Is everything all right?" When Divya did not respond, Appa started to shake her.

Catching her bearings, she delivers the news of Amma's and the baby's death. What began with a whimper turned into endless bawling. Appa came to me and hugged me. I pulled away from his hug. I wanted to be alone for a while. Appa did not pull me back into a hug. Much rather, he let me sit in the corner with my knees on my chest. Ammaaaa~

I woke up from my slumber with tears in my eyes. It turned out that while I was crying in my dream, I was also crying in real life. My room was a mess. There were clothes strewn all over the floor. The fan was lolling its head back and forth with no sense of direction (I need to go to the mechanic and fix this before the Chennai heat becomes unbearable).

This is not how I wanted my first day of university to begin. I took all the clothes that were on the floor and threw them into the hamper. They smelled like tobacco. If Appa ever found out that I was smoking behind his back, he would disown me. I'll put them in the washer once I come home. That way he wouldn't find out what his "darling" son is up to. Appa is a businessman. A few years after Amma passed away, he became a businessman. He runs a business in pharmaceutical medicine. His former triad days paid off the cost of launching the business. He started to leave the country for a few days. A few days turned into a few months. A few months turned into a few years. I didn't mind. As long as I got this massive space to myself, I was golden. That trust did not come free unfortunately. I paid with my loyalty. I promised Appa that I would not search for the man who murdered my mother. Once I made that promise, Appa entrusted me with an apartment in Chennai and a car, so I could attend the same university as my friends without having to worry about commute.