Friday 15 February 2013

Valentine



There’s this mentally retarded woman that comes to our house. She lives alone and she frequently does not have anything to eat and so she’d come over and my Mom would understand exactly why. She would give her food and her old clothes, shoes, bags etc. Now this woman once had a family; a husband and children but they all died in a horrible accident at Dam Site where they all drowned. She’s never been the same ever since. She stopped making sense and would just say the most random things. Since a couple of years back though, she’s been better in the sense that you can converse with her almost like a normal person. This started apparently with the coming of a man into her life. She says his name is Bah Duh and that he drives a taxi. We have never seen this man but every time she comes to our shop or house, the first thing she would say is that she’s been looking or waiting for Bah Duh. She claims that he bought her food and other things and that he told her to meet him somewhere but he didn’t come. We didn’t know exactly what to make of all this. At first we thought that there is some callous man playing a cruel joke on her, probably having a good laugh out of it with friends. Now, we doubt if he even exists. People all same the same thing about her; that she’s always out somewhere all over the city looking for Bah Duh but no one has ever seen this man. Wanda, in all her naïve bluntness, once asked her straight if he existed. The poor woman got up and left the shop and disappeared for a week. Late one night, we heard a knock on our door and there she stood with her best smile. My mom was so relieved to see her and ushered her in. Asking her where she had been, she simply replied, “With Bah Duh.”  We offered her food to which she declined politely (she’s always very polite) but when my Mom insisted, she sat down to eat. She ate like someone who hadn’t eaten a long time.

Last night, as I was coming home at around 10, I saw her standing out in the street in our locality. She was standing near Top Saw, the place where people without parking places in their house would park their cars for the night. I stopped to ask her what she was doing there and she said that she was waiting for Bah Duh. I drove on a little ahead and stopped. I parked my bike near a shop to get some cigarettes for the night. Having bought them, I decided to have one right there and waited. I wanted to see this elusive Bah Duh I do not know whether she knew I was there watching or not. I made no great attempts to hide either but she never looked at me even once. She just stared into empty space and then turned expectantly at every car that came through. It struck me, the sheer madness of it and I prayed he’d come. Even if he were just a callous man playing a cruel joke on her, I prayed he’d come. I watched, transfixed, as she, God knows how long she’s been standing there, in the cold, almost motionless, waited for him to come. After almost an hour she moved and walked away in her usual quick, brisk manner towards our house. She passed by me without looking or saying a word. So, I went to my bike, straightened it and I followed her. Just then I saw my friend’s nephew. A young boy around 16 years old and he was walking with this girl tightly held around his arm. Startled and embarrassed to suddenly see me, he stammered, “Kumno Bah Lal?.”…..and then added cheekily, ”Happy Valentine’s Day.” Bastard.

9 comments:

  1. And here I was, thinking you were going to dig up a Valentine for the poor woman. Ouch.

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  2. kinda creepy...but in a poetic way...poor old thing...had me wondering for a while...silent reverie type thing...

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  3. Bah Duh should have come. Even crickets can call their lovers home.

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  4. Bah Duh should have come. Even crickets can call their lovers home.

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