Rafiq returned to his father’s home from Yangon, at ten, the next morning. Everyone in his family stared at him with a surprise in their expressions. Even though his return was completely unexpected, it spread the warmth of joy like winter sunshine in everyone’s heart. After seeing his younger son after several years, Rahim felt like getting back a lost gem. He called out to his wife in a thrilled voice.
With quick pace his wife came out of the kitchen to her bedroom, thinking something terrible had happened to her frail husband. When she found her younger son standing before her, tears of joy swelled from her eyes. The next moment, a strange uncomfortable feeling shook her heart. She said to herself, “Without prior notice, why is he here?” In a loving way, Hajera Begum asked, “Why does your face look so pale? Did anything happen at your job?”
He looked back at his mother and replied coldly, “Nothing happened. I just don’t feel good about the current situation of the country. Don’t worry, I left my job. So, I don’t have to return to Yangon.”
Karim looked at his younger brother and asked, “Why does the current situation of the country seem so bad to you?”
“That’s one long story. Before I start, give me something to eat. I haven’t had mother’s handmade cakes for such a long time.”
Hajera Begum gave her son a faint smile and went to the kitchen as Rahim said to his younger son, “Go and take a bath. You can tell us all about it after lunch.”
In the kitchen while preparing lunch, Kuslum and her mother in law talked about lots of things. Rafiq was going to have lunch with his family after several years. So Hajera had asked Karim to slaughter a big healthy cockerel as they were about to prepare a feast for Rafiq. The menu for the day included chicken curry, fried lady’s finger with shrimp, bottle gourd and dried fish.These dishes were Rafiq’s favourite. After the main courses, firni would be served as well.
Kulsum sat down to clean the chicken Karim gave after slaughtering it. After taking the skin off the chicken and cutting it into pieces, she went to the tube-well to wash it. Hajera was going to cook lady’s finger with prawn. Hajera used one of the stoves to cook and let Kulsum use the other. At one stage of cooking, Hajera Begum sat down on the small stool to wipe the sweat off her forehead with the end of her sari and looked at Kulsum to say something. She had just taken out the water pot to pour water into the curry after adding potatoes to the chicken. After adding adequate amount of water, she covered the pot and reduced the heat of the stove. Then she looked back at her mother-in-law when she took a deep breath and said, “Rafiq has reached the right age.”
“Right age for what, mother?”
“What else, the right age for getting married?”
“How old is Rafiq, mother?”
“He will be twenty-five this winter.”
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“That’s not much of an age for men.”
“Well this is not applicable to a man who has been living away from his family for so many years.”
Kulsum kept thinking what to say to her mother in-law. She came to know about Rafiq and Su’s affair from Hoson’s wife. Hoson was Anis Mollah’s second son. She wanted to discourage her mother-in-law. But noticing how stubborn her mother-in-law was, Kulsum said, “I think we should ask Rafiq what he thinks about this. The young men these days are fiercely independent. We should ask him if he has a choice of his own.”
Hajera Begum became suspicious after what Kuslum had to say. She was obviously alarmed by the hints Kulsum had been trying to convey to her. She stopped whatever she had been doing and starred at Kuslum with questions in her eyes. She said, “I don’t know why Kulsum, but I have a feeling that you’re hiding something from me. Now please, for once, tell us whatever has been going on behind our backs.”
Kulsum replied, “People tend to say a lot of things, it won’t be right to say something based on rumor. It would be best if you go and ask your younger son about this.”
Suddenly they were struck by pin drop silence when Rafiq appeared in the kitchen. They could tell from his wet hair that he had just finished taking a bath and came straight to the kitchen. The cold breeze from outside entering the kitchen made the warm atmosphere more comfortable. Rafiq presented his mother a faint smile before taking his seat beside her on a short stool. He expected a smile back from her. But seeing the anxious look on her face, he asked, “Mother, why are you so upset? Is anything wrong?”
“I have decided to look for a bride for you. Do you have any problem with that?”
Quietly Rafiq starred at her. He didn’t expect such a question. He simply didn’t know what to say.
Hajera Begum looked deeper into her son’s eyes and said, “I asked you something.”
Kulsum laughed quietly, as Rafiq looked at her. Then he said, “I have no problem with it.”
Hajera Begum took the hands of her son into hers and asked again, “Do you like someone?”
“No. Your choice is mine.”
This time Kulsum said, “But I heard something else.”
“What did you hear?”
“Earlier, someone informed me, you’re having an affair with a Buddhist girl in Yangon.”
Rafiq looked embarrassed. He wondered, “Who could have informed Kulsum about it.”
Kulsum refused to reveal her source. Rafiq assumed that the source had to be Hoson because on business purpose, he had been to Yangon and stayed at Rafiq’s place for three days last year. Rafiq calmly conveyed a partial picture of the story to his mother and brother’s wife. He said, he had a friendly relationship with the Buddhist girl. The girl liked him. Once in a while she would come to his workplace and they talked about trivial issues. Rafiq claimed, the relationship was nothing more than that.
Kulsum wasn’t convinced, but Hajera Begum didn’t question any further. She would not allow herself to be influenced by rumor. She felt, it wasn’t wise to embarrass her son because of what outsiders had been saying. Very softly she told him about a girl she had on her mind. The girl’s father lived in Mine Pu. Her family was a distant relative of Hajera Begum. Her father, Toyyab Ali, had three daughters and no son. Monira was his eldest child. Three years ago, they had come to visit Rahim’s home. Monira had a tall figure, thick black hair and a sweet face. Somehow, Hajera Begum found her beauty quite extraordinary. Rafiq came out of the kitchen saying, the rest of the matter could be discussed after lunch.
After the main courses of the lunch, when everyone was busy concluding the meal with Hajera’s ‘Firni’, Anis’ younger son Fazal arrived at the scene with a bad news. Fazal informed that from the grove Buddhist monks had taken away ten trees instead of two. In order to verify what Fazal was saying, Karim accompanied him to the grove, and later on, the Mollah families decided that they would meet with the priest and a complaint would be lodged against the suspects for an appropriate compensation.
Before they could reach the priest, another incident took place. When Karim and Fazal entered the premises of the temple just before dusk, Than Kin and the other monks stopped them. Subsequently, a heated brawl ensued. Than Kin kept saying that the ones who cut ten trees from the grove were told to cut only two trees. Hence, the temple could not be held responsible for this unfortunate incident.When Karim and Fazal refused to accept Than Kin's explanation, an unpleasant situation arose. Fazal was a tall and well-built man. He wasn't going to give up easily. Than Kin and his monks kept denying any wrong doing. When Fazal burst into anger and grabbed a monk’s robe, the situation got uglier. Mentally, Than Kin was already prepared for this kind of confrontation. He informed the army camp which was close by. Within a few minutes, troops arrived and took Karim and Fazal to the camp.