The buzzing sound of the alarm from his
phone wakes him up. Grabbing the phone from the table, he opens his eyes to
switch it off. When he is about to press the power off button, he finds that
it’s 10AM. Forcing his body up immediately, he jumps off the bed with headache
lingering in his head. Grabbing the towel off the hook, he rushes towards the
bathroom, swinging his body side to side. Getting inside, he takes a glance at
the mirror and the swollen red eyes shock him. Today is the vice president
promotion day and he has to be in the office by now. Ignoring his eyes, he
takes out his tooth brush and squeezing the toothpaste, he waters his mouth.
Toweling his face, he goes to the bed and
sliding the drawer, he takes out a pain killer tablet. Only way to fight hang
over is to drink. Sadly, he has no drink in the fridge. Swallowing the tablet,
he opens the cupboard, his shivering hand grabbing a new gho for the today’s
ceremony. Draping the gho as fast as he can, he looks at the mirror. He looks
old and drunk.
“I thank you all for supporting me and as
the Vice President of this company, I . . .” before he can finish his speech
practice, his phone rings. Tightening kera round his waist, he grabs the phone.
It’s Yangchen.
“Morning.”
Yangchen speaks into the phone, when he
finds a handwritten paper beside his pillow.
Picking up the paper with the legal stamps
and his signature at the bottom, he reads it, speaking to phone, “Morning, I
will start my journey towards Trongsa soon after my scarf ceremony. I will call
you.”
“Congratulations, the Vice President,” says
Yangchen, “I will be waiting.”
“Thanks.”
Hanging up the phone, he reads the last
line of the document. Dropping the paper down on the floor, he grabs the car
key from the hanger behind the door and rushes out of the room. Rushing down
the staircase supporting his frail body on the handrails, the pain killer
tablet numbing his headache, he unlocks the car and gets inside fighting the
winter cold when his neighbor knocks on the window.
Lowering the window glass down, Khandu
looks at him, “How can I help you, sir?”
Smiling broadly, the neigbour hangs his
head inside through the window and says, “You may not remember, what you have
done last night. But I hope, you might have seen the document.”
“Document?”
He pretends not to have seen it.
“Yeah, the one which you signed last night
in front of three witnesses. I have the footage of the signing and your
promise,” says the man, showing him the video on his phone.
“Can we talk later? I have got meeting to
attend. I will be back,” says Khandu, starting the car, having finished
watching the footage.
The man looks at the inside of the car
carefully and sighs tapping the car, “You still have 12 hours. Enjoy your last
drive.”
Without warming up the engine, he reverses
the car and backs it out from the parking into the main road and speeds up
towards his office. Mid way to the office, slowing down his car, he looks for
his phone. But it’s not in the car. He might have left at the house only. He
cannot go back now, as he is already late. Stopping by a shop, he buys chewing
gum and freshens his beer smelly mouth. He has to thank and hug his colleagues,
so need to be fresh. Driving for a few more minutes, ignoring his neighbour’s
words and the legally signed document from his bed, finally his office building
comes into the sight.
Parking the car, he gets out, surprised by
the silence in front of the building. Only a few cars. As he walks into the
lobby, expecting lots of smiling faces, to his dismay, even the receptionist
desk is empty today.
“Oh, maybe they are at the conference hall,
waiting for me,” says Khandu to himself and walks up the staircase leading to
the conference hall. Making his gho, taking another chewing gum, he walks along
the corridor, being worried about how to face the audience. Standing in front
of the door, he takes a long breath and he practises his smile, stretching his
cheek out, showing his white teeth. Breathing heavily, he grabs the door knob
and is about to push, when someone shouts from the behind, “Hello, sir.”
Taking his hand away from the door, he
turns his back slowly. A young man, stands behind him a few metres away from
him, maybe he is an intern here.
“Yes, sir?”
He asks the man and he smiles back at him,
“Please, follow me sir.”
Walking away from the hall, he follows the
man silently. The man takes him to the President’s office directly. He stands
outside. Pushing the door slowly, Khandu walks in. Surprisingly, only President
stands nearby the window, looking out.
“Morning sir.”
Khandu greets seeking his attention. Facing
him, the President observes him carefully.
“Oh, Khandu. You are late.”
Then, the company’s finance officer walks
in with a file in his hand. Taking the file from his hand, the President slides
the file towards him.
“Please, sit and sign this paper.”
Sitting down, he takes the file in front of
him and is about to read the first line of the document, when the President
says, “Please, sign it. Here is the pen.”
Without reading, his shaky hand grabbing
the pen from pen holder, he signs the document. Taking the file from him, the
President says, “You are officially fired now.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have embezzled our company’s money and
don’t act innocent. Police are waiting outside,” says the President to him,
looking at the door he calls out, “Namgay, call the police now.”
Not believing if this is a reality or
dream, Khandu stands up and walks towards the door. As he steps out of the
office, Tencho stops him, smiling.
Standing in front of him, Tencho says, “I
am so sorry, Khandu. Sometimes, things happen for good reason.”
Slapping hard on his face, he pushes Tencho
away when the man standing at the door, holds him. Covering his reddened cheek,
Tencho smiles making a sarcastic face, “Happy life in the jail.”
Khandu shouts at the top of his voice, “You
son of, I will …”
Then Khandu sees a police hilux approaching
the building. Parking the car, a few policemen get out. As they walk towards
the entrance, Khandu says to himself, “Why is this happening to me?”
In the paper found back at his house from
his bed, it was mentioned that he came drunk last night and tried to rape the
neigbour aunty, sneaking into her bedroom. The legally signed document
contained his statement agreeing to have done that. The footage shown to him by
the neigbour contained his statements speaking verbally in front of the
witness. Last night, after calling Yangchen, he could remember nothing about
the incident that followed. A slight memory of woman shouting out of fright flashed
in his dream. So, the last line of the document read, “I agree to give my car
as a compensation for the mental disturbance caused to this woman, and the
victim agrees not to report the case to police.” Which means, he has to give
his car to the neigbour, that’s why the neigbour said, “Enjoy your last drive.”
Now, the embezzlement case. As the police
walk up the stairs, he asks to himself, “Why is this happening to me?”
Getting no response, he looks up at the
ceiling, “Please, forgive me if I have sinned.”
Policemen land taking the last step of
staircase and walk towards him when he runs away from them and jumps off the
corridor on the to lobby, smashing his head hard on the concrete, blood
smearing the floor.
Sleeping the child, Yangchen picks up the
phone and dials Khandu’s number. She has called him hundred times but he is not
responding the call. Now it says, it’s switched off. Keeping the phone down,
she looks at her mother who is standing at the door.
“Is he responding?”
“Nope. Let other go.”
She checks her time on the phone and it’s
9PM now. She has planned a surprise party for Khandu. She called her friends
from the village and they have been waiting since 5PM. Not knowing what to say,
she stands up. Going to her friends, she lies, “I am extremely, sorry. He will
be late today because of the scarf ceremony at his company, he will come
tomorrow only.”
Shocked by these words, her friends say,
“Okay, no problem. Let’s celebrate tomorrow.”
As her friends leave her house one by one,
finally Yuden rushes to her, “Mom, Apa is coming, right?”
“Yes, Princess. He will tomorrow.”
“Ama, do you love him?”
“Yes, I do.”
Keeping her head on her lap, Yuden closes
her eyes saying, “I miss him.”
“I miss him, too. But don’t worry, he is
coming,” says Yangchen, caressing Yuden’s hair gently, looking at the full moon
through the window. Then the sudden ring of her phone frightens her. Grabbing
the phone from her room, her mother hands her the phone. It’s a new number.
She answers excitedly, “Hello.”
Listening to the phone for a few minutes,
she drops the phone on the floor. Tears clouding her eyes, looking at her
mother, Yangchen says, “He has left this world, Ama.”
(NOTE. Thank you everyone for being part of
Nge Michu and wish you all a very Happy New Year in advance. Your readership
inspires me and keep encouraging me. Catch you all soon with another story.
With Love,
Phurpa Dorji (PJIKKS)
