Having washed her face, she stands in front
of the mirror, remembering the days when she would sleep till noon on summer
and winter breaks. Her father would never let them to wake early. Now, she has
to wake up as early as 5AM. She looks back at the bed where Deki is still
sleeping. Switching off the light, she heads towards the kitchen where her
mother has started boiling water and cooking rice for a few workers who eat
breakfast here.
Her work is to get the flour ready for
momo. Workers take momo in the lunch. Her mother stands at the gas stove,
walking past her; she takes out a bowl out from the metallic rack. Keeping it
down on the floor, she mixes flour with water. Her head aches, as she could not
sleep well last night shocked by her mother’s words to marry that manager.
After her mother left the room, she chatted with Chophel. He asked about the
result. He consoled her talking about other ways of making a living. She felt
good to have his support. Chatting with him for hours, she forgot about her
mother’s words. She cannot tell him about that.
Dawn breaks. Time moves fast. Soon, the
company workers start to move tro-and-fro. Breakfast is ready. Waiting for the
morning customers, standing behind the counter Aum Wangmo calls, “Dema, where
is Deki?”
Walking past her, she goes directly to the
bedroom. Pushing the door, she goes directly to the bed where Deki is still
sleeping. Nudging her shoulder, she wakes her up. Opening her eyes reluctantly,
Deki looks at her.
“What time is it?”
“7.”
Forcing her sleepy body off the bed, as
Deki disappears into the bathroom, Dema walks back to the kitchen. Eyes
reddened by onions, she bends and takes another onion from the bowl when her
mother shouts from the counter, “Two rice.”
Standing up immediately, taking out two
plates from the rack she fills them up. As she arranges the plates and cups on
the tray, she expects Deki to walk in but there is no sign of her. Then,
lifting the tray, she walks to the table, where two young men sit nearby the
bukhari. Standing in front of them, she keeps the tray on the table. One of
them looks at her directly and comments, “Aunty, who is she?”
Smiling at them, her mother replies, “My
daughter, sir.”
Taking the tray, she walks back to the
kitchen when the same man says, “So, you have two beautiful daughters?”
“Yes, sir.”
Deki is not in the kitchen. Morning
customers fill up the room, some asking for tea and some fried rice. Her mother
is frying rice when she looks at her, “Where is Deki?”
She walks to the bedroom and finds Deki
sleeping. Waking her up, she goes back to the kitchen. On the way, the same man
stops her. Looking at her, he says, “I am done.”
Walking to the counter, she stands there
waiting for him to come and pay the bill. Walking towards the counter he takes
out his wallet and pays the bill.
Looking at him, Dema says, “Sir, do you
have credit?”
“Nope, why?”
“If you have, you need to clear your dues,”
says Dema, making a serious face.
Saying no words, he walks away as if
frightened by her face, something which she is not supposed to do because it’s
her mother’s advice to be good to customers. Going back to the kitchen, she
gets back to her momo making. Then, Deki stands at the door, looking very
clumsy.
Looking at her, mother says, “You are
late.”
“Today, we are supposed to be going for
shopping,” says Deki, looking at her mother, who slides the fried rice down on
to the plate.
“Take this to Table 3.”
Walking inside, Deki takes the tray and
heads towards the table. What has happened to her mother? She looks so lost in
this canteen thing. Confused by this, Dema keeps making momo when Deki walks
back.
“Mom, aren’t we going for shopping today?”
Looking back at her, her mother fires, “Can
we talk about that later?”
Then, a man stands at the counter. Turning
her face, Deki walks to the counter. Then, keeping the man standing at the
counter, she walks back to kitchen and stands at the door.
“This man has credit but he is not willing
to pay.”
On hearing this, Aum Wangmo walks out to
the counter. Looking at the man, she says, “You have credit. Please!”
“It’s order from our manager not to pay our
dues.”
“What?”
“You can call him.”
Surprised by this man words, walking back
to the kitchen she picks up her phone and calls the manager. Talking with him
for a while, she hangs up the phone, face looking very sad.
Looking at her, Dema asks, “What is it
mother?”
Standing at the by the gas stove, her
mother asks, “What have you decided?”
“Decided?”
“About the marriage?”
Keeping her head down, Dema does not say a
word.
Keeping her knees on the floor, Aum Wangmo
looks at her, “Dema, you need to understand something. This manager lent me
money to start this canteen. I owe him 5 lakhs. If I cannot pay back, I will be
jailed and you two will suffer. If he marries you, he does not want the money.
If you don’t marry him, he will do anything to fulfil his desire.”
Story by: Phurpa Dorji (PJIKKS)
Chapter 3 Tomorrow @9PM
