Outlaw in India (12 page)

THE FURTHER FROM THE
coast we travelled, the drier the ground
became. We drove through hills at first, with woods everywhere and pretty pink
and grey temples. And there were monkeys in the trees. Then we reached a
plateau, and the woods became thinner and drier. Some of the hillsides were
nothing but rock, and there were strange-looking boulders lying around as if
giants had carried them there and dropped them because they had become too heavy
to carry any further. India was the most fascinating land to explore, it really
was. You could never get bored looking out the window of a car or a train.

Melissa was a tireless driver. I was impressed. She drove with
both hands on the wheel and kept her eyes on the road the whole time. When
she talked, she didn’t look away from the road. She drove in two-hour chunks,
exactly, then pulled off the road for a fifteen-minute rest and picnic. We
opened the boot of the Jaguar and shared a snack of cookies or bread, with
water, lemonade, or iced tea. It was nice. Hollie would whine every time Melissa
started to slow down and would jump out and run all over the place. And Seaweed
would come too because he was always in a picnic mood.

On the first day, we drove almost as far as Wardha before calling it quits. We
drove into a large field where other travellers had already set up tents.
Twilight was in the air; you could see it and smell it. Twilight in India
smelled like water—the smell it makes when it is evaporating. If you closed your
eyes you could almost imagine it smelled like fog, but it wasn’t fog.

We chose a spot to pitch the tent, not too close to the other campers, and not
too far away. Melissa felt it was safer to stay close to other travellers but I
didn’t want to be right next to anyone else. We pulled out the tent, set it up,
took out our sleeping mats and put them inside. We had thin sheets but not
sleeping bags. It was too hot for sleeping bags. The tent had mesh windows to
keep mosquitoes out. Melissa warned us not to leave the tent flap open even for
a second or the mosquitoes would come in and we’d never get any sleep. It wasn’t
the mosquitoes I was worried about.

Inside the tent we sat on our mats and Melissa served us cold rice, veggies and
fruit. We washed everything down with
water. Darkness fell
quickly and we could see lights in the other tents and hear sounds of families
talking and monkeys chattering and even the howling of dogs in the distance.
They sounded like coyotes but they couldn’t be, not in India. We were going to
pass animal reserves tomorrow and the next day, where there were tigers,
leopards, wild boar and elephants. Melissa said that maybe we could see some
tigers if we got an early start the day after tomorrow. Sounded good to me. How
I wished the road was just a river and I was in my sub, and could moor it
wherever I wanted and explore to my heart’s content. There were so many things
to see here—temples, caves, animals, strange geographical formations, cities . .
. yet we were travelling with a purpose. We were on a pilgrimage.

After eating, we washed with wet facecloths, lay down on our mats and let the
warm air brush over us. Soon Radji was talking anxiously in his sleep and
Melissa was snoring like an elephant. Hollie buried his head beneath my feet and
Seaweed bedded down like the Buddha at the door. I didn’t want to leave Seaweed
outside with dangerous animals in the neighbourhood.

The second day was like the first. The Jaguar roared along the ridges of a land
growing drier all the time, yet still treed and populated with people, monkeys
and birds. I hadn’t seen a single bird of prey yet but they must have been out
there somewhere. I was sure Seaweed was watching for them. He seemed to enjoy
riding on the roof. It gave him the wind he
would normally
only have at great heights and he didn’t have to work for it. Not that he was
lazy; he wasn’t.

But it was a sleepy ride—this hot, hazy, dry landscape would surely have been a
desert if you took the trees away. I didn’t know how Melissa could stay awake
and be so alert, but she did. She reminded me of my grandmother and grandfather
in that way: they did whatever they had to do, no matter what. Of course Melissa
had slept, as had Radji. I hadn’t. I had spent all night listening to them cry
and snore.

I was drifting in and out of consciousness as we rolled along, lost in my
imagination and daydreams, even as Radji and I kept a game of chess on the go,
however slowly. And then, from the backseat came two little words and my sleepy
world was rudely awakened. They were just two words—joined together into one
word—that I never thought I’d ever hear Radji say. I even thought it was a poor
attempt at a joke on his part. But it wasn’t. He said the words softly but sort
of how a bank robber might speak during a robbery. “Checkmate!”

“No way!” I said, even before I looked at the board. There was no way it was
checkmate. It couldn’t be. I would have seen it coming. I jumped up and turned
around. “Let me see.”

Radji handed me the board. He was so excited he was breathing heavily, but that
was the only sign that he was excited because he was hiding it so well. I stared
at the game. I was certainly in checkmate but it didn’t make sense. I knew I
would have seen it coming. I wasn’t
that
sleepy.

“Checkmate,” Radji said again in case I hadn’t heard him the
first time.

I stared at the pieces. Something wasn’t right. “Ahhhh . . . there it is! My
knight wasn’t there; it was here!” I leaned over and showed Radji where my
knight was supposed to be. He looked at the board, looked at me, and shook his
head. “No.”

Oh! The little monkey! “Yes, it was! It must have gotten moved. Maybe you
bumped it by accident.”

“No.”

“Well, maybe it got bumped when the car hit a pothole.”

“What’s a pothole?”

“A hole in the road.”

“No.”

I stared at Radji and he stared at me. The thought that maybe he had cheated
started to run through my head but I chased it out. I did not want to think that
Radji would have cheated. I really didn’t believe that he would.

“Checkmate,” he said again, and he was breathing harder.

I stared at this ten-year-old boy in the backseat with such mixed feelings. I
desperately did not want him to beat me at chess, especially after only a few
weeks of playing, and being almost seven years younger than me. That was one
part of me speaking inside and it was pretty loud. The other part didn’t want to
take the win away from him when he had been working so hard for it and loved it
so much. I really felt that the fairest thing to do would be to start the game
over again. That’s what I would have said to someone if I found myself in
Radji’s shoes. But I wasn’t in his shoes. And . . . it
was
just a game, well, it didn’t
feel
like just a game. But it
was.

“Okay. You’re right. No quarter.”

“No quarter,” Radji said. And then, to Melissa, as if she hadn’t heard the
whole thing, he said, “I won.”

“
Did
you?” said Melissa, and then she made a big fuss over it. I took a
deep breath and stared out the window. Radji set up the board to play another
game right away. There’s nothing like winning your first game to inspire you. We
played four more games before stopping for the second night, and I never showed
Radji any quarter whatsoever, kind of hoping that it would prove to him that
there must have been a mistake, but his confidence in his win was never shaken.
I had to accept it.

There were brightly painted buses in the field where we camped the second
night. There was music and singing in the air and the smell of barbeques. Radji,
Hollie and I wandered over to take a peek. The pilgrims were sitting on the
ground: one group for men and one for women. Fires lit up their faces. The
singing was soft and happy. Radji stood and stared for a long time. He had such
a wistful look on his face that I couldn’t help watching him. He wanted so much
to belong to a group or a family.

We ate and went to bed. I was exhausted but Radji’s crying out and Melissa’s
snoring kept me awake again for a long time. Then, when I finally did fall
asleep, I fell into the weirdest dream. We were at sea. There had been a great
storm and all the fish and creatures of the deep had come to the surface
to see what it was like. Sea creatures were swimming,
slithering and crawling closer to the sub but Seaweed was chasing them away.
Radji was in an open dory on the other side and he was drifting and crying. I
wanted to go after him but the sub wouldn’t work. Then Hollie jumped into the
sea and swam after Radji, and I yelled after him. The next moment, Melissa was
tugging at my shoulder and calling in my ear. “We must get going if you want to
see the tigers.”

Tigers? I raised my head. Oh, yah. We were not at sea; we were in India.
Cool.

THE TIGER STEPPED OUT
of the bushes and walked up behind the
Jeep while everyone was looking towards the front. Then someone turned and saw
it and let out a raspy cry that sounded like a rooster. There were ten of us
crammed into the customized Jeep. Everyone turned around and watched the tiger
cross the road. Halfway across, it stopped, turned, and looked at us. It opened
its mouth into a gigantic yawn. Then, it shut its mouth, licked its lips and
finished crossing the road. Everyone was so stunned it had come so close to us
that no one even thought to take a picture. It was really beautiful,
surprisingly tall, and so long! Its fur was colourful, almost hypnotic. I tried
to imagine a time when tigers had roamed all over India, as wolves had once
roamed across Canada. Now, there
were almost none, except up
north. So many people, crowding out the worlds of other creatures. Why were
humans so destructive to other creatures? I looked at Radji. Why were they so
unfriendly to their own people?

We also saw trees full of monkeys, a flock of interesting-looking birds, and
two wild boars that ran incredibly fast. But it was the tiger that captured our
attention. It was such a powerful and mysterious animal. I would never forget
the look on its face as it yawned, as if it were saying, “I could run over there
and eat you for breakfast but I don’t think I will bother right now.”

It was a two-hour ride in the Jeep for a thousand rupees, which Melissa had
generously paid, then we climbed into the Jaguar and got back on the road.

The dryness and openness of the country continued endlessly, but there were
more cars on the road now and more shanties and shacks the further north we
drove. People constructed shanties in such a clever way. Against the trunk of a
large tree they would lean wood timbers and cover them with sheets of wood or
metal or bamboo or even grass to form a roof. The largest trees would support
three or even four such dwellings. They were structures that a typhoon would
easily rip apart and blow away. But India didn’t seem to be the sort of place
where typhoons or devastating storms would often strike. No doubt rain would
come in the monsoon, very heavy rain too. But we wouldn’t see it. We would not
be here then.

Seaweed sat on his perch on the roof, Hollie stood on his
hind legs at the window with the air blowing his fur back on his face,
Melissa held onto the wheel with both hands and a firm gaze upon the road, and
Radji kept his eyes fixed on the chess set as we were swept up in greater
numbers of cars, buses, rickshaws and trucks. In this traffic we were still
hours from the city. And then, as chance would have it, we came around a turn in
the road and saw something that disturbed us. There was a rich-looking man
standing beside a rich-looking car, which appeared to have broken down, or
perhaps he had run out of gas. In front of him was another car, an old,
beaten-up car. Out of that car had come a group of young men, and there was
something not right about them. We all felt it right away. You could tell that
the rich man was uncomfortable too. They seemed to be taunting or threatening
him. We saw all of this in just a few seconds. Were they intending to rob him?
The rich man was looking anxiously at the line of cars passing and was hoping
desperately that someone would stop. And Melissa did. Very suddenly!

Skidding to a stop, the Jaguar sent a cloud of dust into the air. It startled
both the rich man and the suspicious-looking younger men. Melissa was as bold as
a tiger. It was something I really liked about her. She opened her door, climbed
out and went right towards the group. I told Radji to stay where he was and went
after her.

“What is going on here?” she barked. She went right past the young men, who
stepped back. She approached the rich man. “Are you having trouble?”

The rich man was very relieved. “Thank you, madam, for
stopping. My car has stopped working; I have no idea what is wrong. I must
get into the city right away, I have important business. These young men . . . I
don’t have a good feeling here. We must be very careful.”

Melissa turned and glared at the young men. I stood beside her. There were five
of them. If they tried anything bad I would do everything I could to defend her
but I was nervous. What if they were carrying weapons? I thought of Radji and
Hollie in the car. I needed to protect them too.

“Lock your car,” Melissa said to the man. “Take your valuables with you.” Then
she glared at the men again. She was so tough; I was impressed. I tried to stand
a little taller, stick out my chest and look angry. But the young men didn’t
look afraid, just uncertain. I felt it was only a matter of time before they
tried to do something, maybe rob the man or steal his car, I didn’t know. They
were definitely not here to help.

The rich man took his jacket and briefcase, locked his car and walked with us
to the Jaguar. He looked at his car worriedly.

“Come,” said Melissa firmly, and he did. She climbed into the front and I took
my seat as usual and he opened the back door. Then he saw Radji and stopped. No,
I thought, surely he won’t make a fuss about that now? He did. He stared at
Radji, who dropped his head and hid his hands beneath his thighs. Seeing this,
the rich man frowned. He turned and looked back at his car with a terribly
worried expression on his face.

“Get in!” barked Melissa. But he wouldn’t. The young men
started to edge closer. The rich man stared at Radji again and made an
angry face. “I sit in the front,” he said. I shook my head, though it was
Melissa’s car. It was her decision. “Get in!” she barked again.

“I sit in the front!” he insisted.

“You sit in the front in your car,” she said angrily. “In my car you will sit
in the back. We are leaving. Get in or get out!”

Melissa put the Jaguar in gear. The rich man took one last frantic look at his
car and the young men approaching, jumped inside beside Radji and we took
off.

He looked at Radji with fear, as if he thought he was going to catch leprosy or
something. Radji didn’t turn away from him as I thought he would. He surprised
me. He raised his head and with determination turned and looked directly at the
man. The man turned away and stared out the window. He was offended. Then Radji
did something else that surprised me even more. He opened up the chess set on
the seat between himself and the rich man and set up the pieces. The man
couldn’t help peeking to see what the little boy was up to, then stared at the
chess set with intense curiosity before turning away again. After a while, Radji
said in a slightly sweet, slightly irritating voice, “I can beat you.” He was
actually talking to the rich man. I couldn’t believe it.

The rich man was wearing expensive clothes. Every hair on his head was in
place. He wore a shiny, expensive watch and big gold rings on his fingers, which
were fat. Even his teeth glistened with gold and silver. On top of that, he was
wearing more perfume than Melissa. Radji spoke again, quietly, but
with conviction, as if it were a simple truth. “I can beat
you.”

This was too much for the rich man. He turned and glared at Radji with a
furious look. Then he spoke back. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

Melissa made a quick turn of her head and blew Radji a kiss. It was her way of
saying that his place in the car was secure; the rich man was on shaky ground.
Radji pushed the game a little closer to the man and insisted, “I can.” Then he
moved his pawn. The man saw the move out of the corner of his eye. I couldn’t
take my eyes away from him. You could almost see his thoughts turning around in
his head. I wished I could have heard them. I tried to see the hundreds of men
standing in front of him. Were they all merchants? Were they all wearing fine
clothes, fancy jewellery and rich perfumes? Did they own large pieces of land
and fancy palaces? Did they hunt tigers for sport?

As we drove closer to the heart of the city and were swept up in thicker
traffic we had to slow down. The rich man continued to stare intensely at the
chess board in front of him. He was debating with himself. I saw him turn and
look out the window. We were passing one of the very poor areas. His eyes rested
on a group of poor people huddled around a small fire in the centre of a road.
Then he turned and stared at Radji, and his eyes fell on the chess board once
more. Radji was staring at his own pawn that he had moved, waiting. The rich man
sighed, reached over with his heavily ringed fingers and moved his pawn.

It was the strangest chess game I ever witnessed. Radji played
as he always played, with an intense concentration that took all of his
energy. The rich man played with a look of anger on his face, as if he were
doing something he knew he shouldn’t but couldn’t help himself, like playing a
game with the devil or something. The devil had challenged him and he had
accepted, only so that he could prove himself a better man and put an end to
this madness.

But it wasn’t so easy for the rich man. I saw as he tried to pull a fast one on
Radji, a quick seven-move check-mate. It didn’t work. Radji saw it coming! I was
impressed. But then the rich man made a really clever move, and I didn’t think
Radji saw it. Suddenly I felt my gut twist up inside. Radji moved his hand
towards his bishop. I saw what he was planning to do but if he moved his bishop
he was going to lose his knight a couple of moves later. I couldn’t bear it and
so I did something I knew I shouldn’t have done. I coughed. I coughed when I
didn’t have to cough. I couldn’t help it. Radji hesitated. Had he heard me and
understood? I wasn’t sure, but he hesitated. He took more time and scanned the
board. He didn’t move his bishop. Thank heavens!

The rings on the rich man’s fingers were made of the finest gold. I knew that
because I had once found a small chest with twenty gold coins on our maiden
voyage, and I learned that the best gold was a soft yellow, almost like cheese
or honey. There were diamonds on his rings too. I was sure they were worth more
than the Jaguar; or maybe even Melissa’s house, or maybe even the sub. But they
didn’t actually do anything except look fat and shiny on his fingers.

The game grew intense. The rich man started to sweat and
Radji started to breathe heavily. They both lost pawns. Radji lost his other
knight and the rich man lost one of his knights. And then, the rich man was just
a move away from capturing Radji’s rook. If he took it, the game would swing
quickly in his favour. I started to get that twist in my gut again. I watched
Radji closely. He could see that his rook was in trouble and he was trying to
save it but didn’t know how. He reached for his bishop and pulled his hand back.
He reached for a pawn and pulled his hand back. He was confused. Then he went
for his knight but hesitated. It was the worst move. If he made that move he
would lose both his rook and his knight. I couldn’t bear it. I raised my hands
over my head in a fake yawn and yawned loudly, shaking my head from side to
side. Radji pulled his fingers away from his knight. I dropped my head in shame.
I had become nothing but a cheat.