Outlaw in India (9 page)

I SMELLED COFFEE
. Melissa was awake. I looked down at Hollie and
he looked up at me. “There are snakes here, Hollie. Snakes. Watch out for
snakes, okay?”

There was a wooden veranda that wrapped around the house. The branches of trees
reached down and touched it as if the trees were trying to make the house part
of the forest. The monkeys had the run of the roof. I didn’t trust those
monkeys. I didn’t know why, but there was something about their movement that
just struck me as untrustworthy. They were small, brown, skinny monkeys with
long tails. They ran around quickly, stopped suddenly and stared to see if we
were watching, as if they were hiding something. Hollie sniffed at
them from the ground. I didn’t think he trusted them either.
“Watch out for the monkeys too, Hollie.” I knew that he would.

We stepped onto the porch and our feet made hollow drum sounds, almost like
music. Melissa came to the door and spoke from the other side of a dark mosquito
screen. “Well. You made it up the river all right. Where is your boat?”

“I tied it to your boathouse.”

“Yes, well, you will have to remove my boat first before you can put yours
inside. You can tie mine up on the riverbank for the while. Do come in. I’ve
just made coffee.”

We left our sneakers on the porch and entered the house in bare feet. Melissa’s
house was beautiful inside. At a glance it looked like a museum to me. There was
lots of really old, fancy, carved furniture. There were paintings, tapestries
and photographs on the walls— mostly old ones, and some very beautiful ones.
There was one photograph in particular, of a young woman standing in a field,
staring out at the vastness. The girl reminded me of Melissa in a way, and I
wondered if it was her when she was young. She led us into the kitchen where we
sat down at the table, and she served us very dark coffee with cream and sugar.
Radji was shy about coming inside. He watched me put cream and sugar in my
coffee and did everything exactly the way I did it. Melissa put a plate of
cookies in front of us and I took one, broke a piece off and gave it to Hollie,
so Radji did the same.

“How big is your boat?” I asked.

“Not so big. I suppose it is fifteen feet or so. It is a rowboat.
It is very old but very dependable. My father had it for
years and years before me. That is the way things are in India— people keep
things for a very long time.”

I took a bite of the cookie. It was old too. “When did you move here?”

“What, to this house?”

“No, to India.”

She looked at me strangely. “My dear young man, I was born here. I’ve lived in
India all my life, except for a few years in a finishing school in London.
Awful
place!”

“Oh.” I gave the rest of my cookie to Hollie. Radji didn’t. He was enjoying
them more than I was. “May I take a look at your boat?”

“Yes, by all means. Come. I’ll show it to you.”

We stood up but Radji stayed where he was. He looked at me, waiting for me to
tell him what to do. “We’ll be right back, Radji. Enjoy the cookies.”

“Yes, indeed,” said Melissa. “Eat them all. I was about to throw them out
anyway.”

So, Melissa and I went out to the boathouse, and Radji and Hollie stayed behind
at the kitchen table. I still hadn’t told her about the sub; I figured I’d just
let her see it. That would be easier than trying to explain it. But when she saw
it she didn’t seem to understand. She just stared at it for a long time before
she said anything. I just waited. Finally, she spoke. “That’s a
submarine.”

“Yes.”

“You came here in a submarine.”

“Yes.”

“You travel around the world in a submarine?”

I nodded.

“Well, isn’t that something? What is the world coming to? Where did you find
such a thing?”

“I helped somebody else make it. He’s really good at designing and building
things. He’s a genius actually.”

“Well, I suppose he’d have to be, wouldn’t he? Now I understand why you were so
peculiar about your boat. It isn’t a boat at all, it’s a submarine. Well, do you
think it will fit inside my boathouse?”

“I think so, once we remove your boat.”

“Yes, well let’s have a look shall we?”

Melissa opened the boathouse door but there was nothing inside. She stared with
disbelief.

“Oh! My Heavens! It has been stolen!”

“Really?” I peeked inside and saw nothing but water. “When was the last time
you checked it?”

“The boat? Oh. I don’t know. It has been a few years, I guess. Let me see. Oh,
I suppose it must be ten years or so, maybe a little more.”

I tried hard not to smile. I had a good idea where the boat was. “I think I
know where it is.”

“You do?”

I nodded and pointed down. Melissa looked. “Down . . . under the water?”

“Yup.”

We would have been able to see it if it weren’t so dark inside the
boathouse.

“But a boat wouldn’t just sink all by itself would it?”

“Yes. It would, if it was old enough.”

She made a face like a disappointed child. “Oh, phooey! It was such a nice boat
too. Do you think there is any way we can rescue it?”

“It’s unlikely. If it was rotten enough to sink, it’s probably too rotten to
refinish. But I can pull it up with my sub and we’ll have a look at it.”

Melissa stared at the water with her face cradled in her hand. “Everything gets
old. Everything. Ahhh, well . . . let’s have some more coffee, shall we?”

I followed her back to the house. When we came inside, Radji was no longer
sitting at the table. He was squatting on the floor next to Hollie in the
threshold of the doorway to another room. He raised his head and looked a little
guilty, as he always looked inside a house or a building, especially with people
around. Melissa noticed he had moved but didn’t say anything. She poured us more
coffee, excused herself and went into the other room. When she came back, she
was wearing a dark frown. Something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’m sorry to say that we have a thief in our midst.”

“What? A thief?”

She looked down at Radji. “I’m afraid so. Can you tell me,
please, where my necklace is before this becomes a big problem?”

I looked at Radji and could tell that he had no idea what she was talking
about.

“When we left the house just a few minutes ago my precious pearl necklace was
sitting on my dresser. Now it is gone.”

“Are you certain it was there?”

“Of course I am certain! I have only one pearl necklace. I was cleaning it just
this morning.”

Melissa never took her eyes off Radji. “I’m very sorry to say that I believe
that you took it. Would you give it back to me now, please?”

Radji turned from Melissa to me with a terrible look on his face. I could tell
that being accused of stealing was probably about the worst thing that could
happen to him. He was ready to burst into tears.

“He didn’t take it,” I said.

“How do you know he didn’t take it? You were with me the whole time. He was
alone in the house. Who else could have taken it?”

“I don’t know who took it but it wasn’t Radji.”

“Listen, Alfred, necklaces don’t go missing by themselves. Someone had to take
it, and he was the only one. He’s just a street kid; of course he’s a thief.
Look at his face!”

The word thief cut through Radji like a knife in his heart. I saw that he was
breathing very heavily. I had to get him out of here. “Come on, Radji. Let’s
go.”

“Where are you going?” said Melissa with alarm.

“We’re leaving,” I said. “We’re sure as heck not going to
hang around with somebody who is accusing us of being thieves. Come on,
Radji.”

“I’m not accusing you, just him.”

Radji jumped up, wiggled past Melissa and took my hand like a little child.
Melissa made a move towards him, and I stepped in her way. “He didn’t take it!”
I said to her.

We went outside and started across the yard towards the sub. Melissa followed
us. Radji was still holding my hand. “Don’t worry about it, Radji. She’s a
dingbat.”

“What’s a dingbat?” Radji asked between heavy breaths.

“I’ll tell you later. Let’s go.”

“
Wait
!” said Melissa.

We stopped and turned around. I stared at her. In the sun, without her hat, she
looked more like the girl in the photograph, except much older and sadder.

“He didn’t take it.”

“Then where did it go?”

“How should I know?”

“Look. How long have you known him?”

“I don’t know. A couple of weeks. What difference does it make? He’s not a
thief.”

I turned around again. I couldn’t wait to get away. What a waste of time it had
been coming here. I untied the sub’s rope from the boathouse and we climbed into
the kayak. Melissa followed us right down to the bank. She was getting more
upset. “Necklaces don’t go missing all by themselves.”

I ignored her.

“I cleaned it just this morning.”

I paddled to the sub and Radji climbed up. I passed Hollie to him.

“Will you just wait for a second?”

Now she sounded as though she were about to cry. I felt a little bit sorry for
her but I was more angry that she was accusing Radji of being a thief.

“Can we just talk about it for a minute?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. He didn’t take your necklace.”

“Then . . . then what could have happened to it?”

“I don’t know.” I looked up then and saw the monkeys watching us from the
trees. I had a sudden thought. “Maybe the monkeys took it.”

“No, it couldn’t be the monkeys. They’ve never stolen anything from me. I’ve
lived here all my life.”

I climbed onto the sub and pulled up the kayak. “Well, that’s where I would
look for it if I were you.” I reached for the anchor rope.

“Will you then, Alfred?”

“What?”

“Will you check the monkeys?”

I stopped and looked over at her. “Check the monkeys?”

“Would you, please, since that’s what you said
you
would do?”

I took a deep breath and sighed. I looked at Radji. “I’ll be
right back.” I took the kayak over, tied up the sub again and went across
the yard towards the trees. Melissa followed me. The monkeys saw me coming and
kicked up a fuss. When I went to the centre tree where I had seen them hanging
out as a group, they started screeching at me, trying to frighten me away. I put
my hands on the tree and started climbing up. I was in no mood to be scared off
by a bunch of noisy monkeys.

In a gullet in the tree where it branched out in all directions, the monkeys
had created a neat little cache. The gullet was a deep round hole, the size of a
mixing bowl. It was dirty and stinky, filled with bits of leaves and bark and
sticky stuff. But it also contained coins, keys, bottle caps, bracelets, rings,
and who knew what else. Sitting on top, like a shiny white caterpillar, was
Melissa’s pearl necklace.

MELISSA STARED AT THE
necklace in disbelief. “But . . . but they
never stole anything from me before. Isn’t it a terrible coincidence that . .
.”

I held out my other hand with a collection of rings, bracelets, keys and bottle
caps. They smelled so badly I couldn’t wait to wash my hands. Melissa’s mouth
dropped open. “My rings! Oh my Heavens! I haven’t seen these for . . . for over
thirty years!”

She stared at me as if I had performed a magic trick.

“I need to wash my hands.”

“Of course. Come into the kitchen, please.”

I followed her inside, dropped the junk into a bowl she put
on the counter then started washing my hands. I scrubbed them hard with
soap. The monkeys’ loot was really stinky.

“Will you apologize to Radji?”

If she didn’t, we wouldn’t stay. I didn’t feel like staying anyway.

“Of course I will. I do know when I have made a mistake, you know.”

It wasn’t easy to coax Radji out of the sub onto Melissa’s property again. She
was standing there looking so stern, her feet planted on the ground like a goat
not meaning to budge. I could tell it wasn’t easy for her to apologize, though
she was determined to. But all Radji saw was an angry look on her face.

I took the kayak to the sub and told him she wanted to say she was sorry. He
didn’t know what to make of that but he trusted me and so he came with me. Then
Melissa went after him with her arms open wide and that just made it worse. He
jumped behind me. Then, when she was halfway through saying she was sorry for
wrongly accusing him, she stopped, as if she had suddenly remembered something
deeply sad, and burst into tears. Then she was so anxious to give Radji a hug,
as if it were the only thing in the world that would make it all better for
everyone. But he wouldn’t let her near him, and I told her the hug would just
have to wait till another time, and she reluctantly accepted that. Then we took
Hollie out of the sub and went back inside the house for another cup of
coffee.

Melissa’s face was red and wet as she carried the coffee pot
over and filled our cups. She put another cookie onto Radji’s plate and
smiled sweetly at him. I wanted to change the topic and the mood. “So . . . we
take the night train to Mumbai?”

Melissa sniffed and nodded. “It gets you into Victoria Station quite early in
the morning. Then you will have to take a taxi to Mr. Singh. His business is in
a different part of the city, not a good part of the city, I’m afraid. I don’t
know it, of course, but the taxis are quite dependable, even though they drive
like maniacs.”

“Do you have a map?”

“Of Mumbai? Oh, no, I don’t think so. A map wouldn’t help you much anyway. The
city is so big you’d be lost. No, you will have to put your faith in the taxis.
They’re not too expensive of course, although you must haggle. They will charge
you two or three times as much if they think you don’t know the difference.
Whatever they tell you the price is, refuse to pay it. Offer them half. Then
they’ll come down in price. But you must haggle for a while first. If you don’t,
they’ll think you’re stupid.”

“What about Radji? Will they let him ride in the taxi?”

“Oh, yes. In Mumbai taxi drivers are not fussy about who they drive around, so
long as you pay.”

I went out to search for Melissa’s boat. She still felt it must have been
stolen, but I found it on the bottom, like a dead fish, and it wasn’t worth
saving. I took off my t-shirt and sneakers and slipped into the water and swam
all around the boat, examining it. I could see it once I was under water. It
was rotten and waterlogged. Its spine had given way and its
sides had spread apart, which made me glad in a way because I could bring the
sub into the boathouse now without having to move the boat first. I was anxious
to hide the sub. There seemed to be no traffic on the river here, at least not
yet, but what if a small airplane flew by and we were spotted?

“Are you sure it can’t be saved?” said Melissa.

I didn’t think she really believed me. “I’m sorry but it’s where it belongs
now.”

She turned and looked so sad. “Everything dies, I suppose.”

It was just an old boat, I thought. “I’d better bring the sub in now.”

“Yes, do that. You’d better do that.”

I was only moving the sub about twenty feet altogether, but Radji insisted on
taking his place at the periscope. And since Radji was climbing up, Hollie
wanted on board too. I had the feeling nobody wanted to stay with Melissa.

It was a huge relief tying up the sub and shutting the boathouse doors. Now we
were free to go to Mumbai and bring Melissa’s brother back, and then I could
take Radji on his pilgrimage to Varanasi. We planned to leave for Mumbai the
next day. Melissa offered to let us stay in her house overnight and invited us
to have supper with her. I thanked her but said we would sleep in the sub. I
happily accepted the offer of a home-cooked meal though.

She spent all afternoon preparing it. I offered our help, and she thanked me
but refused. With a smile she warned us not
to get in her way
while she was cooking. So, we sat in the next room and tried to play chess but
we couldn’t stay awake, or at least I couldn’t, and I didn’t trust playing with
Radji when I was sleepy and he was just pretending to be sleepy. Wonderful
smells of fresh herbs and spices drifted into the room all afternoon while we
sat with our heads back on the cosy sofa. I drifted in and out of dreams. I was
on the water, in the warehouse, back home in Newfoundland. I could hear
Ziegfried’s voice, Sheba’s. I saw my sister in Montreal. I thought how much she
would like Radji. I drifted and drifted. The next thing I knew, Melissa was
tugging at my finger to wake me. “Wash up,” she said. “Supper is ready.”

I had to confess I was a little concerned because of the stale cookies she had
given us, but Melissa cooked a meal we would never forget. There was rice,
potatoes and fish; sauces, vegetables and cheese; chai, lassies and fresh
pineapple juice. For dessert she fed us squash pie sweetened with honey and
cinnamon. I ate so much my belly swelled like a basketball and still I didn’t
want to stop eating.

Afterwards, we helped her wash the dishes. But Radji dropped one and broke it.
His face twisted into a look of pain and he started to breathe heavily. Melissa
just stared at the broken pieces on the floor. I wondered how old her plates
were. Then Radji took the little money he had left out of his pocket and tried
to hand it to her. Melissa turned and looked at him, his little hand reaching
out the money towards her, trembling slightly, and she started to cry again. She
opened her arms
wide and attempted to hug him once more but
he ducked behind me.

“Keep your money, you precious boy. It was just an old plate, just an old thing
like me. Keep your money, my darling, you’ve got your whole life ahead of
you.”

When we finished cleaning up, we sat in the back room and played chess
properly. Radji was improving ever more quickly now. Melissa sat and watched,
advising on every move. I could tell that Radji didn’t like that but he didn’t
say anything. He didn’t want anyone to tell him what to do when he played. He
treated chess as if it were the most important thing in the world. And because
he took it so seriously I made sure to play my hardest and give no quarter, as
he would remind me to do at the start of every game. The day that Radji would
beat me at chess, he would have earned it.

We spent the next day exploring Melissa’s property and looking to see if we
could help with any repairs that were needed to her house and garage. Radji
followed at my side and was fascinated with everything. “Can you fix the things
that are broken?” he asked me.

“Yes, I think so.”

“How do you know so much about fixing things?”

“I had a really good teacher. But most things you can learn by yourself if you
are patient and determined.”

“Can anyone learn?”

“Yes. Anyone can learn.”

The roof of Melissa’s house was covered with red clay tiles.
So was the garage. But several tiles were either broken or missing, and she
said it leaked when the monsoons came. There was a pile of extra tiles in the
garage. We found them under a thick layer of dust. We also found a snake, which
Melissa said was a dangerous snake, but wouldn’t bother us if we didn’t bother
it. We waited patiently until it left, which didn’t take long once Hollie
started to bark. There was a workshop in the garage too. Melissa said it had
been her father’s. The tools were ancient and coated with dust. Radji stared
with fascination. “What’s this one?”

“That’s a wrench.”

“How does it work?”

“Like this.” I picked up a large bolt, fastened it in a vice, fitted a nut to
it and tightened it up with the wrench. I passed the wrench to Radji to let him
try. He held the wrench as if it were made of glass, and he concentrated with an
intensity that reminded me of Ziegfried. Of course Ziegfried was a genius. We
couldn’t leave the workshop until I had explained and demonstrated every single
tool. And now there were two things Radji loved with a passion: chess and
tools.

The garage held something else, something old and beautiful—a 1958 Jaguar. It
was a green-grey, four-door sedan, with cracked, red leather seats. It was so
old and rounded, and sported such old-fashioned knobs and dials it almost looked
more like an airplane than a car. It had been Melissa’s father’s car. Now, it
was hers. In Canada it would surely have been a valuable antique. In India it
was just an old car.

We climbed into it after supper and Melissa drove us to the
train station. I took Hollie in the tool bag but left Seaweed behind. We snuck
into the car when he was not looking. I knew he would wait for us till we came
back, and I didn’t want him getting lost in Mumbai, a city of seventeen million
people.

The car drove how I imagined a small airplane would fly— with lots of noise and
shaking side-to-side over the bumps. But there was something special about it. I
felt special just sitting in it. I could tell that Radji felt it too. It was his
very first car ride.

Melissa drove as if we were the only car on the road. At first we
were
the only car on the road. But then we started to meet taxis, buses and
rickshaws. I quickly learned that driving in India was very different from
driving in Canada. Here, people took chances they would never take back home.
They drove extremely close to other cars, so that the slightest mistake could
cause an accident. I noticed lots of dents on lots of vehicles. When rickshaws
were approaching, Melissa didn’t move at all, and they had to squeeze to the
shoulders of the road. For taxis she swerved a little, but they had to swerve
more. Her car was a lot bigger than the taxis. For the buses she had to swerve a
lot, and I often thought we were going to land in the ditch. But we never
did.

We arrived in front of the train station in a cloud of dust. Melissa went
inside and bought our tickets. Then she double-checked to see that I had Mr.
Singh’s address, told us she’d be
waiting at the same spot
tomorrow night, wished us a safe trip and left in another cloud of dust.

Neither Radji nor I had ever been on a train. We wandered over to the platform,
found a bench and sat down to wait for the train to arrive. Melissa told us to
step onto the train as soon as it arrived, otherwise other people would push us
aside and we wouldn’t even get the seats she had paid for. I assured her we
would.

There was only one other person waiting. I thought that was strange. It was a
young man playing a guitar. A pack of dogs had gathered around him and appeared
to be listening to him. The man looked friendly and so did the dogs. Radji was
curious, as usual, so he got up and drifted over to listen too. He just stood
there and watched, and then I saw the young man speak to him. The train started
to come. Radji hurried back. He turned and waved to the young man, who waved
back.

“What did he say to you?” I asked.

“He said, ‘Peace.’”