I filled the saucepan with water, put that on the stove and
reached for the pot of tea leaves on the shelf above. The early morning sunrays
kissed my right cheek and I gazed out of
the window while the water kept boiling in the saucepan. After daydreaming for
a considerable length of time I came back to reality by the gurgling sound of
the bubbles. This happened nearly every morning when I made tea. Daydreaming
had been my habit since early schooldays and albiet I had put in a lot of
effort into overcoming it, it stayed by my side like my shadow. Turning off the
stove, I added the tea leaves and waited for the tea to be ready.
“Good morning honey!”, came a voice from the dining room and
I saw a figure swiftly pass through towards the living room. The door clicked
open and shut in a second and the house was silent once again. I understood
that the tea had to be taken out to the garden and he wanted those special
handmade cookies I had baked last evening. It was an unsaid rule that whenever
morning tea is sipped at sitting on the garden table, it has to be either the
home-made cookies or home-made muffins.
Two delicate, peach coloured porceline cups on similar
plates, a white teapot and a small dish with the cookies was set on the tray
and I carried it outside. “Good morning James!”, I wished him and sat on the
chair beside his. Our garden table was a round white table surrounded by four
chairs and a huge mango tree towering over it. We enjoyed in it’s shade and
during summers, we enjoyed the mango as well. Every time I made mango custard
or mango pie or mango jelly, he would always recall how Danny loved mangoes and
urged me to visit him. I would always brush that off saying that Danny was busy
with his research and we better let him concentrate.
“Ah! Cookies made by dear wifey!!”, he exclaimed.
“Yes. But these are the last few. You won’t get home-made
cookies tomorrow.”, I smiled at him.
“Not a problem. Bake some muffins today.”, his smile
widened.
“Blueberry again?”, I laughed at him.
“Oh yes!”, he smiled back.
“I’ll bake’em. What does the newspaper have to say today?”.
“Nothing that’ll interest you. But here’s an advertisement
for a piano concert that’ll be held tonight at the Star Theatres.”, he showed
me the paper, “Should I get the tickets when I get back from work?”
“Oh sure! Please get them.”
“Okay.”
We finished our morning tea and prepared breakfast together
like everday. I was a lucky wife that my man helped me around the house with
all the work he could without me ever having to ask for it. Done with morning
chores he prepared to leave for work.
“Drop me off at the supermarket. Groceries for the week are
almost over and also there aren’t any blueberries at home.”
“Come along!”, he motioned his hands towards the car.
Our house was in the county-side and the distance from our
house to the supermarket was considerable. But the scenery pleased us every
time we traveled and thus, we never complained about it. Green meadows and tall
trees slowly disappeared as we approached the city and busy figures rushed past
us. The transformation was beautiful. We liked it in the city too, but living
in a house in the countryside was romantic!
He dropped me off at the supermarket and kissed me a goodbye
gently on my lips. I waited till the car turned around the corner of the street
straight ahead and then set about my work. I picked up a whole basket of
bluberries and a pumpkin, brussel
sprouts, carrots, Yukon potatoes, red onions and lots of other vegetables along
with a rib eye. I summoned a cab home.
Back home, I got busy with cooking. I cooked the largest
number of batches of blueberry muffins
because apart from my husband, my little students loved my muffins too. I went
around the house cleaning every nook and corner humanly possible and finally it
was time for lunch. Except for weekends I always had lunch alone but my company
was something I cherished a lot. My solo lunches were usually accompanied by
books or sudoku.
Afternoon rolled to evening and my students poured in and
filled the house with cheerful childish laughter which sounded as innocent as
it looked. There were only four of them, but their visit was something I looked
forward to every week. In fact, they were the only visitors I ever had. All of
them lived in the houses around ours and being the only childless household in
the area, I craved the presence of these little beings near me.
I was their piano teacher and the unofficial cook of all
their fancy foodie demands. I found a friend in them as they found in me and on
Sundays, my husband would give the other parents a day off by helping them with
their homeworks. We often had picnics in our backyard and my little friends
would bring candies as contribution.
That evening however, there was no piano tutorial, instead
we all sat talking for sometime, nibbling at the muffins. After about an hour,
I handed them a box of muffins each and sent them home. Switching on the garden
lights and the door lamps, I went in to get dressed to attend the concert.
James picked me up at 7:30 p.m. and the next two hours was spent lost in the
world of symphonies- Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi. Although James didn’t understand music that much, he
enjoyed piano a lot.
While driving home that night, he couldn’t stop nudging me
to put up similar concerts, but shy as I was, I just brushed past the thoughts
and concentrated more on the stars against the night sky.
“You play so well, one concert woudn’t harm you. I think you
should take your talent more seriously…
Della?... Della!!”, he gave me a soft jerk by my shoulder.
“Yeah what?”
“Stop dreaming please!!”, he laughed.
“No. I like dreaming. You dream too.”
“Who’ll drive the car then?”
“Point!”
“By the way, Danny would’ve loved today’s concert you know.”
“Yeah. He would’ve enjoyed it a lot. I really miss him.”
“Then please let’s go meet him.”
“No. I don’t want to bother him during his research. It’s
important.”
“Are you really not going to meet him for the next four
years?”
“I guess.”
“What?! Seriously?”
“You know what a madcap he is. It’s a blessing on us that he
has survived through university and is doing his research now. If we go visit
him, he’ll leave everything and come stay with us instead.”
“He has grown up now.”
“I have, he hasn’t. He’s still the frickle-minded college
kid.”
“He still continued his studies. You could have too. I never
objected.”
“I know but I just didn’t feel the urge to get the degrees.
I’m happy with my music and teaching kids. I’m content. Really.”, I looked at
him and smiled.
“Danny was your best friend. It would’ve been so great if
you both could study together…”
“Danny IS my best friend.”, I corrected him.
“Yeah and mine too. Just imagine. If you both had continued
your studies in the field of music, I would have been able to celebrate the
success of two of my closest pals.”
“I wouldn’t have survived research. Danny might be crazy but
he does have a thing to pursue research.”
“You’re just lazy Della!”
“We’ll call Danny tomorrow on the university hostel number.”,
I suggested, changing the topic.
“That’s a good idea.”
Upon reaching home, I checked our landline because we didn’t
have cell phones back in those days, and there was a message from Danny.
“Hey there buddies! Guess what? Any guesses? Yeah… yeah… no?
Well alright, I’m telling you because I know you both are really dumb people”,
he laughs, “ I’m coming to the country side!!! Shocked right?” I’ll land the
day after tomorrow at 5 p.m. and also…
I’ve purchased the house just ten minutes away from your villa, right down the
street. Ask me questions when we meet! See ya!”
“Jaaaames! Listen up here.”, I called out to my husband.
“What happened lady? Why are you shouting down the house?”
“Come come, come fast. Hurry up!”, I called out in
excitement.
“Yeah, what is it?”, he came from the bedroom upstairs,
adjusting his T shirt.
“There’s a message from Danny. He’s coming the day after
tomorrow and he’s bought the villa right down the street, that’s a ten minutes
walk from our house.”
“What?! That’s great news!! I’ll save some blueberry muffins
for him too. We can have it together and also oh! The Exorcist will be aired on
T.V. that evening. We can watch it together!!”
“All you think about is food and movies!”
“Oh c’mon! My best friend is coming and we’re gonna watch
movies together… anyone will be thinking about food and movies when their best
friend arrives after one whole year.”
“OUR best friend James.”, I frowned at him.
“Sorry!”, he smiled at me.
“I don’t believe you aren’t concerned about him. He is
shifting here. Which means he’s discontinuing his research. Why would he do
that?”
“Well I think he needs peace of mind.”
“What? Why would you think like that?”
“I don’t know. Let him come, we’ll find out. Put these
thoughts aside and let’s think about what food to make.”, he said getting up
from the sofa.
“Food again!”, I sighed getting up too.
That night James could barely sleep out of excitement and
every possible dish from all around the globe popped up in his mind, which
rendered me a sleepless night, listening to him. The next day, he applied for a
leave in his office, saying that his brother was returning and all around the house
there was an aura of celebration. Finally on the D-Day, James went to the
airport to pick him up and I eagerly waited for them back at home.
After James and I had got married, Danny had never come to
visit us at our villa in the countryside. He immediately got busy with his
research and we got busy being married to each other. But once I heard the car
outside and ran out to greet him, there he was, tall, stout, a perfect beard
and the happiest smile on his face. There had never been a pause to the friendship
we had shared back in college days.
I remember when we were putting up the name-plate on the
front gate bearing the names ‘Mr. James Smith and Mrs. Delilah Smith”, we had
missed Danny so much. There was never a day in the last one year that James and
I hadn’t reminisced about our good old college days and wished Danny was there
with us. When I would play the piano, James would always say, “Only if it was
accompanied by Danny’s violin!”. His absence was deeply felt. And now, there he
was. I rushed down the garden path and he rushed up it. And he was hugging me
firm and tight after a long long time and then came James, hugging the both of
us. It was celebration indeed. There were tears of reunion and laughter and
smiles followed by tears again until we started getting a bit cold and went in.
James suggested that he moves in the next morning and we could all spend the
night chatting away, catching up on life after college.
James lighted the fireplace and I brought in the muffins and
crisps and warm tea and a whole lot of other food that my foodie husband had
asked me to prepare for Danny. Danny was up in the guest room taking a bath and
back in the living room James and I couldn’t wait to sit and chat like we used
to, sitting in the amphitheatre. Finally he came downstairs.
“You look tired Danny!”, I said.
“Well I haven’t had a peaceful night’s sleep in the last one
year.”
“I told you he needed peace of mind.”, James shot back at
me, childishly happy at the victory of making a wild correct guess.
“Did you have bed bugs in your hostel bed?”, I laughed
looking at Danny.
“Oh no no.”, he laughed too, “Doing research is no piece of
cake.”, he reached out for the tea.
“Oh! That’s bad.”, I said.
“The food is worse Della. I’m waiting to have dinner
tonight. It’ll be the tastiest meal I’ve had in a while.”, he reached out for a
muffin.
“Hey don’t take from this side of the plate, those are
mine.”, James announced.
“You can’t be serious James!”, I looked at him surprised.
“Whom are you telling, this foodie won’t ever change.”,
Danny laughed.
“By the way, haven’t you been to your uncle’s place in the
meanwhile?”, James asked.
“No. First, I hardly get time apart from my research and
second, I don’t want to get in touch with them.”
“But Danny, they’re your only family.”, I said.
“No sweetie. They’re not my only family. In fact,”, he said
taking another bite at the muffin, “ they’re not family at all.”
“What?”
“You guys are my family. You and James are my only family
and trust me when I say this.”
“We trust you but…”
“My uncle and his family have been mean and arrogant and
cruel to me for as long as I can remember James. I don’t want to get back to
those miserable people again.”
“Won’t you ever need any support from them?”, I asked.
“What kind of support? Emotional? I got you guys. Financial,
I got a full scholarship for my research and my parents have left me a huge
fortune. And that’s all the support I’ll ever need.”
“Well, he’s got a point.”, said James.
Later that night while having dinner, (I had cooked the
rib-eye I’d purchased earlier) I suddenly realised that in the excitement of
Danny coming home, I had completely forgotten to ask him about his research. He
and James were chatting away about some stock market issue I had no idea about
and I interrupted.
“Danny!”
“Yes?”, he looked at me.
“How’s your research going?”
“It was going excellent!”, he smiled.
“Was?”, James questioned
“Yes, this is the second shock for you guys. I’m
discontinuing my research.”
“Why?”, James and I were aghast.”
“Research isn’t my type of thing guys, I mean…”
“Rubbish! You’ve always been brilliant.”, said James.
“Yeah but…”
“But what Danny?”, I asked.
“I don’t want to be bogged down by the pressure of research.
I sure love music but I hardly get time to play the violin doing my research
work on music. In fact, research on music has left no music in my life and I
hate that. I want to practice my music and live in peace, research is not my
thing. Sorry guys.”
“I get you. It’s okay that you leave research fellowship.”,
said James patting him on the shoulder.
“Yeah. We’re always with you in whatever you decide.”, I
smiled at him reassuringly.
“By the way, Dr. Daniel Raymond would’ve sounded so grand
and big and…”
“Whatever James. I’m a cool person who is a major crack pot
so Danny suits me better that Dr. Daniel
Raymond.”, Danny laughed.
Next morning at the breakfast table Danny couldn’t stop
praising James’ skills at making sunny side up eggs when James remembered that
he would be moving out when Danny grinned naughtily saying he has a third shock
for us.
“And what is that?”, I asked.
“Before all your shocks and surprises Danny, do you really
have to move out? Can we not stay together? I mean, we’re a family…”
“Damn it James!”, Danny banged his fist on the table and the
cutlery rattled, “that was my shock.”
“What?”, James asked.
“I haven’t bought a house here. I’ve just come here to spend
the winter with you guys till I decide I want to live somewhere else. I’m just
taking a break from life.”
“That’s wonderful! Let’s get you married and then we can all
stay together, all four of us.”, I suggested.
“What an awful idea!”, Danny looked at me.
“Why awful? You’d make a wonderful husband. You’re smart and
rich and handsome…”
“And a crack pot.”, Danny completed me.
We laughed. He sure was a crack pot.
Days were happy when James and I lived there by ourselves,
but Danny made it cheerful and lively. Back in college days, he was always the
life of any party or celebration. He just had to be there and boom! Everyone
got energized. And he was a great favourite among my students. Now there were
not only piano Wednesdays, but also story telling Fridays. Yes, Danny told them
stories each Friday evening and the kids loved him and his eccentric stories.
Eccentricity apart, his stories were always layered deep. I remember a particular one about an alien.
“And then kids, Dan was summoned back.”, he completed.
“Why?”, Nancy asked,
clearly disheartened.
“Dan was an alien
right? And how did he land up here in our planet? His king sent him here.
Remember?”
“Oh yeah right!”, said
Denise.
“And you know what
happens when the king sends his people somewhere? He calls them back when he
starts missing them. Likewise, Dan’s
king was upset with him and sent him to planet Earth but then he started
missing him and his absence was felt very deeply and he called Dan back.”
“But Dan had friends
here. Why didn’t he refuse his king?”, asked Nancy.
“We never refuse our
King dear. We never refuse our king. We
come when he sends us and go back to him when he calls for us.”
“You mean the aliens,
right?”
“Yeah.”, he smiled and
then looked at me.
“What was that Danny?”, I asked after the kids left.
“What was what?”
“That story.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Why would you tell such a story to those little babies?”
“Della, they didn’t understand the metaphor today, but they
will when they grow up. And didn’t you see how much they loved Dan the alien?”
“Well I loved him too. The best thing about him is the magic
he was spreading in the lives of his friends.”
“Isn’t it? I love Dan too.”
“He seems like a known character, someone I know…”
“Don’t be stupid. He’s not real, he’s an alien.”
“Yeah but…”
Just then James burst in like Santa Clause comes saying “HO HO HO!”.
“Come on, come on, everyone, pack your luggage!!”
“What’s the good news buddy?”, Danny asked him giving him a
buddy hug.
“We’re driving up the hills and we’ll be spending the
weekend there. You and I can go paragliding.”
“I’ll join too.”, I said excited, although expecting a ‘no’
from my super-protective husband.
“NO!”, came the reply in unison from both of them.
It was a beautiful ride up the hills, a colourful weekend up
there and a cheerful ride back home. It had been more than a month now that
Danny had moved in with us and our life had not been so beautiful before. Just
like Dan the alien, he was the magic in our life. But legend has it that too
much happiness is always short lived.
Winter was setting in, and I started noticing changes in
Danny. James did too. But we then brushed off all doubts as stupid thoughts
crowding our minds. Nonetheless, I still couldn’t help notice how Danny
gradually started developing huge dark circles and puffy eyes. When I
approached him, he asked me to give him cucumber slices.
One fine evening, James was busy at his desk with his office
work so Danny and I decided to hang outside a bit. He rode off in James’ cycle
while I took mine. We cycled speedily towards town when Danny stopped abruptly.
I wheeled backwards to him and halted. He didn’t look good.
“Danny, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing major. Let’s cycle back home.”
“But, why?”
“I’m just feeling a
bit sick.”, he said starting to cycle homewards.
“What happened Danny? Please tell me, I’m getting scared.
Please!”
“Relax! I’ve just developed a little asthma and need my
inhaler sometimes. Usually at night but today I need it now…”
“Can you cycle?”
“Oh yeah yeah. Perfectly!”
“Sure?”
“I am cycling already Della!”
“No…”
“It isn’t acute and if we paddle fast, we can get home
faster and it won’t hit me hard.”, he said speeding up.
As the evening wore on, his asthma subsided but he lay on
his bed unable to move and refusing to call in
a doctor, saying he’d be okay the next day. He was. He claimed to be
feeling so well that he baked us a cake, with the words “My Beloved Family” piped
on it.
“Why all this suddenly?”, James asked.
“Just… you never know when it’s the last chance for you to
do something for the people you love so much!”
“Danny, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”, he smiled wide, “I just wanted to do something
for you guys.”
“Haven’t you done enough?”
“What have I done?”, he laughed.
“Dude, you got us to fall in love, you got us married, you
hunted down this beautiful house for us…”
“Anyone would do that for their best pals.”, he smiled, “I
have done nothing historical.”
“Danny…”, I started.
“I’ve got the camera charged, you both pose as if you’re
about to cut the cake and I’ll take a shot.”, he changed the topic.
“Won’t we actually cut the cake? I’m dying to eat it.”,
James said.
“You will foodie. Let me take the picture first.”
We posed. He clicked. And then he brought in the stand,
adjusted the timer and sat between us. We smiled happily at the camera and
that’s the last beautifully happy photo of the three of us I have now. Danny
between us, an arm around me, an arm around James, our beautiful villa at the
background and Danny’s cake before us on the garden table. Luckily it hadn’t
snowed in the past few days and sitting outside the house was bearable.
A day later, Danny came down with fever, very high fever.
James almost called in the doctor, when Danny said that it was just the cold
weather. But after four days of having him stuck to his bed, with no
improvement, we called in the doctor. Danny was asleep when we called Dr.
Rector and all hell broke loose when Danny woke up to find a doctor checking
him. With the little strength that he had, he pushed the gentleman away. He
argued with him and us and refused to talk to us until next morning which was a
Sunday. James and I took the tea and breakfast to his room as he was unable to
come downstairs for the same. I was
already getting bad vibes about Danny’s health but decided not to make that
evident. The sun rays fell on us, and even though Danny sat there smiling and
gleaming and telling us that he felt a lot better, there was a sort of
emptiness in his eyes. For the first time since I’ve known Danny, it was only
his lips shaping the words, his eyes were lost somewhere. After breakfast, he asked us to leave him
alone for the day and reassured us that he would be okay. We left.
James did his weekly gardening as much as he could in the
cold and I went about the household chores. When it was lunch time, Danny
refused to join us and stayed back in his room. James and I wondered what he
might be up to and nothing but negative thoughts crowded my mind. James
however, wasn’t that worried.
“Don’t worry so much Della. He is a bit weird we all know.
Probably some tune has got him and he’s working on it.”
“The whole house is silent. I hear no violin sound coming
from his room.”
“You know how softly he plays when setting a tune. Relax!
The change of weather in the country-side got him sick. He’ll be even better
tomorrow.”, saying so he put his arm around me and we sat together staring at
the mantle-piece which held an old photo from our early college days, showing me
being held by my limbs by James and Danny on either side and they were
attempting to sway me back and forth. Weird poses college kids give. The
fireplace burned with a crackling sound and the evening wore on. Suddenly there
was a melancholic tune that filled the house. It was Danny at his violin,
playing his best tune. James looked at me. I looked back at him. Danny playing
this tune meant something was definitely amiss. Nevertheless, we waited for
Danny to tell us.
Two days later, when Danny had almost recovered from the
weaknesses of fever, he told us over dinner that he was in a soup.
“I had enrolled for this musical evening without reading the
details properly and now I’m pretty much in a soup.”
“Why? You are a musical person.”, said James.
“The concert is exclusively for pianists. I’m not one.”
“Oh no!”, I said, “What now?”
“You play please?”
“What? Are you kidding me?”
“No oh no! I’m serious. Please! You play so well, get over
your shyness. James has asked you to play in concerts so many times. I’m asking
you too.”
“Yes Della. Danny has never asked you to do anything for
him. If not me, then play for him.”
“Please Della! For the first and last time, as a tribute to
our musical friendship.”, Danny raised his wine glass.
The musical evening went unexpectedly well. It was dated
roughly a month after that night when Danny convinced me to go up on stage. As
I sat playing, with the crowd listening intently, the spotlight right on me, I
could see the front row filled with the people I love. My parents, James’
parents, my students, James and Danny. They were so happy to behold me up on
the stage, playing for the audience under a spotlight. And then, there was
Danny, right beside James. His face was beaming with the happiest smile and his
eyes were full. Later that night, when
we were back home, Danny raised the toast to me and willed his violin for my
unborn and unconcieved baby.
“What’s with all this willing your violin and your
property?”, James inquired the next morning.
“People will their property dumb-head. I’m a mortal. I’ll die
someday.”
“You’re not gonna die tomorrow.”, I checked.
“Who knows! I can die the next minute.” he winked at me.
“You know that’s not funny!”, James looked cross.
“Calm down buddy.”
“No we can’t. You haven’t been very well with your continuous
coughing fits and asthma and fever…”
“It happens to all of us. Doesn’t it?”
“Danny, seriously, please tell us if anything is wrong.”, I
said, tensed enough to collapse.
"I’m getting late guys. I’ll have to head off now and
complete the formalities of willing all my property to the Happy Hearts Orphanage. We’ll talk about it
this evening.” He left.
“So there is something that he has to talk about.”, James
looked at me.
“I knew something was wrong the day he played his ‘Death
Tune’.”, I said in tears.
“Let’s not be so negative. Nothing will happen to him I’m
sure.”
“I don’t know James.”
“We’ll have to wait for this evening.”
“…Dan the alien came
with a palette of colours, shades that his friends had never seen.
And took them to
places they had never before been.
And then suddenly one
day, his King called him away,
Dan smiled a goodbye,
never to be seen another day.”, Danny completed reciting.
“What’s the matter?”, I asked, “Why are you coming up with
this metaphor time and again?”
James looked on at him fixedly while Danny pulled out a file
from his backpack.
“Winter is over guys, almost over. Before my sun sets, take
me to the sunset point beside the lake and Della, play your portable piano for
me and James, I want to hear the poem you had written years ago for me when I
ran away from college yet never showed me. Here’s everything you need to
know.”, he handed over the file to us, “promise me not to cry while I’m still
around.”
“We promise.”, we said, not knowing yet what the file held.
Winter drifted out slowly in the next one month and spring
came- the season of cheerfulness. James and I had kept our promise and never
shed a tear before Danny. That evening after reading the file, I knew that
Danny was indeed ‘Dan the alien’ who had come with a ‘palette of colours’ and
soon his King would call him back. James and I vowed to each other not to
mention Danny’s cancer ever in front of him. He had been bravely battling it
and was brave still in the last stage with no hope of survival. It was our turn
now to be brave for him.
As the days wore on, his condition worsened, but he always
smiled at us and had meals together. In a few days, we had to wheel him around
and he would sincerely play his violin for us every evening after James
returned. They were gloomy days but we were awed by Danny’s spirit to still
smile along and thank the Almighty for giving him a short yet meaningful life
with his friends.
Finally one evening Danny wanted to go to the sunset point.
I got my portable piano, James got his poem and we wheeled Danny to the sunset
point beside the lake. He was so weak that he had a shawl wrapped around and a
beanie covering his head even in March. We reached the lake and stationed his
wheelchair beside our bench. He gazed at the setting sun while I started at my
music and James…
“Cry as much as the
heart will, you have gone away.
Couldn’t you wait for
just another day?
I would’ve fought a
little less and loved you a lil more,
Showed how much you’re
loved from my heart’s core.
Hugged you tighter, spent
more time.
You are the best, you
are mine.
Because like you,
there are not many,
It’s been a long time
now, please come back Danny!”
-Reva.
