Swimming in the Monsoon Sea Read online

  Amrith, with nothing to do, kept glancing at a clock on the stage wall, dismayed at how slowly time was passing. He found himself wondering what Niresh was doing and he felt a longing, like homesickness, rise in him. He ached to be with his cousin again, to see his face, to sit in his company. How interminably far away twelve o’clock seemed.

  Niresh had planned to come and pick him up after the rehearsal. As Amrith walked down to the gates with Madam and the other students, he saw the car waiting outside and quickened his pace.

  When he came out of the gates, the door opened and Niresh stepped out. “Hey, buddy!”

  Amrith felt a rush of joy. “Hi!” he cried back.

  Niresh put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a hug. Amrith blushed with pleasure.

  “De Alwis.”

  He turned. Madam and Fernando had been watching. The other boys had scattered to the cars that were waiting for them and to the bicycle shed. Suraj, however, lingered, glowering at Niresh.

  “Ah, De Alwis, is this the relative from abroad who’s keeping you from learning your lines?” There was a touch of amusement in Madam’s voice.

  Amrith hastily made the introduction.

  As she shook Niresh’s hand, she looked him over, then glanced at Fernando. “Well, yes, De Alwis, I can see why you have been distracted and haven’t had time for our little play.” She patted him on the arm. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy the rest of your afternoon, De Alwis.” She gestured to Fernando and they wandered off together, smiling.

  Amrith saw that Suraj had seen their amusement. He got into the car feeling strangely uncomfortable.

  Amrith’s bad day got worse when he reached home. In his absence, he found out that Niresh and the girls had made arrangements for all of them to see a film that afternoon, at the Majestic. His cousins treat. When Niresh told him about the plan at lunch, Amrith was careful not to let his anger show. He felt the girls glancing anxiously at him and he refused to meet their eyes.

  Because he was not used to the heat, Niresh was always exhausted by midday and often fell into a deep slumber when the family lay down after lunch. That afternoon, Amrith waited to make sure his cousin was properly asleep, then he quietly put on his rubber slippers and tiptoed out of the French windows. He made his way across the side garden to the girls’ room.

  He entered to find them lying on their beds, reading some out-of-date teen magazines.

  They glanced at him, then gave each other a quick look.

  “Amrith, we wanted to explain —” Mala began apologetically, but Selvi cut her short.

  “There’s nothing to explain, Mala. We didn’t do anything wrong.” Selvi flipped the pages of her magazine.

  “I told you both not to make any plans with my cousin. I thought we agreed on that.” Amrith, because of his humiliation this morning, was angrier than he would have normally been.

  “We didn’t make the plans.” Selvi threw down her magazine and picked up another one.

  “Then who did?” he demanded.

  She raised her eyebrows at him. “Who do you think? Niresh.”

  He glanced at Mala and she nodded to confirm this was so.

  “I … I don’t believe you,” he said, lamely.

  “Ask him yourself, then.” Selvi smiled at him. “Niresh invited me.”

  “You’re lying. You probably hinted so much that he had no choice but to stand you a film. Haven’t you any shame — are you a beggar?”

  Selvi lifted her chin. “Maybe Niresh is sick of constantly being with you. He is, after all, two years older, my age, and probably wants some sophisticated company rather than the companionship of a child.”

  Amrith was furious. He strode to her bed, but then stood by it helplessly.

  “Akka,” Mala said, trying to smooth things over. “Don’t lie. Niresh did not even ask you first. I was the one he asked.” She held her arms out to Amrith. “But, of course, he asked if I would like to come with you both. He honestly did. He mentioned you in the same breath as himself.”

  She was offering him her support, but Amrith rejected it with a toss of his head. “Ah! So now you’re also throwing yourself at him.”

  Mala flushed with hurt.

  He glared at both of them. “I don’t want either of you to come.”

  “Oh? And what excuse should we give Niresh?” Selvi demanded. “Perhaps we should tell him the truth. That his cousin is a jealous baby.”

  “I don’t care. Just don’t come. The both of you.” He glanced at Mala, who looked away. She was angry with him now.

  “If you don’t want us to come, you can make up the excuse,” Selvi said, starting to read her magazine again. “I’m going to be ready at three thirty, unless I hear otherwise. Now get out of our room.”

  Amrith stormed out and went up to the terrace. Yet it was too hot at this time of the afternoon for him to be there long. He soon returned to his bedroom and lay on his bed, fuming.

  Part of the reason the sisters refused to bow out of the plan was because they were going to see Grease, which had finally reached Sri Lanka two years after it had opened in the West. Selvi and Mala had been looking forward to the film, as they were fans of Olivia Newton-John. Uncle Lucky had bought them the soundtrack to Grease on one of his trips abroad, and they knew all the songs by heart. Yet they could not go to the film unchaperoned. Sri Lankan cinemas were notorious for perverted men, who, in the dark, attempted all manner of indecencies on unescorted girls. Many women carried a pin or a needle to repel offenders.

  When they all gathered in the courtyard at three thirty, Amrith saw that Selvi and Mala were grimly determined to enjoy this occasion. Niresh had, of course, seen the movie when it opened in Canada and, as they walked up their street towards Galle Road, he teased the girls by threatening to reveal plot points. They shrieked at him to keep quiet and mock-threatened that they would not sit with him in the cinema, as he was sure to spoil the movie for them. He began to sing “Hopelessly Devoted to You” in a silly sentimental manner, holding his arms out to the girls. They were on busy Galle Road by now and pedestrians turned to stare at Niresh’s antics, some men grinning and calling out encouragement to him in Sinhalese. The girls were half-amused, half-mortified, and they scuttled ahead of Niresh, giggling to each other and saying things like, “Aiyo, Mala, look at this boy, he’s shaming us, nah,” and “Yes-yes, akka. Aiyo, I hope Aunt Wilhelmina or one of her friends doesn’t pass by and see this. We will be in big-big trouble.”

  Amrith trailed behind all of them, ignored.

  By the time they reached the cinema, Amrith was seething. As they stood in line to buy the tickets, the others paid him no attention as a fairly earnest tussle began to develop between Niresh and the girls over his paying for them.

  “No-no, Niresh,” Selvi insisted, with a slight haughtiness that was intended for Amrith, “we are not beggars. We are quite capable of buying our own tickets.” She took out a twenty-rupee bill from her purse as they drew nearer to the ticket kiosk.

  “Yeah, but I want to,” Niresh replied, grinning. “You guys have been so nice to me, it’s the least I can do.”

  “No, no, absolutely not,” Mala murmured.

  They were at the kiosk now and Niresh pushed Selvi’s hand away and told the agent not to take their money. Mala, however, snatched the twenty-rupee bill away from her sister and held it out to the agent. Before he could take it, Niresh grabbed her hand and lowered it. Still holding on to her hand, he pushed his money through the opening in the glass and ordered the tickets.

  Niresh wanted to buy snacks from the refreshment stand and he needed someone to help him. He asked Amrith to accompany him and told the girls they would meet them in the cinema. Amrith was pleased to be selected and he gave the girls a triumphant look as he went with his cousin.

  Niresh was intrigued by the snacks that were available, which were completely different from what you got at a Canadian cinema. He was particularly surprised that there was no popcorn. Niresh bought a lot of things �
�� icy chocs, packets of deviled cashews, banana chips, paper cones of fried spiced dhal, bars of Kandos chocolate. He also wanted to try the various pop drinks that he had never heard of before, like Portello and Fanta and Necto.

  Armed with all these snacks, they went into the theater. Mala and Selvi were sitting in the middle of a row and Amrith hurried a little ahead of his cousin, determined to seat himself between Niresh and the girls. As he took his place, he saw the look of disappointment on his cousin’s face. He felt both angry and downcast. Nobody seemed to want him here at all.

  Niresh soon adjusted to this arrangement and he began to talk to the girls across Amrith, who was forced to lean back in his seat so a conversation could be carried on in front of him. Even when the film began, Niresh periodically leaned over him to say something to Mala, who was seated next to Amrith.

  By the end of the film, Amrith was livid.

  15

  Betrayal

  Selvi soon forgot the fight. She had got what she wanted, which was to see Grease. Mala, however, had not forgiven Amrith, though he was no longer angry at them. He became aware of her feelings the next day, when he asked her to run through lines with him and she coldly refused, saying she had other things to do. He was puzzled. Usually she forgave him even greater misdeeds, like revealing her secret wish to be a nun. His accusation, that she had thrown herself at Niresh, seemed to have stung in a more lasting way.

  That evening, when the family sat out in the courtyard, Amrith and the girls introduced Niresh to Carom, a board-game version of billiards. He was instantly intrigued by it and, once the rules had been explained, he was eager to try the game. Selvi found Carom boring and she excused herself and went to talk with one of her friends on the phone.

  Amrith was terrible at the game, but Mala was an expert. No one in the family had beaten her, so far. It was she who showed Niresh how to play, and she often put her hand over his to guide him in a particular move. They began to tease each other, Niresh vowing that he would beat Mala, she replying, with a superior smirk, that she looked forward to that day. They laughed out loud and clapped their hands in exultation when they knocked each other’s piece into the net.

  Amrith was soon out of the game and he sat watching, trying to stifle his irritation as the competition between them grew fierce and they forgot his presence altogether.

  At one point, he noticed Mala looking at him. She had sensed his irritation. Yet, rather than withdrawing and leaving him alone with his cousin, she looked away, as if his feelings no longer mattered to her.

  The next evening, when they were at the club, Niresh changed quicker than Amrith because he did not wait for a curtained cubicle to come free. He left the dressing room when he was done, telling Amrith he would meet him by the pool.

  After Amrith had put on his trunks, he went looking for Niresh and saw him sitting at one end of the garden, talking to Mala. She was in her bathing costume, seated on a lounge chair, a book open on her lap. As Amrith made his way towards Niresh, the SNOTs and Selvi approached his cousin, crying, “Niresh, Niresh, what is this, men? Just sitting and talking like a real boring type. Aren’t you going to swim? How about a game of water polo?”

  He smiled, but continued talking to Mala.

  Then one of the girls cried, “Are you interested in Mala, or something?”

  Niresh blushed.

  “He is, he is!” they shrieked. “Mala, did you see, you have a boyfriend!”

  Mala smiled, slipped down on the lounger, and held her book in front of her face.

  Niresh leapt off his chair and, with a war cry, charged after the girls. They screamed and ran away from him — towards the pool, of course. Niresh signaled to Amrith and he joined reluctantly in the chase, the girls running around the pool, allowing themselves to be cornered and pushed in.

  While this was going on, Amrith saw that Mala had come to the edge of the pool. He sneaked up behind her and, with a cry, rushed forward and pushed her into the water. The next moment Niresh had pushed him over the edge and leapt in too. He grinned and touched Amrith on the shoulder.

  Meanwhile, Mala had swum to a side of the pool.

  “Oh-oh,” Niresh said, grabbing Amrith’s arm, “here comes lover-boy.”

  Suraj Wanigasekera was making his way across the garden. It was clear he was looking for Mala. When he saw her in the pool, he squatted down to talk with her. Niresh winked at Amrith, then sank down underwater and swam silently towards Mala. When he reached her, he grabbed hold of her legs. She screamed as she went under, hit out at him, and broke away. She swam off laughing. Niresh did not follow. Instead, he stood up in the pool and grinned at Suraj. “Hi, how are you doing?”

  Suraj glared at him and walked away.

  Mala had noticed the exchange between the two boys, and there was an odd smile on her face. A terrible uneasiness began to take hold of Amrith.

  There was a rehearsal the next morning. It was just for Amrith and Suraj to practice their scene together. Madam and Fernando were the only other people present.

  The boys were in the wings, waiting for Madam and Fernando to finish a discussion about the costumes, when Suraj leaned close to Amrith. “So how is your dear cousin?” He raised his eyebrows.

  Amrith shrugged and bent over his copy of Othello.

  “Ni-resh,” Suraj continued. “And is he leaving soon for Canada?”

  Amrith looked up quickly, his eyes naked, the question bringing a pang of sadness to him.

  Suraj snickered. “I guess you’re going to really-really miss your cousin, ah.”

  At that moment, Madam called them to take their places.

  As Amrith lay on the two benches that were pushed together to serve as a bed, he looked at Suraj doing his monologue and realized that he disliked him. He had been too cowed by Suraj’s popularity to admit this to himself before.

  That afternoon, when they were at lunch, Amrith found out that his cousin, instead of reading or going on errands with Aunty Bundle, had gone with Mala to the parish hall to help her teach English to slum children. As the family ate, Niresh told them about how cute the children were and how sorry he felt that they were so poor. He praised Mala, saying that she was a wonderful, patient teacher and the students all loved her. When he said this, he glanced at her almost anxiously. She nodded primly and changed the subject.

  The girls had a fitting at the dressmakers that evening, before going to the club. Niresh and Amrith went with them. The sisters both wanted the same style of dress, but in different colors — a copy of the outfit that John Travolta’s girlfriend had worn for the dance competition in Saturday Night Fever, with a gathered skirt, a frill around the neckline, and a sleeve on only one shoulder. Selvi, because she was light-skinned, was getting the dress made in the same pink the actress had worn; Mala would get it in cream, which complemented her dark skin.

  The dressmaker, Mrs. Spillars, had an aviary that was much grander than Amrith’s, with parrots and cockatoos imported from Australia and an albino peacock. Amrith took Niresh to look at it.

  They were leaning against the mesh, watching the birds, when Niresh put his arm around Amrith’s shoulders.

  “Hey, can I tell you a secret?”

  “Sure,” Amrith said, eagerly.

  Niresh looked at him and then away. “I think I’m in love.” He gave Amrith a lopsided grin. “And guess who with? Mala.”

  Amrith felt a tightening in his throat.

  “Yeah, I think she’s really cute and really nice and —” Niresh caught himself short. “Hey, I hope you don’t mind my talking about her like that.”

  “Um … no.” Amrith was suddenly miserable. He saw now that he had been aware of his cousin’s attraction over the last few days. He had just not admitted it to himself. It was also clear why Mala was cold towards him. She returned Niresh’s feelings and felt guilty about it.

  “I mean, you’re my main man, my best buddy,” Niresh continued, smiling sweetly at him. “You’re the only one I could tell something l
ike this to, eh?”

  Amrith looked away at the birds in the aviary.

  “So, do you think she fancies me?” Niresh asked.

  “You? I don’t think so.”

  Niresh punched him in the arm. “Yeah, I think.”

  “What about Suraj?”

  “He’s history.”

  “Don’t be so cocky. She has known Suraj much longer than you.”

  “Anyways,” Niresh said, “it’s just between us, eh. I mean, I know the rule about you guys not dating until you’re eighteen. I would never screw with that. Your aunt and uncle have been really nice to me. So I’m just telling you because you’re my best buddy”

  Amrith nodded, but he continued to stare into the aviary, a great heaviness building inside him.

  Despite what Niresh had said about respecting the rule, when they were done at the dressmaker’s and were walking towards the car, he kept step with Mala, talking to her. Amrith was left to trail behind with Selvi. Mala laughed at something Niresh said, and the sound of her laughter was like a gate clanging shut, leaving Amrith on the outside. Looking at his sister, he felt a bitter anger towards her. She had betrayed him.

  The next morning Amrith had a rehearsal and, this time, he was even more disinclined to go. Niresh had said nothing about what he planned to do with his morning, but Amrith guessed he would go to the parish hall with Mala.

  The rehearsal was for the whole cast, and all the actors were present. As Amrith waited in the wings, he was so distracted by the thought of what Niresh was doing that he did not hear Madam calling his name. Finally, one of the boys nudged him and he hurriedly went onstage and took his place on the bed.

  Yet, even as he lay there, he could not stop thinking of Mala and Niresh together at the parish hall; he could not help remembering the way Mala had laughed at the dressmaker’s and how it had sounded like a gate shutting in his face. Last evening, Mala and Niresh had played Carom again, and though Amrith had wanted to play Scrabble instead, his knowledge of their attraction to each other had silenced him.