“Jack, did you pay
the electricity and gas charges for the month?”, asked his wife
Melanie.
“No”, he
replied, scratching his head. “I will first have to check the bank
balance”, he muttered glumly.
Melanie put her arms
around him “We will be ok – don't keep worrying”.
“Very soon, we
will have to think of saving money for Ryan going to college”, Jack
said.
“He is only 6
years old now. We have time for it. Relax”.
Jack looked out of
the window. There seemed to be a commotion outside. It had become a
regular feature since a few days.
“As if we do not
have enough problems of our own. See what is going on outside”,
said Jack angrily, gesturing to a large group of people who were
talking loudly to some police officers.
“Well, they had no
choice. They will go back when they get the chance”, said Melanie
quietly.
“That is what you
think. And there are so many people encouraging this. All this makes
me very angry”.
After a short
silence, Jack asked “Where is Ryan? He wanted to buy some notebooks
for school. I will take him to the store”.
Melanie called out
to Ryan, who comes over.
“Let's go”, said
Jack shortly. As they walk past the next street, they see many people
squated in a park with tattered clothes and bags by their side. There
were a few tents put up, but there seemed to be a very large number
of people.
“Dad, do these
people stay here even in the night?”, asked Ryan.
“Yes”, said
Jack.
“Thankfully, it is
not too cold yet. Else, can how they stay here in the open?”
“Listen. You need
to steer clear of these people. They can be dangerous”.
“Oh, is it?”
They walked for
another 10 minutes and got to a general store. Ryan picked up the
notebooks he wanted. As they made their way home, suddenly a small
girl ran up to Ryan and said something. It was a language they could
not understand. The girl pointed to the sea, saying something. A man
ran up, evidently her father, and caught the girl's hand. She said
something to him as well.
“We don't have any
money, go away”, Jack shouted, catching hold of Ryan's hand.
“Sir…...it
is..”, the man started to say something.
“Move!”, Jack
yelled, hurrying away with Ryan in tow.
The next day, Jack
picked up Ryan from school. At Ryan's insistence, Jack got him a
beach ball. They walked home, Ryan merrily tossing the ball in the
air and humming a song. Suddenly the same girl appeared before them.
She looked at Ryan, said something and pointed at the ball. Her
father ran up to her again, and caught her hand. She looked at her
father with wide eyes saying something. Her father looked troubled
and hugged the child.
Jack looked at the
man sternly, and asked him “You have come over by a boat here isn't
it?”
The man looked up
and answered softly “Yes….actually…..”
Jack interrupted him
“I am not interested in listening to anything more, but understand
one thing carefully. Yesterday your daughter wanted money from us and
today my son's ball. We are not giving you either money or the ball.
I know you are instructing your child to chase us”.
“Sir, my daughter
did not want money or the ball”.
“Oh, really?!”,
questioned Jack aggresively.
“Yesterday, and
today, she told your son that he looks like her brother. She also
said today that he also had a big ball and used to play with her”.
Taken aback and
feeling bad about this, Jack muttered a sorry and started to walk
away. As he took two steps forward the other way, he stopped and
turned. The man was holding his daughter tightly, whispering to her.
Jack came back to
the man and asked him “Where is her brother now?”
The man spoke
softly, his eyes welling with tears “My wife and son drowned while
we were coming here by the boat”.
Jack lowered his
eyes for a few moments and then looked up.
“I am so sorry.
What happened?”
“There was
fighting all around. Shooting, bombs & violence all the time. Our
neighbours were killed in a blast a few days back. That is when we
thought we must move out. We put together whatever money we could to
pay some agents who arranged space on a boat for us. It was not a
very big boat and there were so many people.”
He stopped as his
voice caught. He continued, “There were very strong currents in the
water at one point, and many fell overboard. I tried to catch my wife
and son, but had to hold my 2 year old daughter in my hands as well.
I could not save my wife and son”.
It looked like he
would lose his balance and fall down. Jack caught his hand to steady
him.
“Life does not
have much meaning now, but I have to live for my daughter”.
There were a few
minutes of quiet before Jack asked “Do you get food and water?”
“Yes, people do
come by and leave packets of food and water. Some of the government
officers come by as well”.
“Oh, Ok”, said
Jack slowly.
He lifted the girl
in his arms and asked “Do you want to play ball with Ryan?”. He
pointed at the ball and took Ryan's hand and placed it in hers as she
may not have understood what he said.
The girl smiled, and
then looked up at her father who nodded.
“Sir, I know it is
difficult with so many people landing here…..but we did not know
what to do. Maybe we have made a mistake and are also troubling
others….I don't know….”
“No...no…..I am
sorry for what I said...I didn't realize…...”, Jack stopped
searching for words to continue with.
Finally he simply
hugged the man and asked “What is your name?”
“Sayid” said the
man.
“And your
daughter?”
“Yana”
“She is a very
sharp girl. She will grown up to be a remarkable lady, and will make
you very proud”
Jack then took his
leave, and walked home with Ryan. Neither spoke for the rest of the
way.
As they entered
their house, his wife Melanie asked “Where have you been? You are
so late”.
“We ran into a
couple of those people who have come over by boats”, said Jack.
“Oh, what
happened?”, asked Melanie concerned.
“I realized they
are people like us”.
Jack recounted the
incident, speaking softly with Melanie all the time.
At the end of it,
Melanie spoke “We all learn new things every day. Don't be hard on
yourself”.
Jack nodded and then
spoke, gesturing out of the window “Do you see those people with
hand held signboards and packets?”
“Yes”, Melanie
nodded.
They spoke for a few
minutes more before they went to sleep.
The next day, Jack,
Melanie and Ryan walked slowly to where the crowds were. They stood
next to a smiling old couple probably in their seventies. While the
man held up a sign saying “Welcome, Don't worry”, his wife handed
over a few of packets of food and water to some people.
Jack and Melanie
smiled at them, asking if they could join them, to which they agreed
immediately. Jack held up the signboard he had made last night which
read “We stand with you”. Melanie and Ryan held out a few packets
of food and water to a few people. A lady holding her son, grasped
Melanie's hands saying “If it were not for wonderful people like
you, what would we do”. Jack and Melanie looked at each other,
their eyes filling with tears.
As Jack moved away,
he saw Sayid with his daughter Yana sitting under a tree. He waved to
him and walked over introducing Melanie to them.
Jack, Melanie and
Ryan walked home, holding hands, feeling more alive and connected to
the universe as never before.
