|
Child Brides of India
By C. Stanton Leman
Chapter 42: The New world (Mgg, rom, cons, no sex)
Haseeba's homecoming, as with all homecomings was fun,
light and full of all the happiness a family can share
during moments such as these. The evening went off without
the shenanigans of Me Ma and any toe sucking rituals: I
guess I'm the only toe sucking pussy in the family!
Although Aleeya and Attiya would have no classes today,
Pita brought Attiya anyway so that they could play together
one last time before Aleeya left for her several months
stay in the US.
Aleeya was hyped up in anticipation of her first plane
ride. Little did she know that long flights could be boring
and a pain in the ass: oh well, such is the innocence of
youth.
Dad called about ten am.
He said they were all ready for our arrival. I asked him
about the horses. He said that Jim, our foreman had picked
out two beauties.
He told me, "I know you didn't want to think of
Arabians,
but he got Priya a nice mare. She's a pure breed Arabian
black, with that characteristic small head, and she's
quiet. Her owner said that she really cottons to females
and is an easy, trained ride. She's a truly beautiful
animal!"
I asked him, "What about Aleeya's horse?"
"Well'" he began, "Jim got her a nice
little black and
white thoroughbred quarter horse. He's a tad smaller, maybe
three or four hands and he's a gelding. Without all that
testosterone, he's as gentle as a puppy- the perfect horse
for her. Jim said that if he weren't buying him for Aleeya,
he would have liked to buy him. He's a real bute!"
Dad went on to ask, “So, you'll be getting into BWI at about
three twenty?"
"Yeah," I replied, "Three thirty-six I
think, at gate D2."
"Sounds great, Son," he replied, "We'll
meet you at the
pier, just outside security, OK?"
"Sounds like a plan to me Dad," I responded,
"Will Mom and
Emma be there too?"
"Hopefully," he said, "If things with Liz
hold steady and
nothing happens between now and then."
Shaking my head in sadness, I replied, "For Emma's
sake I
hope you're right."
"Yeah," he said, "We'll just have to keep
our fingers
crossed and pray for the best. Anyway, I'll let you go, I
just wanted to fill you in on the horses, I'll let you get
back to work. I'll see you in a couple of days. Love you
Son."
"Love you too Dad. Bye now."
"Bye Son. Give my love to the girls."
I will. See ya Dad. Give everyone our love."
"Will do Son, goodbye." Click
Priya and I finished the last of the packing by noon. I
headed off to the office to check in and go over my final
instructions to my secretaries and Prishi Rashid. I
returned home around four.
We had an early dinner, said evening prayers and we went
to
bed about six to "try" and get a couple of hours sleep
before taking off. Surprisingly, we did manage to sleep a
little and rose at nine. After getting the bags packed and
loaded, we headed to the airport at eight forty-five in
order to be there by ten.
As with all international flights, you're required to
get
there early, check in, and wait. We'd finished checking in
by eleven-thirty so we had two hours to wait before
boarding and take-off.
Thank God for new experiences, because Aleeya was glued
to
the window and watched the streaking lights as planes took
off down the runway and headed off to their destinations.
We boarded about one fifteen and once everyone was
boarded,
buckled in and the plane began to move, Priya (trying to
look grown-up), tried to look nonchalant, but held the
armrests with white knuckles as we taxied. Aleeya was in a
window seat and she was in awe of it all. As the vibrations
and engine whine picked up as we taxied down the runway,
Priya looked white (well, as white as a milk chocolate
Indian can get) as a sheet.
When the plane suddenly tilted upward on take off,
Aleeya
was bouncing in her seat and clapping, "Yeah! We're flying!"
I looked at Priya: she was petrified. I chuckled and
said
to her, "It's OK now, we're in the air and after we make
whatever turn we have to make, you probably won't feel a
thing."
Priya REALLY got shook when Aleeya exclaimed, "Look
Sean, I
can see the wing moving up and down, it looks like its
flapping its wings!"
Trying to keep Priya in her seat and not go looking for
a
parachute, I figured I'd allay her fears with a joke. I
replied while looking at Priya with a smile, "That's nice
sweetheart, tell me when you see it start to fall off."
Priya's eyes got as big as saucers and grabbed the
armrests
again.
Laughing I said to her, "Relax, it was a
joke!"
With bugged-eyed fright, she simply nodded OK.
With that, she relaxed her grip. I expected to see the
armrests pulled from the chair, but I guess she wasn't that
strong. Once settled in and about an hour and a half into
the flight, we went to sleep on our way to Amsterdam.
The stewardess woke us at five am and told us we'd be
landing in thirty minutes. I woke Aleeya and it looked like
Priya was going to have another panic attack.
As the plane dipped to land, Priya grabbed her stomach,
and
I reached for the barf bag. I said to her, "If you're gonna
be sick, do it in here, I don't want to spend the rest of
the trip covered in your fear."
Aleeya was clapping out "Yeah!"
Priya let out an audible sigh of relief as the wheels
touched down.
Having been there once, I had kind of a general idea
where
we needed to go for our connecting flight to BWI, but
Aleeya was always trying to scamper off to look at whatever
it was that caught her attention. Now I know what its like
trying to travel with kids!
Having gone through customs we made it to our gate, and
surprisingly, we only had to wait about thirty minutes
before we boarded again. Having been through this scenario
once, Priya was a lot more relaxed on her second take-off.
Priya was glad we were flying first class because she
couldn't get off the plane fast enough! Aleeya was all
giggles and fits and couldn't wait for the flight home.
When we'd cleared customs and the Plexiglas at the
security
checkpoint, I saw Dad leaning against the wall… and he was
alone. I got this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach,
and Priya saw it next.
She grabbed my arm and gasped, "Oh No. No, no, no,
no, no.
Liz died, didn't she?"
I replied in a quiet hush, "I'm not sure yet. Don't
jump to
conclusions, let's talk to Dad first."
Aleeya, only hearing about Emma in conversations, didn't
know what was happening, She was happy and looking for her
Poppy. She saw him and took of running into his arms.
As he hugged Aleeya side to side, we approached and I
asked
him, "Where's Mom?"
He continued to hug Aleeya and after smiling at her
said,
"Liz died last night at eleven twenty. Your mom is home
with Emma now. Let's get your things and get home."
I felt the lump in my throat begin to rise as Priya
hugged
my arm sobbing. Aleeya, seeing Priya's distress asked her,
"What's wrong Priya, why are you crying?"
Priya, trying to be strong wiped her tears, smiled and
replied, "It's nothing Sweetie, let's get our things and go
home to Poppy's."
What was to be a happy and joyous time of new arrivals
and
beginnings was instead marked with the sadness of an ending
of happiness and comfort for a little girl.
Silently and subdued, we retrieved our luggage and
headed
to the limo. After loading the bags and getting started on
our way home, Dad told us that Liz hung on to the very last
moment. Little Emma was there and after she kissed her
mommy goodbye, Liz smiled, took her last breath and closed
her eyes for the last time.
Dad said that Mom called my old pediatrician; Dr.
Finkelstein and he came to the house after they'd arrived
home and gave Emma a sedative. I commented to Dad, "He's
still around? My gosh, he must be close to seventy by now!"
Dad chuckled and said, "Yeah, that 'ole redheaded
Jew is
still chuggin' along. I've never met a man like him nor do
I think I ever will!"
Priya asked me who he was and I replied, "A pediatrician
is
a doctor that only cares of children until the age of
eighteen. He can do a complete physical on a baby in about
three minutes: he's that good. He's kinda funny looking
because he's Jewish, but he's got red, wavy hair and lots
of freckles. He was my doctor when I was growing up."
We'd turned off route 32 and onto the road leading to
our
house. Once we'd reached the driveway to our property,
there are two curved, brick knee walls with a security gate
and a sign that rays 'Montebello." We pulled into the drive
and up to the keypad and stopped to open to open the gate.
Dad spoke up and said, "Well kids, we're
home!"
Priya saw the sign and asked, "What's
Montebello?"
I smiled and replied, "Mom named the place because
she grew
up in the Montebello area of Baltimore. It has a big lake
where the city draws some of its drinking water. Our ranch
has a small lake, more like a big pond on it, so she named
it Montebello."
"Oh," she replied, "Where's the house? I
don't see it."
Chuckling, I said, "Its over the hill. It's about a
quarter
mile from the gate. Once we reach the top of this hill,
you'll see a big house down in a valley-like area not too
far from the pond."
Upon reaching the top of the hill, one could see the
entire
homestead. Priya and Aleeya's eyes bugged out and Priya
exclaimed, "My God! Even from here the house looks huge!"
Laughing, Dad replied, "Yeah, I kinda went
overboard with
it. It's called an estate home: that's a fancy name for a
rich man's house. It's over 5000 square feet, has five
bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms."
Priya chuckled and asked, "How do you get half of a
bathroom?"
Laughing at her innocence in such things I replied,
"A half
bath only has a toilet and a sink: no tub or shower. It's
on the first floor next to the family room and Dad's
office."
The house looks like an old fashioned, brick colonial
with a curved overhang that covers the front entrance at
the door held up by two giant columns. We pulled around the
curved driveway and stopped at the front door.
I chuckled to Priya and Aleeya, "Dad's giving you
the full
treatment. Normally, we don't use the front door to get
into the house: we use the side entry. Mom doesn't like her
showcase foyer getting dirty."
Everyone piled out of the limo and we stood at the front
door for a few moments, as Dad said, "Well, here's your
home in America!"
He opened the front door and we stepped inside. Both of
the
girls gasped in awe as they saw the marbled, two story
foyer flanked by two spiral staircases leading up to the
second floor.
We walked through to the two-story family room and the
girls again gasped at the window wall with a stone two-
story fireplace in the center facing them. Off to the right
was the open kitchen with a breakfast bar, and next to the
bar was the centered table in the breakfast room enclosed
by window walls. I showed them the formal living and dining
rooms, Dad's office and the half bath.
Priya chuckled and said, "Oh, so THAT'S what a half bath is."
Little Aleeya's head was spinning around like Regan's in
the exorcist trying to take it all in. Priya was thirsty so
we went to the breakfast bar and was met by Abby's jovial
greeting with hugs and kisses.
She turned and immediately embraced Priya saying,
"Hi
Priya, welcome home to America! And who's this little
beauty, you must be Aleeya, right?"
Aleeya looked up at her, nodded and replied, "I
remember
you: you were at Sean and Priya's wedding."
Chuckling Abby replied, "Why yes! You've got an
excellent
memory!"
I hugged Abby and said to her, "Hi Abby, good to
see you
again! How's George doing?"
"Oh he's fine," she replied, "He has his
good days and his
bad but overall, he's fine. Thanks for asking."
Abby hugged Priya again and said, "You know, I've
never in
my life seen anything as beautiful as you were on your
wedding day! Your wedding dress was stunningly beautiful!"
Priya gave Abby a nice chocolate blush and replied,
"Thank
you very much for the compliment. I myself never would have
dreamt that I'd ever wear such clothes on my wedding day either."
Turning back to me, Abby gave me a mock angry look and
said, "And you. What are you doing: collecting wives?
What's your plan: marry them young and train them?"
Laughing at her remark I responded, "It's the other
way
around! I'M the one being trained: these girls are young
but very demanding."
Using Dad's words I quipped, 'I think it's a bloomin' conspiracy!'"
We adults had a nice laugh.
Little Aleeya. Still in shock over the massive size of
the
house blurted out with bug-eyed awe, "Gosh, this place is so
big, I might pee myself looking for the bathroom!"
Laughing, I asked her, "Speaking of going pee, do
you have
to go?"
She nodded and I pointed the way to the powder room. As
Aleeya scampered off to do her duty, Mom came down the rear
staircase that dumps into the kitchen area.
When Priya saw my Mom, she leapt from her seat and
embraced
my mother and began to cry. Hugging my Mom close, she
cried, "Oh Mom, I am so conflicted! Right now, I'm so very
happy to be here with you again, but then I feel such
sadness for Emma too."
Rocking her Mom said, "I know Priya, I know just
how you
feel. Liz is gone, and there's nothing we can do to change
that. Let's be content with the joy God gives us and the
happiness of being reunited."
My crying mother looked down at Priya's tearful face,
smiled and said, "I've missed you soooooo much! It feels so
nice to hold you in my arms again and see your beautiful
face! Where's your little sister?"
Sniffling, Priya managed a smile and replied, "She
went to
the bathroom," then giggling continued, "I hope she didn't
get lost in this gigantic mansion and pee herself!"
Laughing Mom replied, "Come on now, its not THAT
big."
Just then, I saw Aleeya at the entry to the family room
and
when she saw Mom, she took off like a shot and leapt into
her arms exclaiming, "Oh Auntie, I missed you so much. I'm
so happy to see you, I'm gonna bust!"
Cradling her under her tiny butt, Mom rocked her back
and
forth and replied, "And I've missed you, you little
munchkin! Have you been a good little wife?"
"Yes!" Aleeya began, "Well, the other day
Sean said I was a
snot because I was worried about Daddy getting married. I
was kinda impolite and rude, but everything is all better now.
What's snot?"
Laughing my mother replied, "Its that yucky stuff
that
comes out of your nose when you've got a cold. Sean meant
that you were acting yucky."
"Oh," she replied, "I guess I was kinda
snotsy."
Mom hugged her tighter and said, "Well, it's all
over now,
so let's forget about it, OK?"
"OK," she replied.
Dad broke in with, "Aleeya, there's a play set out
back,
you wanna try it out? Its got swings, a slide and a bunch
of other stuff."
"Oh yes!" she exclaimed, "Let's go!"
Dad took Aleeya's hand and took her outside so the three
of us
could talk.
All three of us sat in silence for a moment, no one
really
knowing how to begin so I said to Mom, "Dad told us Liz
died last night at around eleven twenty and that Emma was
there for the end. How'd she take it?"
Mom sighed and replied, "It was kind of surreal.
After Emma
gave her a kiss, Liz smiled and simply closed her eyes. She
died peacefully. Emma kissed her again and began to stroke
her face and said, "Bye, bye Mommy, I know you're with
Daddy now in heaven."
Wiping the tears from her cheeks Mom went on, "She
was
scary silent: she just sat next to her stroking her face.
John left because he didn't want to upset Emma with his
crying and I just stood next to her as she looked at Liz."
Mom had to stop for a moment to compose herself and
continued, "We stayed for about another ten or fifteen
minutes, Emma then turned and fell into my arms but she
wasn't crying.
I carried her out of the room and your Dad was talking
to
the doctor about the details for the final arrangements. I took
her to the waiting lounge and waited for John and then we left."
Sniffling Mom finished, "When we got in the car to
leave,
Emma looked back and broke down. It took every ounce of
strength I had to hold her because she was reaching for the
door handle and trying to get out of the car. She flailed
all the way home screaming. When we got home, I couldn't
calm her down, so I called Dr. Finkelstein. He arrived
about an hour later and gave her an injection. He handed me
a small bottle of sodium phenobarbitol said to me, "I know
it's not the time for jokes, but if she wakes and is still
unstable, give her a teaspoon of this. If it doesn't work,
you take it. I'll call you tomorrow afternoon."
Mom added, "I just spoke to him as I saw your car
pull up."
Turning to Priya Mom said, "Priya, I know this is
supposed
to be a happy time for you, but when Emma wakes up and sees
you, I not sure what she'll do, but I suspect she'll cling
to you for a while. She's been asking for you in her sleep."
Rubbing circles on the granite countertop Mom looked at
Priya again and said, "I hate to say it, but she'll
probably take up a good deal of your time, at least until
the funeral is over. I'm sorry to put you through this but
I suspect she'll only want you for a while: will you be OK
with that? If not, I'll struggle with her myself."
Holding Mom's hand Priya replied, "No Mom, I'll
stay with
her and give her all the support she needs, I don't mind.
In fact, I feel that it's the least I can do for her. I
can't imagine what its like to lose a parent much less both of them."
Agreeing, Mom smiled and replied, "I knew you'd be
there
for her but I needed to ask anyway. Let's go, I'll show you
the upstairs and we can look in on Emma at the same time."
Nodding in agreement, we rose and headed upstairs.
Priya's
eyes popped out when Mom showed her the master bedroom
suite, sitting room and lavish bathroom. Smiling, Mom
showed her my room (where I and one of the girls would
sleep), and the other bedrooms with their individual bathrooms.
She said to Priya, "You and Aleeya can choose which
bedroom
you want to claim as your own. Let's look in on Emma."
Mom opened the door to the bedroom closest to hers and
we
saw little Emma, still asleep and under the covers. Mom
silently closed the door and we went back downstairs.
Aleeya and Dad came back in with Dad huffing and
puffing.
They sat with us at the breakfast bar and Dad said, "Boy,
that girl is full of vim and vigor! How do you keep up with
her?"
Chuckling I replied, "I don't. It's called having a
nanny!
I just have to deal with her at night."
Dad, thinking there was a double entendre there asked,
"Is
she that way at night too?"
I winked, smiled and replied, "Very high maintenance
Dad,
very high."
Shaking his head he smiled and said, "Whew! There's
sixty
pounds of dynamite in a thirty pound bag there!"
I couldn't resist the opening he left me so I laughed
and
replied, "Yeah, and she goes off like it too!"
We all laughed at the joke, but Aleeya looked around at
all
of us laughing and said, "Huh?"
We didn't answer her and just started laughing again.
Abby gave me a look that said, "You're
naughty!"
Abby then asked every one, "Alright, where do y'all
want to
eat: in here or out on the deck?"
It being June, the temperature was moderate, maybe
seventy-
five, and the humidity (which can get quite high) seemed
low when we arrived, so Mom said, "Why don't we eat out on
the deck?"
We all agreed and began to get the place settings
together
and set the table outside together. Abby had outdone
herself with the meal! She made Mom, Dad and I barbequed
rib eye steaks and lamb kabobs for the girls on the grill.
We also had a garden nice salad and lots of sweet iced tea.
This being their first barbeque, Priya and Aleeya gorged
themselves on the kabobs and loved every morsel! After
stuffing ourselves like gluttons, we sat around talking at
the table for, what had to have been at least and hour when
we heard Emma screaming from inside the house.
Aleeya not knowing about Emma jumped up in her chair in
fright. The rest of us jumped to our feet and ran inside.
We looked up and saw Emma standing in the hallway that
overlooks the family room crying.
Mom and Priya took off up the stairs to her. Emma saw
Priya
and nearly knocked her over when she bounded into her arms.
Mom and Priya then took Emma back into the bedroom.
Upon seeing a crying Emma, Aleeya asked me, "Who's
she?"
I knelt down and took an arm in each hand and replied,
"She's my cousin Emma and her mommy died last night. She's
very sad."
Aleeya hugged me and said in my ear, "I think I
know how
she feels. I lost my mommy too. Maybe we can be friends."
Dad and Abby had tears running down their cheeks as a
result of her comment and I leaned in and kissed her nose
and replied, "I think she'd like that, but right now she
needs Priya and Auntie to help her with her sadness, OK?"
She sadly nodded and hugged me.
It was now dusk outside and I said to Aleeya, "It's
getting
late. We should say evening prayers and try to get some
sleep. It's been a long, tiring day."
She smiled, nodded and replied, "OK."
We said goodnight to Dad and Abby and went upstairs to
my
room. She jumped on the bed in glee and giggled and I said
to her, "I'll be back in a moment. I just want to talk to
Priya a moment and see how Emma's doing, OK?"
She smiled and nodded and just continued to jump
playfully
on the bed. I opened the door to Emma's room and Priya was
lying on the bed with Emma in her arms while Mom sat next
to them on the edge of the bed.
I knelt by the bed and softly asked Priya, "We're
going to
say evening prayers, do you want to join us or stay here?"
She put her finger to her mouth as if to say
"Shhhh' and
whispered, "No, I'll stay her with Emma, you two go ahead.
I'll see you in the morning."
Nodding I understood, I leaned over and kissed her
goodnight. I shook my head in sadness at Mom and she
responded the same. I leaned over and kissed Mom on the
cheek and whispered goodnight. She nodded back in reply and I
left to attend to Aleeya.
Once back in the bedroom with Aleeya, we said evening
prayers and began to get undressed. We were both down to
our underwear when out of the blue; she looked at me with a
strange, sheepish grin and said, "I drank too much iced tea
tonight. I really have to pee…"
"Do you want to watch?"
NOTE" Thanks to Don, an SOL reader for the tip on
the
gelding quarter horse.
Continued in Chapter 43…
|