Читать книгу Lucky You - John Duke - Страница 13

Passengers on Flight AHK 417 to Kolkata. Now boarding at gate 4.

The time to fly to India had come. To another world where things were very different. He had stowed his luggage in his overhead compartment ten minutes earlier and now finally he was in his seat and it seemed like he had fastened his seat belt over and over and the plane began to reverse. The last ten minutes had been a frustrating time for him and he had tried not to become grumpy, but he had not been very successfully. He had tried to think of something else, so he thought of Carol. The steward began to tell them what they should do in the unlikely event of an emergency.

Eliot smiled at his frustrations. God, he said in his head, what’s new? So someone was sitting in your seat which is on the aisle so you can get to the toilet quickly and a bag fell out of the overhead locker and hit your shoulder and that woman treated her 5 year old son like he was Sachin Tendulkar and you wondered why some Indian kids were spoilt. That’s so tough! He looked across to the left, at the two people who he was going to share the journey with, two people who were like those that he was going to share his life with for the next couple of months and whenever he got frustrated he would feel Marion’s hand on his forearm and everything that needed to be said was said, try and see it from their point of view she would say and he would recover. Not to worry he thought, being grumpy and judgemental was probably a step in the right direction.

Next to the window was a very fat Sikh who could hardly confine himself to the allocated space. He spread onto the young woman nursing a sleeping baby, who sat next to Eliot. Earlier, when he had finally claimed his seat off the fat Sikh, while being only a little bit rude, the young mother had given him a friendly smile and radiated a kind of beauty despite or maybe because of the child on her lap. Now as they took off she was cradling her young baby, dozing like the tired mother she undoubtedly was.Their plane left the ground.

After light refreshments which the young mother slept through, the cabin lights were dimmed and the passengers were encouraged to have a short kip and this suited Eliot because he thought that he would be asleep if he was back in Australia. But just as he was drifting off the fat Sikh in 7A who had earlier been in 7C, needed to go to the toilet. What a pain in the arse Eliot whispered to himself. He muttered that he and the young woman with the baby would just about have to evacuate the plane so that he could go and try to squeeze through the toilet door. Special would call him a fat lazy prick and say that a passenger’s weight should be included in their baggage allowance? Eliot watched the fat Sikh’s behind squeeze through the toilet door and Special was still in his ear. That fat Sikh was the boss who sat with his feet up on his desk smoking and showing off his socks while he gave orders to others who were run off their feet but still he said to them, run down to KFC for me and buy me some popcorn chicken… oh, and some Pepsi too. Soon he was squeezing back down the aisle and squeezing himself into his seat.

The baby did not stir and the young woman gave Eliot a very nice smile as she sat back in her seat. How beautiful Indian women were .The brilliant colours, cerise and silver of her Salwar Kameez, the subtle modesty of the dupatta. Around her neck the Mangalsutram, around one wrist three bangles. In her part the sindoor. She had a graceful beauty that Indian women seemed to be able to exude so effortlessly. Soon she was dozing again. Eliot stole a glance at her, she had beautiful eyelashes. And then he fell asleep for what must have been quite a while, until he heard a noise that was a snuffling inhalation, a cracking of breath and again.

Amma..........Amma

Eliot opened his eyes to a small face, level with his, a mop of black hair, giant eyes , a screwed up face, a face with large watery eyes and a nose where snot moved in and out of one nostril on each breath. The face looked past Eliot to his young mother cradling the sleeping baby. She didn’t move and the wounded voice grew louder. Maybe he was six years old

Amma, Amma.

She was awake.

Ahli, what is the matter, where is Papa?

The snot was on his upper lip and his shoulders were heaving. He stretched out both hands in Eliot’s face towards his mother.

Please Amma can I come and sit with you? Papa is sleeping and I am tired. I want you to read me a book before I go to sleep.

Oh, Ahli you can see that I can’t, I have Rifka in my arms.

Ahli began to cry and when nothing came of that he sat down in the aisle and continued wailing so that he attracted the attention of the cabin staff. The steward came and she had an awkward look on her face and when she tried to calm him, he pushed her away so that the she looked mortified and retreated a couple of steps.

Ahli, you must not do that.

Immediately, Eliot knew what to do, it was probably in his own best interests but he liked this woman, though they had barely exchanged words and he didn’t even know her name. She was, he felt sure the kind of woman, the kind of person, who deserved to be helped.

Excuse me, do you think that Ahli would let me read him a book?

That is very kind of you sir. I will see……. Ahli this kind gentleman has said that he will read you a book. You could sit on his knee and be next to me, is that ok sir? Ahli. Sit on his knee next to Amma. But we don’t want to wake up Rifka do we Ahli? ……There is a book for Ahli in my bag under the seat in front of me. Would you be able to get it out sir?

Yes I can do that. Please call me Eliot.

He unfastened his seat belt and reached down for the book. She had red toenail polish and toe rings on both feet. WARREN THE WORRY WART. He stretched his arms out to little Ahli.

Come on, come up here and sit on my knee and I will tell you all about Warren the Worry Wart.

Ahli snuffled his snot and looked at his mother. She nodded her head and after a moment’s hesitation Ahli allowed himself to be lifted up under his arms and up onto Eliot’s knees and Eliot looked at Ahli’s nose and it made him feel like he might be sick and his mother withdrew a tissue from the sleeve of her blouse and passed it to Eliot.

My name is Ragini.

Thank you Ragini, that is a very nice name. Here give me that snotty nose Ahli. Then we will be able to read your book won’t we?

Pass me the tissue Eliot.

What a face he thought! It came to him when he looked at her face later that somehow it spoke of grace or perhaps in difficult times of forgiveness and her eyes were kind and he wondered where his feelings were coming from. Of all the passengers on the plane he had been lucky enough to be seated beside her. He couldn’t help but be excited about India. Imagine a world without women. Not worth thinking about. Twice in one day! So maybe it wasn’t too late and it was no disrespect to Marion he told himself. He had done the grief and come through to the other end of the tunnel where possibly life was still worth living without her and her letter said go ahead.

Thank you Ragini. Now Ahli...... Warren the Worry Wart.

WARREN WAS A BIT OF A WORRIER, HE COULD WORRY ABOUT JUST ABOUT ANYTHING.

HE WORRIED ABOUT CLOUDS AND HE WORRIED ABOUT DOGS AND HE WORRIED ABOUT THE DARK.

HE WORRIED ABOUT TREES AND HE WORRIED ABOUT AEROPLANES

Hey Ahli these are pretty silly things to be worried about aren’t they?

Ahli wriggled a little bit but kept his eyes on the page and said nothing.

HE WORRIED ABOUT SICKNESS AND HE WORRIED ABOUT SNAKES

HE WORRIED ABOUT CARS AND HE WORRIED ABOUT WIND

WARREN’S FATHER SAID, DON’T WORRY ABOUT ANY OF THESE THINGS WARREN, THE WORRIES ARE JUST THINGS IN YOUR IMAGINATION.

Eliot was aware that Ahli had grown heavier.

WARREN’S MOTHER SAID, DO YOU KNOW THAT MOST THINGS THAT YOU WORRY ABOUT NEVER HAPPEN?

BUT WARREN JUST COULD NOT HELP HIMSELF.

HE WORRIED ABOUT GERMS AND TIGERS IN THE ZOO

HE WORRIED ABOUT THE STARS AND.....

Ahli is asleep.......thank you so much. Will he be too heavy for you?

No it’s fine, he can stay there, we will be in Kolkata very soon, so I think that I can cope with him. You are very lucky to have a daughter who sleeps so well............so you live in Kolkata?

No, we live in Kuala Lumpur. My husband has a very good job in IT. So I can go and see my parents in Kolkata whenever I choose……….

She smiled over her shoulder.

He booked four seats at the back of the plane with Ahli so that he can lie down and sleep because his work makes him so tired.

So you like living in Kuala Lumpur?

I miss it, Kolkata, and I hope that one day we can return to live there. My mother and father are quite old now and I think they would like me to be around. Sometimes my husband comes with me sometimes it is just me and the children. Ahli goes to an International Schools in Kuala Lumpur and he is learning to speak English very well so there are advantages. So what brings you to Kolkata?

I have come to work in a school in a village called Madho Patti, in Uttar Pradesh. Do you know this village?

No Eliot I have never heard of it.

It is near Jaunpur. Tomorrow I will fly to Varanasi and from then to Jaunpur and Madho Patti. I will be helping the English teachers to make the teaching of English more interesting.

That is a very good thing to do. I am sure you are very good at this teaching. The students at Madho Patti will be very lucky.

Thank you very much Ragini and I think Ahli and your daughter are very lucky to have you as their mother.

He thought maybe this was too much to say but he was sure that it was true. They seemed at ease with each other and as the two children slept, Ragini and Eliot talked about the things that people like talking about. Where they grew up and about meeting their partners and Ragini wondered how Eliot was coping with the loss of his wife and Eliot wondered whether Ragini was happy as a housewife. They talked about their children growing up in the modern world and how the world was changing so rapidly and for some people it was a world fraught with so many dangers. Then there were their hopes and their fears and for a moment their eyes met and they knew that for everyone, what lay ahead was unknown and that you needed luck to get through life without the big problems, that you needed luck to meet some people, they both knew that and the next time she smiled he said it.

I am very glad that I sat next to you Ragini, it has been very pleasant.

Thank you Eliot and thank you for being so kind to Ahli. I must wake him up now and send him back to sit with his father.

The announcement came for the cabin crew to please be seated for landing. Then the time came.

Good bye Ragini.

Good bye Eliot.

When Eliot washed his hands in the airport restroom he tried to imagine what Ragini’s husband would look like and about what caused two people to fall in love.