Short story
Lady in the ‘Takaran’ gown
Amalshan Gunerathne
With a flirtatious smile on his face, he made his way towards her. He
loved the way her iron coated ‘takaran’ gown glittered from the
afternoon sun’s rays that came scorching from the heavens. His veins
rippled in ecstasy, as he was treated with her usual coy smile. He came
in full force, stopped right next to her and roared.
‘Hi’
‘Hi’ she responded in bashful shyness.
His face lit up when he saw all the people that have gathered around
her. He was satisfied with her work. With her usual charisma, she has
been able to attract good number of customers, he thought. He stopped
next to her and waited while each one of them started to make their way
into his ‘iron’ coated cabin.
“Nice job, the business seems good today,” he said in his usual
charismatic tone.
“Yes, they have been waiting for you for so long,” she sounded relived.
“Good, ask them to get in,” he pegged back.
As he said that, one by one people start to make their way inside his
‘takaran’ coated iron cabin.
Theirs was a relationship based on mutual love, respect and
understanding. At least that is what she thought. They both loved
sunbathing in blistering heat, and preferred to wear ‘takaran’ coated
iron attire. Also their jobs were interdependent that on the face of it,
they appeared as if that they were made for each other.
“I still have space. All the seats are not filled,” he wanted more
people to get in.
“Let’s wait then, I could use some company,” she responded in her usual
innocent way.
“You look lovely as ever,” he said flirtatiously.
“Oh stop flattering me. I think I am getting old.”
“You look young as ever.”
“Stop flirting, there are people watching.”
“Why should we care? They are just here for a smooth ride.”
“They are our customers.”
“So what? Not like they have anyone else to take them home, the next
ride isn’t coming for another hour.”
As he said that he started to edge close towards her.
“Look don’t come any closer, I saw a POLICE man hanging around
somewhere around the streets.”
“Come on now! Stop worrying will you. I am the only ride they have, I
can stay with you as long as I want,” his tone was an adamant one.
She liked his authoritative tone. The unwavering confidence and
resolute that he possessed made her feel secure and safe. She did love
his company. She wouldn’t have minded to have him at her disposal for
the whole evening. But the POLICE man that lurked around in the
adjoining street made her feel nervous and agitated. He could come any
moment and catch them red handed, she thought.
“You should go now,” she said after a while.
“Why would I? Do you want to get rid of me?”
“It is not that. I won’t mind you staying, but people could get
restless.”
“I still have space for more people, I am not going till the cabin is
full,” he again switched back to his authoritative and adamant tone.
“Oh stop trying to be greedy, they must be tired as well and itching
to get to their homes,” she argued.
“Why do you care? I am tired too for god’s sake! I have been running
all the way from Colombo and all they have to do is just sit on me while
I do all the hard work. If anyone needs a rest, it is me,” he started to
lose his patience.
“Fine, stay then, look I do love your company.”
“So what is the issue?”
“Just that it doesn’t seem right somehow.”
“Why?”
“People”
“What about people?”
“They are waiting for you to take them home.”
“Yes they are waiting, so let them wait. They are against our affair,
you know?”
“They are?” she looked confused.
“Yes, they don’t want me to stay with you for more than few seconds…
-Selfish snobs who treat me as if I am a piece of trash. They despise me
and they hate my living guts. And that is what I get for serving them
day in and day out. Look, the point being, the rest of the world is
against us. So why on god’s sake should we care? You like my company and
I like yours, and we love each other, and they should understand
that…….” he went on with his romantic proclamation.
“They have kids, they must be waiting for them to get back,” she
revolted.
Deep down, she was starting to feel agitated. She didn’t want to
upset him. She cared for him and was willing to listen, but they should
not continue their affair at the cost of other people’s suffering, she
thought.
Just as she was about to put some sense into him, someone who was
seated inside his iron coated cabin shouted in rage. “It is been twenty
minutes since we got in, when on earth are we leaving?” it was a man
with a dark beard on his face that shouted from the back.
“Yes, for Christ’s sake start the damn thing and get this thing
rolling,” another one screamed from the back.
As the crowd started to get restless, she too started to feel
uncomfortable.
“They are shouting for you to leave, you should really get going
now,” she was almost pleading.
“But I still have space for more people, besides I want to spend more
time with you,” he was not willing to go just yet.
“Look that can’t be, you should understand, people need to get home
and it is your job that you get them there.”
“I still have space to carry more.”
His response drove her mad,
“What is more important to you? Money or me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is it because of me that you are staying or is it because of the
money that those people give you?”
Her question threw him off-guard.
“It is a bit of both,” he was rattled.
As he said that, a police officer in his khaki uniform came running
towards him and started to scream in rage.
“What on earth are you doing? How long have you been staying in this
god forsaken bus halt? Get moving right now or I will write you a
ticket,” the POLICE sergeant demanded.
Suddenly she started to feel sick. She was sickened by all the drama
that unraveled during last few minutes. A sudden realization hit her. He
doesn’t love me, she thought. All he ever wanted was to fill his cabin
with people and that is the only reason he wants to spend time with me,
she thought. All he wants is to let people in and stock them as if they
are pack of sardines so that he could get a grand pay at the end of the
day. She started to feel sick about their whole affair. She wanted to
slap him. Just as she was about to express her thoughts, he interrupted
and said,
“I need to go.”
She didn’t reply. She didn’t want to reply. The whole situation sickened
her.
“I am going,” he repeated, as he kicked started the engine.
She still didn’t give a response. She avoided his gaze and kept
looking away. She wanted him gone. It sickened her to know that he was
keeping her with an ulterior motive in mind. She felt cheated,
manipulated and disgusted about their whole affair.
As for him, he didn’t quite know what to do. He wanted to break the
silence. But he knew as things stand now, whatever he says would not
make a difference. He didn’t want to lose her. She has been a good
servant and a nice companion. She was good at what she did, he thought.
She knew how to attract customers. Somehow the whole situation didn’t
seem right. He did genuinely like her company, and he was grateful for
all the customers that she gathered for him. So he was desperate not to
lose her.
He really didn’t want to leave her, not in this state. But he didn’t
have any option. The police officer was shouting at him to leave. He
started the engine and started to drift away from her.
‘I will come tomorrow and explain myself to her’, he said to himself,
as he started to make his way towards the next servant.
[email protected]
|