Stranger In The House

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Nobody exactly knew the actual age of Korimunnesa – but the general concession had been she was somewhere around 80 – more or less. When she was born in a remote village in Bangladesh, nobody kept a record of births. She was quite healthy for her age – skinny but had a pair of sharp eyes and keen hearing, and had no issues with movement. The only nagging problem she had was the fact that every now and then she forgot things, especially names and faces of people. Since she came to Toronto from Montreal to visit her only daughter, she was having a terrible issue with the middle-aged man, who for some strange reason lived in the same household with her daughter and two grandchildren. Her daughter Rahimatunnesa, shortly Reema, was very caring. The grandchildren were both girls. One of them – the older one, was very nice; the other one was a total prick, always looking for trouble with her – very straining but she could somehow live with that. The problem she was having had everything to do with the middle-aged man. He was a nice guy, let’s be honest, really cared for her, brought presents and stuff for her even before she asked, and would run to the stores at moment’s notice if she ever needed anything – all that was good. The question that truly overwhelmed her was why in the whole world was he living in this house with her daughter? What would others say? People talked. She allowed a few days to pass, to observe the situation more closely, then one morning after the man left for work in his car, she strode into the kitchen where Reema was making breakfast, and grabbed her by the arm. “Reema, tell me the truth. Who is that man?” “Who are you talking about?” Reema pretended to be surprised. “That man…kind, good looking. He lives in this house. Brings me whatever I want. But I can’t remember him at all. Who is he?” Reema smiled. “What do you call him?” “Why, Jamai (son-in-law)!” Korimunnesa hesitantly said, not sure what her daughter was leading her into. “Why do you call him that?” “Your brothers told me to call him that… Tell me the truth, who is he?” “He is my husband, mom.” Reema held her smile. Korimunnesa was shocked with her eyes exploding. “What are you talking about? You got married? When?” “Many years ago, mom. You and Dad, your husband, had arranged my marriage with him. You forgot?” Reema was clearly enjoying this conversation. “Really?” Korimunnesa looked utterly surprised. “Where is your dad?” “He went to heaven, ten years ago.” Korimunnesa observed her daughter with an inquisitive, suspicious look. She didn’t like the fact that Reema had a clear smirk on her face. She must be hiding something. “This is not fair. Why are you blaming us? You must have married this man on your own, hadn’t you? You didn’t even think of letting me know. How could you do that? I am your mother!” Her eyes became cloudy with encroaching droplets of tears. How much did she love her daughter and this was how she (Reema) treated her? Reema was about to say something but Korimunnesa didn’t wait. She rushed into her room, closed the door, and crashed on her bed. She would cry in isolation for a little while. Reema, her only daughter, really hurt her this time. How could she!   She was not as young anymore, Korimunnesa realized. At this age, you lie down on the bed for two seconds and before you know you have dozed off. Something woke her up. At first, she didn’t know what it was. But then it occurred to her – somebody was banging on her door. She jumped into a sitting position. Who would bang on her door? Must be the younger girl…the prick…back to give her some more hard time. She found her intolerable. Always finding something to come and badger her with. Granny did this…granny did that…everything was her fault. She decided not to open the door, not even respond, and let her leave after banging a few more times in vain. Her plan didn’t work though. The girl was truly a brat. Leaving would have meant giving Korimunnesa a little deserving break. She turned the bolt from outside and unlocked the door, opening it with as much noise as possible. Korimunnesa was devastated. How could they put such stupid locks on the doors that can be opened from both sides? She quickly lay back on the bed and pretended to sleep. She had no intention to see the girl or even talk to her. Prick! The girl stood there for a little bit before muttering in disgust, “Pretender! I know you are not sleeping. I cannot find my blue stone earrings anywhere. Granny, I saw you fondling them yesterday. Tell me the truth. Did you take them?” Korimunnesa had to wake up from her pretense. How dare this little prick call her a thief? She tartly said, “I never touch your stuff. Don’t bother me. Go away. Reema! Reema! Please make her go away.” Reema and the older girl both came running. The older girl, the nice one, went to university. She mustn’t have had class today because she had been sleeping all morning. She looked after Korimunnesa. Nothing like the little prick. But before she could make it to Korimunnesa’s room to rescue her from the little devil, something really sinister happened. The devil turned over the pillow on which Korimunnesa was sleeping and produced the pair of blue stone earrings. Korimunnesa looked at those in bewilderment. This girl was way more evil than she had initially thought. She must have hidden these earrings under Korimunnesa’s pillows when she wasn’t in the room to embarrass her. As soon as her mother and sister showed up the she-devil swung the two earrings from her clenched fingers before their eyes and said in a twisted, terrible angry voice, “Just check this out, guys. I found my favorite earrings under Granny’s pillow. She is always stealing my favorite and beautiful stuff. When I go to school she sneaks into my room, goes through all my stuff, and steals whatever she likes – usually the stuff I care about most. And when I ask them back she would bluntly deny stealing them. This is starting to piss me off.” Korimunnesa could not just stay quiet at this false allegation. “Lies, just lies,” she objected vehemently, “I never take her stuff. She hid them under my pillows to make me look like a thief. Trust me, Reema. I’d never do something like that.” Reema glanced at her younger daughter with indignation. “Why are you always bothering your granny? She forgets things. What can she possibly do with your stuff?” The little one wasn’t about to lose in this battle, not when she had just caught the thief red-handed. “If she has nothing to do with them then why steal them? She is a thief. Always stealing my bracelets, my color books, colorful ball pens, and rings – and the worst part is, she is a liar. Won’t even admit taking them.” At this point, Korimunnesa couldn’t take it anymore. She broke into tears. “Reema, did you hear that? She just called me a thief and a liar. Aren’t you going to scold her? “ Reema pulled the little girl out of the room. She scolded her a bit. The older girl sat by Korimunnesa and ran her fingers on her thin gray hair, calming her down as she quietly talked. What a nice girl! Korimunnesa eventually stopped crying. In the future she would have to be more careful, she decided. She must watch that little prick around the clock so that she cannot get in her room and hide things again. How can a little girl be such a schemer, she wondered. And let’s not forget about the jealousy! If Reema had ever come to sleep next to her, the prick would evidently pop up and take her away with some worthless fabricated excuses – she was afraid to sleep alone, or she was having a stomach ache or a headache – she always found something. Jealous little brat – almost like an evil step-sister.   The man returned home in the evening, as usual; ate dinner with the family, and sat on a sofa in the family room to watch TV. Korimunnesa did not eat with them. She went to bed early and ate her supper very early in the evening. She took a nap after supper and sometimes came to watch a little television later at night. She liked to watch the village dramas on the local ethnic channels. Today, as she entered the family room she froze in both anger and disappointment. Reema was sitting very closely to that man, practically touching, as she watched TV. Reema had turned to glance at her and instantly sensed something was not right. She quickly came to check. “What’s wrong, mom?” “Why are you sitting next to that man?” Korimunnesa angrily muttered. “He is my husband, mom.” “What? Really?” “Yes, mom. We also have two kids.” Reema patiently said. Korimunnesa was terribly surprised and very disappointed. “I can’t believe my own ears, Reema. What kind of girl have you become? How could you slide so low? Not only are you living with a stranger, but you have also taken kids with him! Did I bring you up to be like this?” Reema was trying to explain but Korimunnesa didn’t have the mind to wait and hear her excuses and lies. She ran back into her room and closed the door. Her daughter was completely ruined. She could no longer stay in her house. She would call her older son the very next day and ask him to drop her in Montreal with the other son. True, even there she remembered seeing several strangers but at least the situation wasn’t as bad. She must have dozed off again because several mild knocks on her closed door woke her up. Must be that man. He was very polite. “Who is it?” She asked. “I am Jamai, Mom,” the man replied in a soft, kind voice. “Can I come in?” “Yes, yes, come.” She quickly rose to a sitting position and swiftly pulled her clothes to cover all parts of her body except the face. Jamai slowly opened the door, took a step inside the room, and smiled divinely.  “Mom, do you want to go for a ride?” Korimunnesa loved car rides. Very often Jamai would take her for rides in the evening after he returned from work. Just her, nobody else, especially not the little girl. Prick! Brat! Whichever was worse. “Will you buy me some candies?” She asked with apologetic anticipation. “Which one?” Jamai asked, indulgently. “Anyone. I love all candies,” she said, with a wide smile. “Okay. I’ll buy you some,” Jamai said. Korimunnesa jumped out of her bed. Reema and the older girl had come and were now standing in front of her room. She looked at her daughter. “Should I go?” “Go, Mom,” Reema said, smilingly. “Bring some candies for us too.” “I’ll, I definitely will,” Korimunnesa said as she quickly found her shawl and neatly placed it on her shoulders. It was summer but she still liked the cozy feeling of the shawl when she was outdoors.   As the car moved along the relatively quiet streets in the late evening –  now that most people had returned from work and all –  Korimunnesa watched with both pleasure and awe the fast-moving cars quickly passing them on both sides; the neatly lined houses on the side of the roads that seemed like getting pulled back into oblivion; the bright, colorful storefronts – everything looked so magical! And that mild vibration that the car produced when driven on slightly rough roads, one could easily doze off. “Mom, are you okay there?” The man asked from the driver’s seat. “Yes, I am fine,” she said, perhaps a little sleepily. A few moments later, fully alert with a sudden dash of thought, she leaned forward toward the man and said with mild hesitation, “Jamai, you are a good man. But I can’t say the same about my daughter. How could she live with a total stranger? But what can I possibly do? I am just an old, frail woman. But I can assure you one thing, my daughter has a heart of gold. Promise me you’ll always look after her. Okay?”