One I remember

2015-12-25, 1:22 pm

It was frantic few hours. When Nilukshi saw Jerome with me, her face lightened up with a sense of relief. Then she realized the seriousness of the matter. Things were going to get ugly soon I felt. She called Hashini right-away and came to me.

‘We should leave now’ she said.

I didn’t forget to say goodbye to Hemantha. I felt we won’t be seeing him again for a while. When we came home, Hashini was waiting for us. She hugged Jerome and asked us to go inside the house. We all knew it was only matter of time until Jerome’s parents show up here. The question was how bad it was going to be. Jerome looked calm and didn’t care about anything that was going to happen next. He was holding my hand and didn’t let it go even for a second.

‘I got a call from Jerome’s dad. They are going to be here soon. You two stay away from this and let me do the talking’ she told us.

‘Nilu get the table ready. We are going to have visitors tonight. I need some good wine to serve’ she instructed Nilukshi.

We waited inside my room. I kissed Jerome as if we have met for the first time. That was when I realized how much I missed him for last few months. We heard his father’s voice.

‘Where is he’ he shouted.

‘He is inside the house. Please uncle, take a seat’ Hashini said calmly.

‘I didn’t come here to have a pet talk with you. I want my son or do you want me call police’ he said.

‘Jerome is 22 years old adult and he is here on because he wants to. But that’s beside the point. Could you please listen to what I have to say? ’ Hashini said. Nilukshi was holding cold drinks with a fake smile on her face.

‘Jerome is my only son and I want him marrying a girl. What kind of nonsense you are trying to do?’ he asked.

‘Randi is also the last of him family line, but what do you do when they turned out to be like this?’ she replied.

‘That is your problem, not mine. I want allow my son to be with another man’ he was adamant.

‘So you want him to get married to a girl so you can be happy. Don’t you care what it will do to him? Not just him, what about the girl he was going to marry. Her life will be miserable for the rest of the days. It just that two innocent people have to suffer rest of the life, so you can be happy.’ Hashini was not about to give up easily.

Then she took Uncle Derek’s hand.

‘Uncle, our families knew each other through generations. You grew up with our parents and even our grandparents knew each other well. So why don’t we give these guys a chance and unite our families forever? I do share the uncomfortable feeling you have inside you but for the sake of your son and the love you bare for him, please let him be.’ She said softly.

‘Derek, why don’t we take a seat? You are already gasping. Remember what doctor said about being relaxed.’ Aunty Sitha finally spoke.

After a pause, Uncle Derek decided to take a seat. We couldn’t really heard mush of what was discussed after that, but I was happy that no one spoke loudly. It was a long discussion which lasted about an hour. We were busy doing other stuff inside the room, so the wait wasn’t that bad. Finally we were asked to come out of the room. Jerome went right to his parent and went down before them. His mom helped him to get up and Uncle Derek gave him a light hug. By that time dinner was ready, Hashini invited everyone to the table. No one spoke much during the dinner.
After the dinner, Hashini came to me.

‘Jarome cannot stay here tonight. He has to be his parents. Do you understand?’

‘Yes’ I replied.

Jerome hugged me in front of everyone and left with his parents.

I felt an immense amount of gratitude towards Hashini.

‘Thank you for taking this upon you Hashini. Not sure what would have happened if you weren’t here’ I told her.

‘Oh, it wasn’t that bad, right Nilu? She is the one who came-up with lines. I just remembered to speak them at the right time.’ she said smilingly.

Then she showed a text message she got from Jerome. That was just before they left for the airport. It reads.

‘I cannot leave him so I am going to convince my parents to change their mind. If I failed, I am coming back to Randi. So you better get ready to go to war with my dad. Love – Jerome’

‘So you knew he was coming back and you didn’t tell me?’ I asked.

‘I knew he was coming back. But I had other things that I needed to get ready so this whole thing does not end-up in another disaster.’ she said.

‘I see’ she was always the smarter one, I thought.

‘I gave Uncle Derek my word that I will protect Jerome’s life. So you two cannot remain in Sri Lanka for time being. Recently Uncle Derek had seen some guys on a military truck by his house few times. He thinks they are looking for Jerome. So I need you to go out of the country for few years until this thing get settled down? ’ she said.

So that is how our life together started. Both Jerome and I found employment abroad and stayed in a small apartment. We never missed to spend nights together. As we aged, our bond became more spiritual than physical. That didn’t mean sex was absent from our life. It means that sex never took the center stage in our life. Life is full of wonders and it is certainly much more than sex. Often we slept hugging and listening to each other’s heart beat. It was truly magical. Jerome sometimes spoke about Danushka and said he hold no animosity towards him.

Jerome had more impact than me from the gunshot wounds. Doctors found bullet fragments in his kidneys so his health wasn’t as robust as it used to be. At back home, Hashini was able to negotiate a deal with the bank, regarding Uncle Derek’s mortgage. She took over the mortgage and released the house back to Jerome’s parents. The charges against Danushka were withdrawn because I was not willing to testify against him. Sarojini had filed a divorce application.After spending five years abroad, we decided to visit Sri Lanka for a vacation.

We found most of our friends were married and have families. Asitha and Shamalie got married few years ago. We went to Galle-face green one day but couldn’t find Hemantha. There was another guy selling kadala and we asked him about Hemantha. He said Hemantha is doing well now, running an art-shop. We watched sun-set holding hands. Next day we got invited for a dinner by Asitha and Shamalie. After the dinner, Asitha wanted to speak to us privately. When I heard what he proposed;

‘Are you out of your mind’ I said.

‘No Randi. I thought about this million times and this is the only solution I can think of’ he sounded worried.

‘Is Shamalie okay with this idea’ Jerome asked.

‘She is the one who brought up this in first place. I guess it’s because she suffered more than me’ he said.

‘Have you tried all other means? I mean these days you can do miracles with medical technology. You are a Doctor so you know better than me’ I said.

‘Yes we have. The problem is with me, not with her. All we need is sperm donor. In western countries, there are sperm banks but we don’t have anything like that here. Even if there is a one, I rather use someone I know than getting stranger’s sperm’ he said.

‘We will think about this and let you know in few days’ I said.

‘Thank you. My parents often mistreat Shamalie because she cannot get pregnant. They don’t want to believe that their son is not capable of producing a fertile sperms. I have told them many times that the problem is with me and spare Shamalie. But they believe what they want to believe and keep on harassing her. I am stuck between Shamalie and my parents. You two are my only hope’ he said in low voice.

Jerome and I spoke about Asitha’s situation and decided to help him. He took us to a private clinic in Colombo and did the procedure. We both donated sperms for him and Samalie. All we wanted was for them to live a happy life.

The day before we left, I got hold of Sarojini’s phone number. We talked for a while and she said Arosh is growing up fast. She asked us to visit her place in Kandy. We were already tired from travelling so I declined her request politely. Just before I hanged the line, there was a long pause between us and Sarojini knew what I was thinking.

‘After you left the country, Danushka’s behaviors got very erratic. He was drunk most of the time and didn’t even go to work. Then he lost his job. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I convinced my parents to file a divorce. Sometimes he called me when he wanted to see Arosh. Apparently he tried to commit suicide few times and got admitted to a mental hospital. I haven’t heard from him for a while. If you want, I can make some inquires and find out his whereabouts’ she said.

‘No need to bother Soroji. Maybe next time’ I said and thanked her.

We left the country that night.

Next: Final part