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"You must be Aruna's Mother," she said, "I was Lakshi's room mate."
Mrs. Gunawardena relaxed visibly after getting a
closer look at the young girl. Mrs. Gunawardena's friends had started crowding
around her and pestering her with questions. A woman is not the groom's
mother every day. And on the day that she is, and has, in addition to that
privilege, a bevy of bosom friends around her she is entitled to feel expansive,
and talkative.
Aruna's wedding (said Mrs. Gunawardena) was not the usual run of the mill affair. I shudder to think of where Aruna could have ended up had it not been for my sister-in-law Amelia and to a lesser extent, me.
It all started when we stayed for a couple of weeks
at my brother's place in Kandy. That is where Aruna met Lakshi, the sweet
girl he's married today. I can't say I liked her at once or at first sight.
I didn't. She had far too much lipstick on and actually wore jeans. I know
that the modern girl revels in parading around in all states of semi nudity
and I am for gender equality and all that but I did not want my son to
be ruled by a champion of women's rights. After all it was his happiness
that mattered most to me. I was somewhat worried about the implications
of this relationship. I confided my fears to my brother's wife, Amelia.
I wanted to enlist her help to, God forgive me, split them up.
You know how Amelia is. She said she wanted a free hand. I wasn't to interfere. Several times that week I saw her in earnest conversation with my son Aruna, mellowing him. She even invited Lakshi over, altogether unnecessarily I thought at the time. Lakshi was quite charming on that day, dressed in a long, flowing frock. She talked so politely that I was beginning to have doubts. Everything went off smoothly and none of us had the heart to bring up the subject of her relationship with Aruna.
I wanted to get back home as early as possible, but my brother insisted that we stay a further two weeks, and I couldn't refuse him. Then a terrible thing happened.
Aruna met another girl. I say girl but maybe I should say creature. This creature could have stepped into one of those awful, modern song video clips and felt at home from the beginning. She wore three huge ear-studs, on each ear, and a summer frock culminating, it looked to me, a centimetre below her belly button. And orange lipstick. She had nails like a cat, painted a sickening brown. Horrible. Somehow she had managed to join us for tea. The worst was that Aruna could not take his eyes off her. It was like she had charmed him. Lakshi was there too. And she didn't miss it either. She didn't say a word during the whole evening and seemed miffed, can't say I blamed her, poor thing.
Aruna foolishly offered to drop the repulsive creature back to where she had slithered from and I wasn't surprised when she accepted. Amelia, with extraordinary presence of mind, managed to get herself included in the seeing off party. That eased my mind a lot. Amelia would see to it that things did not grow out of control.
I was left alone with Lakshi. After the shock of Diana (the creature actually had a name) Lakshi seemed so soft, so demure. We got talking. I found out that her family was well off. But she talked to me like her mind was far away. Then she seemed to reach a decision and said,
"It was wonderful aunty, but all the same I don't think I'll be coming here again." I started to protest but she continued, "That girl has eyes for him, I can feel it."
"Aruna must be a fool." I exploded but she cut me short,
"Aruna is innocent. With women like that he doesn't
stand a chance."
I felt sorry and realized that I'd been extremely harsh in judging Lakshi. It was not only that she was rich, though that certainly cleared my mind to some extent, but also that her initial garishness seemed to have waned.
Aruna came home very late free of Amelia and in an irritatingly zesty mood. Apparently he had good news for ME. He said that he concurred with me. He was thinking of ceasing his involvement with Lakshi in favour of Diana. I've been gentle with Aruna ever since he lost his father as a teenager but this was too much. I gave him tight. I had worked myself into such a rage that I surprised myself by my eloquence. I went on for about half an hour on what I thought of his recent insufferable behaviour and on the sensitivity of the female heart. He seemed to be listening but whether I was getting through was doubtful. He went off with a faraway look and mumbling something like "I'll never understand women."
I sought out Amelia to update her on recent developments but she was fully informed and also in bad spirits. She even accused me of being responsible. I had been too protective of Aruna.
"He is so gullible, that the moment he sees a female his brain dissolves..." Amelia kept repeating.
No matter what I said, Amelia twisted it round to my apron string hold on Aruna. Then she berated me for being unreasonable about Lakshi. I agreed with her on that now.
When both of us cooled down and she was once again
her confident self she decided that this new monster should somehow be
exterminated. She assured me that a girl like Diana was bound to have hundreds
of skeletons in her cupboard and that she was going to dig a few of them
out.
Amelia was as good as her word. She managed to ferret out some unpleasant detail, which she wouldn't divulge even to me, from the creature's past. The net result was a sudden disappearance of Diana from our lives. Aruna seemed to get over her easily which proved to me that it was nothing more than a reckless infatuation. Lakshi, the dear girl that she is, never mentioned it again.
What has all this to do with my swooning? I'll tell
you. This room mate of Lakshi's, she bears a striking resemblance to that
creature Diana. Of course now I can see that they are extremely different
but when you look at her face on, yes, there is a remarkable likeness.
I wonder...
* * *
Aruna, Lakshi, her past roommate and aunt Amelia were in deep conversation in an adjacent room.
"You were wonderful," said Lakshi to her roommate, "I always said your acting was superb."
"For a moment I thought she recognized me," responded the girl, "but I'm sure she suspects nothing. It's not me you should thank. Aunt Amelia's plan went like clock-work."
"Thank goodness everything worked out fine." said aunt Amelia modestly.
"All the same," added Aruna, "It was a shame we had to deceive mother, but she was being darned difficult. If I hadn't been sure of you Lakshi... I really love you..."
Two conspirators left the room silently, leaving the newly married couple alone, to join Mrs. Gunawardena's friends who were coming out of another room.
Original Short Story by Rumey Jiffrey
5 May 1999.
Appeared under the title The Conspirators in slightly modified form in the Now Magazine of the Sunday Leader of Sri Lanka on the 6th June 1999.
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Copyright © 1999 Rumey Jiffrey