Jane Vejjajiva by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

escaped the prison that her body had become, and now her spirit was free to go anywhere she liked, wherever her heart desired. Kati was quite certain that one place Mother’s spirit would want to be was right beside her.
    Aunt Da had gathered her hair into a tiny bun; the bangles that always covered her lower arm disappeared and all that was left were her tiny pearl earrings. Aunt Da’s clothes were usually an entertainment in themselves. She was fond of draping herself with scarves and pieces of cloth and whatever she put on looked attractive. The black clothes she now wore made her look unusually thin and pale. Kati saw Uncle Kunn’s gaze rest on her with concern as he looked over to where she was greeting the funeral guests and taking care of their drinks and snacks, as well as the offerings they had brought for the monks.
    Uncle Kunn had been sticking to Kati like her own shadow. The two of them had no particular tasks in organising the funeral ceremonies, so, hand in hand, they slipped away to sit outside on the stone benches under a trellis arch of bougainvillea. They listened to the symphony of sounds around them. It seemed the lead part was taken by cicadas, and their constant chorus managed to achieve a certain harmony with the heavy night air, creating an atmosphere that Kati felt privileged to be part of. Normally she would never have been allowed to sit out so late.
    By the time the last guests made their farewells and departed, the little lamps had burned very low. Uncle Dong took Grandpa and Grandma home to the beach house. Grandma’s stillness made Kati wary of approaching her, and Grandpa exchanged glances with Kati. He wanted her to know Grandma needed all his attention just now and that it would help if Kati came home later with Uncle Kunn and Aunt Da.
    Aunt Da knelt and bowed low to the floor before the Buddha. She sat before the big framed photograph of Mother for such a long time that Uncle Kunn motioned to Kati to go and sit beside her. Kati met Mother’s eyes in the picture and it seemed that she understood very well what Mother wanted from her.
    Kati led Aunt Da by the hand out of the temple hall along with Uncle Kunn. The three of them walked quietly down the steps. Kati was holding Aunt Da’s hand on one side and Uncle Kunn’s hand on the other. She placed Aunt Da’s hand in Uncle Kunn’s strong grip. Surely, strength and warmth would flow from his big hand into her little thin one. For an instant Kati saw the colour that had faded from Aunt Da’s cheeks appear again. Mother would have been pleased with the picture they made, a picture whose soundtrack was the chirping of the cicadas in the night.

Leadworts
    Life…goes on.
    Tong came with his uncle, the abbot, in time for the last day of the chanting. They’d brought a lot of luggage, and the abbot said they would be leaving for the airport from the funeral. His followers had invited him to travel all the way to America as their guest. So the abbot thought he would take Tong along too to see the world and maybe find a way to complete his studies there as well.
    ‘I won’t go there to study now,’ Tong told Kati. ‘I’d rather sit the scholarship exam after I finish Year 12.’
    That was several years away. Kati knew Tong’s dream was to have a business card that read Suwan (Tong) Winaidee PhD . Uncle Dong said if Tong could make that dream come true he was a white elephant with black tusks, a rare beast indeed.
    Mother had said we need a dream to try to make each day better than the last. Kati couldn’t think what her dream was, but today was a better day since Tong was here at the seaside with her, even though she had just lost the person she loved the most.
    The leadwort blossomed over the fence. You could see the blooms, mauve against the clean white palings. Uncle Dong said there was a spell you could say to make them blossom on demand, but his magic must have lost its power because Mother never saw the leadwort flowering as