ADAM'S SONS(English Novel) By Krishna

CHAPTER 15 Trial and re-trial. Examination and cross-examination. Decision and judgement. All these to establish a crime, which he never denied. And at last, it was out in the open, inviting its twin. The punishment. The human judgement. To imprison him for fourteen years. It was the proper punishment he deserved as per the penal code. But to him, it was not a punishment at all. It was almost an acquittal. Except for two things. He was not permitted to sleep in his corner of his house. He was getting food prepared by someone other than his mom. The beggar boy was always alive within him forcing him not to make friends and to be an introvert. So the separated-ness from society was not of any consequence to him. And the boy had taken away his capacity to dream. Leaving for him only a few undecipherable ones during sleep about which he never bothered. But the punishment, in its turn, had awarded him a pleasant gift, about which the judge did not know. He had always loved his mom and it was the only light in his life. And even though it was paled for a period, by the smoke of desire emitted by passion and spread by the black logic of the words of Rakesh, it regained its holiness on THAT day. And his kid-sisterly tenderness towards her at times, had rendered an added flavour to it. However, it was never as grand and great as was now. In the past, along with everything else, the knowledge that she was not his real mother, remained like the tendency of petrol to burn, but now it had transfigured into a revelation that she was his mother from time immemorial, like the tendency of petrol to activate an automobile for a jolly ride. Otherwise, how could she console him so completely and change his mind totally, when on the forlorn path he faced her and the remembrance of the brutal murder had returned to him with the force of a high voltage current, that he had the peacefulness to choose the most beautiful flower from a wild rose! After his sentence, when she came to him on visit, he could not recognize her at first sight. At the age forty-four, she had become an old woman. Her beautiful face was hidden beneath a mask of wrinkled, pale skin. Her long, wavy hair had turned white. Her body had lost the grace and her movement had lost the regal touch. Even her clothes were dirty and worn carelessly. But when she smiled to him, everything changed. Graciousness and serenity were still blended into it. The whiteness of her teeth still shone as before. Radiance flooded her face as if the purity of her mind had melted and covered it. And above all, her eyes shone like two bright stars with divine love and affection. He knew that his heart is throbbing to come out and merge with hers. They did not speak much. And did not cry or weep. They were simply happy to have met each other. When hearts are filled to the brim with love, words become superfluous. And when the visiting time was over she said: “Now the next time.” “Do not worry about me.” He said. “I am all right here.” She did not reply to it, but blessed him with a spontaneous smile, touched his hand and left. Tears flowed from her eyes only when she was out of the jail compound. In the jail he was the happiest man. The violent inmates poked and knocked him of course and made ribald comments at him for their own amusement, but otherwise avoided him. And he, on his part, abundantly distributed love and respect to all those who needed it. He learnt to obey all commands with a smile. And fortunately, all the inmates of his cell were old and weak men. His mother was always with him, and he heard her soft voice and felt the peacefulness, whenever he had a problem. And every month, she came to rejuvenate him and to rejuvenate herself. At night, he slept peacefully, with the inherent knowledge that she is praying for him. As such, the jail life did not become much of a burden to him. But it was not so simple with Cathy. She continued to go to the factory, since it was the only source of income to her. She cooked a little food in the morning, took some then and kept the balance for the evening. And during the evenings, after returning from work, she sat at her usual place for hours together. During those times, she sometimes thought of her life, which was more or less a blank sheet except for Larry. She thought of her parents and about the suicide of her father and the stinking death of her mother. About her mother's bold assertion that she was an illegitimate child! May be, that is what attracted her towards Larry. The old hag's assertion that Larry too was illegitimate. Membership in the same family. The family of illegitimates! Very rarely, she asked herself: “Why didn't I get married?” She had no specific reason for it. It did not happen, that was all. Although none had made a formal proposal to her, many had proposed the other way. A one night halt at her home. She did not answer to such people but on those days, made double sure that all the doors were bolted properly. And after Larry came to her house, such incidents lessened and gradually stopped altogether. Like the spontaneous dying down of an echo. Like a crime pardoned owing to the insanity of the accused. The insanity of frigidity. She did not know or bother about the findings of those people but was relaxed to learn that the verbal 'nudi-fication' had ended. She did not think much even now of that lost paradise, which they had promised to show her during their anticipated one night halt at her home. But now-a-days, she thought more about that unseen face which had advised her to run with closed eyes. Who was it? She never knew. But strangely, the ignorance gave it a colour of trust. Would he come to my home once? Nevertheless most of her time was taken by Larry. Her dear, dear son, who cannot sleep in his home for a long time. And an unavoidable duty to her to go to the jail to meet him. Unavoidable because only that gave some meaning to her life. The 'monthly meetings' with her son. And during the nights, after taking the cold, tasteless food as a set routine of little importance, she lay down in her corner, praying for Larry, which always ended with washing of her face with tears. And it lead her to a turbulent drowsiness, which too ended by midnight, leaving her to look at the dark silence with wide open eyes till the first rays of sun brought in a little light for her to get up and begin another weary day. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@