Chapter 7
Lamchwa watched Kiang's car approach the shop and he stood up straightening his new shirt with one hand as he held his jacket in the other. He always felt awkward and shy when wearing new clothes. Over the years, his many employers had gifted him with shirts, pants or jackets on Christmas and other local festivals like the Chad Sukra and Behdeiñkhlam festivals, but he seldom wore them. He preferred his old clothes and gave most of the dresses to his brother, Marbōd, who was almost his size. He kept but one or two for himself.
He had reached the shop five minutes earlier and had idle conversation with two employees of the shop who were already there waiting for Kiang to open the shop. They were known to him for he was a regular customer there.
It was cold that morning and the sun was hidden by the rising mist in the east. But the walk from the village to the shop had warmed him and so he had removed his jacket and carried it in his hand. He now walked up to Kiang as he reached the shop and greeted him.
Kiang returned his greeting and asked, ‘Did you wait long?’
‘Oh, just 5 minutes only, at the most.’
Kiang handed over the keys to one of his employees who took them from him and proceeded to open the shutters of the shop. During this time, Kiang enquired about Lamchwa's family and his mother's health. Lamchwa answered all his questions and Kiang ushered him into the shop which was now open.
Kiang led him to the manager's seat and showed him the stock registers, price lists and the log books. He handed him the keys to the table drawers and spoke to him for several minutes telling him how to go about the business. By now, all the four employees of the shop were present and so Kiang called out to them to come over.
Kiang spoke to his employees, ‘Look here now, I think all of you know Lamchwa, so I don't need to introduce him to you.’ They all nodded in confirmation with a yes and Kiang continued, ‘From today, he shall manage the shop and I ask you all to cooperate with him.’
They all said, ‘We will, Ma Kiang.’
Kiang smiled at them in appreciation and asked them to continue with their duties. Two customers were entering the shop and behind them came Maya. She was dressed in a long white skirt and a green blouse. Across her right shoulder and down to her ankles was draped a white Kyrchah (A casual traditional sarong type dress worn by Khasi girls and women) checked with black lines. The employees greeted her as she walked in and she greeted them back. She walked up to her father and handed the account books she carried to him.
Kiang introduced Lamchwa to his daughter and then said to him, ‘Lam, this is Maya, my daughter. In my absence, you will hand over the days collections and books to her and also consult her in case of any requirements for the shop.’
Lamchwa nodded and said a yes as he shook her hand with a smile. Kiang then asked Maya to wait in the car as he proceeded to continue his briefing of Lamchwa. Lamchwa was quick to understand because he already had previous experience of handling a shop, albeit a smaller one.
Maya was concluding her call on the cell phone as Kiang came to the car. He opened the door and sat in the driver's seat. He handed the account books of the coal depots to her and said, ‘I have found some irregularities between Rocky's statements and the statements sent to me by our buyers at Guwahati. We shall go now to the depot and sort it out with Rocky.’
Mr. Rocky Suchiang was the Manager of all their coal depots. Under him were two Assistant Managers who dealt directly with the coal mine contractors and supervisors. Coal was brought from Kiang's coal mines and stockpiled in one of his two coal depots from where they were loaded into Lorries and transported to Beltola in Assam or to Tamabil in Bangladesh. Rocky dealt with the buyers and received payments from them. He would report to Kiang every evening with the accounts and the money for in these parts, coal deals were mostly done in cash.
Kiang's business had expanded in these 25 years and therefore he had more people in his employ. He had bought his own Lorries to transport his coal. He also bought several coal mines most of which yielded profits while a few made losses. On the whole, he was making good profits and he became one of the richest men in the area. His visits to his village now reduced to only once a year at Christmas. But he never missed a funeral of any of his close relatives from his village and always stayed a day extra during those times leaving Rocky to handle the business. Being an honest man himself, he was wont to trust others too. And so he trusted Rocky and all his employees and was always generous to them. His parents and his uncles had all passed away one after the other in the last fifteen years, starting with his father. And as he was successful in business, he generously supported his brothers and sisters and their children in any of their financial needs.
Now, as Kiang drove to his nearest coal depot along with Maya, he was recalling the phone conversation he had had the previous night, with one of his coal buyers from Assam. Kiang had called him up regarding some large overdue payments. His buyer had informed him that he had paid most of it in weekly instalments to Rocky. When Kiang checked the books, he did not find all the entries corresponding to the payments made by his buyer. He had recently had his doubts regarding Rocky's integrity. There were rumours which told him that Rocky was selling some of his stock to small buyers without making any entries in the accounts. He doubted it because he trusted Rocky. Moreover, since the account books showed more profit that year, he dismissed those rumours. But last month, as he was driving by the coal depot, he noticed two Lorries, which were not his own, loading coal from his depot. He stopped by to talk to Rocky. Rocky explained that he had sold some of the coal to the small buyers to clear the old stock for the fresh one that was coming soon. Kiang believed him. That day's entry in the book did show the sale of 50 tons of coal to other buyers. Something nagged at Kiang's gut then, but he chose to ignore it. The phone call he had last night roused that nagging feeling in his gut again.
Maya was observing her father as he drove and could see that he was pensive. She felt her own heart reaching out to him wanting to calm and comfort him. She couldn't bear the thought of him suffering. Her whole world was centred on him; she could not imagine her life without him. Her grand-uncles, uncle Echwa and his family did visit them, but her Aunt Eva, who now lived in her late granny's house with her family, visited them more often. She was happy to have their love and she loved them back but none could compare to the love her father poured on her. Memories of her mother were fading, but thoughts of her father always came to her especially when she was alone and away from home during the course of her studies.
She had studied in the village up to the matriculation level and then her father sent her to Shillong for her higher studies. She was sixteen then. She had cried and made a fuss when her father told her that she would be continuing her studies at Shillong. This meant that she would have to stay in a hostel there while attending college. She had told him that she wanted to be with him and would go to the college at Jowai instead -which was about half-an-hour's drive from their village, Mō-Suway. Her father took her in his arms and sat her on his lap as he tried to explain to her that it would be best for her future if she continued her education at one of the best colleges of the State. She still refused. Her father remained silent for a long time and then finally said to her, ‘Maya, my child. Do you want your father to be sad?’
She wiped her tears and said, ‘No, Pa. I would never want you to be sad.’
Kiang looked at her and spoke softly, ‘When you were a year old, your mother told me that you would grow up to be a doctor or an engineer. I had told her then, that I want my daughter to grow up into the best of what she can be and I would do all in my will to make her realise her purpose. You have done very well in your matriculation exams by earning four distinctions and you have made me so happy and proud with your results! You have the capacity to achieve more than that and it would pain me to see your intelligence wasted away by a simple degree. I did not have the opportunity to study, but I do understand the value of higher education. I want y
ou to go to a very good college so that you will have a good foundation for whatever path you choose later. Being a doctor or engineer may not interest you, but there are so many streams of study you can choose from. I want you to have as much choices as there are possible. That is why I want you to go to Shillong for your higher studies.’
He was almost out of breath saying this and now looked at his daughter with expectation as he regained his breath.
She was silent for a while and looked at her father's expression with regret. She then said, ‘Forgive me Pa, for being selfish. For a while, all I thought was of not being near you all the time. In my childishness, I forgot that you have always done what is best for me. I will do as you say, Pa.’
Kiang kissed her on the forehead and said to her with a smile, ‘Don't you worry my child, I will also miss you and so, I shall come to visit you every week.’
They had sat there in silence for a long time holding each other's hands until the maid came to call them for tea.
Now, as Maya sat next to him in the car, she remembered how her father had never missed visiting her every week while she was studying at Shillong. He would take her out for shopping and for having food together at her favourite restaurant. Some days of his visit, when she had no classes, they would go out to Shillong Peak, the Dam site, Elephant Falls or the Lady Hydary's Park and spend half the day there followed by a late lunch in the town. Her roommate, Pynhun Nongsiej, sometimes would accompany them in their outings. On two occasions, when she fell seriously sick, he remained at Shillong for more than a week, leaving only when she was fully recovered. Time had flown by and seven years had passed. She had now completed her MSc exam, the result of which would be announced tomorrow. She was confident of passing her exam but she was anxious to know how much she scored in her special paper on genetics.
Seeing her father still deep in thought, she could sense that something was troubling him. She reached out her right hand and placed it on his left which was on the gear handle and asked him, ‘What are you thinking, Pa? Is something wrong?’
Kiang started, and relaxed when he looked at his daughter's loving eyes of concern. He shifted gear and then said to her, ‘I was thinking of Rocky, the manager. I have always trusted him with our business because he has been working for us for 15 years now. But lately, I have been hearing many things about him from here and there, all of which are not good. I have known of his gambling habit few years ago, but almost everybody here is into it and as long as he uses his money for it, why should I complain? But last night I called up one of our buyers at Guwahati because I found some large amount of overdue payment; but he informed me that he had paid most of it. I have this gut feeling that Rocky has been dishonest with me but I can't prove it yet. I have enquired from my Assistant Managers but they say they know nothing, for they deal only with the stock and not with the money transactions. They know something but won't tell me; my guess is that they are afraid of him."
Maya said to him, ‘Don't worry, Pa. A thief will always get caught - one day or the other. If Rocky is stealing from you, one day, he'll surely be caught. For now, just pretend that you know nothing. That will make him overconfident and get bolder in his acts. Then he will surely get caught. And if he is straight, you will soon find it out when you have the time to compare the stock register with the cash book.’
Kiang looked at his daughter with admiration and pride. She had grown, not only in physique and knowledge, but in wisdom too. He was grateful for her sound suggestion; so he said, ‘What would I do without you? If not for your studies, I would gladly let you run this business.’ He paused to shift gear and continued, ‘I'll do as you suggest, then. I'll play it cool with Rocky for now.’
Maya smiled at him and said, ‘You know, my heart is not into business even though my head may be up to it.’
Kiang replied, ‘Yes, my dear. You do have a sharp mind for business, but I will never force you into it. I will be the happiest man on earth the day you get your PhD degree. It may not be exactly as your mother would have wanted, but you will still be called a Doctor!’
Both of them laughed at his last comment. They remained silent for the next few minutes as Kiang concentrated on driving along a rough patch on the road. They had already decided together that she would pursue her PhD at NEHU. She had chosen Genetics as her field of research but she had not chosen on a topic yet. She would do that when she began the admission process.
They had reached the depot now and Kiang parked the car at a vacant spot there. As he was switching off the engine, Maya said, ‘Pa, if you don't mind, I would prefer sitting in the car while you talk to them.’
Kiang leaned back on his seat as he put the car keys in his jacket pocket. He turned to her and said, ‘I would prefer that you come along. You too should know the people who work for us. If anything should happen to me, all this will be your responsibility, after all it is yours!’
Maya looked at her dad with a solemn face and said, ‘Don't talk like that, Pa, please! God will not take you away from me. I will be all alone in this world!’
Kiang placed his hand on her cheek and said, ‘I'm sorry, my child. I did not mean to hurt you. But you know that He can and He will... one day." He paused and tried to smile as he said, ‘But I have been praying to Him to live long enough to see my grandchildren grow.’
‘I have always prayed the same for you,’ she said and then picking her purse up from the dashboard, she said, ‘Come then, let us go.’
They got out of the car and walked towards the small building that served as an office and a quarter for their employees at the depot. Three loaded Lorries were parked there while a fourth was in the process of being loaded with coal by five men and three women. The Assistant Manager was already at the door holding it for them to enter as he greeted the both of them.
The first room was a sitting room and had a TV set in one corner. The lorry drivers and two more men were watching a recent Bollywood movie on a local channel. They all greeted and nodded to Kiang as he and Maya entered and followed the Assistant Manager into the office room adjacent to the sitting room.
The Assistant manager informed Mr. Kiang that Rocky had not come to the office yet. They were already seated in the office now and Kiang was sitting on the Manager’s chair as he dialled Rocky's number on his cell phone. It was not reachable. He decided to wait as he checked the books in the office and discussed with the Assistant Manager on the status of the depot.
Tea was served by an assistant there and as they were having tea, Kiang dialled Rocky's number again and got the same ‘not reachable’ response.
After having their tea, he decided to move on to the next depot which was 15 kms from there. He would talk to Rocky when he came to the house, which he usually did every one or two days.
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