THE SCARLET WOMEN

Story 1 - FATHER & Father

-'Emma…Emma where are you? It's time to go school,' –Nat came outside looking for Emma.

-I'm here, mother; I don’t want to go to school today. I'm just not feeling well,' –she said stopping her play for a while with other children. Nat could easily find her lie by seeing rubicund on her cheeks. But I find some cuteness in it.

-No, you must get ready before your Father leave for his work. I know you are just lying as you want to play more. You just can play with them when you return from school. Now c'mon don’t make your Father late again,' –she said and stood there for a while waiting for her.

-How 'bout buying chocolate and a doll for my angel if she goes to school? I just came outside to join her.

-Really, Father, a doll…I…I'm fine now and will get ready in a moment,' she just came running to me and jumped over me. We just smiled watching her innocence glowing all over her face at that moment. And that was the point of having children, let us express ourselves through them.

Time already had passed by like a new evolution of mankind. Emma had grown and become more adorable like her mother. She already had become the song of everyone's heart which we sing often to get back to our childhood. 'Emma, Emma', whenever her grandfather calls her I see Father being happy more than ever. And the happiness of Nat is just like poetry of this everyday life, a mother raising her child and taking care of her family like transforming into a goddess whose power could only be seen through the empowered spiritual vision. I came to realize that every mother is a knight in shining armor but forced to act shy, demure, and defenseless unless every father believes in power brought to them to take the lead and face this world and make them roar like ferocious mountain lions. Sometimes it's not possible to express the beauty of the best part of me growing in front of my eyes, to see all that craves to be seen, to feel all that feeling to be felt, to learn to become father, husband, and son with every single day, and taking trouble over becoming a protector.

Emma just came running to me when I was back home. Father, did you bring my doll? –she asked me when I carried her. How could I forget it, my angel? 'And I took a doll and a chocolate bar out of my bag which I'd bought on my way back home. She just grabbed it quickly and kissed me on my cheek,' –I love you, Father. And she ran to the lap of her grandfather.

-Nat, I brought something for you too. She just came to me with a glass of water.

It was a ring, round cut with brilliant work on crown and girdle, and a glittering heart-shaped blue sapphire attached on top of it. For a moment I found her eyes captivated by the sparkling of the sapphire vivaciously. She stood still –watched over my face –in her eyes I could see the pictures of that sparkle. "It must be expensive, "she said looking me in my eyes. You shouldn’t…"

"Shh…Shh…yeah, it's expensive. But nothing compared to my wife's smile it brought on her face which is priceless." "Isn't it beautiful? –I asked putting it on her ring finger.

"It's really beautiful, my love. She just kept watching it for a while lifting her hand. I'll wear it always. 'I love you' –we both said at once, and to exclude all hesitations, we laughed in a manner that seemed even more conclusive than our words. She hugged me suddenly. I supposed she blushed at that unexpected moment.

-Dinner will be ready in a moment,' please make yourself comfortable. –she said and went to call Father and Emma too.

Emma was eating sitting on the lap of her mother. She just could not sit still in her mother's lap. She just wants to take a bite from everyone's hand. So she keeps running and dancing like this all the time, some time to me, some time to her grandfather and some time to her mother. And we all really enjoy her doing such.

-My Emma will be a great dancer one day.' –Father just keeps saying it smilingly while she keeps dancing having a dinner.

A few days later I saw Father surrounded by some unknown faces when I was at school to drop Emma. This has become a regular part of my everyday life and later after the school its Nat's job to take her back home. Father never managed as he always left very early for school and come back late at night. Emma just kissed me and ran to her friends to play and I moved forward towards the Father's office.

-Is everything all right Father? –I asked standing next to him.

-So you are the one who's practicing your medical learning. We have heard more about you these days. I hope someday we could help each other in many ways. Your father has done a great deal for us,' –one of them started speaking to me. I felt something wrong in the tone of his voice, like a sarcastic way.

-Oh, my son. Everything's all right. We are just discussing more our school's infrastructure. They are the officials of whom I'd told you before. I think you should now leave your clinic. It's already too late.' –Father said to me like he did not want me to be there.

I just watched my clock. It was around 10 o'clock and classes have already started in school. I just left from there shaking the hands of all of them.

-'Have a nice day Son,' Father just waved me and went inside with all of them.

I suspected something wrong in that officials visit frequently in our school. It seemed like Father was trying to hide something from me. Why did the father ask me to leave immediately? Why he never wanted me to get introduced to those people? Why the behavior of those people seem strange to me? Why Father had been kept busy more often to arrange comforts for them and not coming home at nights? I thought to ask Father 'bout all these strange things when he'll be at home tonight. Later that night he wasn't at home again.

The next day I went to see Mac ask him about Father. He was kept busy in his shop. Immediately he finished with his customers and ordered for tea. As it was day time there was less rush of customers in his shop. He just asked about Emma and Nat and I asked him about Sumi.  

-You look pretty upset today my friend, Is everything all right? –he just asked me with a sip of tea.

-Oh yeah, Mac…I just came here to talk about Father. Do you know something more about the officials' visits and his staying up late in the school? I'm pretty worried about him as nowadays he started staying there almost every night saying he's got more things to discuss our school with those strange people. I also told him about what happened yesterday at school.

-Yeah, I've too heard about those people. Exactly I could not say the purpose of their visit is whether official or not but I think there is something that Father's hiding from all of us. But don’t worry about it. I'll try to find out what's really going out there from the people nearby the school who come to my shop more often. –Mac said with assurance in his voice. I think you should ask Father about it personally at the right moment.

-Well, Mr. Doctor…How's your work going on? –he asked trying to change the subject.

-It's all right Mac. I think sometime you should visit me too. I think we should go to the circus this coming Saturday. Emma is too insisting on me about it.

-That’s a good idea. I'll talk to Sumi about it and we'll go together. It's been long I 'vent seen Emma too.

I just left him with his customers and came back to my clinic. I was just waiting to be at home to talk to Father about all those things.