Greentext · 3 minTamarind Tree

>be me, 9 years

>convent school, blue shirt, grey pant

>the gate opens at eight thirty

>the ayah stands there with the stick

>not to hit

>just to point

>that day i had not done the handwriting pages

>four pages of cursive

>a to z, small and capital

>sister agnes checks them first period

>she does not shout

>she just makes you stand near the dustbin

>whole period

>i did not want the dustbin

>at the gate i held my stomach

>bent a little

>made the face

>the ayah looked at me

>"what" she said

>"stomach pain" i said

>"go home" she said

>just like that

>no questions

>i did not expect it to work that fast

>i went out the gate

>stood on the road

>then i remembered

>amma goes to the bank job at nine

>nanna goes at eight

>the house will be locked

>the key is with the neighbour aunty

>but if i ask her she will ask why

>and tell amma in the evening

>so i walked home anyway

>the lock was on the door

>big godrej lock

>i stood on the step for a while

>the street was empty

>only the milk man's cycle bell far away

>behind our house there is a tamarind tree

>big one, very old

>under it there is a cement bench

>nobody sits there in the morning

>i went and sat

>put the bag down

>it was nine o clock

>school gets over at three thirty

>i could not go home before four

>that is six hours

>i did not know what six hours felt like

>i found out

>first hour was fine

>i ate my lunch

>second hour i did the handwriting pages on my knee

>all four

>my cursive came out very bad because of the knee

>third hour i counted tamarind pods

>fourth hour i slept a little on the bench

>woke up with ants

>fifth hour the sky changed

>it went dark on one side

>the wind came and the tamarind leaves fell on me like rain

>then the real rain came

>big drops first

>then everything

>i put the bag under my shirt

>stood against the trunk

>the trunk does not cover anything

>in two minutes i was wet to the underwear

>the handwriting pages were in the bag

>i could feel them going soft

>i could not go to the neighbour aunty

>i could not go anywhere

>so i stood

>the rain went on for one hour

>then it stopped like somebody closed a tap

>sun came back

>steam came from the road

>at four i walked to the front of the house

>neighbour aunty was on her step

>"why are you wet" she said

>"it rained" i said

>she looked at me

>"it rained at two"

>"school got over at three thirty"

>"the road was dry by three"

>i said nothing

>she gave me the key

>and a towel

>and did not say anything to amma

>i still do not know why

>next day sister agnes checked the handwriting

>my pages were dry but wavy

>the ink had spread

>every letter had a small cloud around it

>she held it up

>"what happened to this"

>"it got wet sister"

>"at home?"

>"yes sister"

>she looked at the page for a long time

>then she gave it back

>"at least you did it" she said

>and i did not go to the dustbin

>i went to the dustbin the next week for something else

>but that day i did not

>the tamarind tree is still there

>the bench is broken

>i went and stood under it last summer

>and for no reason my stomach started paining