well, I just didn’t think I could have lived
with that. “Why did you go out without the harness?”
“I dropped your binoculars. I tried to reach them but they sank. I thought you
would be angry with me.”
He looked at me. “Are you angry with me?”
“No. No, I am not angry.”
“I held my breath a really long time.”
“I know.”
Chapter Nine
I MADE HOT CHOCOLATE and we sat on the floor by the observation
window and drank it. Radji was wrapped up in the sleeping bag and Hollie was on
his lap. He wasn’t cold, he was frightened. I could tell, even though he was
good at hiding what he was feeling.
“Where did you come from, Radji?”
He stared over the edge of his cup and the little steam rising out of it. “It’s
a secret.”
“But you must have some family somewhere? Somebody must be worried about
you?”
He started breathing heavily. “I can tell you my secret if you promise you will
never tell anyone.”
“I promise I will never tell anyone. I wouldn’t
anyway.”
“I ran away.”
“Why did you run away?”
“Because my father beat me.”
“Oh.”
He said it so matter-of-factly. “But what about your mother? Doesn’t she miss
you?”
“My father beat my mother too, but she could not run away. I think maybe
because I ran away he will not beat her so much. I was the one who made him
angry all the time. Then he beat everybody.”
He stared at the floor, lost in his thoughts. “When I am older I will go back.
Then I will stop my father.”
“That’s what I would do too.”
“But first I need to go to Varanasi.”
“Varanasi? Why do you want to go there?”
He looked at me as if I should know why. “Because it is a holy city. The river
Ganges flows there. The river is a great goddess. When I bathe in the river, I
will be cleansed of my sins and my life will change.”
“But Radji, you are only ten. What sins could you have?”
He looked at me strangely. For a moment I felt as if I were talking to an old
man. It was weird. He looked down. “It is another secret. But I cannot tell you
this one.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I don’t need to know.”
What sins could a ten-year-old boy have that would weigh on him so heavily? I
couldn’t imagine.
We sailed close enough to shore to settle on the bottom at a
hundred and fifty feet, shut everything off and went to sleep for the day. As
tired as I was, it took me a little while to fall asleep because Radji was
crying out in his sleep. I couldn’t understand what he was saying but it sounded
like he was pleading with someone, as if he were trying to make them stop. It
was disturbing.
It was almost twelve hours later when we woke, rose to the surface and opened
the hatch. The moon was full and close to the earth. It looked like a giant
yellow saucer. The radar screen was clear. My guidebook said the southwest coast
of India was famous for long, sandy beaches. I figured we could all use a good
run on the beach in the middle of the night. So I cranked up the engine and
headed east.
Seventy-five feet from shore, I tossed the anchor in twenty feet and inflated
the rubber kayak. We jumped in and paddled the short distance to shore. I used
to have a rubber dinghy but lost it in a typhoon. I seemed to have a habit of
losing dinghies.
The beach was empty and vast. If there were lights on the water we would see
them right away. I told Radji not to leave my side. He was still my ears. Hollie
took off like lightning and we chased after him. This, I told Radji, was the
nice part of the life of a submariner—going where nobody else could go and
waking when everyone else was sleeping. He must have thought anything was better
than living in a hole in a wall, or living with a father who beat him. I didn’t
know why but I had always thought of India as a land of gentle people.I realized now it was a lot more complicated than that.
with that. “Why did you go out without the harness?”
“I dropped your binoculars. I tried to reach them but they sank. I thought you
would be angry with me.”
He looked at me. “Are you angry with me?”
“No. No, I am not angry.”
“I held my breath a really long time.”
“I know.”
Chapter Nine
I MADE HOT CHOCOLATE and we sat on the floor by the observation
window and drank it. Radji was wrapped up in the sleeping bag and Hollie was on
his lap. He wasn’t cold, he was frightened. I could tell, even though he was
good at hiding what he was feeling.
“Where did you come from, Radji?”
He stared over the edge of his cup and the little steam rising out of it. “It’s
a secret.”
“But you must have some family somewhere? Somebody must be worried about
you?”
He started breathing heavily. “I can tell you my secret if you promise you will
never tell anyone.”
“I promise I will never tell anyone. I wouldn’t
anyway.”
“I ran away.”
“Why did you run away?”
“Because my father beat me.”
“Oh.”
He said it so matter-of-factly. “But what about your mother? Doesn’t she miss
you?”
“My father beat my mother too, but she could not run away. I think maybe
because I ran away he will not beat her so much. I was the one who made him
angry all the time. Then he beat everybody.”
He stared at the floor, lost in his thoughts. “When I am older I will go back.
Then I will stop my father.”
“That’s what I would do too.”
“But first I need to go to Varanasi.”
“Varanasi? Why do you want to go there?”
He looked at me as if I should know why. “Because it is a holy city. The river
Ganges flows there. The river is a great goddess. When I bathe in the river, I
will be cleansed of my sins and my life will change.”
“But Radji, you are only ten. What sins could you have?”
He looked at me strangely. For a moment I felt as if I were talking to an old
man. It was weird. He looked down. “It is another secret. But I cannot tell you
this one.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I don’t need to know.”
What sins could a ten-year-old boy have that would weigh on him so heavily? I
couldn’t imagine.
We sailed close enough to shore to settle on the bottom at a
hundred and fifty feet, shut everything off and went to sleep for the day. As
tired as I was, it took me a little while to fall asleep because Radji was
crying out in his sleep. I couldn’t understand what he was saying but it sounded
like he was pleading with someone, as if he were trying to make them stop. It
was disturbing.
It was almost twelve hours later when we woke, rose to the surface and opened
the hatch. The moon was full and close to the earth. It looked like a giant
yellow saucer. The radar screen was clear. My guidebook said the southwest coast
of India was famous for long, sandy beaches. I figured we could all use a good
run on the beach in the middle of the night. So I cranked up the engine and
headed east.
Seventy-five feet from shore, I tossed the anchor in twenty feet and inflated
the rubber kayak. We jumped in and paddled the short distance to shore. I used
to have a rubber dinghy but lost it in a typhoon. I seemed to have a habit of
losing dinghies.
The beach was empty and vast. If there were lights on the water we would see
them right away. I told Radji not to leave my side. He was still my ears. Hollie
took off like lightning and we chased after him. This, I told Radji, was the
nice part of the life of a submariner—going where nobody else could go and
waking when everyone else was sleeping. He must have thought anything was better
than living in a hole in a wall, or living with a father who beat him. I didn’t
know why but I had always thought of India as a land of gentle people.I realized now it was a lot more complicated than that.
Similar Books
