Part 1: Death of Baldr Chapter one
(Continued from last week)
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Shalini said, shaking her head.
Aruna put a hand on her shoulder. “We have to stay strong and fight back. We can’t let them take over like this.”
As the couple turned to leave, Aruna called out to them. “Excuse me, can I ask you something?”
The couple turned around, surprised. “Uh, sure,” said the white man.
Aruna walked up to them and asked, “Do you know what’s going on here? Do you know what you’re doing to us?”
The couple looked at each other, then back at Aruna. “I’m sorry, we didn’t realise...” the white lady began.
“We’re just trying to find a place to live,” her husband added.
Aruna shook his head. “It’s not that simple. People are being displaced, driven out of their homes because of people like you. This isn’t fair to us.”
The foreign lady looked upset. “We didn’t mean to cause any harm. We just wanted a place to live. We didn’t know...”
As they were talking, the landlord tried to interrupt, but Shalini’s father Amal stepped in, sternly telling him to leave the family alone. The landlord grumbled and stormed out, saying they had to leave by tomorrow.
Aruna turned back to the white couple. “I’m sorry for being confrontational, but this situation is difficult for us. It’s hard to see people coming in and taking over when we’re struggling to survive. It’s not just about finding a place to live. It’s about the social and economic impact this has on our community.”
The woman’s husband nodded, looking thoughtful. “I had no idea. We’ve been dealing with our own problems in America. Glaciers have completely buried parts of Canada, and heavy snow has covered parts of the US. We were forced to leave our home in Chicago and come here, hoping for a better life. You must have seen the news?”
Shalini’s father, Amal, spoke up as Aruna translated. “We understand that, but you have to realise that this is our home. We can’t just let outsiders come in like this. It’s not fair to us.”
The white lady looked apologetic. “We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to cause any harm. Is there anything we can do to make this right?”
Aruna looked at them, considering. “Just be aware of the impact your presence has on the community. Try to be respectful and understanding of our situation.”
The husband nodded. “We will. Thank you for talking to us. We’ll try to be better.”
As the American couple left, Shalini and her family were left to pack up their belongings and prepare to move out.
The white lady, suddenly turned around and ran back to the front yard, Shalini’s family looked at her with confusion. But before they could say anything, she took out a stack of hundred dollar bills from her handbag and handed it to Mala, Shalini’s mother.
“This is for you,” she said. “I know it doesn’t solve everything, but maybe it can help make things a little easier for your family.”
Mala was dumbstruck, staring at the money in her hands. Amal’s eyes widened as he realised the amount. “This is too much,” he said.
Tiffany just waved and smiled. “Consider it a gesture of goodwill. We’ll do our best to be good neighbours.”
And with that, she turned and left.
Mala and Amal looked at each other in disbelief, counting the money. “This is twenty-thousand dollars,” Mala said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Amal’s face lit up with joy. “This is a blessing. We can use this to find a new place to live, maybe even start a new business. This changes everything.”
But Aruna, Shalini’s brother, was disgusted. “This is blood money,” he said, his voice low with anger. “They’re trying to buy our silence, trying to make us forget what they’re doing to our community.”
Mala and Amal were still in shock, celebrating their sudden windfall, but Aruna couldn’t bring himself to stay. He took his leave and headed to a local beach bar, needing some time to think and clear his head.
As the sun set on the beach, Aruna sat alone, watching the waves crash onto the shore. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was deeply wrong with the situation, and that the money was just a band-aid on a much larger wound.
But for now, his family had some relief, and that was something to be grateful for.