He couldn’t believe it. All this while he had been trying to avoid his new roommate and yet here he was sitting right in front of her.
“I am sorry I broke your vase,” he whispered, trying to sound as sorry as he could. He fiddled with the button on his faded blue pinstripe shirt, avoiding eye contact. He nervously pretended to brush off a dark stain on his shirt. That stain had perhaps been there quite a few washes because that too, had faded to a light brown.
“It happened by accident,” he explained, “I hadn’t expected you to be back so soon from college and when I heard the door knob turn, I scooted from the living room straight to my room. I knocked it over when I turned round the corner.”
“I know it is weird that I don’t talk to you much,” he continued after a pause, “but I am just a little…um…shy.”
He was thinking what to say next and added hesitantly, “I will be more careful around your glassware next time.” He looked at her earnestly.
He stood there for a while until a sudden beeping sound startled him and he dashed out of the room.
It was her alarm, resounding through the early morning stillness. Sameera stirred. She reached for the alarm clock on her bedside table with her eyes still shut and snoozed it.
****
It had been only a few days since Sameera shifted to this house from an apartment. This house was farther from her university than the apartment but was easy on her pocket as she was sharing it with two other students — Mitali and Chen.
Mitali was very friendly. From the day she shifted here, Sameera and Mitali had started going to the university together. She was annoyingly talkative too but Sameera was ok with that. She was rather pleased to have her company after spending two months alone in that apartment with no one to talk to. Of course, her parents did call her at night but staying alone brought with it the deafening silence which she was not used to back in India. Meanwhile, Chen was exactly the opposite of what Mitali was. He was very quiet and spent all his time at the university or in his room. He hardly interacted with the two girls. Sameera suspected that Mitali talked a lot because she was somehow glad to have someone to talk to. Chen was more like one of those chatbots on websites — trained to give specific responses only. In Chen’s case it was ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘ok’ and an occasional shrug. Mitali said he cooked his food when no one was around. Sameera and Mitali had a long, dedicated talk on Chen on their way home from the university one day and they concluded that perhaps Chen was shy around girls and preferred talking to boys.
So that day when Sameera and Mitali were awake early to complete their assignments, Mitali said, “I have asked Chen if he has a friend who would want to share the house with us.”
“There are four rooms right? And if we can get a fourth person to share the rent…” Mitali explained.
“Yes, that will be great,” Sameera agreed, “And it will great for Chen if he had his friend here. He will drive himself mad if he stays confined to that room for too long!”
Mitali nodded and muttered, “I hope he gets someone who talks.”
****
In a day or two after Mitali and Sameera had that conversation, Chen brought a new roommate — Arthur. Mr. Peterson, their landlord, got the fourth room cleaned for Arthur that Sunday and he moved in the same day. He seemed friendlier than Chen and the shy boy seemed to gel with him well.
As Sameera and Mitali prepared to go to bed, they saw Arthur settle down on the couch. They cluelessly looked at one another.
“Why are you sleeping on the couch?” Sameera asked.
“Ah well,” Arthur sighed, “The door got locked and I tried using the key that Mr. Peterson gave me but the lock seems jammed.”
“Jammed? Let me have a look.”
Sameera, Mitali and Arthur fumbled with the lock for a while but all in vain. The door knob simply refused to budge.
“I have talked to Mr. Peterson. He said he will come tomorrow morning with a locksmith. He didn’t sound like he believed me though. He said he had checked in the morning and the keys were working fine.” Arthur shrugged, “Nevermind. I will just sleep on the couch for the night.
***
He was smiling down at her, “Thank you for getting my friend here. I was feeling rather lonely.”
Just then, Sameera turned in her sleep and that was enough of a warning for him to leave from her bedside.
***
The landlord visited the next day but he said the locksmith wasn’t available for a week. So, Chen was sharing his room with Arthur and the boys seemed rather happy with that arrangement. Time and again, Mitali and Sameera could hear cheers and laughter from Chen’s otherwise very quiet room. It was nice to see Chen happy. Arthur and Chen soon started having dinner with Mitali and Sameera and they would talk about their university experiences, childhood stories, memories back from home and plan home projects. The whole atmosphere had changed suddenly, Mitali observed. She said it brought good vibes to the gloomy house and Sameera agreed.
This shows just how important friends are! Sameera thought to herself.
That evening after a merry meal, the four roommates were sitting on the couch talking about their best friends. Sameera had Anita back in India. She was now married and hardly had time to talk to her. Mitali had Sunita and everyone knew who Sunita was. She would talk about her at least thrice a day and not a single weekend had passed without an hour-long phone call with Sunita. Chen had Xu back in China. They were still in touch over Facebook Messenger. Arthur had John in Texas. He talked about how they studied at the same school and although they had chosen different fields, they continued to meet on weekends to play baseball. As soon as he mentioned baseball, the smile on Arthur’s face faded.
“What happened?” Mitali asked, softly.
He shook his head and smiled sadly, “Actually, I just remembered Michael. He was my first best friend, back when I was living in this same town.”
That revelation brought a few gasps and a surprised ‘What?’ from all of them.
“Yes. I lived here until I was seven,” Arthur said, “Michael was my best friend. We used to spend a lot of time together — playing video games, reading at the library, playing baseball…our mothers had to drag us home every day,” he smiled.
“But then one day, Michael’s house caught fire. Firefighters doused it but not before more than half the house burned down. Michael’s parents survived with a few burns but the firefighters could not save Michael. They said the fire started in the kitchen and spread to the adjacent room — Michael’s room. His parents were devastated.”
Mitali, Sameera and Chen looked at him in silence — an uncomfortable and sad silence.
“My mother says I used to run a fever every week. I was finding it difficult to get over the loss of my only friend. Eventually, they decided it was best if we moved out of this town.”
They could see Arthur’s eyes shine more than usual, glistening tears welling up in his eyes. Arthur blinked away his tears and sighed “But here I am again!” he smiled sadly, “Destiny, perhaps!”
The sad revelation left Mitali and Sameera shaken. Mitali turned from her usual talkative self to a distant and quiet person until she fell asleep. Sameera decided she’d call Anita the next day. Although Sameera never said it out loud, she was upset with Anita for cutting her off completely but Sameera made a mental note to call her whenever she could. Life is too short to sulk, she thought
***
He was staring at Arthur tonight — looking at him with a very grave expression.
“I am sorry I locked the door to the room,” he said, “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
The lean boy’s face was badly disfigured — more like the skin had melted off half his face. The other half was intact.
“I really missed you,” he said, “I tried talking to some people who stayed here but terrified, they would immediately change their residence after seeing me. It’s been a very lonely time for me until now. I am glad you are here now. We can spend time together, just like those good old days!” he smiled and even his deformed face looked prettier.
Slowly, he walked out of the room and went into the fourth room — straight through the locked door.
END
