Bits of life

A-28 Words-1525

Till then via condios my friend,” said Cathy her eyes a little sad at the last moment. I could understand her feelings. You see Cathy grew up in an orphanage first and then in a foster home. That way she had a lot of experience of mixing and being careful while living with strangers. She told me of her background when we met after the bank hours while uncle John and Ryan Anderson were discussing the problem of catching the thief who stole from the savings account of uncle John. Cathy took me to the small pub by the bank and got me some snacks and tea. It was past five in the afternoon and the roads were full of traffic. People were returning home after work and the dust and sound was too much to sit in the chairs outside the pub. So we decided to go in and we took a table with two seats by window through which we could see the scenario changing every moment on the road. We told the security at the bank to find us here after uncle John’s meeting with Anderson got over.

“Where do you come from Cathy?” I asked her as she started on her crispy snack.
Cathy chewed and gulped her snack and sat back to reply to my question. She said, “I actually come from Boston where my parents and I had a lovely home and neighborhood. We were living on Magazine Street just off the MIT and the Harvard University. Dad was a librarian at Harvard University and my mom was working as a nurse in the Mount Abbot Hospital. Her duties used to change as per the shift. It was either day or night. Whenever she was free and if dad too had a day off, we used to visit various places of amusement in the city. The public garden was favorite place. I remember learning to pedal the bicycle on the wide grounds of Boston Common. Dad used to teach me. He and mom used to run by the bicycle on which I started learning. How patient they were with me!
I loved the public gardens because it had a multitude of flowers and trees and many shady places and there were some restaurants and cool drink shops. Our family was the happiest by any means. Since both my parents were earning there was no dearth of money and money could buy anything except love and affection. This was proved when I lost both my parents at one stroke of fate. On that day they were returning from my mom’s hospital. Dad was free on that day and he offered to pick her up. I was waiting at home to have them both back in an hour. Look at the way destiny twisted my life and threw into the confusing state of living in an orphanage as directed by the court. After the police investigation it was clear that the man who dashed against my dad’s Toyota was drunk and died on the spot. Now with whom could we fight? Both my parents breathed their last in the hospital where my mom used to work. It looked as if she sacrificed her life at the altar of dedicated work as a nurse. The money they were entitled to get was put in the bank. The lawyers have informed the court that the money they have left for me was put in the band and that I could get it only when I attained the age of eighteen. Till then the court ruled that I be placed in an orphanage run by the state, since I didn’t know of any living relative who could give shelter, food and clothing. I was just a five year old and didn’t get the reason or understand why I was removed from our pretty home and placed in an awful place like the government orphanage. When I grew up and went away to my foster parents I recalled the orphanage and found comparison between that one and the one that Oliver Twist used to live. It was called the Work House where the conditions were horrible. Unclean and undernourished Oliver was always hungry and was wanting more food. Whenever he asked for a second helping of the soup he was thrashed and driven away from the kitchen to cry bitter tears. My childhood heart used to melt at his fate. Charles Dickens was one of my favorite story tellers. I liked his narration and I used to get some kind of relief from the tensions that surrounded the orphanage. When I heard that a number of girl orphans went missing I was overcome with fear and it used to make me more nervous. I too would have been kidnapped if my foster parents bought me from the orphanage.
My life with Mr. and Mrs. Mathew Smith was god given. I was carried away from a bed of thorns to a bed of roses in two days’ time. My luck smiled on me, changing my miseries into tears of laughter. My foster parents were the kindest and the most fun loving people in the whole of America. That was my thought. I was sent to a reputed school where I was trained excellently in all the subjects I was taught. We had field trips during summer vacation. I remember on one such trips the parents were invited and they were supposed to be taking care of their young wards and take them to various events that the authorities had planned. It was a memorable trip which I will remember forever and ever.
After graduation my dad, my foster dad Mathew wanted me to continue studies and become someone of use to society. He asked me to try and study commerce. His opinion was to make me self dependent. Education gives you a chance to open up your horizons and with economic freedom a woman can shine bright. Dad’s words were very effective. So I graduated with a commerce degree and then went for bank exams conducted by the government. I was selected in the interview called by the state government and was sent to Citi Bank to be on probation. After a nine month probationary period, I was first posted in New Hampshire and then came to the South Carolina branch of the Union Bank. I am qualified to work in any department of any banking institution.
When your uncle John lost his money through forgery I was determined to catch the thief by some means or the other. Ryan was very helpful and gave me freedom to deal with the case as I saw fit. It was during these months we, I mean Ryan and I developed a liking for each other. We thought we will sort out your uncle’s case first and then think of our future together.”

After listening to Cathy I felt a new respect for her. What a wonderful character. Despite having suffered agonies like the loss of parents at an age when a child needs them the most, then growing up in a terrible orphanage and finally landing at a foster home she turned out to be a gem of a woman. Her hard work and patience paid off. She had the habit of keeping a smile on even under any pressure. Smile had a way of making you shine despite a bad situation.
As we had finished our tea and conversation, the departmental security person came in and informed us of the meeting between uncle John and Anderson was over and that they were waiting for us in the front compound of the bank.
“Cathy, yours has been an extraordinary journey of life. I am sure you will continue to be brilliant and beautiful for the rest of your life.”
“Oh thank you so much Jim. I love being wished well. God bless you too. By the way I forgot to mention that on my coming of age, I was given the permission to get the money that my parents have given me. In one stroke I became very rich. God is great.” She sighed with pleasure and gratitude.
“Oh, that is wonderful news, Cathy. Congratulations and may I wish you a great future with Ryan and a newfound fortune,” I exclaimed.

We walked to the bank next door and joined uncle John and Ryan Anderson.
“How did the meeting go?” asked Cathy.
“Oh excellent. Just as we thought it would,” replied Anderson.
“Great. Now we can proceed as per our plans,” she responded.
The events that followed had become history now. We had been through thick and thin of the forgery case in which uncle John was involved quite innocently. Luckily, for all of us it was solved efficiently by the bank as well as others like Luke, the private detective.

Reality hit me when Ryan Anderson said, “good bye Jim. See you soon in the bank or anywhere we decide to meet in the city,” he said before he ducked into the driver’s seat with Cathy already
seated in the place by his side. It was going