The last meeting

He heard his name being called in the distance. He recognized the voice; it was Jenny’s.

He had wanted to ask her why she was absent today, but before he could say anything, she had started to speak. She never stopped talking once she started talking.

“Your van has not come yet”, she observed.

His van was late again. These days, the driver was being very careless. He didn’t care much, but his mom was worried.

She continued, “We’re going home. Dad says it’s not safe here anymore. I don’t know if we’ll come back again.”

Jenny and Deep studied in the 5^th standard and were in the same section. While Deep stayed a few kilometers away, Jenny stayed along with her aunt in a flat in the teachers’ quarters.

He looked at her keenly, expecting her to continue talking, as she always did. But she unusually fell silent, and had stopped smiling. He hardly saw her without a smile. It was getting awkward for him.

“Why didn’t you come for class today?” he broke the silence.

“Aunt and I had to do some packing. Hey, do you think we are good people?”

The question took him by surprise, and it was not just the way she asked it. There had been some talk in the class about Jenny’s people being bad and all. But he hardly understood what it meant. Jenny always wore a smile and was nice to him. He didn’t understand why her people won’t be nice.

He saw his van arriving, and heard Jenny’s aunt call her.

“I have to go now. We can’t afford to get late”, Jenny said.

He wanted to ask her when she was getting back. But before he could open his mouth, she was already talking.

“We may or may not come back. I can’t say anything. Even my dad doesn’t know. My aunt is calling; I have to go now. You take care of yourself.”

“You too”, he managed to say.

She smiled. It was good to see her smile again.

He got in his van, and she walked away. She stopped as his van started moving, and waved. He waved back as his van started to pick up speed. She was still waving as the van went into the curve and before she went out of sight.

He hardly knew he was never going to see her again.