Abraham Etheridge - 3. Chapter 3

Pearl noticed that Dani had moved the carpet bags from the corner of the room, where he used them as pillows and put them under the bed. The bags were never far from his side. When he went to meals, he took the bags with him; when he went outside, he had the bags. When Pearl asked Ralph about the bags, he said he didn’t know what was in them, but when they pulled Dani into the boat, they were strapped around his waist. The water-saturated carpet bags almost took him to a watery grave. Pearl decided she needed to find out what was so precious in the bags that Dani never let them out of his sight. She knew they didn’t contain clothes because Dani had been wearing the same clothes every day.

Aunt Pearl knocked on the bedroom door and brought in slices of fig cake she had made. She had used the last of the fig preserves she had made the previous summer, and she thought it was a fitting end for the last traces in the jar. She would take the jars back to Buxton to make another batch when the figs came in late summer.

She also had an elixir for Abbie to drink. He made a face each time she brought a tumbler full, but Pearl wouldn’t leave until he had consumed the last drop. When he finished it, he gave a nasty face, more for the laugh that would elicit from his aunt than because of the taste. He didn’t like it, but it really wasn’t that bad. He didn’t mind the Yaupon tea, but the herbs she put in it gave it a bitter taste. It did have honey, which made it go down a little easier, and the mix of bitter and sweet made him think of his life. Also, he knew it was curing him of his putrid illness. He no longer had a fever and could breathe without difficulty. Pearl had three plates with slices of the cake, but Dani took Abbie’s slice of cake and fed it to him, bite by bite. They both smiled each time the tines of the fork would touch Abbie’s lips. Once, after lifting the fork to Abbie’s mouth, Dani used his fingers to wipe crumbs from his lips and then stuck them into Abbie’s mouth to be licked clean. Both boys were staring at each other the entire time.

Aunt Pearl sat back and acknowledged to herself what she had always known. Her nephew was a girly boy. The looks the two boys were giving each other were sensual and full of want and need. Their desires were evident as she looked down – both were fulsomely hard. She chuckled that they both seemed to be blessed. As she was gathering things to leave the room, she kissed Dani on the cheek and told him to take care of her precious child. Dani nodded his head while Abbie’s eyes filled with tears of happiness. It was as if she was blessing the two of them. She got to the door with the empty plates, then turned and posed a question to Dani.

“Young man, I know your first name but know nothing about you. Would you tell me about yourself?”

Dani looked stricken but slowly nodded his head. Pearl smiled, closed the door, and returned to the chair where she had been sitting. Pearl set the plates on the floor and looked at Dani expectantly. Dani had moved back into the corner of the bed. He was as far from her and Abbie as he could get. Both Abbie and Pearl looked at him.

“My name is Daniel Jabar Pritchard. I was born in India and am on my way to Boston to go to college.”

He didn’t say anything else.

Pearl had infinite patience and sat quietly. She tried to catch Dani’s eye, but he evaded the look.

“My grandfather thought it important that I get an education and said that Harvard was renowned. I plan to study medicine.”

Abbie looked at Dani with amazement that this fellow wanted to study medicine. He had always admired the doctor in Buxton, as he was considered the smartest man on the island. His Aunt Pearl was revered among the local population for her treatment of diseases, and they often went to her instead of the doctor. She was also a midwife and had delivered numerous babies. Pearl had told Abbie about delivering him and what an easy delivery it had been. She said that Abbie flew out so quickly that she almost dropped him. She then said he opened his eyes and giggled at her. Abbie knew that she had made that up but enjoyed hearing the story.

Pearl looked at Dani, waiting for more.

Dani shrugged his shoulders and said that was about all he thought was interesting. He said he lived a very dull life in India.

“Did you grow up with your grandfather?”

“Yes.”

“What about your mother?”

Dani’s eyes glistened with tears. “When I was a small child, she got a fever and died.”

“What about your father? Pritchard does not sound like an Indian name?”

Abbie noticed that Dani was twisting the bed sheet in his hands. His anxiety was palpable. Dani kept looking at his hands, and his body was shaking. Abbie reached out and took Dani’s hands.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to tell us.”

Dani was crying. Abbie pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back. Dani calmed himself and sat upright as if there was a rod down his back. He let go of the sheet, smoothed it, and looked at Abbie.

“My father is British. He was part of the British Raj. He met my mother and fell in love. My grandfather refused to let them get married, but my mother became pregnant. I was told she died because of her sin of fornication. My father went to Ceylon in some kind of government role. I remember seeing him as a small child but haven’t seen or talked to him since.”

Abbie hugged him again. “I am surprised you are not attending school in England since you are half-English.”

“My British grandfather is a Marquess, and he made it very clear that I am not welcome in England. My father is his second son, and he left England to pursue a career in the British government. I had to sign documents not to claim anything of my father’s, and my British grandfather sent money to my Indian grandfather to settle the matter. I am not allowed in England: I cannot live there, nor can I visit. I am persona non grata. That is why I am on my way to Boston.”

“You poor waif. No wonder you hang onto those two bags. They probably contain everything you own.” Pearl gave Dani a look of pity.

Dani’s reaction was not what either Abbie or Pearl expected. In a fluid motion, he arose from the bed, stood tall, and looked down on them. His disdain had the haughtiness of a king looking down on a peasant being tried for stealing pheasants on royal land. He was utterly regal and appeared disgusted to deal with an unpleasant subject of such little importance.

“My grandfather is a Maharajah. I am a Maharajakumar in the kingdom. People in India called me Prince Daniel. I had several trunks on the ship that sank that held my wardrobe and personal belongings. I am not poor. I am not to be pitied. I only have these clothes now, but I will purchase new clothes when the opportunity presents itself. Thank you for your benevolence, but I do not need or want your sympathy.”

Dani strode out of the room, slammed the door, and stormed down the steps, and then they heard another door slam. Pearl and Abbie sat in stunned silence. They had not expected such a reaction from Dani. After several minutes, Pearl bent over to pick up the plates when she noticed the carpet bags under the bed. This was the first time that they were not in Dani’s possession. Her curiosity was urging her to look in the bags. What could they possibly contain that was so precious? Just as she thought to mention her interest to Abbie, they heard the front door slam and heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. They were stunned when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Pearl said softly.

Dani stood in the doorway. He was flushed.

“I must offer you an apology for my behavior. This is the first time I have been asked questions about myself. I suppose I should get used to this strange behavior as I am now in your country. In India, no one would have dared ask me those things. It felt wrong to talk about myself and justify my position. I beg your forgiveness after the charity that you have shown me.”

Pearl and Abbie started apologizing.

“Well, you know that part; let me finish telling you my story, and then we never have to speak of it again.”

Pearl just nodded her head. Abbie patted a place on the mattress next to him. Dani sat down, and Abbie took his hand. Dani looked at Abbie and smiled.

“My father was a second son, and I am a second grandson. There is someone who will rule the kingdom when my grandfather dies. My older cousin already has sired a son, so the line of succession is secured. I am no longer needed, but more importantly, I am an embarrassment.”

“My grandfather raised me in the palace. I wanted for nothing except a mother and father. My grandfather indulged me in ways that he did not do for others. I think he blamed himself for my mother’s death and my father’s departure. I had a British tutor who taught me and my cousins all things English. I can name every English king or queen. I know the order of precedence. I know all of the important English authors. I know those things about England but was never taught about my own country. The servants did not respect me the same way they did my cousins because I was of mixed blood. When my grandfather found out, he had them punished. I knew I would always be seen as an outsider in the kingdom. We still have a caste system in India, but to be part English was to be seen as having the blood of the British Empire in my veins. The day will come when my people will rise up against their oppressors and take back our land. I, however, am seen as part of the oppressor class and would not be spared when the rebellion happens. That is one of the reasons my grandfather wanted to get me out of the kingdom. He has saved my life.”

Abbie’s mouth was hanging open.

“They wouldn’t kill you, would they?”

“I would be one of the first killed because I am a symbol of what the oppressors did to our people. I am impure. I am English in India and Indian in England. I have no place to call home. I no longer have a family.” Tears started running down Dani’s face.

“Well, you are here; we will protect you and give you a home.” Aunt Pearl moved from the chair to the bed, sitting beside Dani. She hugged him on one side as Abbie did on the other.

“Someone better protect me from Ralph. He is in love with Dani, and I think he wants to kill me.” Dani chuckled as he said it, though he was entirely serious.

“I will speak to Ralph tonight. He won’t hurt you. I will put a spell on him.”

Dani smiled. “I have seen how well your healing spell works. I don’t want to see your evil spell.”

Pearl cackled with laughter. She gave Dani a sideways glance.

“I don’t want to upset you again by talking about those carpet bags. But what is in them? I know it is not clothes because you have been wearing the same things since you were pulled from the ocean. You need a good scrub and some clean clothes.” She smiled at him and hoped that he understood there was humor in her statement. “Maybe, we can get you and Abbie to take a bath together. You are both in need of one. It would be less water to heat.”

Dani blushed, knowing that he needed to bathe. He had thought of walking into the surf, but the ocean scared him. He had almost drowned and didn’t know what was safe. He had never been so long without a bath.

“Tomorrow, I will chop some wood to heat water so Abbie and I can bathe. I don’t have any more clothes though. Maybe I can bathe while wearing these, which will get them clean.”

Abbie jumped up, went to a chest, and pulled out some of his clothes.

“You can wear these, and we will look alike. The pants are a bit too short for you, but they will have to do.”

There were three smiling faces in the room.

“Can we have something more to drink? I am thirsty and need something before I open the bags to show you what I have.”

Pearl grabbed the plates and said she would return momentarily. When she walked back into the room, she saw Dani and Abbie hugging. She coughed, which made both of them jump. Abbie started straightening his britches.

“You boys be careful about that because not everybody will understand.”

They both nodded.

Pearl handed them glasses of water.

“The only other carpet bags I have ever seen was when some Yankee carpetbaggers came through collecting taxes. We ran them off with a shotgun.”

She chuckled at the memory. Often, the women were as good a shot as the men. With the men on the water most of the time, it was important that a woman knew how to protect her family.

Dani looked at Aunt Pearl and then at Abbie. He pondered whether to show them what was in the bags but decided he must. He was afraid it would put them in danger. Then Dani thought everything in the bags should be given to Abbie, who had saved his life. He asked Aunt Pearl to lock the door and to have a seat. After she was seated, Pearl looked at Dani with anticipation.

Dani pulled a bag onto the bed and scooted into the corner that had been pushed against the wall. He unlatched the bag, opened it, and peered inside. He had a look of resignation on his face.

“Dani, you don’t have to show us.”

Abbie wasn’t as curious as his aunt.

“Yes, I do. This is yours. You saved my life, so I owe you everything I have.”

Dani then reached into the bag, shuffled its contents, and placed a green stone on the sheet. Abbie knew what it was even though he had never seen an emerald. Aunt Pearl looked at it, not knowing what she was seeing but thinking it must be valuable.

“Abbie, it is yours. Take it.”

Abbie picked it up and looked at it. Dani then reached into the bag and pulled out a sapphire. He placed it on the sheet. Pearl reached over, picked it up, and held it up so the light refracted on the wall. She smiled as she twisted and turned it.

Dani reached into the bag again and pulled out a large diamond. Abbie and Pearl gasped at the size of the stone. Just as Pearl reached for the stone, someone turned the doorknob, trying to get into the room. The three panicked, and Dani put the stones into the satchel, closed the latch, and leaned on it like it was a pillow. Aunt Pearl saw that everything looked in order, stood, and walked over to the door. Ralph was standing outside, and he was not happy.

“I came by to check on Abbie. Why was the door locked? Why is that colored boy on the bed with Abbie?”

Aunt Pearl stood her tallest at 5’2” and looked up at Ralph. He backed up.

“We were having something to drink, and I must have locked the door by mistake. Why did you need to check on Abbie? I am taking care of him. Dani is helping me with his care.”

“Well, ma’am, I just wanted to make sure he was okay. After saving him from drowning and him being so sick, I just feel some responsibility to the young lad.”

“That is mighty kind of you, son. He is doing just fine, and Dani is making sure he stays that way.”

Dani knew that if looks could have killed him, he would have died at that moment as he was the focus of Ralph’s glare.

“Well, let’s give them some time to rest. Abbie is still somewhat weak.”

Aunt Pearl scooted Ralph from the room, turned, and winked at the boys as she stepped into the hallway. She motioned for them to lock the door before heading down the steps.

Dani was afraid of Ralph. He didn’t know if he would be safe from the big man. He knew what it meant when Ralph said he was colored. The caste system in India was absolute about who associated with whom. In India, Dani was a Kshatriya; he was in the upper caste. After all, his grandfather was a Maharaja of a kingdom. His grandfather told him to seek a better life in the United States. How could being colored in the United States be better than being a prince in India?

Abbie knew Dani was upset, so he reached out and took his hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it as he had read about in a book. Dani smiled and kissed Abbie on the cheek. Abbie turned his head, and they were kissing each other on the lips. His eyes widened as he looked at Abbie, who started laughing at his new friend.

“Everyone here kisses each other. That is not allowed in my country.”

“Well, not everyone kisses everyone, but I love to kiss and be kissed. Especially by handsome boys like you.”

Dani’s complexion glowed.

The two boys stared into each other’s eyes.

“Will you be my friend, Abbie? You saved my life, and I need a friend in this strange new world.”

Abbie nodded his head and leaned into Dani.

“Let’s seal it with a kiss.”

And they did.