The school bus stopped right
in front of the mansion partially engulfed in mist on that chilly December
evening. As she got down, Jessy pulled the cardigan closer to her chest to
protect herself from the cold wind. She waved goodbye to her friends and was
welcomed back home by the glittering lights that were adding to the celebration
scene getting ready for a double delight. Jessy and Jesus shared birthdays! The
sentry opened the gate for her and the familiar sight of her beautiful home
unravelled in front of her, this time even more beautiful with the lovely
lights sparkling all around.
Three luxury cars adorned the
main porch, adding to the pomp and glory of the mansion. But to Jessy, there
was one eyesore, a car that was parked a bit aside in a dedicated porch. It was
an Ambassador painted in yellow and black, the one that was typical of taxis in
India in 90’s. This was the only thing about which she fought with her brother
John. Even on her last birthday, when she turned fourteen, she asked him as a
wish to get rid of the strange car. Her brother as always, with lots of love,
promptly turned down this request.
The Ambassador reminded John of
his humble beginnings and he wanted to retain it as a sacred memory. There
wasn’t anyone else to whom Jessy could complain since from the time she could
remember, her brother was the only relative she ever had. There was an old
black and white picture of their parents that was prominently placed on the
majestic wall of the living room.
Jessy vaguely recollect her
past when they did not have all these luxury in their life. It was her brother’s
dedication alone that made him the successful business man the town knows
today. She still can’t believe that he used to be behind the wheels of the same
Ambassador which she hated from the bottom of her heart. If there was one thing
her friends ridiculed her for, it was the strange presence of that car right in
front of their grand residence.
There was another weird practice
in that house associated to this car. During Christmas and her birthday, the
house got decorated with lights of all colours except for the porch where the
Ambassador stood. The porch will always be decorated with lights shining in bright
red colour. There were strict instructions from John to the staff not to use
any other colour for this porch. The car and the porch appeared to Jessy as nothing
short of a bad omen bathed in red. Jessy had asked him why and this is one
mystery for which she never got a convincing answer.
She had made a decision this year.
Christmas this time was not going to be the same. She was not going to turn
fifteen without changing the bad omen at least as the first step. She’ll bring
more happiness by decorating the age old car and porch with bright and
beautiful colours than the depressing red. Next step will be to get rid of the
car altogether. She had to plan well for this since it was pretty evident that
she was treading dangerous waters on this with her brother!
She invited a few of her
friends over. Together they plotted a secret plan. ‘Mission Red Devil’ was
launched! First they’ll ensure that the red lights got replaced and then
they’ll find a way to get rid of the car altogether. For the first objective,
they managed to get hold of one of the staff members in the house and convinced
him to get them a bunch of multi-coloured lights.
While they were at it, a
familiar face of an old man appeared at the gate. Jessy identified him as the
second mystery associated with the Ambassador. This man promptly came during
Christmas time every year. John took great efforts to receive him and treat him
well. They both will be seen talking for a long time and most of the
conversations happened right next to the car. He was introduced once to Jessy
as an old friend of John who helped in the days when John was driving the taxi.
Nothing more was said about him.
Soon John went out with the
old man. While they were away, Jessy and friends acted quickly. Within an hour,
they applied garlands of light on the porch with every other colour than red. As
they plugged in the light, the gate opened. John was received with the shocking
view of a brightly lit car porch where the good old Ambassador was covered in a
multi-coloured robe. His expression was priceless! All the red that were
missing at the porch found its way to his face. He was furious and the girls
had never seen him like that. He didn’t say a word except for asking the staff
to put the red lights back on.
Jessy dropped her friends
back shortly. She returned home, but to a different one than the one she left.
It was a dead house. Even the lights that shined did not seem to bring the life
that once filled the space. John was sitting right below the picture frame of
their parents and looked devastated. Jessy was quite surprised. Was it all
because of the lights? Why was it so important that the change brought such a
drastic transformation to their home? She demanded an answer from her brother
which was greeted with a terminal silence and that silence killed her.
This was it! She had been
patient for the last fifteen years. Each time the question was raised about the
car and the strange ways about it at their home, John was quite evasive. She
sat down next to him and looked right into his eyes and said, “I really need
you to tell me brother, what is the secret with this car and why is a mere
change of decoration lights bothering you so much? I’m not a baby anymore for
you to hold back the truth. You act like a total stranger each time I come up
with this question. You are so weird when it comes to this topic and guess what
I feel? I don’t belong here!”
As soon as she finished those
last words, John burst into tears with a loud cry! A bunch of emotions that
were buried deep down in his mind for the last decade and a half finally found
its way out. His memories took him back to a Christmas Eve fifteen years ago. It
was quite late in the evening. He was driving the taxi and was about to drop
home a young couple expecting their first baby soon. This was his seventh trip
for the day and possibly the last one since he was really tired with all the
traffic of the season. He badly wanted to get back home and have a peaceful
evening all by himself celebrating Christmas. The couple who owned the taxi
which he drove had told him to take a day off on Christmas and nothing could
get better than that.
As he was taking the final
turn to the young couple’s home a flash of a bright light hit the car. He could
hardly make out the shape of a truck and took a sharp turn to the left. The
truck hit the side where the lady was seated. The impact was huge that he
remember the car spinning for a few times before it came to a halt. The young
man, soon to be a father, died on the spot. While John though had broken a bone
or two, couldn’t help but hear the heart wrenching cry from the fully pregnant lady.
The pain was unbearable, yet he managed to crawl out of the car. A passing car
stopped by and the man who now visited them every Christmas helped John to take
the lady to a nearby hospital. She was unconscious by the time they reached the
Emergency section. He was soon taken inside as well and while they prepared him
for a surgery, he vaguely remember hearing the doctors speak that the lady
won’t make it.
A few days later as he was
ready to leave the hospital, the nurses helped him onto the taxi that was
waiting to take him home. But just before that, he was directed by a nurse to the
neo natal ward. The place was all decorated for Christmas with bright red
lights everywhere. The nurse took him to a tiny girl among the other babies
there. They called her Jessy, the one that was miraculously saved from a dying
mother a few minutes after the clock struck twelve on the Christmas day that
year! He looked into her tiny eyes and saw the reflection of the shining red lights
in them. They were shining like the Star of Bethlehem. Jessy, his sister, was
born in his mind.
He took her to the couple who
owned his taxi. For them, John and Jessy became the kids they never had. John
inherited the taxi from them and moved to this town later, along with her. He also
brought a priceless item along with him. An old black and white picture of the
couple which was duly placed on the living room wall.
John finished the
narration and looked at his sister. She got up and walked towards the window
from where she could see the car that was parked in the porch. He reached out
to her and they looked at each other. They could see the reflection of the
bright red lights in their eyes. For Jessy, those were the most precious rubies
she had ever seen in her life!
