Yours, Raven

Six

With the phone in her hand, Raven was also sitting with them, listening as she drank a glass of freezing water to cool herself.

"And that's what I want you to check out for me. Parachute Regiment. I know, Nicholas didn't tell me all about it for some reason. I have a feeling he's in for trouble."

"Okay." Raven went straight to Google and searched it up.

She found out that The Parachute Regiment was a part of airborne operations. The aim of the regiment was mostly quick deployment of soldiers behind enemy lines to attack enemy from behind and destroy their first line of defence, hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency, seek and destroy . . . All in all, it was a very active regiment.

When Raven explained all these to her Darcha, Grace was pissed off at once.

"What's the use?! Really, Tracy. Seek and destroy and all these insurgencies and terrorists, he doesn't even have to sign up for it. I don't understand this kid. He volunteered!"

"Yeah," Raven's mom agreed. "He's putting himself in danger."

"He'll have to qualify first," Raven said, looking down on the phone and skimming her eyes through the articles. "There's three months of training and it is very hard, it says. Like, only twenty out of a hundred gets selected. If he gets selected, he'll be a Paratrooper which means, he's an Elite soldier; one of the best in the country. And if he likes, he can opt to join the Para Special Force which will be another three months training."

"That's exactly what he said. He's planning to do that too. That idiot." Grace was furious at this point.

"And it says that it is one of the longest and toughest trainings in the world," Raven added.

"Really? What do they do? The training." Grace asked.

Raven read for a while and as she did, nervous fingers crept up to her neck and she swallowed.

Her eyes glued to the phone screen with a frown, she said, "They're trained for basically everything, jungle warfare, water, mountain, desert, high altitude . . . The training is so hard! They go through sleep deprivation, exhaustion, humiliation, physical and mental torture . . . It says some people even die during the training. This is so frightening!!"

By now, Raven was just as frightened and worried as the two older women.

"What has gotten into the mind of this boy?!" Grace threw her hands up in frustration, exclaiming. "He signed up knowing all these! This is it. I'm calling him right now and telling him not to go on with this madness."

Raven nodded frightfully in agreement with her Darcha as Grace pulled out her phone from the pocket of the loose pant she was wearing and dialed back to her son.

"Yeah, Nu," Nicholas answered at once.

"Nicholas! Stop this madness at once. What do you think you're doing?!" His mother chided him at once before anything.

"What's going on?"

"I'm talking about your Para. I asked Raven to find out about it for me in the internet and you're in for a madness! Some people even die in the training, Nicholas!"

Nicholas breathed deeply and said, "Don't worry, Nu. I'm not going to die in the training. I promise."

"How can you be sure? You're all I have, Nicholas!" Grace snapped at him with a slight trembling in her voice as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry. What? I'm telling you, there's nothing to worry about. If I promise, it means I promise. I'll be alright. If I can't do further, I'll just stop. We could do that too. Anytime we want. We just have to fill up a form and leave."

"That's not all. What's the use, Nicholas? What's the use?! We have enough food to eat and a house to live in, you don't have to go earning for more. And it's not like we're a big family either, just you and me. It's already enough!"

"It's not about the money, mom. This is all service for the country," he replied calmly yet again.

"You've done enough," Grace sulked.

"I'll be alright. Don't worry. When I come back home, I'll bring an enormous gold necklace for you. One that's as wide as a plate," Nicholas joked with a light laugh. Then he shouted over to his comrades in Hindi.

"You can even speak Hindi now?" His mother asked excitedly since the majority of the people from their region weren't Hindi speakers. And even Nicholas was only speaking English besides the common state language, Manipuri, and his own mother tongue, Uipo tlou, when he left.

"Yes, I can speak Hindi now," Nicholas chuckled back, finding it funny how his mother could change topics so easily.

"That's good. Knowing languages is important. No matter where you go, always try to understand the languages."

"Yes, Nu. Can you pass the phone to Raves?"

"Sure. Sure. Here, Raven. Nick wants to talk to you," Grace said, handing the phone over to Raven.

"Me?" Raven's eyes widened, suddenly nervous and guilty that she probably had betrayed him by browsing about the regiment.

"Yes. Here."

Swallowing nervously, she took the phone and held it to her ear. "Hello."

"Raves."

Her heart skipped a beat the moment she heard his voice, a voice so familiar she could instantly picture him in her mind. And he sounded so close like he was right beside her, whispering into her ear; almost tangible and real.

"Nick."

"How are you doing?" His voice seemed to soften for her.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm good too. Nu told me you're growing up fast. Is it true?"

Raven chuckled, "Nah. I'm still the same."

"How so?"

"I don't grow at all. My height is still the same," Raven replied disheartened, making Nicholas laugh.

"How tall are you now?"

"Two inches short of five feet."

He chuckled back, "Eat lots, Little Dumpling. Else you'll remain a little Dumpling forever."

"I'm trying my best." She laughed too.

A dash of familiarity and homeliness took over him at the sweet sound of her voice. He suddenly missed home. He practically pictured the entire village; the chirping of sparrows, the orange glow of sunset beyond the hills, the quietness of twilight, all at once like a painting illustration of a jumble of emotions.

Nicholas was quiet. She waited, starting to feel a little awkward now.

"Raves." He called softly again. His voice now serious and deep, it sent a frightening chill down her back.

Every time he called her Raves, the tone of his voice would change to something calmer and deep. It felt as though he was calling out right into her soul where all her emotions lay bare.

"Yeah."

"Thank you so much for taking care of Nu," He said in a voice filled with emotion and sincerity. It tugged right in Raven's heart.

"That's okay. I'm just helping around. Not doing much." Raven returned kindly.

Nicholas smiled to himself. Raven had denied but he could hear she was growing up. There wasn't anything like a change in her voice but, with the way she was speaking, he could hardly picture a little girl anymore. She seemed far from being childish. He wondered what had made her that way. Just one year back, she couldn't even prepare her own breakfast.

He felt sure that he would have to prepare to take in what he would see of her when he returns home for holidays.

He couldn't wait to see her again.

• • •