Alice didn’t speak to me that morning. I so very badly wanted to tell her I am sorry. But I just couldn’t do it. The way I grabbed her bag kept playing in my mind over and over. I shouldn’t have done it. I should have told Jessy that I know Alice very well. She would never steal anything. Why didn’t I stand by my one and only best friend?

The third period that morning was Maths. Jessy got up to collect the homework books from all the students. When Jasmine handed her home work book, something fell down from the book. I saw Jessy looking at the floor stunned and I looked where Jessy was looking. The missing pink eraser was lying on the floor. It was inside Jasmine’s work book all the while. Nobody stole the eraser.
“That is my eraser”. Jasmine said.
Shamelessly she got up from her desk and went to pick it up from the floor.
She shrugged her shoulder and said
“I must have left it in the work book after correcting the mistakes last night. Sorry Alice. I thought you might have taken it, because you said it was a nice eraser when you borrowed it the other day!”

When the bell rang for lunch interval, I watched Alice walking towards the cassurina tree near the boarding school. She didn’t eat lunch and I also didn’t want to eat. I followed her and sat next to her.
“I am sorry for hurting you Alice”
She didn’t respond. She stared at the space infront of her.
“Why didn’t you want anyone to see what is in your bag Alice?”
Tears were flowing down her cheeks and I desperately wanted her to stop crying.
” Alice, please don’t cry. I didn’t ask that to make you cry.”
She pretended that she didn’t hear me.
I didn’t know what to do. Suddenly I had a brilliant idea. Whenever my grandmother was grumpy, my grandfather would sing P. Ramlee songs to make her laugh.
I started singing P. Ramlee’s “barang yang lepas jangan dikenang“. When I reached the ‘oooo’ chorus Alice started to laugh. She wiped the tears with her hands and said
“Stop! You are a lousy singer, you will scare all the crows sitting on the tree!”
“I know, but I made you laugh isn’t it?, so it is ok”
“What song was that? Is it a Malaysian song?” Alice asked me
“Hmm, it is a Malay song, sung by P. Ramlee”
“Who is P. Ramlee?” She asked me
I tried to think of the best way to tell her who is P. Ramlee. What do I say, when I have only seen him in movies, but like every Malaysian I adore him? My grandfather says P. Ramlee is a true Malaysian icon.
I looked at Alice and told her
“P. Ramlee is all of Prem Naseer, Adoor Basi, Shankaradi and Yesudas in one person. When I was little, my grandfather used to take me to P. Ramlee movies. One moment you will be laughing seeing all his antics and the next moment you will be crying, when he sings all the sad songs. I love to watch P.Ramlee movies!”
“Will you go back to Malaysia, Nina?”
“Of course I will. That is my home!”
“What about your family?”
“Don’t know. I think Amma like India better. Even if she doesn’t go back, I will go back.”
” I will miss you” Alice replied
“We can always write letters. You can come and visit me.”
“Do I have to come in a plane?”
“Ofcourse”
“How does it feel flying in a plane Nina?”
“it feels nothing. It is boring. You sit and sit and sit. If the air hostess is nice, she will give you paper and crayons, then you can colour.”
“She gives free crayons?”
“yes she does”
“Nina, will you save some crayons and give them to me the next time you go in the plane?”
“Of course I will”
“Thank you Nina, you are a good friend. Do you know why I didn’t let anyone open my school bag this morning?”
“No”. I shook my head
“I didn’t bring rice for lunch today. We only had banana at home and my mother boiled one and gave me half and my sister took the other half. I was hungry this morning, So I thought I will take a small bite, that is when jessy walked in to the class and I quickly closed my lunch box and kept it inside the bag. I didn’t want anyone to know that I brought banana for lunch. You know how Jessy and everyone will laugh at me, if I don’t bring rice for lunch?”
“Why didn’t you tell me, you had no lunch. You could always share my rice.”
“No Nina, I can’t. If Jessy and her gang see me sharing your food, Then they will say that I am beggar. See this morning they said my father is a bad person.
Nina, my father was a good person. His own cousin(brother) stabbed him, because he wanted my father’s share of the property. I have a crazy family Nina”
“Oh No you don’t. My family is even more crazier”
“Really?”
“Really!.”
Tan Sri P. Ramlee

When I reached my classroom in the morning, there were too much ruckus. For a second, I thought someone knew about Mr. Aiyappan and my red bicycle. I braced myself for further ridicule. But nothing happened. No one laughed at me. Everyone was laughing and mocking at Alice. Did her mother too pay money to Mr. Aiyappan? I wondered.
“What happened?” I asked Jessy
“Look, the pandi is here to save her robber friend”. Jessy announced to the whole class.
I saw Alice sitting down in her seat and crying.
“What happened Alice? Why are you crying?”
She didn’t say anything. Her face was red and swollen after crying so much.
“Will you stop crying and tell me what happened?”
“I will tell you what happened, She stole Jasmine’s brand new pink eraser.” Jessy spoke
“How do you know she stole it?”I asked her
“Because I saw it.”
“No Nina, I didn’t steal anything”. Alice was crying
“Oh really, if you didn’t steal anything, then why did you quickly hide what was in your hand like a thief when I walked in to the class? I saw you hiding something in your bag and I saw Jasmine’s bag was opened. Jasmine checked her bag and her eraser is missing”
“I didn’t steal her eraser” Alice said again
“Then show us your bag, let us see what you have in your bag”
“No” Alice screamed
“I am going to tell Mrs. Mathew. My father works and earn the money to buy me things, not for some fatherless kids!. Your father is dead because he is a bad person. That is why someone murdered him. Infact my mother wrote to the headmistress complaining about you. We don’t want any murder victim’s daughter studying in our school. This is a good school, meant for children from good families!”
“My father is not a bad person”. Alice was sobbing
“If he was good, then why did someone stabhim? You are just like your father. A thief.” Jasmine spoke
I didn’t know what to say or do. I didn’t know exactly how Alice’s father died until now. She never told me that her father was stabbed to death. I also didn’t know why she refused to show anyone what was in her bag. If she had nothing to hide, then she should just show what is in her school bag!. I didn’t want to befriend a thief.
“Nina, tell them I am not a thief, that I never steal anything.”
I wanted to side my best friend. But I was also angry with her for not telling me the truth about her father all these while. What other lies has she told me? Is she the one who stole my sharpener my uncle got from America? I can still remember the amount of beatings Amma gave me when I lost it. I thought of all the things I have lost in the last one year. My flora pencil that I used only for a week, my silver colour sharpener, the 10 paise balance I got after buying the Malayalam work book. Now It all made sense, Alice sit next to me at school. When I go to wash my hand after lunch, she could have taken all my stuff.
‘Oh my goodness!I trusted my best friend’. I was so mad at Alice.
I grabbed her bag from the desk and gave it to Jessy.
“Check and see if the eraser is inside”
“No” Alice tried to grab the bag from Jessy’s hand.
“What is all the noise about?”
The class quietend immediately. Mrs Joseph, our principal walked inside the classroom, holding a long cane in her hand.
‘Aha! Alice is going to get caned today. She deserves it. She stole my stuff and made me get beaten at home.’ I was just so glad to see Mrs. Joseph.
Jessy explained the whole situation to Mrs. Joseph.
“Alice, Did you take Jasmine’s eraser?”Mrs Joseph asked
“No teacher. I didn’t”
“Bring her bag here” Mrs Joseph ordered
Jessy carried the bag like a trophy and gave it to Mrs. Joseph.
Everyone crowded around Mrs. Joseph, waiting with bated breath to see the evidence of such a heinous crime.
I watched Mrs. Joseph taking out the text books, then the work books, Alice’s pencil case and then her lunch box. She checked all the pockets. Then she opened Alices’s pencil case. She took out a red eraser.
“Is it your eraser?” she asked Jasmine
“No, teacher, mine is Pink colour”
“That is my eraser teacher, my mother bought me that last year” Alice replied.
Mrs Joseph checked the bag and its contents again. There was no sign of a pink eraser. The only thing that was left to check was Alice’s lunch box. I was sure she hid the stolen eraser inside her lunch box. If it wasn’t in the bag, it sure was in the lunch box.
I waited anxiously for Mrs. Joseph to open the lunch box. Alice had a round steel lunch box. The lid was very hard to open. I usually helped her to open it, by hitting it against the desk corner. Mrs. Joseph tried to open the lid using her finger nails.
“Ouch” This lid is tight” She exclaimed
“Please give it to me teacher. I will open it” I volunteered.
I took the lunch box from her hand and my classmates parted to create a room for me to walk to my desk. I felt like Moses parting the sea. Like a professional,. I hit the lid on the corner of the desk and opened the lid.
Everyone rushed forward to look inside the lunch box.
There was no pink eraser. There was only a half eaten boiled banana inside.
I didn’t know what to say or do.
I, Nina Thomas, grand daughter of famous Methran Thambi doubted my best friend!.
“Who said Alice stole Jasmine’s eraser? Mrs joseph roared
There was no sound. No one answered.
“Jasmine, how did you know that Alice stole your eraser?”
“Jessy told me teacher.”
“”How did you know Alice stole Jasmines’ eraser? “Mrs Joseph asked Jessy
Jessy started to cry,”Sorry teacher, When I came in to the class this morning, Alice was alone. When she saw me, she quickly put something in her bag and closed it. I saw that Jasmine’s bag was opened. So I asked Jasmine to check if anything of hers is missing. She said her pink eraser is missing”
“Come here both of you. Do you know ‘false witness’ is a crime? You both suspected an innocent person and called her a thief. You need to be punished. Extend your hand.” Mrs. Joseph commanded
I watched Mrs. Joseph raising the cane and striking both Jessy and Jasmine on their palm. I watched them wincing in pain. I looked at Alice. She looked solemn
I wished Mrs. Joseph would cane me as well. There is no crime bigger than suspecting one’s own best friend.

When we reached the road near the parade ground Amma told me
“Nina, I need to go somewhere. You can go home on your own.”
“ok”. I didn’t want to argue with her. Anything I do or say might influence my opportunity to own a bicycle. I watched my mother turning left at the junction.
Akkachi was waiting for us at home
“Did you see any nice sarees? Nina Where is your mother?” She asked me as soon as I entered the house
I looked at Akkachi, trying to see what is the best answer I could give her. If I say ‘no’ and when Amma brings the saree home in 4 weeks, Akkachi would know I lied. If I say ‘yes’ then didn’t buy it for Akkachi then she would think that, we don’t like her. I had no answer for Akkachi.
“Akkachi I have a bad headache. I need to lay down.”
“Are you ok Nina? Are you coming down with a fever? Didn’t I tell you to dry your hair properly after your shower yesterday? You never listen!”. Akkachi checked my forehead to see, if I have fever.
“Go and lay down Nina, I will make headache medicine for you”
Akkachi has medicines for all known maladies. She makes chukku kappi when I have a cold and sore throat. She makes a paste from basil leaves when I have a head ache. Sometimes, just to eat her chouvari kanji (sago porridge), I would pretend that my stomach hurts.
I waited for Akkachi to come back with the medicine. She came back 10 minutes later holding a small bowl full of greenish herb paste. Akkachi sat on my bed and gently applied the medicine on my forehead. Each time her hand touched my forehead, I silently apologised.’Forgive me Akkachi, I cheated you off your saree. Please forgive me’ I imagined Akkachi forgiving me and blessing me. I closed my eyes and I promised myself, One day I will buy Akkachi a new kancheepuram saree.

On monday I was so excited to go to school. In 4 days Amma will pay the final installment and I would have my own bicycle. I couldn’t think of anything but my red Hero bicycle. Even when Mrs Mathew caned me for doing my homework wrong, I didn’t feel the pain. Super Nina was zooming in her bicycle to feel any pain. In the evening as I walked home, I heard the students from M.T Seminary school singing
“Aiyappan mungi
thintha thintho
Rupayum poyi
Thintha Thintho
manavum poyi
Thintha thinthom
Ashayum poyi
Thintha thintho
Aiyappan mungi….”
(Aiyappan vanished, money vanished, dreams vanished!!)
I couldn’t believe what I heard. There is no way Mr. Aiyappan could vanish. Not when I just had another 4 days to get a new bicycle. I ran all the way home. Amma was at home.
“Amma did you hear about Mr. Aiyappan? Is it true?
“Mr. Aiyappan!” ptui Amma spat on the ground. “he isn’t Mr. Aiyappan. He is Mr. Pandi.”
“What about my bicycle Amma?”
“What about your bicycle? You are an unlucky child Nina. See, just 4 more days and you could have had a new bicycle. But it isn’t in your destiny. Oh lord! Why did I give birth to such an unlucky child”
“I am not unlucky. You are unlucky.” I was so mad at my mother.
“You are talking back to me? How dare you Nina? You are an ungrateful child. You should be grateful that I didn’t abort you when I had a chance.”
“Well, I didn’t tell you not to abort me.”
“How dare you speak like that to me? How dare you”
Amma started to hit me and I raised my hand to protect me from her blows.
“You are raising your hand to hit me? You are raising your hand to hit your own mother? Oh lord, why don’t you just take me to heaven now, why do you let me suffer like this.” Before I could say anything, Amma started to hit herself on her chest with her fist. I was stunned. Each self inflicted blows were sounding like thunder in my ears.
“Amma, stop. Don’t hurt yourself.” I pleaded
“Akkachi, help! Amma is killing herself.” I screamed
Akkachi came out quickly and held Amma’s hand
“What is this chechy? Why are you doing like this? It isn’t Nina’s fault. That man cheated you.”
“It is all Nina’s fault. She brought all the bad luck to this family. She is the root cause of all the trouble.”
I was just about to tell Amma off, but I saw Akkachi covering her mouth with her hands telling me to hush.
“I will go and fetch Liza and Sally.” I walked off, away from my mother and her hatred.

To Mr. Aiyappan
I am not sure that is really your name. However I am sure, like many, you found the easiest way to earn some quick bucks. I want you to know, because of you, I never got a bicycle and I lived thinking that I am indeed unlucky. You not only took our money, but also my little dreams and hopes. I wanted to curse you. But I couldn’t then and couldn’t now. May you find good karma.