Memory Lane: The Black Code ************************** Intrigued by the shiny leather briefcase, we began to nag maami. “Maami! Tyo kalo bag ma k cha?” She smiled at me rubbing my cheeks. “tyo bag bhari khelauna haroo cha. Timi haroo ko lagi!!!” She gave her usual response. This was not the first time we had queried about the briefcase. “aaan Hola?” my sister responded. We looked at each other filled with joy. We carefully pierced through the eyes of the man who was carrying the case. They were deep seated but full of life. He was adorned with a stylish coat, belly buttoned black pants and a pair of shiny leather shoes. The sideburns extended to mid cheek. The hair had slightly thinned out exposing his broad forehead that matched well with his broad posture. He had big crisp lips that remained shut and stoic. “ma pani thulo bhaye pachi, tyastai dari palchu!” I conveyed my feeling to my sister. “Chyaaa” She responded. “Daari paleko manche lai ni kasaile man paraucha?” “Daari hoina k, makuri! Yo ..” I pointed to the sideburns. “Chyaaaa!” Girls are unforgiving creatures. We turned the pages of the album. The man with the black case transformed with time and the seasons. Sometimes he’d pose in front of a car, sometimes in front of a sky scraper, sometimes in front of a waterfall, and then in front of a palace: “maami! Yo kasto darbar ho?” “Eh! She stared at the picture I was pointing to. “ America ko raja tyahi bascha.” She responded nonchalantly. “Chyaaa.” My sister frowned. “kasto setoo”! “Tyo bhanda ta hamrai raja ko ramro cha hai, Oys?” I nodded without answering flipping the pages that were studded with adventures. The breath taking snow clad mountains, lakes, hills, rivers and the wildlife kept me enchanted. I had never imagined US would be so beautiful. I wonder how he conversed, laughed, and adopted seeing pictures of him eating, canoeing, hiking and drinking. Sometimes, I’d see him pose in front of a brown car with his legs crossed. Mom emphasized that it was his car and if we did well in our school, it wasn’t hard to get such cars. Above all, he looked jubilant either looking at the crops or driving around the mammoth tractor. Man! That’d be some monster to have in our Bari. My thought quipped at me Then again, there were some hideous pictures. At one instant, I recognized his face painted in black and nose covered in white cotton. To worsen the matter, he had put on daura surwal with a leather belt around. It was distasteful, but his colleagues weren’t any different. Some looked like the ghosts of Dr. Who while others looked like those Lakhes of handigaon. The curiosity yet got the better of me “maami! “yo chai k gareko”? “khoi herum ta?” my mom began to chuckle looking at the pictures. “America ko jatra haroo yestai huncha” She responded after careful observation. “sabai jana bhoot bannu parcha?” my sister wondered. It made me wonder too. We were almost done with the album when the next to last picture caught our attention. This ruffled black and white picture had a gun in his hand aiming straight to the right. It scared the wits out of me. Who was the person at the receiving end? Suddenly, the man that had fascinated me so much till then began to grow darker. We were convinced that the black case didn’t have any toys. The man owned a gun and he put it in his black case so that nobody would find out. I could hear the beating of my weak heart as I covered myself in winter blanket and shut my eyelids. contd...