The Cries of the Butterfly - A LOVE STORY (10 page)

And yet he waited, all decked up, his soul creasing with every passing minute.

Finally at two am, he lumbered to his feet. He went to a cupboard and found a bottle of pills. He then walked to the refrigerator. He pulled out two cans of ‘Predator Super Strong’ beer, and with it downed three pills of ‘Cedate.’

Thirty minutes later, he passed out across his bed, still bedecked in his beloved suit.

***

ROBIN
was upset. He had said nine am, and it was nine-thirty now. But there was no sign of Daddy. All week long, all she ever did was look forward to the weekends...to seeing Daddy again. Only last week, for the first time ever, he hadn’t shown up.

“I’m really sorry, Sweets, but I have to go to LA on urgent work,” he had said over the telephone. “But I promise you I’ll be there next week as usual, okay, baby?”

She had been terribly disappointed, but she had understood. Daddy had never failed her before; if he couldn’t come one week there had to be a very compelling reason.

But again this week, there was no sign of him.

“He’ll be here soon, okay?” Sister Toynette now said, stroking the little girl’s head.

Robin looked up at her and forced a smile. She had been ready to go for an hour now—smartly dressed, this Saturday morning of March 29th, in red slacks, white full-sleeve shirt and red sneakers. It had been a gift from Daddy and she wore it only when she went to him over the weekends. The sleeve of her amputated right arm had been folded back just above the elbow and fastened to her shoulder with a pair of safety pins.

At ten, Robin could bear it no more and she turned to Sister Toynette.

“Can I phone him, Sister?”

“Okay...to the office.” And when they reached there, Sister Toynette said, “Want me to do it?”

“No, no, I’ll do it,” Robin said hastily, bringing a smile to the Sister’s lips.

Of course, Robin knew the numbers by heart. But today none of the phones were answered—not the fixed-line, not the cellular. She tried, and tried, again and again, but only the eerie monotone of the ring addressed her. Finally, she looked at Sister Toynette helplessly, her face morose.

“Let’s wait for sometime—perhaps he’s on the way,” the Sister said. “Look, Robin, I need to attend to Moon-Moon. You want to wait here?”

“Can I wait outside?”

Sister Toynette nodded. “But don’t go too far.”

So Robin waited, under a young Banyan tree near the main gate of the St Teresa Children’s Home, refusing to sit down on the stone bench near her, her eyes riveted on the street outside, desperately waiting for Daddy.

But Wolf Butcher did not come.

Sister Toynette returned after a while. “I called their home, but no one’s picking up there either. Perhaps the people are out.”

“May I call Daddy again?”

“I did that too.”

Tears began to form in those little blue eyes. Sister Toynette sighed, then wound her arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“What you say, I take you to his home myself?” Sister Toynette said.

The girl’s mood brightened instantly.

“Let’s go then, we do not want to be late anymore, do we?” Sister Toynette said, taking Robin’s hand.

There was sudden bounce in Robin’s stride as she went along with the Sister back to the office.

“Thank you,” she said gratefully, wiping her eyes on her left sleeve, watching the Sister beckon a driver.

There was a sound behind her and she casually glanced over her shoulder. A beat-up pale-green Mercedes was entering the main gate. Robin sprang to full attention and spun around.

The car stopped ten feet from her and out stepped a bearded man in a trilby hat and faded brown overcoat that reached his ankles. He wore dark sunglasses and a gray muffler was wrapped around his neck.

Robin’s heart gave a hop of joy and she almost cried out. Somehow she restrained herself and hardened her face. Her eyes turned to ice.

The man came slowly toward her and then he knelt before her and smiled.

“Hey my little Butterfly, how are you?” he said, putting his arms around her.

But the little Butterfly didn’t react—just went stiff as a statuette, frostily staring over his shoulder into the distance.

“My baby is angry with me, I see,” he nodded. “I understand...I do. But Daddy wasn’t well; Daddy fell sick. See...” For a brief second, Wolf removed his shades. The eyes were red and puffy and Robin’s jaw dropped. She lunged forward and hugged him fiercely.

“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry...I didn’t know!”

“No, my love,
I
am sorry. But I promise you, it’ll never happen again,” he said, holding Robin at arm’s length and looking fondly into her eyes. “Shall we go?”

“Yes,” she nodded vigorously.
Yes, yes, yes...

.

St.
Teresa Children’s Home, in the northeast of the city, was a fourteen acre affair. It was perhaps the only orphanage in the world that was self-sufficient and self-contained in every way. The children needed to go nowhere for anything. From lodging and boarding to school and play and medical facilities...everything was provided on the campus. And this was solely on account of the munificent support of the Butcher family; their constant and substantial donations over the years had made it possible.

The main construction was along the north side of the property and ran in an arc from west to east, with the rest of the land serving primarily as the garden and playground.

On the far east side was the Church. On the far west side, closest to the main gate, was Sister Blessing’s three bedroom bungalow. Next to her bungalow was the main building—four stories, the top three housing the staff. The main hall and Sister Blessing’s office were on the ground floor.

Then came a couple of five story structures that housed the children, one for the girls and the one further up the boys. The construction was pretty straightforward: the top three floors of both buildings consisted of dormitories, each dorm housing twelve kids. Each floor had a TV room, a play room, a room for the resident caretaker, and a row of shared washrooms and toilets. The first floor had the kitchen and the dining room, and the ground floor held the staff offices (four) and the infant ward.

The children were divided according to their ages. The second floor was for the five to seven group. The third floor housed the eight to twelve year olds, and the thirteen and above took the top floor. All buildings had escalators, but their use was restricted to the appropriately handicapped and the staff. As Robin missed an arm, but could walk, she wasn’t considered. Not that she wanted to use the lift. She loved bounding up the steps—that was much more fun.

Next to the boy’s hostel was a twenty bed infirmary, and lodging for the resident medical staff. Then came two school buildings, the first one for kindergarten through seventh class, the next for eighth graders and above.

Besides, twenty sundry cottages (three room affairs) dotted the north fringe of the Home, near the compound wall, and housed the resident menial staff.

.

A
ll afternoon they played in Wolf’s bedroom this Saturday of March 29. Robin had lately become obsessed with computer games and it was the first thing she attacked every time she visited Daddy. Today, they started with ‘Go-Karting’. Half an hour into it she tired of it and then Wolf introduced her to a new game he had bought recently. It was called ‘KO’, a boxing game. It took Robin a while to get the hang of it, but she was quickly fascinated and then it was an uproar as man and kid blasted each other away through consoles connected remotely to a large screen. Wolf was amazed at her dexterity, but then she had always been such an endowed kid. He let her beat him every time and it thrilled her to bits.

“Daddy loses, Daddy loses! I’m so much better! I beat Daddy hands down!”

And Wolf smiled.
I’ve well and truly got my Philippa back
, he thought as he quietly watched her. And then his eyes went to her right arm—as it inevitably always did—and he felt a lump in his throat.

*

T
hey managed to save her life, but the hemotoxic snake venom set off gangrene in the right hand, that spread rapidly up the arm. The choice was clear: amputate and stop its further spread, or risk losing her. For the Home, the choice had been cloudless.

When Wolf saw her that day at the Home function, almost six months ago, he knew he was staring at his lifeline. The next day, he talked to Grant and they had gone over.

“My goodness gracious!” Grant had exclaimed, stunned. “It is as if Philippa has a twin sister!”

Then Wolf told him. “I want to adopt her, sir. I must.” The sudden sparkle that came to his eyes wasn’t lost on Grant. He said nothing then, but later, Wolf found out that Dad had quietly spoken to Sister Blessing.

“I think you should familiarize yourself with the girl for a while and let her get acquainted with you. Let us see what develops thereafter,” Grant told Wolf the next evening.

And so, Wolf visited Robin one Sunday morning. The meeting was arranged in Sister Blessing’s office. Besides Wolf and Robin, only Sister Toynette was present.

“You know who I am?” he asked the little girl gently, after they had settled down on chairs opposite each other.

Robin nodded, but said nothing, instead kept fidgeting nervously. She couldn’t quite look this big man in the eyes.

“I’m a big, big moviestar, you know,” he boomed pleasantly, stretching out his arms expansively in front of him. He was trying to humor her, thinking perhaps that was the best way to kick-start things.

This time she smiled a bit. A timid little smile.

Wolf pulled out a box of ‘Divine’ from his handbag.

“This is for you,” he said. “You like chocolates?” Oh, she did, she indeed did...so very much. Sister Toynette had secretly told him so—about all her likes and dislikes.

Robin looked uncertainly at Sister Toynette, who nodded. So Robin took the box.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice so low, he barely heard her.

“Why don’t you have it?” Wolf suggested, leaning eagerly forward.

That brought a leap of alarm to the girl’s eyes.

“No, no, I can’t!” Then her eyes darted to Sister Toynette, as if for support.

“She’ll not eat alone,” the Sister explained patiently. “Not without her friends.”

Wolf smiled. He understood.

Over the next few weeks, he kept visiting her, getting her all sorts of things, but mindful he got enough so she could share with all her friends.

And then, he began taking her out on weekends. For a few hours at first—to the zoo, to the many beaches of New Halcyon, to movies, to public parks, and the girl gradually opened up with him.

And Wolf realized how alike she was to Philippa in so many other ways as well. The same zest for life, the same uninhibited ways, the same mix of intelligence and innocence.

On Robin’s part, it amused her no end that Wolf was always in disguise every time they went out. He had explained that given who he was, he couldn’t move around freely like other people and Robin understood. But she was thrilled too—it was as if among thousands and thousands of people, she was the only one who knew a big, big secret. It made her feel very special.

Then one Saturday, Wolf brought Robin home for the first time. At first, she was completely overwhelmed by the opulence of the place and just kept staring, the tip of the forefinger of her left hand between her teeth. Wolf showed her around Butcher Garden and introduced her to his family.

“Meet my daughter,” he announced.

Later, when they were alone again, she asked him, rather hesitantly, “Am I?”

“What?”

“You said...I...I was…you...daughter.”

Wolf smiled. “You want to be? Would you like to be my daughter?”

She looked away and didn’t reply.

When Wolf took her to the back garden, she stopped short.

“A lake!” she exclaimed.

Wolf laughed. “Yes...but it is called a swimming pool.”

“The water is so blue!”

“Just like your eyes,” he said. “Would you like a dip?”

She looked at him strangely.

“Oh...I meant would you like to swim in it?”

“Oh...can I?” she looked at him wide-eyed. But in the same instant she seemed to realize something. “But I can’t.” A quiet sorrow came to her eyes.

He put his arm around her. “One arm is fine. You swim with me, okay?”

“Yes.” And she smiled. In a flash the sadness was gone and her eyes twinkled with joy, and once again, Wolf was strongly reminded of Philippa.

He swept the girl in his arms. “Let’s go then, kiddo.”

.

A
nd as Wolf and Robin frolicked in the water with gay abandon, Grant Butcher quietly observed them from an easy chair on the back porch. Watching Robin, he wondered if Sage and his wife had had a child clandestinely, then for some reason abandoned it.
Ah, ridiculous!
he rebuked himself immediately.
Not my Sage. Not him...never!
He was the most moral and righteous person Grant had ever known.
Goodness gracious, Grant, how can you allow yourself to even think such sinful thoughts! What’s wrong with you?
And he was ashamed of himself.