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Meina saw him peering inside the car. She did not see him come in, but then she hadn’t been noticing a lot of things.
The gate was open, not because Khar had opened it, but because she’d forgotten to latch it.
The bulky looking police officer, with the kindest eyes and strangely handsome face looked like he was strolling around their garage.
She didn’t mind it, not at all because she quite liked talking to him. He had few words to speak of and even fewer expressions to clothe his face, but it was this grimness that set him aside from the frivolous men she usually met, especially Jumaid and those others he often befriended
It had been long, far too long for the police to come up clueless about her son’s murder and she resented everyone for it, Jumaid especially who had taken to calming down almost immediately; in fact everyone around her who addressed her with a sympathetic tone instead of an understanding empathy seemed inimical in their chosen words of fake remorse and even took to avoiding her.
She’d seen her neighbours change streets the other day, just because they’d run out of consoling words, when in fact she wasn’t looking for consolation. People had forgotten to behave normally around her. They were either sorry for her loss or too fidgety to make any conversation even as bland as weather, which is why she didn’t mind Khar’s limited conversation that never lacked in compassion and his sudden presence in her house almost brightened her.
Their car was parked in a small garage next to the garden where she’d been watering plants and it seemed like he’d strolled in while she wasn’t looking.
‘Did you find it?’ she asked walking up to Khar who’d been steadily peering inside the car.
The fact that he didn’t startle, not even batting an eyelid was indication enough that Meina’s glances had been noticed and she felt a flush rising to her face.
‘Uh, I didn’t see you come in the house.’ she said awkwardly.
‘I didn’t mean to alarm you, nor make a grand entry.’
She looked past his detached answer. ‘Are you looking for something in the car?’
‘yes, I was just noticing how new its interiors look, though the car isn’t as new.’
‘Oh, yes. I think Jumaid got some work done.’
Khar looked at some empty boxes piled haphazardly near the porch.
‘Uh, those are for me. I’ll be moving out of here soon.’ she sneered sadly ‘Jumaid is actually looking forward to it. Can’t blame him, because I am too.’
‘You seem to be taking good care of the plants even though you’re bound to leave.’ he said eyeing the watering pipe.
Meina followed his gaze ‘those are my plants. I’ll be taking them with me. I’ve to start potting them soon.’ She exhaled a long breath. ‘It’ll be tedious but it’s fine. I’ve been tending them for a while and there isn’t much in my life to take care of.’
Meina realized how for the first time she didn’t burst into tears at this thought. She had missed her son every day, but he was soon turning into a memory. There was no denying this truth now and the reality didn’t sting as much.
Khar seemed to chew on those words for a few heartbeats and looked around at some juvenile trees which seems too strong to uproot and transport.
‘and what about these trees?’
‘oh these’ she said eyeing her birch tree. ‘I’ll take a few cuttings of all those that I can, and plant them. Mostly they end up growing, especially these flowers’ she said pointing towards generic looking pink flowers which she called azaleas. ‘I’ll pot their cuttings and they’ll grow. Of course, there’s a method to make the cuts.’ Meina wanted to explain at length how plant stems send new roots from stem nodes, but Khar looked distracted.
‘How do you make these cuttings exactly?’ he spoke at length.
Meina searched his face to understand the gravity of his question. Was he being frivolous with her or did he seriously intend on knowing a bit of gardening?
‘With some scissors’ she picked up a pair of strong looking scissors and handed them to Khar. They looked strong but not nearly large enough to enable cutting thicker stems. ‘Do these come in different sizes too?’ he asked without masking his curiosity.
‘In a number of different sizes, and I have quite a few.’ she said with some pride.
‘What if you want to cut a really thick branch?’ Khar asked.
Meina was puzzled. ‘If I want to cut a really thick branch? You mean If I want to prune trees?’
‘Okay,’ Khar scratched his head. ‘Let’s say you want to prune or trim a tree, what then?’
‘Uh, I..well. I cut off the branches and give them a shape, not cutting too short though’ She wanted to show him the young tree she had been working on a few months ago, though now as she looked at its indiscriminate overgrowth she realized how long it had stood neglected.
‘I mean how do you go about trimming it? with larger scissors?’ Khar asked inquisitively.
‘Sometimes’ Meina answered knowingly. ‘Though sometimes when the branches are thicker and its almost overwhelming it's just easier to saw them.’
A flurry of thin fever ran through Khar in reverberating shivers. He didn’t want to exhibit the febrile surprise rising on his face lest the grieving woman be alarmed but he could feel his heart pounding with an echo that he felt throbbing in his palms.
‘What kind of saw?’ Khar asked masking his agitation.
Meina was pleasantly surprised. There weren’t many people she knew who showed such keen interest in her hobby.
‘A pruning saw.’ she hurried to the back of her garage and came back with what looked by all accounts a rather large saw.
Khar held his breath as he slowly held it. It was almost twelve inches long, with a one-inch blade that was blunt at the tip. He checked the grip which was slightly curved, affording an easy hold and firm grasp and the razor-edged teeth to this saw were menacing. They could cut through thick stems, they could cut through clothing, flesh and all that stood in its way.
The only thing Khar disliked about this particular saw was that it almost seemed new.
‘How old would you say this saw is?’ He quietly asked her.
‘Oh this is brand new.’ Meina said blinking, trying to understand Khar’s obvious interest. ‘Uh, I’d lost the previous one.’ Meina quickly answered. ‘I..I mean I thought I’d lost it. I..I’d told you how I felt things kept disappearing around me. Uh..it was a mistake, but when I couldn’t find it for a long time I had to buy a new one. Uh.. I even found the bedsheets..’ Khar interrupted ‘have you found the older one you'd lost?’
Meina was flustered and looked puzzled. ‘yes’ she replied timidly.
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