The Boy and the Ghost

The Bath of Flowers

Suresh and Jacob took a Grab home, and felt incredibly sleepy as he leaned his head against the window as the car drove past orange street lamps flickering over empty streets.

"We're home, Susu." Jacob gently whispered to wake Suresh up. Suresh groggily left the car (almost forgetting to pay his driver) and walked into his home and up the stairs where he was planning to crash to bed.

"CHELLAM!" Lakshmi screamed, leaving him wide awake instantly. "How was your date?"

Suresh was halfway down the hall and so close to his room, but he backtracked his steps and entered the master bedroom where his parents were sat. His mother looked particularly eager for details.

Suresh's face looked downcast. "It didn't happen, Amma. He didn't show up."

"Oh." Was all Lakshmi could say. "I'm sorry, chellam."

"Bloody idiot." Suresh's father cursed.

"Don't worry I'm fine, really." Suresh assured. "I had a good time."

"And I got to eat some pretty good chendol." Suresh turned around briefly and smiled at Jacob who waited by the doorway.

Lakshmi smiled and got up to hug her son. She brushed his hair off his brow and planted a kiss on his forehead. She gave him a reassuring smile and held his face in her palm.

"You father and I have already prayed." She told him. "Why don't you go have a bath. After that I'll put some thenggai ennai in your hair."

Suresh almost forgot about the flower bath. She wondered if she fasted and prayed just for him to have a good day. She was often selfless like that. He didn't have such a bad day after all. Thanks to Jacob. Maybe her prayers were a part of it too.

"I bought all the flowers for the poo kuliyal. Malliga poo, bunga raya, shenbagam poo, bunga kenanga, roja poo-"

"Ok Amma, I get it. You got all the flowers." Suresh forced a chuckle, despite how tired he was.

Lakshmi put on a rather solemn look. "I spoke with Datin Cindy this morning. She said we can go for Jacob's wake tomorrow morning."

Suresh's smile immediately disappeared. Lakshmi took note of that. "I know this is difficult for you. So you don't have to go if you don't want to."

"No, no." Suresh quickly responded. "I want to go."

"Ok, chellam." Lakshmi kissed him on the cheek. "Poi kullingeh."

His mother handed him a bag of flowers and neem leaves and he headed to his room. Suresh grabbed a towel and a his pyjamas, seeing Jacob wait patiently on his bed, he decided to have a quick bath.

He showered in his parents room and then after placing the flowers and herbs in a porcelain bowl of water, he expertly cleansed himself in the way his mother taught him. Using a pail instead of his hands to touch the flowers.

As he showered, he replayed the events of that night again and again in his head. How sitting down with Jacob and eating and talking and opening up was much more fun than he thought it would be. It ended up being more of a date than the actual date Suresh was ghosted for.

"You look quite happy, chellam." His mother noted as she rubbed oil into his hair after his bath. "Why are you smiling?"

Suresh didn't even realise he was.

"No reason." Suresh said simply. "My day was just better than I thought it was going to be."

Suresh got back to his room in his matching plaid pyjamas. He noticed Jacob still sat on the bed, looking at him with a faint laugh. "Cute pyjamas, Susu."

"Thanks." Suresh said as he hung his wet towel on the rack.

Suresh approached the bed and sat next to Jacob. An invisible boundary keeping the distance between them.

"You smell nice."

"Thanks." Suresh rubbed his arms in an awkward sort of self-embrace. "Must be the flowers."

"You know, in school-" Jacob let out a soft, awkward laugh. "This is gonna sound weird but I use to love the smell of your hair."

Suresh responded after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. "Must be the coconut oil. My mum usually soaks jasmine buds in them to give them scent."

Jacob chuckled. "I used to wonder what that smell was. Even tried buying a cologne that smelt like it. But nothing came close."

Well that explains the godawful cologne he wore at school.

"I have to tell you something before I forget." Suresh interjected. "My mum asked me to follow her tomorrow... to your wake."

"My wake." Jacob repeated.

"Yeah."

"Sure." Jacob said. "Guess I'll come too."

"I'm sorry." Suresh said without knowing why. "This must be really weird for you."

"Trust me, Susu, this is strangely not weird at all to me now." Jacob quipped.

Suresh just let out a quiet chuckle in response. The silence between them grew, as they simply looked at each other wordlessly.

"So, um, I guess I'll go to the living room. Let you get some sleep." Jacob got up and started heading to the door.

"Jacob, wait." Suresh stopped him, before pausing and continuing hesitantly. "If- If you want, you can stay here tonight."

Jacob shot a curious look at Suresh and Suresh continued. "I mean, I know you don't sleep. But you can just stay here if you want. Lie down with me."

That last part sounded a bit suggestive which made Suresh's cheeks heat up slightly. Without, hesitation Jacob nodded slowly and approached the bed, where they both laid down awkwardly next to each other.

"No pillow wall this time, Susu?" Jacob laughed.

Suresh let out a small chuckle, before turning on his side to face Jacob. Jacob did the same.

"Why do you call me that?" Suresh asked.

"What? Susu?"

"Yeah."

Jacob sighed. "That Spelling Bee, we had together. Primary 1. You misspelled milk. Milk of all words."

Suresh flushed. "Yeah, even I don't know I managed to do that."

"Plus I like how annoyed you look whenever I call you that." Jacob said, smiling sheepishly.

"Of course you do." Suresh sighed.

A few seconds of potent silence passed between them. Like the chasm that separated them hadn't quite been paved over. They were just two boys, lying in a bed, both afraid to say what they desperately wanted to.

"You know I've never had a sleepover before." Suresh said.

"Me neither." Jacob replied. "And it's crazy considering we live so close to each other."

"Yeah. You could've come over all the time." Suresh met Jacob's eyes.

"And eat your mum's cooking." Jacob joked.

"And study together."

"And watch movies together."

"Talk to each other."

"Go to school together."

"Or just hang out with each other whenever we wanted to."

Suresh yawned, that groggy feeling beckoning him to sleep. But he kept his eyes open, and looked at Jacob with a sad smile on his face, finally forcing himself to ask a question he'd been wanting to ask.

"Do you think we could've been friends, Jacob?"

Jacob matched his expression. "I think we could've been way more than friends, Suresh."

And before he could register what Jacob had said, Suresh drifted off to sleep. And it was the first night in a long time that Suresh didn't have a single nightmare. It was the safest he'd ever felt.