Even Koinmenika was discharged from the hospital; Bernard decided to keep her at the bungalow as she had not gained full recovery. Kapilasena also preferred that idea. A sense of fear crept into his mind as he thought that Koinmenika would fall again ill thinking of the news she heard of Yasawathi.
"Periyavar, if the room down there arranged…?"
When Periyavar was trying to take the stuff away from the car, which Bernard had bought, he was asked to arrange the room in the first floor. That decision which Nandana Menike never expected generated a feeling of disappointment in her heart. On previous occasions of her visit Sandra arranged the visitor's room of the second floor with all facilities for her. Nandana Menike wondered as to why Bernard treated her with such a spoon. Periyavar had arranged the room in the first floor with all facilities without taking much time. In that big room, there were two beds on either side, a ceiling fan and an attached bathroom. Koinamenika didn't want to lie down and rest on the bed; instead, she walked up to the kitchen and started preparing dinner.
"Oh my god…! What are you doing…? our Hamu sees these… I'll get a sound earful… stop… stop…! I'll see to these… First, you get well…" He collected the potatoes which Koinmenika had put into a clay pot and insisted her to get back to the room.
"Now I'm OK…"
Periyavar took no notice of what Koinmenika said. Nandana Menike being behind the door, observed all these and tried to understand her place in the bungalow. Her grandmother was a servant and they had been dependent of the Weerasekara family for ages. Nandana Menike had a vague idea of Bernard's perception of what kind of regard or feelings he had towards her despite the fact that his wife's brother being her father.
Not a single world so far has been uttered by Bernard proving the kinship. Yet, on the other hand Nandana Menike realized though Sandra didn't pronounce kinship; through her disposition, she exhibited the feeling of fraternity and due regard. For mother's disappearance, though legal advice was provided, Bernard interfered with that only up to a certain limit as he didn't have willingness to show the existence of any relationships between the two families. But, Bernard's care and interference with Koinmenika's illness were beyond the limit and that contradiction could not be figured out easily by Nandana Menike. There should be a special reason for him to treat Koinmenika in that way and that bond could not be compared with anyone in the estate either Nandana Menike pondered that all these things couldn't have been experienced if she hadn't met Bernard along with her puberty. Nandana Menike was trying to puzzle out why the feeling of aversion and disgust towards the relationship between Kapilasena and mother was turning into a feeling of sympathy and kindness. She realized her failure to tame her mind and concentrate on one thing was mainly due to some external factors. The bungalow, which she earlier thought to be a very familiar part of her life, had turned into a very isolated, remote outside place. She noticed through the kitchen door, Bernard going out to the garden with Rover.
That night for Nandana Menike was not a blissful one for; she couldn't compose her mind on anything. Dinner was taken inside the kitchen with Koinmenika. The turning off the lights of the second floor indicated the clogging up the connection between the upper and the lower floors. Koinmenika soon after lying down on the bed, started groaning may be due to the effect of the drugs taken.
Nandana Menike found her mind on fire when thinking of her mother wondering helplessly here and there as a deserter. She understood how she was finally paying the price for trying to teach a lesson to others. Tears wetted Nandana Menike's eyes when she thought of the commitments and dedication her mother had in order to look after her daughter despite constant clashes and disputes.
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