NJz Notes

You’re such a liar and a nitwit who can’t keep your own promises, I don’t even feel like talking to you, and by the way who are you? I seem to have forgotten you… Jude’s words kept coming at me like shrapnel of a bomb that blasted nearby, piercing my skin each at a time. Well, in fact he had all the right to scream and yell at me for not turning up at the Harry potter book launch, which I promised to join him. I missed it because I had a pre arranged date with a girl, whom I had a particular interest at that time, and it was my priority for the day, above all other matters.

Jude was a loyal fan of the Harry Potter series, and the way I saw it, he was totally in love with the fantasy and magic in them. I myself was a fan of Harry Potter too, but I didn’t find it quite astonishing or attractive the way Jude experienced it. Since the announcement of their final book “The Deathly Hallows”, Jude was waiting impatiently to grab a copy of it and more, he wanted to attend the official book launch party and be a part of it. He was so thrilled about it that, he invited me even before he knew the time, date or venue of the occasion.

Ever since I missed the event, he made it a habit to mention it every time we crossed each others paths and kept saying that he would never ever forgive that betrayal. On the other hand, if I told him that I missed it because of a date I had with a girl, things cudve been much worse, so I kept the fact to myself.

Jude is a type of guy who doesn’t take everything so serious in life, yet he was so sensitive and kind. He was more than just a friend you’d find after your college days, and always had time for his friends. I got to know him about a year ago, when he started working as a Sales Person and a Technician at a Computer store in Negombo, which I visited regularly. He was too friendly and helpful for a Sales person and often got himself in to trouble because of his friendly nature. The seniors who worked at the store started to like him and Sena who was the senior technician was his savior whenever he fell into trouble. Whenever I spent time over there, he starts a conversation with me.

In a few weeks time, after so many chats and discovering so many things we had in common, like Gaming, and the hunger for new technologies in computers, we ended up being close friends. It didn’t matter the fact that we didn’t know each other since school ages, yet together we carried out lots of mischievous activities that usually put someone else in trouble which was our way of having a fun filled good time.

Through him I got to know many great friends like BritC, Maddy, and Liran. We used to party a lot, and always had a rocking time together wherever we went. Among them BritC became a great friend who gave the exact meaning to the word friends in all possible ways. You could never ask for a better friend than him and he was more than a brother to Jude.

Days, weeks passed by and I was expecting a prank from Jude as a revengeful return for some Joke I made on him. Though he is a fun filled soul, whenever he got compromised by a prank, there was always a return to settle the debts.

Jude gave up the computer store’s job sometime later, as he felt it was too much work for the little amount of money he was paid. Leaving the job gave him practically unlimited time to wander around until he found another job. He was a regular visitor at my place as he was bored at home as well. Jude never came empty handed to my place, as he always had a new movie or a song to share with me.

It was a Cold Saturday Morning on November which I was supposed to wake up early to go for my sister-in-law’s birthday lunch. Early morning that day, I heard my phone ring, and felt too lazy to pick it up and answer as I was still half asleep. It kept ringing continuously and the caller on the other side wasn’t thinking of giving up. Realizing that, after several more rings, I somehow reached for the phone to see who was calling, and to my surprise it was Sena from the computer Store. He too is a person who sleeps till the noon and considers that mornings are supposed to begin around 11.00 AM. Receiving the call at the awkward time, I answered the call. There was a moment of silence before he began to speak, He asked me what im doing and then gulped the rest of the words. I still in my sleep answered “I’m sleeping, what else can I be doing at this moment you moron?” Then there was another silence, and no one seemed to talk for a while. As I was about to open my mouth to release some poetic expressions, he just said “Jude is dead”. A cold shiver ran down my spine making me numb for a split second, I stood up, “pardon, what was that again?”. Once again he uttered the same words “Jude is Dead” and continued to speak “his body was found a while ago in the beach, he drowned last night”… Before anything else came out, I suddenly felt that I’m being trapped in to the prank I was expecting, An image of Jude and Sena plotting this plan on the other side flashed in my mind. To let them know that I didn’t swallow the bait, I roared with a sarcastic laugh and said “well, that was a nice try indeed, you almost had me Sena, But better luck next time!. I ended my conversation with a Thank you in a fancy tone. Before I hung up the phone, Sena once again said the same thing and said, “I do jokes, but this is not a Joke Bro, We do not joke about people’s deaths.. Click! Still feeling sleepy, I hung up the phone and switched it off.

I projected an image in my mind of Jude and Sena disappointed after the attempted prank. I felt so happy and proud about not falling in to their plan.

Several minutes later, I made myself ready and got on the van to go with my parents to Colombo. I switched On my phone, and tried to call Jude on his mobile to laugh at him for his failure. The operator voice said that his mobile was switched off and I didn’t try any further since Jude kept his phone switched off most of the time.

Upon reaching my sister-in-law’s place, I received another call and this time it was from the manager of the computer store. “Damn! This guy never gives up, now he’s even using the manager for the prank” I thought to myself and answered the phone. He asked “whether I got the news?” in a serious tone, where I replied yes and tried to play along with the prank. He asked me whether im coming, to which I replied “yes, I’m almost there”. He then said, “they are not keeping the body, his parents insisted in cremating it today itself in the evening, at 3.30 PM. Huh, “nice story to get me back to negombo” I thought to myself and continued to listen. He asked me to call as soon as I reached Jude’s house and hung up the phone.

Though I still kept thinking about the prank, something was not so right about the last call, and I felt a sudden change in the atmosphere around me which I couldn’t explain. I suddenly pictured Jude being dragged from the beach in my mind which made me nervous and uneasy. Still it cant be possible, i met him day before yesterday, He cant just drown, I tried to think of all the positive thoughts to overcome the gloomy feeling which took over me. I tried to make myself better and joined the family conversation to forget everything.

Moments later, around 1.00 PM, as lunch was about to be served, the phone rang again, this time it was Buddi. He was a Professional photographer who frequently visited the computer store. Since I was a frequent visitor myself, I knew most of the regular customers at the store. Most of Buddi’s work was handled by Jude while he used to work there. Still puzzled, as Buddi is not a person that usually calls me, I answered the phone. I said hello, and before he replied I overheard a noise of busy vehicles, and a traffic jam. He must be calling while he’s driving somewhere and he must’ve called to ask about a computer store or a model of a mobile phone from me.

He asked me whether I’m busy at the moment, to which I replied not at all. He then asked me, “Bro I’m on my way to Jude’s house for his funeral, can you give me the directions please?

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I was on a Bus which was travelling from Colombo to negombo. I was cursing myself and everything around me in my mind. Back at my Sister-in-law’s place I explained what has happened to my parents. My brother realized the urgent need and dropped me off at the pettah bus station. The time was 2.30 and I had one hour to reach Jude’s place. It would be a miracle if I made it there on time. On my way I made a call again to the manager and verified the information again. He said You got 1 hour to see Jude for the last time, The body will be cremated. I said il reach there as fast as I can.

I silently cursed the traffic, Vehicles that blocked the way, careless drivers and everything I can think of at that time. If my thoughts were drops of water, it would’ve been enough to drown the whole country in a single second. The clock ticked 3 PM, I am still in Katunayake. My heart started to race faster than the engine of the bus. Usually I fall asleep during Bus rides, but today I was awake, and all my senses were working rapidly like the pistons of an engine.

The Bus reached negombo, and I finally made it home. The time was 3.23. When I stepped in to the garage, the only vehicle with wheels was a moped that doesn’t go faster than 40 KM per hour. That being the only option I got on it and started it while wishing for a miracle that would turn the moped in to something faster. Hopefully a Mini Cooper, Jude’s favorite Car, which he believed as the fastest thing on earth.

When I reached the main road I checked my time, I had 6 minutes to reach dalupotha. I accelerated as much as I could, the moped went as fast is would go, where a single miss or a turn would take me straight to hell. I didn’t care about it, all I wanted was to see Jude for the one last time, I ever get in my life. Images from our past flashed in front of me, The car show where we planned our dream cars, The times he came to My place, Fires we started, moments we fought, moments of joy we shared, he was everything that a friend could be.

Reaching dalupotha road, I still kept wishing this to be a joke, but which at the same time my sub conscious kept saying that it would never be. Facts given at the time made it less possible and a nightmare to become more probable.

When Judes house got closer and closer, I kept seeing the flashes of times we went down this road. We must’ve travelled on this road for more than a 100 times on our bikes. I even remembered the day I got lost while coming to his place, since I was not familiar with these parts of the town in earlier days.

Once Jude’s house came to the view, I noticed a large crowd gathered in front of the house. This isn’t a joke anymore, I said to myself. I reached the house, parked the moped outside near the wall and went straight through the crowd to the gate. The gate which usually Jude opens when I yell his name from the outside was wide open today.

The friends, folks from the computer shop, School Buddies everyone was there. As I entered, the manager came to me, shook my shoulder and said “about time dude, run inside, they are about to close the coffin”.

Through the crowd I reached the door, made it inside where I saw the most shocking scene of my life. Middle of the hall lay a coffin surrounded by candles and flowers, with Jude inside, dressed formal, with closed eyes. His parents, Sister and other cousins were nearby the coffin, with tearful eyes praying to give him back. I never imagined or wished seeing this, and it was a picture I never forgot in my entire life.

Life was cruel in every possible way, the Jude who smiled all the time, yelled at the loudest tone, is no longer smiling or talking. The Jude who raced me at the beach, was no longer moving.

The book was closed leaving all the memories with us. Life was a test, which I believed that Jude passed with flying colors. He deserved a better place among better people. Maybe he was chosen for a better mission, or to play the role in a better story.

Church, Cemetery, was crowded with all his friends and cousins. If he was alive, this would’ve been one of his best moments see all of them gathered at one place. Cemetery reminded me of the night where Jude and I made a plan to grab some wreaths to keep at certain friends doorsteps to frighten them in the morning.

As the last cloud of smoke left the cemetery, people began to move out. I too silently moved out of the cemetery gates with some friends. Upon reaching the gates, I paused for a moment, and looked back at the road I came between graves of the cemetery. I wished that I would see Jude coming behind me.

But the road was empty.

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The last piece of memory I recall seeing him was at the computer shop, two days before his eternal silence. He told me about a crush he had on a certain girl which I knew very well, and asked for my help to work out something between her and Jude. I refused and explained that the girl had a Boyfriend who happened to be an arms dealer for the country.

Jude said I don’t care, I think I like her, and I followed her from church to her place about 4 days, to which I replied “No way mate, if you move into that, the boyfriend will snap you even before you realize what the hell happened. He got guns, and money which makes the case more simple and more possible”.

To that , Jude didn’t say anything, He just gave me a serious look with confidence and a deep faith gulped in it. The silence explained that he wouldn’t mind it, he was ready to sacrifice anything for the girl.

NJz Notes

Things I never said...

Ironic - Alanis Morissette

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