A cure
It was 7 p.m. already. Diano was hungry. It was time for Brian to come home. Diano hadn’t been able to sleep all night. He felt tired and lazy throughout the day. At least, he wasn’t working. He had called his boss to say he was sick and wanted 2-3 days off. Since it was mandatory for him to exhaust his annual leave allocation, he’d further suggested he take the remaining five days off. His boss had approved.
The bell rang and Brian walked in through the front door.
“Wake up, sleepy head. Dinner’s here.” He set the food on the dining table as Diano sat up on the sofa.
“I’m awake already.” Diano stretched his arms as he stifled a yawn.
“Good. Now wash up.” Brian laughed.
Diano washed his face. By the time he was back, Brian had laid the table. They made small banter as they ate.
After dinner, they went out for a walk.
“So, how are you now?” Brian asked him.
“Better,” Diano lied.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
“You’ll feel bored.”
“Nay. I’m not bored that easily.” Brian smiled. “Here’s what. Why don’t we go get some ice cream? I remember you love strawberry flavour.”
“Ha-ha. You remember that? It’s been so many years!” Diano looked back at his cousin and smiled. They used to hang out together at every family gathering.
“I miss those days.”
They picked a bench near the pier and sat down to watch the night sea.
“I don’t. I’m glad they are over. I was scared all the time. I still am.”
“You think too much and you care too much.” Brian said as he put a hand over Diano’s shoulder.
“I just have myself to protect me.”
“I’ve always looked out for you.”
“Thanks. I’ll buy you the second ice cream.” Diano smiled at his own joke.
“That’s better. Keep smiling.”
“You’re a darling. Do you know that?” Diano was happy he was spending time with Brian.
“Of course, I know that.” Brian laughed. “But jokes apart, do you wanna talk about it?”
“Where do I begin? Once upon a time, there was a lonely little boy…” Diano proceeded to tell his story.
Over the next two hours, he spoke about Nyle, Andy and Oliver. Brian listened with a nod here and a word there. Towards the end it was too painful for Diano and he gave in.
Brian put his hand on his shoulder and drew him nearer. Diano tried to look away. The tears in his eyes blurred his vision. Brian touched Diano’s chin and slowly drew it up so Diano could see his face.
“Now, listen to me carefully. Okay?” Brian whispered. “We know you’ve been through a lot of pain but from now on, we’ll look at getting away from it. Okay?”
“It isn’t as easy as you think,” Diano said.
“I know. I’ve been through it before. You are in pain right now. But there shall be a time when you’ll have gotten over all this.” Brian smiled.
“I can’t forget. That’s the problem. I can never forget all this.” Diano shook his head.
“You can, bro. Everybody does with time. But it has to begin with letting go. You have to let your emotional baggage go. If you don’t, if you just hang on to it, you’ll take it into your next relationship and feel miserable all the time.”
“I don’t want any more relationships. I’ve been hurt, embarrassed and made use of many times already.” Diano stepped back.
“Rubbish. You shall. Everybody does. Like I said, I’m a living example.” Brian laughed.
“What happened to you?” asked Diano.
“Many things,” said Brian. “No use talking about the past.”
“Then how can I learn from your experience?”
“I’ll tell you how I got out of it. But I won’t talk about my past. It’s been a few years already and I’ve let it go.”
“Okay. How did you tackle it?”
“Meditation.”
“Meditation!”
“Yes. It cures all pain.”
“How?”
“Have you tried it before?”
“I’ve tried it a couple of times, but I kept falling asleep.” Diano laughed.
“It’s tough to concentrate at the beginning. But once you’ve crossed that hurdle, you’ll gain so much more. It’s definitely worth it,” said Brian, with a twinkle in his eye.
“Do you think I can do it?”
“Everybody can do it.”
“Where did you learn it from? Pure Yoga?”
“Malaysia.”
“Malaysia?!”
“Yes. I did a 10-day course there. During the course we were under oath not to talk, not to lie, not to kill and not to steal. Also, we were asked to refrain from any kind of sexual misconduct and intoxicants like alcohol or cigarettes.”
“Ten days of no talking is beyond me.” Diano shook his head.
“Everybody feels that way the first time.” Brian smiled. “Come with me.”
“Pardon?”
“Come with me to Malaysia. I’m flying in the second week of January.”
“I need to ask my boss first,” Diano said.
“Let me show you their website when we get home.”
“Cool! Thank you so much!”
“Hello! No need to thank me. Just take me to that ice cream parlour you’d mentioned earlier. Come on, young man, keep your promise.”
“Okay. Let’s go!”
