Under the Eye of Kali: An Anita Ray Mystery

UNDER THE EYE OF KALI

AN ANITA RAY MYSTERY

SUSAN OLEKSIW

Hale Street Press / 2013

First published by Five Star Publishing, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning, in 2010 in conjunction with Tekno Books and Ed Gorman.

ISBN 978-0-936000-6-0

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2010 by Susan Prince Oleksiw.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.

No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Oleksiw, Susan.

Under the eye of Kali : an Anita Ray mystery / by Susan Oleksiw. — 1st ed. p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-59414-871-2 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-59414-871-6 (alk. paper)

1. East Indian American women—Fiction. 2. Americans— India—Fiction. 3. Missing persons—Fiction. 4. India, South— Fiction. I. Title.

PS3565.L42U53 2010

813 .54—dc222010003986

To

Eva Ray

Author's Note

Traditional names or spellings have been introduced for major cities and other locales. For example, Bombay is now Mumbai, and Madras is now Chennai. In Kerala, Cochin is now Kochi, Quilon is Kollam, and the capital city Trivandrum is Thiruvanantapuram. Residents and visitors of these cities alternate between the two. I have used the shorter form throughout for the capital.

Chapter One

Guests from various foreign countries began filling up the Hotel Delite dining room, taking every seat at the main table—this was a small hotel, only eight rooms, with the owner’s, Meena Nayar’s, suite on the top floor, and that of her niece, Anita Ray, above a separate garage. Tired after being woken in the middle of the night by festival drumming from a nearby temple, Anita sat at a small table along the wall and only half-listened to the guests placing their orders and asking the usual questions. What is this? What does it taste like?

That was some crowd last night. A woman slid into a chair at the long table and looked around expectantly, waiting for someone else to take up the conversation. In her early thirties, not much older than Anita, she gave her long, flowing top a little shake as she sat down. She had matched a purple top with maroon pants, a variation on the khurta and loose pants tourists favored at the resort. The drummers. They must wake the dead. And they’re going to go on drumming almost every night this week as part of their temple festival. They take the god down to the beach for a swim. That is so cool! She looked around, pausing. I’m Emily. My friends aren’t up yet. Last night was too much for them, I guess.

Didn’t hear a thing, one of the other guests said. Jean. I’m Jean. She was a robust woman, about fifty, with short, wiry gray hair, wearing a loose-fitting, rough cotton blouse and slacks, everything beige and colorless except for her red cheeks and a bright green neckerchief tied loosely around her neck. Slept like the dead. Great place to catch up on one’s rest. She nodded to her companion. Anita recalled that Jean and her friend, Marge, had reserved two private rooms after almost a month of emails flying back and forth—Jean was particular. Got too much on my mind to be distracted.

Well, you’ve come at the best time, Emily said. The festival goes on all week, and it’s amazing. They take the image of Kali down to the beach and everything.

Hmm. Jean didn’t seem impressed. I suppose we’re supposed to be tolerant of superstitions while we’re here, but really. She continued to work on her breakfast.

I slept like a log last night, but the festival sounds interesting. Jean’s friend delivered her opinion with barely a glance between bites. I’m Marge. How do you do?

I took drumming lessons like that last summer at this place in South Tucson. I’m Candace, another woman said, smiling at everyone around the table. Well, Candy my friends call me. She had arrived a few days earlier and was one of those tourists who establish an instant rapport with just about everyone, even if most of it was one-sided. Candy’s technique seemed to be to just start talking, whether anyone else was interested or not. Her odd haircut, which looked like someone had left a wiry brown bowl over her head, probably helped disarm her intended victims, and her row of shiny, fake stone pierced earrings climbing up her ear could blind them.

South Tucson? I know South Tucson. Marge stopped eating long enough to take a good look at Candy. Marge looked like a fairly typical middle-aged American, in a print blouse and jeans, ready to hop in the car and head out for her Saturday morning errands. But she also looked worn out, almost beaten down, as though beneath the tourist persona was a woman who desperately needed a rest. We used to work there, in that clinic. She nodded to Jean.

Jean gave a firm bob of her head, tugged her green neckerchief into place, and Anita imagined that her handshake would be firm if not bone-crushing. Nice little clinic. After a brief pause, she added, We’re both nurses.

Oh, how cool! We’re all from Tucson. Maybe you can help me. Candy sat up straighter.

Actually, I’m from Pennsylvania, King of Prussia, Emily said.

Never been there, Marge said, but even though she smiled, it was obvious she didn’t mean the conversation to go any further. Candy glanced at Emily, turned away.

I’ve been thinking about nursing school, Candy said. I’m finishing up my BA and have to get serious now. You know how it is. But I did a lot of volunteer work at a shelter and food pantry, and you can really see how important good health care is, so nursing looks like something I might really like. I’d love to talk to you about it. She leaned forward with a glittering eye and eager smile.

Marge said sure, and looked a little daunted by all this enthusiasm, but Jean took it all in stride. We won’t be here very long, Jean said. Off to Thailand. She lifted her eyebrows with a knowing smile.

Oh, how exciting! Candy leaned toward Jean now.

Very! Jean winked at her. I have friends meeting me there. They’re going to smuggle me across the border into Burma— Myanmar. She looked inordinately pleased with herself and reached a spoon into the serving bowl, drawing out a large portion of stew. Everyone had chosen the Indian breakfast, appam and vegetable stew, but only Jean was devoting serious attention to it.

Oh! Emily seemed to have forgotten everything else in the face of this news. Why are you going there? This was the same question Anita wanted to ask, now that she was fully alert. She and her aunt usually occupied one of the small tables by the windows, so they could avoid being drawn into conversation with the guests at breakfast. The hotel dining room on the terrace was open to the general community, leaving breakfast in the small inside dining room as the main opportunity for intimacy among hotel guests.

I was invited. Jean looked even more smug. Friends. Her voice softened, so that no one beyond the immediate group could hear her. She looked at the faces staring expectantly back at her, all except her friend’s. I’ve been to this particular village before, and I managed to help them out a bit. They invited me back. She made a dive at her appam and stew and stuffed a healthy spoonful into her mouth.

Last year, Marge added. Anita noticed that she sat very straight and continued her meal throughout the conversation, somewhat remote, on the fringe, and yet, perhaps the most alert of them all.

I’ve been raising money for the village, Jean said. I’ve done quite well, if I do say so. I’ve raised enough to dig a few tube wells, repair a school building, bring in some things for a clinic, and have something leftover to travel around a bit. I did very well indeed.

So if you have friends there, can’t you just go like any other tourist? Emily frowned as she tried to grasp Jean’s plans.

Well, not really. Jean snorted. The government would never let me in with what I’m carrying, and they’d never let me near the villages.

Oh, I see. But she didn’t look like she meant it. How did you get this gig?

Jean looked across at her, as though she’d just noticed her for the first time, and her eyes seemed to dull, as though she were coming back to earth and the reality of what she’d just been telling them. A friend turned me on to the village. Her voice was suddenly flat. Is there more tea? She picked up the teapot and held it out, looking around for a bearer to take it from her. Moonu, a young man who had worked for the hotel for many years, swooped in from the doorway and grasped it in both hands, cradling it close to his chest as he loped away to the kitchen.

Well, I think it’s exciting! Candy said. And important too. That’s the thing around here—you see such need. You know, just driving here from the airport you can see all those people living in hovels along the side of the road by the airport, and then down that highway. Why are the cows up at that hour? She swung around to face Anita, who wasn’t the least bit disconcerted. She’d had this question at least a thousand times. Didn’t they have cows in America?

They get restless, like anyone. Anita shrugged. It never occurred to her to wonder why the cows and their herders were sometimes awake in the middle of the night. People just were around here—and everywhere else in India for that matter.

* * *

What were you studying? Marge asked Candy.

I’m ashamed to say I’ve been totally frivolous. I didn’t go to college thinking in practical terms—not me. I had to see the world, study literature, get to know myself. She laughed, and sent forth a ribbon of giggles. Officially I was studying English literature. But really, I was only interested in one thing. Poetry. Candy hung her head for a second in mock contrition, then popped it back up again. Do you know the poet who won that big award? I studied with her in Vermont, and with some other poets in San Francisco.

I’ve read— Emily began but stopped when Candy gave her a blank look, then a tight smile, and turned again to Jean.

And all those poetry bookstores in California! Just think of it! Mecca! Candy screwed up her face in a paroxysm of ecstasy, shut her eyes, and murmured Mecca again. Jean looked like she was about to reach out and pat her on the head, but the teapot called as it clattered onto the table. Jean thanked the bearer in her firm voice and reached for it.

My favorite bookstore is Readers’ Rookery, Jean said. Wonderful place.

Oh yeah, so funky, Candy said.

And what about the Poe’s Pals Bookshop, Emily said.

Do I need any special courses to get into nursing school? Candy said, ignoring Emily. I mean, if I were going to try it as a career.

Marge’s spoon paused in midair as she studied Candy. The older woman began to look more run down, as though Candy were draining her of whatever energy she had left. Well, sciences, of course. Biology, anatomy, chemistry.

Oh, sure. Candy was undaunted. Is it a long period of study? I’m thinking about how I’m going to pay off my student loans.

Pretty awful, they are. Jean took a long sip of tea and set the cup in the saucer with a clank. Didn’t have to worry about those things when I was in school but can’t see how anyone gets through without them today—loans and debts. Awful society we’ve created. Do you know, in Burma people still live in this perfectly balanced culture—balanced with nature. Nothing is wasted, nothing poisons the environment, not from the villagers, anyway. It’s only the outside world that insists on bringing in corruption. It’s our Western culture—we’re destroying everything we touch.

So true, Candy said. Her head bobbed up and down as Jean spoke, her eyes never leaving the other woman’s face.

But the medicines are good, Emily said. You’re bringing some, you said. Candy shot her a venomous look.

You’re so lucky to be going there, to see all that. Candy continued to nod. And brave. Really brave.

Jean looked like she was about to say something, seemed to think better of it, and began to look uncomfortable. In a moment of tactfulness Anita wouldn’t have thought Candy capable of, she switched topics. Do you specialize in nursing school? I mean, like choosing a major like HIV or disabilities or something?

Marge smiled, still sitting ramrod straight. You develop your skills according to where you work. HIV is just one disease among many now, but if you work in a city hospital, you learn a lot about bullet wounds.

Oh, my. Candy shook her head, apparently in awe. Yeah, I guess that must be true. Oh, my. You have to be so brave to be a nurse, don’t you? Gutsy, too.

Chapter Two

Aunt Meena rustled into the dining room, nodded to each guest at the long table, offering them a wide smile, and spun around to face Anita.

Poor Auntie Meena, Anita thought. She’s probably found that order for flowers for the temple. Or maybe the clementines for the special tourist luncheon. Or maybe the candles for the Catholic church. Anita tipped her head back and offered her aunt the most innocent of smiles.

This was on the desk, right next to the registration book. A blue envelope, opened and spread out, peeked out from under her beringed fingers; nervously, she began to rub the letter back and forth on the table. Ever since Anita had moved into the hotel to help Aunt Meena after her husband’s untimely death, Meena had been obsessed with managing Anita’s life and ensuring that as the nearest aunt she produced the ideal Hindu woman. Since her own daughter had failed to live up to these perfectly reasonable standards, in Meena’s view, she was determined not to fail with Anita. So Anita’s parents lived in the States, so her father was an Irish American, so they let Anita do whatever she wanted, so they ignored Meena’s late-night telephone pleas, so Anita refused to take life seriously and insisted on wandering around with a camera, so what?

For me? Thanks. Anita reached for the letter. When Meena failed to release it, Anita glanced up at her. Auntie?

Meena leaned forward, glanced from side to side, slipped the envelope across to her, then whispered, It is from Anand.

Oh! Anand! Anita swiped the blue sheet away from her aunt and quickly read it through. Oh, how sweet. She looked up at her aunt. We’re going to a Kathakali performance together later in the week. Auntie, what’s the matter? You look ill.

But he is, is . . .

He’s what? Anita glanced at the letter, then at Meena, feeling more and more puzzled by her aunt’s behavior. Anand was a delightful man, well educated, with a good job, and— something especially important to her aunt—single, and not opposed to matrimony. Anita had met him at another relative’s house, and they had hit it off at once. What was wrong with her aunt—she should be ecstatic. What’s the problem?

He is, ah, well, unsuited.

Unsuited to what?

To you.

You must be joking, Auntie. Have you forgotten the men you have tried to marry me off to? The dregs of our society—a lawyer who speaks neither Latin nor English and only wants two or three cases that he can drag out for the rest of his natural life, living on the fees; a business man who only wanted me to sponsor him in his application to emigrate to the States so he could open a chain of motels; a Tamil landowner who wanted to know if I had friends who would redirect the railroad near his land, so he could sell it to the government.

You are too particular.

Why don’t you like Anand?

He doesn’t suit you. Meena snorted, telling Anita that here was something her aunt felt strongly about but would not or could not put into words. It was impossible for Anita to be angry with her aunt—she did mean well and only wanted the best for Anita, even if that meant a way of life that had driven her own mother, Meena’s older sister, far away to America, where she followed her own choice of a husband—a man of Irish ancestry who never had any intention of returning to the old sod, an irrepressible sense of fun, and complete tolerance of a slew of relatives on both sides that once led him to design a bunker for the backyard, his own escape hatch. Meena, however, was determined that Anita would not make the same mistake her mother had, even if the woman did insist she was happy overseas. Meena simply didn’t believe it, and she was prepared to do battle against Anand and every other man Anita might be drawn to, so that her own, Meena’s, choice might prevail— when she found him.

Auntie, I like him. Anita reached across the table and squeezed her aunt’s hand. Give him a chance. You’ll like him too.

No, I won’t. I will never like him. And neither will your mother. Meena gasped. Don’t tell her, please, don’t tell her. You mustn’t say a word. Oh, what will I do? Your mother will be angry with me. Meena clutched her arms to her chest and hurried out of the room.

* * *

Anita pinched off the camera lens cap, slipped it into her pocket, and headed up Lighthouse Road for two hours of seeing and snapping. For her this was the best part of the day, any day, no matter what else was going on, the one time when she could be entirely engrossed in her world, her thoughts, her feelings. She was a little late this morning, but no matter. She felt refreshed, herself once again.

She passed up the steep incline, responding to the many greetings of Good Morning, and occasionally smiling at the new autorickshaw driver offering her a ride at a very good price, madam, very good.

Anita kept walking. When she next looked up, Jean was striding down the hill toward her. She stopped dead in front of Anita, stamping her right foot beside her left, like a soldier coming to a halt on a parade ground. Anita couldn’t bring herself to offer a welcoming smile—this was much too aggressive an encounter.

You disapprove of me. Jean stuck her chin out, but kept the quizzical smile on her face. I saw it this morning at breakfast. You disapprove. She slapped her hands together behind her back and let her feet move farther apart. She apparently was digging in for the duration—of what? An argument?

I don’t recall offering any disapproval. Anita tipped her camera lens upward and rested it against her shoulder, as though it were in danger of being struck if left facing outward. Like a weapon, she thought; I’m shouldering my camera like a weapon.

Oh, come now. It was obvious. You disapprove of my work in Burma.

Oh, that. Anita looked away, down at the ground, then over at the bougainvillea pouring over a nearby wall in a cloud of color and fragrance. I wouldn’t say disapprove.

I would.

Yes, and you did.

Let’s have a coffee. Jean took Anita by the arm, to Anita’s surprise, and led her to a little shop offering coffee. The café had a few shelves of goods for tourists and two chairs, which Jean promptly claimed by sitting in one and motioning Anita to the other. She called out her order, and Anita accepted a glass of milky coffee. All right. Why? What’s your problem with what I’m doing?

What does it matter how I feel about what you’re doing? Beneath this pleasant tone, Anita was afraid she was giving way to the hostility she was trying to conceal. I mean, so many people come through our hotel I couldn’t possibly have an opinion on everything they’re doing.

Of course you could. And unless you’re a fool, you do have an opinion. She took a large gulp from her glass and banged it on the small table between them.

Okay, I’m a fool. Anita quickly realized just how tired she was of this woman.

I don’t believe it. Jean sipped her coffee. She leaned forward. I’ll tell you what I’m doing.

I heard what you’re doing, remember? You told everyone at breakfast.

Ah. Jean leaned back and smiled at her. So that’s it. I was indiscreet.

Very good. Anita was impressed. Very quick of you.

All right. Yes, I’m indiscreet. Look at me. She held her arms out wide, as though calling on everyone there to take a good look at this large, brash American woman dressed in plain rough cotton. I could hardly be otherwise. I’d look ridiculous pretending to be modest and self-effacing.

Anita began to laugh. You’re right about that. She began to like Jean for her honesty.

And what I’m doing is not quiet and self-effacing. It can’t be. Too much is at stake. Certainly I will have to be careful when I get to Thailand, but this work is important. People there in Burma need us to notice them, to hear them when they call for help.

I don’t disagree, Jean. Anita let her camera rest on her lap. So, it’s only the indiscretion?

It was a fair question. What exactly did Anita feel about this loud, brash woman who spoke openly about a risky, illegal plan to enter a foreign country, possibly endangering not only herself but anyone associated with her, especially the villagers she was supposed to be helping, and the laborers who were going to be helping her cross the border?

Well? Jean clasped her hands on her knees and tilted her chin upward.

How did you get into this?

I have a colleague from Burma who talked to me one day about their hardships. The medical conditions are deplorable. I thought I could help. That’s all there is to it.

Anita waited. There had to be more to this, even if Jean wasn’t aware of it, or didn’t want to admit it.

They’re Christians, Baptists, actually, Jean added, and that’s not a good thing to be over there. She rarely hears from her family or even about them indirectly.

Does she plan to go back?

Oh, no, it’s much too dangerous for her and her family. And besides there’s nothing there for her.

What about you? Anita asked.

Me? She laughed. Oh, I’ll be all right. If they catch me, they’ll just try to frighten me and throw me out.

Anita couldn’t help smiling at the idea