STARTING TO SEE THE TRUTH

The Kawasaki Ninja. Sold?

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Several years had passed and the financial strain had become quite a burden. Dries’ salary was not enough. I could not keep up with the financial requirements for the medication that Cecilia constantly needed. I was at wits end and burning out. I was almost in tears.

When I went to visit Cecilia, I finally gathered up the courage… while feeling horrible, at the same time, and almost bursting into tears, said, “Things are costing too much. I can’t keep up. I don’t know what to do to help you…”

Cecilia looked at me sympathetically and was quiet for a moment. She then said, “It’s okay. I know everything is costing too much. I think I will just sell my bike…”

I looked at Cecilia guilt-ridden. Her Kawasaki Ninja was her baby, her pride and joy… she was now offering to sell it, just so that I feel less pressurized. With a lump in my throat, I stuttered, “Are… are you sure? Are… are you really… really going to sell it?”

Cecilia again sympathetically looked at me and said, “Yes, I will. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” And then she hugged me, trying to make me feel better about the scenario. “I will just take it back to the shop tomorrow and ask them to buy it as a second-hand bike, it will be fine.”

Two days later, I visited Cecilia again. When I got to her flat, I noticed that her bike was not outside. I immediately felt guilty, and the guilt wore thicker as I walked into Cecilia’s flat, and more so when I saw her.

The conversation immediately flowed to the usual things, and nothing was mentioned about the bike. Cecilia appeared perfectly fine. Eventually, I gathered up the courage to ask, “Where’s your bike?”

“Oh… I sold it yesterday. Remember, I told you that I was going to,” Cecilia casually replied.

I stayed silent. For once, I changed the topic of discussion. The guilt was too overwhelming for me.

With each visit to Cecilia, in the following weeks, I noted that the Kawasaki Ninja bike was still nowhere to be seen… and each time, still feeling guilty about it. I did not doubt that she had sold the bike. It was just a reminder of the guilt I felt.

Several months later, now finally forgetting about the motorcycle altogether, I arrive… and what I saw confused me speechless. The Kawasaki Ninja was outside of her flat… just standing there, in its usual place.

I walked inside with questions racing through my mind. Why is the bike there? Did she buy it back? Where did she get the money to get it back? What’s going on? As soon as I walked into Cecilia’s bedroom and saw her, I quickly changed the obvious look on my face to being somewhat carefree. Trying to hide my chaotic confusion.

Cecilia’s sister Levine and her husband, Dian^[1], were there. I had seen them many times before and in many of these scenarios, Levine and Dian had been struggling for money or for work, and Cecilia was trying to help them. Eventually, Levine and Dian walked out of Cecilia’s bedroom, and I had a moment alone with her.

I gathered up the courage to ask because I could not hold back my confusion anymore, “Why is your bike outside?”

Cecilia laughs and casually responds, “Oh… Dian got a job at that Motorcycle Shop and my bike needed fixing. So, he’s keeping it here so that he can fix it for them. When he’s done, he’ll take it back to them.”

“Oh…” was my only response, and then Cecilia changed the topic.

I was confused. This did not make sense to me at all. Why bring a bike to a person’s house to fix it for a shop that owned the bike? It would only make sense if this was still Cecilia’s bike. Was she lying to me about having sold it? I decided to keep my thoughts and questions to myself. I could be wrong, after all, but my gut instinct kept screaming at me that this was a lie. But I decided to ignore my gut and to wait and see how things pan out… to see if this bike finally does go back to the Motorcycle Shop. It never did. The bike remained at Cecilia’s house week after week… and Dian was nowhere to be seen. Obviously, there was no more fixing needed, yet the bike remained with Cecilia. I did not bring up this topic again. My gut was telling me not to… and to rather remain quiet, and just observe to see if there is anything else that Cecilia was lying about…

Footnotes

[1] Alias Name. Name reserved for privacy.