Story part 4

Title: The boy from the bus ride. Genre: Fiction Chapter: Four He shared that it was his first time going to Samdrup Jongkhar especially through India. Their conversation was interrupted by a phone call. He excused himself and answered the call. After finished attending the call, he mentioned that it was his father and explained that his father was worried about him travelling alone for the first time. He also mentioned that his father was waiting for him at Phuntsholing gate. Deki took some chips from her bag and offered them to her seatmate but she refused, saying she also had chips in her bag. Zangmo also refused the chips, so Deki shared her chips with the boy. She took two bottles of coke from the bag and offered one bottle to him. They ate the chips and continued their conversation. Deki was exhausted from the long ride, so she took a nap. The bus stopped at the Phuntsholing gate for CPMS. Zangmo's seatmate went outside to meet his father. When he came back, he told Deki that his father is telling him to be careful and to do his work effectively. Deki called her cousin back in Thimphu to let her know that she had reached Phuntsholing. She also called her mother so that she wouldn't worrying about her, as Bhutanese SIM cards don't work after crossing a certain distance from Phuntsholing. Then the journey from Phuntsholing started at around 2.30 in the afternoon. Deki mostly slept throughout her journey but she sometimes talked with her seatmate. The bus paused for lunch somewhere in India and the passengers got out to eat. Zangmo's seatmate told Deki that he would go out to bring something to eat and drink. After few minutes, he knocked on the window and passed her a black plastic bag. She just kept his plastic bag on his seat without taking a look at what was inside. He came back after a while and said, "Why don't you eat the snacks and share them with your friends?". Deki smiled at him as she was deeply moved by his kind gesture. Tshering Yangzom asked for some water, so he passed the water bottle to her. Deki smelled cigarettes and looked around to see that group of boys coming inside the bus and taking their seats. Zangmo was mostly sleeping through the journey due to motion sickness. Deki and Zangmo's seatmate silently ate the snacks that he brought during the lunch stop. At around 9.30pm, some passengers mentioned that they would soon reach their destination. When the bus reached Garage(In India), Deki received call from her friend saying she was worried about her and would come to pick her up from the bus station. When the bus reached the station at Samdrup Jongkhar, Deki saw her friend Lhaki waving at her through the window. "leshom bay jo tey yuekha. Shulay chay gay", Zangmo's seatmate said. "Yaya tub... Choe ya la dhi tshu leshom bay bay tey may", she replied. Then she worriedly asked him whether his friend had come to pick him up since it was his first time at an unfamiliar place. "Yes...yes... my friend came to pick me up", Zangmo's seatmate told Deki. This was how they bid their last goodbye after a day-long bus journey.