No Vices

I looked at the wizened old man, searching for traces of exhaustion, sadness or signs of giving up. But, all I saw was a childlike excitement, wonder and a desire to get in touch with young people and new things. The old man was my great-grandpa and he was celebrating his 100th birthday the following day. Our town council had arranged a function hall and the celebrations had already started. Many of our relatives were pouring in. I never knew that I had so many cousins; I had met at least 30 of them since yesterday. Some were overtly friendly, some fighting, a few complaining about losing their belongings in the function hall and the rest of them were just indifferent.

I did not know where I fit in, but I was warming to Justin and Jasmine, my distant cousins. They were non-identical twins and had different tastes, but were never apart from each other for more than an hour. Either Justin had something to share with Jas or Jas wanted to see what Justin was up to. They both seemed to take to me and I found out that Jas and I studied the same course in college. And our great-grandpa lived in a villa with the twins and their parents.

I had my lunch with the twins and great-grandpa. He took a sip of his bland soup and smiled happily.

“Grandpa, how do you manage to stay so happy?”

“And how do you manage to stay so worried?” he shot back, his eyes wide and his teeth shining. He had gold dentures.

“Is it so obvious?”

“Yes. You are very like your dad.”

This was true. My dad who worked in the stock exchange always looked worried. He could not make it for the celebrations and I missed him.

“I suppose you can have a long life if you are always happy,” said Justin.

“And be free of vices. Grandpa, did you ever drink or party hard?”

“No.” he had sharp ears for his age. “I never really drank anything except juices and seldom partied.”

“Did you smoke?”

“No, Daisy.” He laughed. “My people would have never approved. They were strict those days and I was an obedient boy.”

“Was there anyone besides great-grandma? Didn’t you ever think of a second marriage?”

“She was the only one.” He sounded sad. “We met when we were 19 and married at 23. It has been 55 years since passed away. There were tears in the corner of his eyes. We were moved by his devotion and did not ask any more questions.

That evening, I was walking around aimlessly, looking for a friendly cousin to talk to, when I bumped into Jasmine. “Hey, I was looking for you.” I smiled at her. She looked guilty and covered her right hand with her left. But, before that, I caught sight of some small glittering object in her hand. It looked like a small pebble. Gold? I was not sure. “Later,” she whispered, hurrying away. I did not see Jasmine or Justin later that day.

Great-grandpa’s birthday was celebrated with grandeur and pomp. The town council made sure of that. The ceiling decorations and colorful balloons would have made any toddler exultant. And it certainly made him happy. The great gramps was brimming with joy. A few news channels had also come to cover the event. Most of our relatives had left after the celebrations and a grand lunch. I had to leave in the evening too. I was wondering if my train would be on time when I heard a raspy cough behind me. It was my great-grandpa. He coughed continuously for 2 minutes. “Daisy! He rasped. “I have my cough medicine in my room. Can you bring it over?”

I hurried to his room in the corner of the hall. Oops. I forgot to ask where it was. There was a picture of great-grandpa in the table. It was a black & white photo. He was probably in his twenties. He was laughing and his eyes were wide open with wild excitement. Well, he had lost the wild look now. He was in a navy uniform. I did not know he worked in the navy. I had thought that always he ran a shop in our hometown. He was quite successful until he retired at the age of 60.

I searched in the couple of drawers I saw. No luck. I opened the cupboard in the corner of the room. It was not there either. I turned to the small cupboard again, looking at the contents with shock. There was a single slipper, a cigarette case, a jewel box, a candle holder, a pair of women’s nightdresses, a single shoe, a couple of silver plates and a single earring. What was the shining object half-hidden in the nightdress? It was the pebble that Jasmine was holding the previous day. Oops. It was a good tooth, not a pebble. I was surprised and angry. So, Jasmine was a thief. Justin was probably in league with her.

“The cough medicine is on the table, right in front of you.” I heard a quiet voice behind me.

I turned angrily to Justin. “So your sister and you…”

“I know what you are thinking, Daisy. It is not us.”

“Are you trying to blame someone else?”

“You don’t have to believe me. We were just trying to return the items. The gold tooth belongs to Grandpa Tony. Daisy was just looking for the right time to put it amongst his belongings before he leaves the function hall. But, there is always someone in his room.”

I looked at his face and knew that he was telling the truth. I stared at our great-grandpa’s old photo.

“Yes. It is him,” said Justin, softly. “He was discharged from the navy when they found out that he was a kleptomaniac. We tried to treat him, but no use. We were worried right from the day we arrived at the function hall.”

“Since when?” I hesitated.

“He has been a kleptomaniac from the time he was a kid. He steals, Jasmine and I put it back. You asked if he had no vices.” He laughed, sadly. “You got the answer.”

I thought about his age, the angry relatives and the consequences if the authorities found out.

“I will help you. Let us return the sliver plates and the gold tooth first.”