“Look, we can talk properly later, and I know that all this must be a bit much for you, but I need a favor.”

I just nodded, caught off guard like I always was. I had questions for her. I needed to know why she lied to me about her parents wanting me at the wedding. But of course she wasn’t waiting for me to ask.

“No one here knows about you and Spencer, okay? And I’d like to keep it that way. I hope you can respect that.”

I was too dumbfounded to say anything, so I nodded again.

“Great. You ready to go?” she asked, but didn’t wait for my answer as she left the room and made her way downstairs.

I followed her for the second time today, my head and my heart and my soul feeling like they were about to explode.

LALITHA

Interview Transcript: Lalitha Chamari Withane (abbrev. LCW)

Date: January 25, 2020

Location: The Mount Lavinia Hotel

Interview conducted in Sinhala by request of interviewee.

Translated from Sinhala to English.

EP: Thank you for agreeing to speak with me, Miss Lalitha.

LCW: [Laughs] Of course, madam. It’s not like I can say no when manager-sir tells me to stop all my morning work and come here.

EP: Yes, I’m really sorry about the interruption. This is very urgent, otherwise we wouldn’t have asked for you.

LCW: I understand, madam. When big, prominent families have emergencies, everything needs to be stopped at once. I understand.

EP: Let’s start. You are comfortable speaking to me in Sinhala?

LCW: Yes, madam. I speak Sinhala and some Tamil. Not much English.

EP: That is fine. We may have your statement translated to English on request. I hope that’s okay.

LCW: Of course, madam. Thank you for asking.

EP: Okay, so would you mind please stating your name and address for the record.

LCW: My name is Lalitha Chamari Withane. Do you want my permanent address or my current one?

EP: Current is fine for now.

LCW: Okay, madam. I currently live at a boardinghouse that many of the other cleaners share. It’s not too far from here—16/2A Station Road, Mount Lavinia.

EP: And your current occupation?

LCW: I’m a cleaner, madam, as you can see from my uniform. I work for the Mount Lavinia Hotel.

EP: As in housekeeping?

LCW: No, madam. Not as fancy as that. Just a cleaner. I do the staff bathrooms and make sure the garbage is sorted before the trucks come to pick it up.

EP: And I’m to understand that you worked at the Fonsekas’ residence before this, am I correct?

LCW: I knew that’s why you wanted me here. They are bad news, that family. I heard there was some problem with them at the hotel. That Kaavindi Baba was hurt?

EP: Could you please answer the question, Miss Lalitha?

LCW: Seetha would have told you the moment she saw me. She’s cunning, that one. Never really liked me, though I don’t know why. Not to worry, she’ll have what’s coming to her soon enough. I don’t know why you are troubling me, and not her. She was the one who always covered for Amaya Baba. Tried to act like she was so perfect. Did she tell you about that boy who met with the accident?

EP: Miss Lalitha, the question was whether you previously worked at the Fonseka residence.

LCW: Yes, yes, I did work at Mr. and Mrs. Fonseka’s. For a long time. I think maybe nine or ten years.

EP: And when did you leave?

LCW: I didn’t leave on my own will. I was suddenly asked to go. That was about five years ago.

EP: And why were you let go?

LCW: You’ll have to ask Mrs. Fonseka that. She didn’t give me a reason. Don’t worry, I didn’t steal or do anything bad. There were no complaints about my work before.

Can I go now, madam? I’m losing time on my shift and my supervisor will be angry with me if I don’t finish all my work for the day.

EP: I just have a few more questions for you, Miss Lalitha. Your manager told me you would comply. Would you like me to speak with him?

LCW: No, no need for that, madam.

[Pause]

What was your question?

EP: So you have no idea why you were let go from the Fonsekas’?

LCW: Like I said, you’ll have to ask Mrs. Fonseka.

EP: Are you upset about being let go?

LCW: Upset? Me? You mean upset that I was treated like the trash after being a loyal maid for ten years? Sure, I was upset. But I’m also used to it. This wasn’t the first Colombo family I worked for. I knew my place.

I knew that they think they are better than the rest of us, just because they have money. The rules are different for them. Always have been. You know, the salary I get working here as a cleaner is less than I got when I worked as a maid, but it’s okay. You know why? They still treat me like garbage here, but at least I know where I stand. I’m never told that I’m part of the family. I’m never told that they care for me like their own, only to throw me out on the street later. Things are clearer here. More simple.

EP: Miss Lalitha, would you mind telling me what your shift times were yesterday and this morning?

LCW: I was here from six thirty in the morning to eleven in the night. Same as every day. You can check with my supervisor if you like. He’ll confirm it.

EP: I see. Okay, and—

LCW: Madam, sorry for interrupting you, but I know why I am here. And I’m not afraid to answer what you are not asking me. I didn’t hurt Kaavindi Baba. I used to call her Loku Baba when I worked at Mr. and Mrs. Fonseka’s. I only met her a few times during the last few years because she was away for her studies and only came back home for holidays. I have nothing against her. She’s not as innocent as she seems, of course, but I have nothing against her. In fact, I saw more of Amaya Baba during those last few months I was working at the house than I saw of Kaavindi Baba or Tehani Baba.

EP: And would Miss Bloom—Amaya—know why you were dismissed?

LCW: [Smiles] No. I suppose not. Or maybe she does, who knows? She was rather sick, when I was there. And I was concerned, of course. I asked whether she needed to go to a doctor. I even recommended a good Ayurvedic doctor that I knew. Well, I was asked to leave shortly after that.

EP: And you mentioned earlier, about the boy who died in the accident. What do you know about that?

LCW: All I know, madam, is that everything seemed very strange. Amaya Baba was always asking Kaavindi Baba to come to her house in the night after everyone else went to sleep. And Seetha, well, I don’t think she kept as close a watch on Amaya Baba as she was supposed to, so who knows what Amaya Baba got up to? That boy, Gayan Baba, was leaving her house at two in the morning when he met with the accident, you know. And Seetha, well, she said she knew he was there. That the girls and him were just studying. It’s all quite odd if you ask me.

Anyway, madam, like I said, you needn’t worry about me. Doing something to hurt Kaavindi Baba isn’t my way, in any case.

EP: What do you mean it’s not your way?

LCW: Madam, if Seetha told you I was here she must have told you, no, about what I can do?

EP: She did mention it.

LCW: Yes, she always had a problem with it. I learned it from my own mother, who learned it from hers, though neither my mother nor I could ever be as strong as my grandmother. I never did anything serious. I would cut limes, to get rid of evil spirits. And I make offerings to the goddess Kaali—she gives justice for women who have been wronged.

But if I really wanted to take revenge on the Fonsekas, which is not what I want—I don’t even waste my time thinking about them—I wouldn’t attack anyone. I wouldn’t have to do any hooniyam, if you can even call it that. I wouldn’t have to do anything. I would just wait.

EP: Wait for what?

LCW: You are a Buddhist, madam?

EP: I was raised Catholic, actually.

LCW: But you might already know—there’s something called blessings and sins in Buddhism, you are aware aren’t you, madam? Well, the Fonsekas have more sins collected than a prison full of crooks and thieves combined. They pretend to be wonderful people, giving to charity and helping others, but the people that they ignore—the servants, the drivers, the gardeners—we see a side to them that the rest of Colombo doesn’t see. We see it because they don’t care about us. They barely even see us. But we see. And we know all the lies and all the deception.

So if I wanted to watch them fall, if I wanted to see them hurt, then all I have to do is wait. Because no one with that amount of sins gets away from what is coming to them.