Chapter 33

To sink & to soar

Turned out, the lady across the hallway, Kirti Sahasre, was not home, the father was taking a nap in front of the TV, the boys, Ulhas and Utkarsh, were extremely naughty, and the last time they had wooed a kid Mrs Gomes was watching and the Dad had gone to the cops

Kirti’s husband, Mahesh had knocked on the door to let Mrunal know the next morning

Mrunal didn’t want to go to the cops, but would have liked an apology which did come

Kirti looked afraid when she opened the door to the maid the next morning

Mrunal smiled and greeted her anyway

She had her own worries

Kirti had no idea

Jaidrith’s first ever ever friendship had ended in a mishap

She wanted to ask Kirti if she will let the boys hangout

But was afraid to ask

In fact she didn’t know how to approach other parents

With the new Dad in the picture she didn’t know how Kirti might like or hate that

“Out of wedlock child” and “Grandpa living with the child’s mother’s best friend”

My life is a piece of work Mrunal thought to herself

She shut the bedroom door tightly, and placed a dupatta to fill the crack at the bottom and lit a scented candle

A girl from work had told her ghosts are afraid of fire and never approach it

Mother and son slept soundly

The new furniture and the lively neighborhood and the prospect of a new friend was all making her hopeful about Chembur

She loved housework, she spent Saturday morning setting her kitchen up, hanging bath towels

The last test had shown Jai could have oats in small quantities

She made oatmeal with strawberries and blue berries

They watched Up together for the 100th time

Mrunal hung pictures and set out her curios

She had no pictures except her own with her child

Last night when Aatreya had left she had watched him walk away wondering HOW it must be to have parents be disappointed

Her Baba had “urged” her to live her life to the fullest when she had told him she was pregnant

Right around then he must have started hooking up with Amruta she thought

Her mother just said “Like father like daughter, you both have your bodies in the toilet always”

She couldn’t care less at least her body language showed that

Her whole being was consumed by how she could get the next revenge from Sagar Ghatge

Mrunal was just a minor irritant who she had to deal with every now and then

Mrunal wondered how many times Jaidrith would be brought to Bangalore, how many cousins he will have

That made her cry

She was happy for him

But that meant he was no longer SOLELY hers

Oh! How did I let this happen

He is probably going to start liking this man

Now we cant even run away!

Lynn texted her and asked her if she wanted to come by for the cake cutting on the terrace, they had a magician

Mrunal was willing to throw the biggest most expensive parties

But the few times they actually invited the whole class only a couple kids had shown up with parents and said

“We cant stay long”

Mrunal knew the drill

She walked over to Jai’s room and sat by him

“If we are able to find your Dad will you want to meet him?”

Jaid couldn’t care less at this point, he was on his Switch

“Umm.. sure”

“Shakara… mee vinoda karata naahee” (I am not kidding)

He looked up from his game and stared at her

“Amee konla bhetat aahot?” (Who are we meeting again?)

“Tujhi Baba” she whispered holding her breath until her chest was about to explode

She realized this meant nothing to Jai

He continued to give her a blank look

There was no yardstick of this man in Jai’s mind

He craved for no man, he didn’t know a father

He never asked about one

He never wished for one

So this was not so seminal or dramatic to him

She had spent countless nights worrying when she had a cold or a flu “What will happen to Jai if I am gone?”

She conjured up scenarios of him not even being able to get help like those tragic movies

She had asked Sai to be there for Jai many many times

She knew fully well her mother would just abandon him

Her father? Would most likely be too busy making his own babies

There was not a soul who gave a rip about her

Mrunal threw away her washcloth and grabbed him on to her lap

These days His hair was almost upto his shoulder in luscious curls

She frequently ponytailed him, when he did homework

His school had strict rules but they were giving him a break because according to them he was “special needs”

That hurt Mrunal, he wasn’t… she thought

Just an opinionated shy awkward kid

“Amee tumhala hair cut ghyavale” ( We need to get u a hair cut)

“Noooo” he screamed rolling off her lap

They tickled each other she lay by him

Tumacē vaḍīla mumba'īta asatīla tara kāya? “What if your father is in Mumbai?”

Even that didn’t mean anything to him

He wasn’t even able to connect the dots to Aatreya beyond saying to him “Hey you look like me”

They lay in bed, she on her phone and him reading an anime book

He turned to her after an hour to ask

“Does he have a fast car?” Jai was definitely piqued

Her heart sank and soared all at the same time

She sat up sighing and texted Aatreya Rao for the very first time

“Do you have a car?”

“I do” he said almost immediately