Chapter 31
Nupur tapped her fingers against the armrest of the couch, trying not to let her tears start again. The last thing she needed was to wallow in a brutal depression again. She looked at the clock hanging over the mantle and noted the time. It was almost midnight, and she had no idea where Mayank was. The crushing blow of losing Neev had started to wane and was now being replaced with worry for Mayank's whereabouts.
Just as she was about to call Shilpa to check if he had shown up at the manor, she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. She stayed on the couch, a slight anger burning through her as the worry receded.
Mayank came into view a few seconds later and took the empty seat next to her, dropping onto the seat with the finesse of a person who had given up.
They sat in silence for a few moments, neither one daring to break it. There really was nothing to say. Where would they start? A simple hello would gain a confused look from the other and a sigh would probably start an unnecessary conversation.
"Do you remember when we used to hate each other?" he suddenly asked.
Nupur slowly turned her head to look at him, hoping he hadn't gone crazy on her from the grief of losing his son that day. "Yes, I remember."
"Seems so trivial now, doesn't it?"
"A lot of things seem trivial now," she replied.
"I used to hate how you were so sure of yourself, as if you knew everything there was to know about everything. Drove me crazy," he said.
"I'm not like that anymore?"
"No, you're still like that. I've just learned to live with it."
"Well, I used to hate how you talked down to people. You never outgrew that tendency; you still do it. You tend to use a condescending tone with people you don't know and even sometimes with the people you do know. I hated nothing worse than when you would talk condescendingly to me."
"So you've learned to live with that?" he asked.
"Yes. I've learned to live with it."
"I hated how bossy you were."
"I hated how apathetic you were," she replied.
"I hated how you used to think you were better than me when you'd ignore my taunts," he told her.
"I hated how you used to think you were better than me period."
"I hated myself for wanting to be like you," he said.
She stopped for a moment, letting his words sink in. She didn't say anything, so he decided to keep going.
"I hated you for having real friends and for doing better than me in college in our final year," he said slowly.
"I hated you for being so self-confident," she said.
"But...I never did hate you though," he said on a whisper.
"I know," she said. Her eyes had filled with tears at some point for some reason that was beyond her. "I never did either."
Then Nupur spoke suddenly once more, passionately this time, taking Mayank by surprise when she said, "It doesn't matter, though! I've realized that. It doesn't matter. It's all in the past. It's time to look forward. It's time to move on from the past and be a part of the future. And I've been so afraid to do that, see; I think that's my real problem."
She stared pleadingly at him, as if begging him to understand, but Mayank couldn't have helped her even if he wanted to do so. He was too tired to know where she was getting at.
She stood up all of a sudden. She turned away from him and began to pace, wringing her hands. His frown deepened. "I talked to Shilpa a couple of days ago," she told him. "She said some things that got me thinking."
"You're always thinking," he commented dryly.
Nupur stopped her pacing and looked at him. "She told me to stop thinking so much."
"You should," he replied matter-of-factly, only to shift uncomfortably under her burning gaze. "Nupur? Is there something you're trying to get at here?"
"Who am I, Mayank?" she asked unexpectedly, desperately, as if this was her last chance to glean this crucial bit of information from him. He, however, had no idea about what she was talking.
"You're Nupur," he told her slowly.
"I know that," she snapped irritably, "but who am I? I mean, what do you know about me? If you had to describe me to someone who'd never met me, what would you tell them?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to know!" she blustered.
He sighed. Why does she want all this now? What, I've got to think of some sort of commemoration for her? Well...that should be easy shouldn't it – you've been reminding yourself about each and every thing she did over the last five years, after all.
He couldn't help himself. "I'd tell them you're smart beyond belief, not just book smart, but clever. And you're a strong, courageous woman. One of the strongest I've seen so far. It's not that you're more courageous, though, it's more like you think being courageous is more important, I think.
"I'd tell them you cry every time you watch a movie that has a sad ending, especially one with Shahrukh Khan. I'd tell them you'd relate every simple and silly thing in life to a film, winding your way around that issue and adjusting it to the events that occurred in that particular movie. Also, that you spent half your time after Excel campaigning for the rights of needy children, and that you thought the most important part of being a teacher is helping younger students. It's all because you care so much. I've never met somebody who cares about everybody as much as you.
"I'd tell them that I always beat you at chess, and that you get all worked up at it, but I don't think it really bothers you when I gloat. I think you're really proud of me. And I think you're proud of me when I do well in studies, even though you'd never say so."
"Mayank," Nupur whispered softly, and he didn't realize how long he'd been going on. He couldn't stop now, though. It was pouring out of him.
"I'd tell them that you're the most confident person I know and you're the least confident person I know. Because you're so smart, and you know you're smart, and you have faith in your smarts, and your abilities, but I know that you don't think you're very pretty, and I don't understand that, and I don't think it's false modesty, and it just doesn't make sense, because you're gorgeous. And I know that you worry about what other people think over the most trivial of topics, but you don't give a damn what they think about things that really matter. It's kind of weird, really." He frowned thoughtfully.
"Mayank, stop!" Nupur cried.
He didn't understand why she'd started crying. What had he said that'd make her cry? CJ was right: there was no such thing as understanding girls, no matter how old a bloke got. "What's the matter?" he demanded, wearily. "You asked a question, and I was just answering it. What, did I not answer right?" he sighed angrily at her, his neck burning. He'd probably made a fool of himself, that's what he'd done. So two achievements for the day – losing his son and making a fool of himself in front of his wife. Well done.
"No," she shook her head quickly, "No, you answered right! And I — I —," she faltered for a moment, and he wondered if she would start outright sobbing. But then she seemed to straighten, and her face changed.
"I've changed my mind," she told him. He furrowed his brow.
"About what?" he frowned.
"About us! I . . . I do love you, Mayank. And it is enough. It is."
He couldn't believe it. What had she just said?
She stepped closer to him. "And even if it wasn't enough, it wouldn't matter, it wouldn't, because we are perfect for each other, and we are alike, and the ways that we're different — it works! And you know me, Mayank, you know me better than anyone. And I know that we have a long way to go before we get back to where we once were, and I know you're angry at me for the way I've been acting. You should be! I was horrible, and I was scared, and Shilpa was right, she —"
"Nupur," he cut in. She went silent immediately.
"You love me?" he asked in a hoarse voice, his hand searching hers in the dark.
"Yes," she said as another renegade teardrop caressed her opposite cheek.
She gasped when his hands found her face and dragged her to his lips, kissing her as if he needed to make sure she was there, to make sure she was real and tangible and all his. His tongue sought out her own, caressing it with the tenderness his words had failed to evoke.
She tasted him, tasted her tears, and brought him closer to her.
They weren't celebrating their confessions of love. They were filling the void that the grief had left behind.
Mayank pulled back first, resting his forehead against hers, taking deep gulps of breath in tempo with her. "Don't ever leave me," he whispered against her mouth, their hot breaths mingling. "I can never lose you. Please, Nupur. Promise me you'll never leave. I love you so, so much."
"I won't," she told him. "I won't leave you. You have to promise, too."
"I will never," he kissed her, "ever," another kiss, "ever," and another, "leave you."
"I still don't like you," she said with a smile against his lips. They both knew what she meant.
"I know. I still don't like you either," he said with a small, husky laugh.
He kissed her again, leaving her breathless once more. He brought her into his lap, as he laved her mouth with his sweet kisses. Their actions turned frantic, their hands exploring every possible place.
Nupur pulled away for a moment to catch her breath and the stark emotion she saw in Mayank's eyes made her stop completely.
"They took him away from me," he said tonelessly, out-of-the-blue, his chest moving quickly as he caught his own breath. "They took my boy away."
"Oh, Mayank," she exhaled, cupping his face in her hands. She kissed him and pressed her cheek to his.
"Help me stop thinking about it," he begged her. "I don't want to think about it anymore."
"How can I?" she asked helplessly.
"Just… just…" he struggled for the words and then grabbed her, hugging her extremely tight. His upper body quavered with the intensity of his deep breaths, his face buried in her neck.
Nupur wasn't sure how she noticed it, but she somehow knew that the wetness she felt on her neck was not from the sweat on his face… her own tears fell then, as she hugged him closer, letting him cry for the loss of their son, his upper body not quavering with the intensity of his breaths, but with the desperation of his sobs.
The window seemed to be shaking slightly, something Neev had never seen occur in his new room. There was a grill attached to the window pane, because Annie didn't want him getting too close to it.
He never paid the window much attention, but now it was rattling, he constantly kept glancing at it.
He sat at his place on the humongous bed in his room. Posey the dinosaur sat at his right, and an assortment of many toys lay around him as he sat having a very important meeting with them. He seemed to have a lot of meetings with his toys. There wasn't much to do in the big house he lived in now. He mostly stayed in his room talking to his toys and trying to get the maid to play with him. She never did. Lunch and breakfast were served in his room and he ate by himself, with only Posey the dinosaur and some other toy as company. He saw Annie and that other man only at dinner.
Every dinnertime, Neev always asked when he would be able to go back home. He ignored them when they explained that he was currently in his new home. It was too ridiculous of a notion for him to entertain.
His eyes widening in curiosity, he dragged Posey closer to him as two heads popped up from the window. He knew those two heads! It was Unca Benji and Unca Uday! Right as he was about to scream their names, they put their fingers to their mouths to tell him to stay quiet. He nodded silently and watched their heads talking quietly to each other.
"Hey, Neev," Benji whispered. "Can you move this grill without getting hurt?"
Neev scrambled off the bed and walked to the windowpane. Balancing on the bedside table, he unlocked the grill and the window letting the two men come into his room.
As they dusted themselves off, Neev threw his arms around their legs and hugged them tight. "You came to see me!"
Uday knelt down and hugged the kid, rubbing the dust and soot out of his hair and off of Neev's shirt. "You missed us, then?"
Neev nodded with a wide smile. "Did you bring my mummy and daddy?"
Uday exchanged a sad smile with Benji and turned back to Neev. "Sorry, mate. They couldn't come."
"Why not?" Neev asked. "Don't they want to see me?"
"Of course they do," Benji assured him. "That cow downstairs won't let them come though."
"There's a cow in the house?" Neev asked with a giggle.
"He means Annie," Uday explained. "Annie won't let your mummy and daddy come visit."
"Why?"
"Because she's a bi--" Benji started to say before Uday interrupted.
"Because she doesn't want them to take you away from her. She's a very selfish and mean person," Uday said. "We've come to do our part in helping you drive her crazy."
"Are you going to stay with me? I'm very bored all the time and nobody talks to me," Neev said sadly. "I miss my mummy and my daddy and Dadi and Unca Ajay and everybody."
"We won't be able to stay because Annie would get very angry," Uday said quietly. "We're going to give you a few things, and you're going to help us pull a few jokes on her. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
Neev thought this over and then nodded his head. "Yes. I want to have fun."
"We'll come and check on you every night. When is your bedtime?" Benji asked.
"I don't have one," Neev said. "When dinner is done, I come to my room to play with my toys, and then I get sleepy and fall asleep. Annie and that man tell me goodnight after dinner. I don't even get a bedtime story!"
"How about if we come by and read you a bedtime story before you go to sleep and bring you something to use on Annie and that man."
"You're gonna come every day? Will you bring my mummy or daddy or Harsh? How about Dadi and Unca Ajay?"
"Well, they're not allowed in this house, but we can bring anyone who isn't in your family."
"I just wanna go home," Neev said. "But Annie won't let me."
"Your mum and dad are trying as hard as they can to get you back, mate. You just have to be good boy and torture Annie just like we tell you to, and everything will turn out wonderfully."
"Okay. What do I have to do?"
Benji and Uday grinned at each other and then knelt down to eye-level with Neev, pulling the first of many things out of their duffel bag. They knew their experiments would come in handy one day.
Mr. and Mrs. Sharma,
I am writing this in the hopes that you will keep everything I tell you in absolute secrecy. Once you read this letter, I would appreciate that it be completely destroyed and never mentioned again. I am not writing this as a Domestic Ministry Professional, but as a person who knows when an injustice has occurred. Meet me at the Blue Beau Pub tonight at eleven. No one must know of our meeting. I apologize for what has transpired, and I only hope I can help.
RW
Nupur made her way down the hall to the master bedroom, clutching the note tightly in her hand. She called Mayank's name, but heard his reply come from Neev's room instead.
Perched on the edge of his son's bed, Mayank sat with Rosie the dinosaur held between his hands, his elbows resting on his knees and his head bowed. He looked utterly pathetic and she just wanted to hold him until they looked like two pathetic souls together. It had been two days since Neev had been taken away… two days since they had re-confessed their love.
"Yeah?" he asked, not bothering to look up.
"This was just delivered," she said, walking to him and handing him the note.
He unfurled the piece of parchment, and his eyes quickly swept across the words. He looked up at her when he was through, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "RW? Rashmi sent this?"
She shrugged. "It seems so. The only other RW I can think of is Rinita Wagre and the last time I checked, she wasn't a DMP. Do you think this is a trick?"
He shook his head slowly. "I want to believe she's telling the truth, and I want to believe that she can help us. What do you think is the worst thing that could happen if this is some sort of ruse?"
"Well, see, I tried thinking about that possibility, but I don't see any way for us to get in trouble if we did go and meet her."
"I think we should go" he said. "If worse comes to worst, then we'll go back to waiting a year."
Nupur laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist. "We'll get him back, Mayank. Whether it be tomorrow, next week, next month or a year from now, we'll get him back."
"Have I told you lately how much I don't like you?"
She smiled and nudged him with her shoulder. "You might have mentioned it."
"Well, I really don't like you," he said. She could hear the smile in his voice.
"I really don't like you, too," she laughed back.
"If you ever stop not liking me, I think I'll go crazy," he warned her.
"Oh, I don't think you'll go crazy," she said, turning to look at him.
He gave her a confused look.
"I know you'll go crazy."
With a quick grab, he had her beneath him, kissing her know-it-all mouth closed.
--
A few minutes before eleven, Mayank and Nupur stood outside the Blue Beau Pub, which was located on the opposite side of Mumbai. They looked at each other hesitantly before walking into the dark establishment.
They scanned the nearly-empty pub and recognized Rashmi Walia sitting in a booth near the back of the room; her glasses were slightly askew, and she held her hands in front of her, clutching the tankard of drink hard enough to turn her knuckles white.
They approached her and she looked up with a tentative smile, gesturing for them to take a seat at the small, round table.
"I'm glad you decided to come," she said quietly. "We just have to wait for one more person to show up."
"Who?" Mayank asked suspiciously.
"I invited your Judicial Advocate to join us. I… I know you don't trust me very much, so I thought if Ms. Jain were here to help explain things, you would know I wasn't trying to trick you or anything."
"It's very honorable of you to help us, Miss Walia," Nupur said, smiling at the woman. "You're risking a lot to help."
Rashmi's cheeks brightened and she glanced down at the table with a small smile. "To tell you the truth, Mrs. Sharma, your family was the first family I was ever assigned to. I became a DMP to help people, and I know you two are good parents to Neev. You have problems just like every other family, and I really didn't like taking Neev away from the two of you. My conscience has been a ticking time-bomb since that happened.
"Are we going to be doing anything illegal?" Mayank asked.
Rashmi shook her head quickly. "Not illegal, but if the Ministry knew I was giving away bureaucratic secrets, they wouldn't be too happy. I was looking over Mrs. D'Aggostino's DMP reports and she really shouldn't be in charge of Neev. She's his biological mother, yes, but she also has issues with her attitude, financial spending, and lifestyle in general."
"We could have told you that," he replied under his breath.
"You knew Annie was a bad mother and you gave Neev to her anyway?" Nupur asked.
Rashmi sighed. "I couldn't just go against the regulations put up by the Ministry. We all would have gotten in trouble for that, so instead, I followed the rules, and now I'm going to help you get him back before the separation causes him any extra unnecessary grief."
"Have you… do you know how he's doing?" Mayank queried.
"Mrs. D'Aggostino sent the Ministry the required notice of arrival this morning and said that Neev is adjusting well to his new home in Delhi. They went toy shopping for him yesterday, and she said he's very happy so far."
"Did her DMP reports mention that she's a compulsive liar?" Nupur mentioned with a roll of her eyes. "There is no way Neev is happy there. I would bet my school on that."
Rashmi pushed her glasses until they were straight and took a sip of her drink. She looked up when the door to the pub opened again. "Oh, Ms. Jain is here."
"Sorry I'm late," CJ said as she took the seat across from Mayank and Nupur and next to Rashmi. "I've been working my bum off this week with that stupid new law intern they assigned to me. Can you imagine getting off of work at nearly midnight?"
"Hello, CJ. Good to see you, too," Mayank told his friend.
CJ gave them a bright grin and leaned back against the booth. "Hello there, Miss Walia. Destroyed any other families lately?"
Nupur caught the crushed look on Rashmi's face and quickly came to her defense. "Actually, CJ, Rashmi is going to help us get Neev back. She just finished telling us how bad she feels for what has happened."
CJ's eyebrows rose considerably as she turned to look at the DMP. "Well, well, I'm sorry for my comment, Miss Walia, please accept my apologies. I can be such a boor sometimes."
Rashmi smiled slightly and coughed a little. "It's quite alright, Ms. Jain. I guess I deserved it in a way. My job isn't the most popular one out there, but I do try."
"I guess we can get started," Rashmi said. "Now, I've called you here today to explain the process of Appellate Analysis."
"Appellate Analysis?" CJ interrupted. "Isn't that only for restraining orders?"
"What is it?" Nupur asked.
"Actually, Appellate Analysis can be used for any area of the law. That's something a lot of people don't understand," Rashmi explained. "If we use it for Mr. Sharma's case, don't you think they'll be approved?"
CJ thought about this for a moment, running her forefinger and thumb down her chin. "I never even considered that option. I was certain it was only used for restraining orders. But, damn, that is a brilliant idea."
Mayank rolled his eyes, irritated by the internal legal talk between the two women. "Could you two please explain to us normal humans what on earth you're talking about?"
"How would you like to have Neev back home by next month?" CJ asked. "Maybe even sooner than that."
Mayank and Nupur stayed silent, waiting for CJ to continue.
Rashmi continued instead. "Appellate Analysis is a process of appealing to the Ministry to reverse a court-order. Now, we told you that according to the child-protection laws, you would have to wait a year to appeal for at least joint-custody of Neev. If you go through the Appellate Analysis, you'll only have to wait until the Supreme Court approves the appeal to get him back."
"How does it work?"
"Okay, well, first off, you'd have to fill out these two forms petitioning for full-custody of Neev. I know you don't want joint-custody with the D'Aggostinos, so you'll have to fill out the forms and then present five witnesses."
"Witnesses?"
"You'll need to present four witnesses to a full Supreme Court staff who will attest to Neev's well-being with the two of you as his parents. These witnesses have to be functional members of the community, cannot be related to either of you, and cannot be related to each other. They will be brought forth to a hearing by the Supreme Court and asked a series of questions pertaining to your parenting habits. They will be under oath and threatened with a lie detector test if they appear to not be telling the truth."
"So, we just have to bring these four witnesses, they answer a few questions, and then we'll get custody of our son back?" Nupur asked slowly.
"Precisely. The Supreme Court must, of course, deem your witnesses' testimonies credible and will come to a decision the day of the hearing."
"That sounds simple enough," Mayank said with a nod.
"You know four people who will testify?" CJ asked, grabbing a notepad from the pocket of her blazer. "I'll have to submit their names for background checks, and we have to make sure they aren't directly related to the two of you or directly related to each other."
"I know Sonali would help us," Nupur offered, "and of course Benji. That's two people already."
"Isn't Benji on some sort of Rugby tour with Uday? Somewhere further up North?" Mayank prodded.
"Yes, but they told me they'd be back soon...Benji will definitely be there to help us. But we're still short of two people."
They thought for a moment. "How about Samrat?" Mayank asked. "He's not related to either of us."
"But he's married to my sister," Nupur said. She turned to CJ and Rashmi. "Is there anything in the rules about people related to us by marriage?"
CJ and Rashmi looked at each other for assurance, and then turned back to the Sharmas. "No, Mr. Khanna can act as a witness since he is not related to either of you."
"Well, good, that just leaves one person," Mayank murmured. "Can you do it, CJ?"
"I'm Neev's Godmother," CJ replied. "Can't do it."
"Do you think Vikram would help us?" Nupur asked Mayank.
"He barely knows us," Mayank replied, "and I'm almost certain the bloke hates me, has always hated me and will continue to hate me until I'm old and gray."
Nupur frowned and tapped her finger against her lips. "There has to be someone who would help us. Can we give you the final name as soon as we think of it?" she asked CJ.
She nodded and stuck the notepad with the three names back into her blazer. "Once I have the last person, I'll submit the list, and the Appellate Analysis can begin. I'm sure we can find someone."
"So, that's it? Once we find the final person, how long is the whole process?" Nupur asked.
"The background checks take a business day, and then the hearing by the Supreme Court is usually held on the Friday of the week you submit the names. The hearings usually take a few hours and the decision is given at the end, so if they rule in your favor, you could have Neev back in less than a week. It could be this week if you can get that final name to me by Wednesday."
"Tomorrow is Wednesday," Mayank said.
"There's always next week and the week after and the week after that and so on if you can't find a final person by tomorrow," Rashmi offered. "The only problem being that the longer it takes to find your fourth witness, the longer Neev has to stay in Delhi."
Nupur and Mayank nodded their understanding. "We'll try and find someone as soon as possible."
Who would they ever find to help them?
By Wednesday night, they couldn't think of anyone who could help them. They had lost contact with a lot of people since college and most of their friends and acquaintances fell into the category of people who were either related to them or related to the other witnesses. Mayank's coworkers didn't really know Nupur or Neev, so they couldn't be of any help.
Their parents and friends tried to help them by thinking of people who could possibly fill the last witness position. Whoever would fill it would have to be close enough to the family to answer the questions well, or just be an extremely good liar. Nupur and Mayank figured that their entire marriage was based on fooling the Ministry, why should they play by the rules now?
They were starting to lose hope after Thursday had passed. Their inability to think of someone meant that Neev would stay in Delhi another week.
Friday night rolled around with Nupur and Mayank sitting in the living room staring blankly at the television as an infomercial on knives aired. Nupur lay on her side, her head in Mayank's lap as they watched the overexcited announcer exclaim how the knives could cut through a boulder.
"I asked Sonali if Vikram would fill in as the fourth witness," she said tiredly. "She said he would have done it if he wasn't doing that stupid summer camp tour thing."
"How about that bloke who… no, he's related to my mother. Damn, that family is huge," he muttered.
"We'll think of something, Mayank. I'm a big believer in fate. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen."
"Your optimism doesn't help," he grumbled. "Can't we mope some more?"
She turned to her back and smiled up at him. "You've been doing enough for the both of us."
He stuck his tongue out at her, clearly regressing to the mental age of seven, and flicked her forehead for good measure. "We're never going to think of anyone."
"Give it time," she said, grabbing his hand and biting his finger playfully before he could flick her again.
He leaned his head back against the couch and shook his head. "I miss him."
"I know you do," she said softly. "I miss him, too."
"What do you think he's doing right about now?"
Nupur thought for a moment. "Well, if Annie is doing a mediocre job, he should be getting ready for bed, possibly taking a bath."
"I hope he splashes her."
"Here's hoping she drowns in the process," Nupur said.
Mayank smiled down at her. "He's a good kid. He's probably sitting in bed as we speak, getting her to read him a story."
"Poor Neev. He could probably read a book better than she can."
Several kilometres away in a large bungalow in Delhi, Neev Sharma picked up the small bottle that Uday and Benji had given him. They had told him to put the contents of the bottle in Annie's shampoo because it would make her hair turn very pretty.
Too bad for Annie that Benji and Uday thought bald was beautiful.
Neev checked the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. They had told him that it was a big, secret mission and no one was supposed to find out that Neev had done anything. He had sworn, crossed his heart, vowed to Posey and Rosie that no one would ever know it was him.
He walked to the big doors that led to Annie and that man's bedroom. They were still downstairs, doing whatever they did after dinner, so the room was empty.
He quickly made it to the bathroom and found the large pink bottle resting in a basket near the bathtub. Benji and Uday had told Neev to dump all of the little bottle's liquid into the big bottle.
The little bottle contained a formula that would leave whoever used it completely bald, their hair falling out it huge chunks. No medication, special herbs or antidotes could make the hair come back.
Once his task was finished, Neev pocketed the empty bottle and put the big bottle back in its place. He sprinted back to his room after checking the hallway again and jumped into his bed, out of breath and smiling like the devil himself.
Unca Benji and Unca Uday were going to be so proud!
As if his thoughts had conjured the troublesome duo, they tapped on his window and climbed in to his bedroom.
"Did you do it, mate?" Uday asked, walking to the bed and sitting on the edge.
Neev nodded. "I did it just like you told me to!"
"Where's the small bottle?" Benji asked from his other side.
Neev pulled it out from his pocket and handed it to the man, who promptly went to the bathroom and drained the contents in the sink. No incriminating evidence for them, thank you very much.
"Did you bring a story to read to me?" Neev asked.
"Yep. It's about a dinosaur and robot," Uday said, pulling a book out from behind him.
"Oh, wow!" Neev replied with amazement.
"Alright, you ready, mate?" Benji asked.
Neev nodded excitedly and settled beneath the covers.
"Once upon a time…"
The sunrise was a pleasant occurrence in the rustic town of Neev's new home.
The sound of the birds chirping loudly outside his window had awoken him the past few mornings.
The strangled scream coming from the master bathroom that awoke him the next morning put a small smile on his face as he put a pillow over his head and fell back asleep. One trick down and many, many more to go.
35