Chapter 23: Waiting to Exhale
Once they woke up, Johnny and Krishna mama hit it off quite quickly, much as I anticipated. They had a similar sense of humor and it wasn't long before everyone was gathered on the front verandah where they were both holding court with much pomp and splendor, working off of each other's jokes rather than trying to do one up over each other. I brought out coffee and snacks for them in the mid-afternoon and without meaning to, ended up sitting on one of the steps leading down from the verandah when Kirti didi pulled me down next to her. I meant to sit there only for five minutes to pacify her, but soon the stories that Krishna mama and Johnny dished out had captured my attention fully. Every story was offered up with such exaggeration that it was hard to tell between the truth and the add-ons, but it made for good listening...
At close to six o'clock, the sky turned overcast and with the heat still blazing in all its glory, the humidity climbed. Despite the two fans plugged into the outlets along the verandah and the occasional breeze, the air hung heavy with moisture making our skin clammy and our minds drunk on a long afternoon of wit bordering on the absurd... The jokes had petered out gradually and now people were merely lounging here and there. Krishna mama had dozed off on his rocking chair. Kirti didi was braiding her daughter Shalini's hair while her son Arun lay sleeping on my lap. Johnny was playing cards with Abhi's father and several of his uncles, a leisurely game where no one appeared to be in any hurry to reach the end. Abhi's mother was sitting on the cool floor of the verandah with his aunts peeling vegetables. I had offered my help but they had waved me away saying that there were more than enough of them.
Abhi had been with the group of card players until about ten minutes ago. With the threat of rain hanging heavy in the rain, he had gone to put a tarp over some of the wedding fixtures that had been taken down but hadn't been taken away as yet.
I felt the first drop of rain on the tip of my nose just then and smiled inadvertently as I looked at it and wiped it away. Kirti didi smiled at me and looked up at the sky. The next drop didn't come until a few minutes later and caught me right on the tip of an eyelash. When I blinked and looked over at her, I saw that there was a drop of moisture on her cheek. We both laughed, but made no attempt to wipe it away now. I ran my fingers through three-year old Arun's hair in the same way I had been doing for some time. His hair was soft and his sleep trusting like only a child's could be. I smiled and looked up at the sky. It was just in time for the next drop to land on my lower lip. It was a startling sensation that for a moment my eyes closed as I felt its cool wetness against my lip. My tongue darted out impulsively to lick it just as I opened my eyes... It was then that I saw him in my line of vision... he was walking towards the steps that we were sitting on, although his pace slowed now as he watched me... it must have been the sluggish afternoon or the heat that messed with my head because for a moment my heart sped up and I felt an intense pulsing deep inside my belly. I felt my hand still in its motion and I couldn't look away as he held my gaze...
The sky opened up just then startling everyone.
He ran up the steps then and bent down to me, his lips so close to mine that for a moment I thought that he would kiss me... But he did no such thing, although his gaze was intense even through the the heavy drizzle that left streaks of water running down my face. He looked down and I followed it to notice that without knowing, I had held the edge of my sari over Arun so that he wouldn't get drenched.
"I will take him." I heard him whisper and looked up, my chin grazing his hard jawline. He had a five o' clock shadow and I felt its slight prickle against my wet skin and I felt that pulsing in my belly morph into an unfamiliar throbbing.
I felt my body stiffen up as he reached down to take Arun from me, my sari tangling up in his hands, and I stood up as he straightened with the child in his arms to pull the now wet cloth out from in between his arms. Kirti didi and Shalini called to us as they ran inside.
"Come" he urged me ahead of him as he held his hand over Arun.
The drizzle was a downpour now and I could see everyone rushing in through the door to get inside. We were the last ones to enter and I reached for Arun so that I could take him upstairs to towel his hair. Incredibly, he was still sleeping.
Abhi shook his head and told me that he will bring Arun upstairs and for me to go on ahead to have a towel ready. By the time I got upstairs and got a towel out of the bureau, he entered the room.
I could see that Arun was awake now, thankfully, and Abhi tried to put his down so that I could towel his hair. Instead, Arun reached for me and just as I was about take him out of Abhi's arms, Abhi shook his head. "No, auntie has to towel your hair. If you don't want to get down, you can stay here with me."
Then he looked at me and bent Arun's head to me. It wasn't the most comfortable way of doing it and I looked at him awkwardly for a moment before reaching up to towel the boy's hair. Arun giggled all the way and fidgeted, trying to pull the towel off of him. I laughed along with him, but stopped when I felt Abhi's gaze on me again.
We heard a knock on the door and Abhi walked to open it. It was Kirti didi, checking in on Arun and she took him back saying that he needed to go for his bath anyways.
Just as the door closed behind her, I turned back to the bureau and grabbed another towel, both to dry my hair and to not have to face him. Just as I was about to close the bureau door though, I felt him behind me and before I could react, I felt him reach around me to grab another towel from inside. I sidled closer to the bureau but the warmth from his body was all around me, not allowing me escape. I felt the towel unravel as he grabbed for it and reached in to steady the bunch before the whole stack fell down.
"Sorry..." his voice was so quiet that it sounded like a whisper next to my ear and I pulled back my hand from underneath his over the towel stack.
I kept myself turned away from him and soon enough, I heard him leave my side, allowing me to finally exhale.
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