III. 1.84

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Chapter III 1.84

When people you don't know a lot about, behave a bit weird, it doesn’t bother you so much. I don't know the person, so who cares if he is sick with depression or battling with his personal problems. I know I wouldn’t stir for anyone other than the one I truly know and care for. I personally consider it very rude to even ask them what is bothering them; surely your concerns are good but why swing a leg in their matters. People don't bother their family with problems; you think they’ll tell you where it actually hurts by your simple asking?

However, when Anirudh started acting, totally weird, more abnormal than his truer self, it started irking me. The fact that it was irking me irked me more. I don't know Anirudh, and I don't want to know but he was acting really strange or was on drugs. 

But knowing him, he can't be on drugs.

But then, how much did I even know this man?

Right now, he was seated beside me in the police station, being upfront and causal considering his father was there which was normal but he not once met my eyes or agreed to what I said, or continued my open-ended statements.

When Anirudh arrived early morning at my apartment, he seemed fine to me. However, when the kid was given a clean bath, (thanks to the former who helped him clean up and patiently wait up for him,) something in his demeanor changed. He gave me short replies, stayed by the kid and had a very grim expression on his face. It was like his smile had gone downhill.

Anirudh had a sweet contagious smile. If you count me out because of my cold heart, everyone responded back to him with a smile. He was polite and sweet and always smiled.

But now, he was shaken by something I wasn’t sure about.

It may be a personal concern but then he was cheerful when he arrived unlike after the kid's bath where all of a sudden he lost his cool smile.

What was wrong with him?

I looked at him, his brown eyes now flickering towards his father, a small smile playing on his lips as he nodded at his father’s questions and sat back rather peacefully. Now that I was staring at him, he had a locked jawline, without those specs the eyes brightened more of hazel than brown and a small dimple threatened to appear on his left cheek.

If only he smiled properly.

Sure, Arjun looked more rusty and rugged; his attitude speaking volumes and his chiseled body holding confidence but Anirudh was not too out either. He had a salient character, his appearance was more like his character and it was nice to see a guy be himself.

It's not often that people want to reflect who they truly are.

He was he and the best part was that he accepted himself the way he was.

It was not too good to be caught looking at someone and hence when Anirudh turned towards me, I found myself in such an awkward position. I shifted my gaze to his father who had a comfortable smile on his face, seemed like he did ask me something. “I am sorry?”

“Your name sweetheart.”

I could feel Anirudh’s gaze at me and thankfully, I did not shift my vision. “Apurva Deshmukh.”

I always hated that name for all apparent reasons. “You can call me Purvi.” I offered, Anirudh’s father smiled at my attempt to hold the conversation. One could tell that Anirudh had gained a lot of his personality traits from his father including the tall sturdy built figure and the eyes. However, the latter had a more serious smile than the former.

“So Purvi, Neer did tell me what happened, but can you elaborate?” I presumed Neer was Anirudh’s nickname since he turned a shade of pink at the mention of his nickname.

Nodding, I narrated the incident which changed my life. I’d like to rename it as 'the fault in our stars'.

Yeah, I know, copyright claim.

Anirudh’s father nodded solemnly, he looked behind us, where the kid was sitting on the wooden bench, playing on Anirudh’s mobile. A game which the latter had taught him because seeing the police station kinda triggered him and he started crying silently again.

“I see, and do you have any idea or maybe someone who can relate to the kid?”

“Sir, I have no relatives here.” I answered. “Also, I haven’t seen him before and do not recollect anyone with a kid. In fact, I never have been attached to kids.”

Mr. Sardana raised a brow towards his son, holding something in context, however, I let that snooping go. “Alright. We’ll look into it. I will need some details though, like your personal memoranda, address, the kid’s photo and likewise. I shall also communicate with the other area police stations to check whether any missing child report has been filed.”

A constable wrote all the details and even clicked a picture of the kid who looked at me, wanting to know why a policeman was clicking his picture. He absolutely refused at first and threw a fit too but when I stood beside him, he calmed down and the task was completed.

The charade was soon over and with an assurance we bade farewell, however Mr. Sardana was a bit startled when I asked him about the number of days he’ll need to find the family of the boy and what should be done of the kid, meanwhile.

He looked at his son, shared a known eye lock and answered truthfully. “Honestly, there are approximately one crore eighty-four lakh people in Mumbai and since you do not have a direct suspect and unfortunately the boy cannot speak, it could take weeks, maybe years. However, we will be posting the pamphlets and missing posters, hoping for the best. We're grateful to you that you're kind to the kid by lending him basic necessities and know that you cannot continue to provide do, hence we can always shift the kid to nearby orphanage.”

Those words stuck to my mind, it did sound like a plan. I cannot raise a kid at the age of twenty-one all by myself, and why should I?

I didn't know the kid.

“Give us two weeks.” Mr. Sardana said, after a quick conversation with an authority over the call. “We’ll help with some of his necessities for these two weeks and if there is no end result, feel free to drop him here, everything else will be taken care of.”

It sounded fantastic.

Not. At. All.

Two weeks? Two whole damn weeks? That is like 14 days give and take. Today was Sunday, 14th of October and that meant by 29th of this month, I could get rid of the boy.

I had no strength to argue and hence I let the policemen continue their formalities as we walked away from the station. Anirudh spoke nothing after that, not to me at least, to the kid he was very supportive.

Two weeks?

God, help me.

_

With age, maturity grows. This saying is as stupid as it can get. You do not have to be of age to be mature; you have to be experienced and willing to learn. People can grow as big as a banyan tree and still be a nuthead because they’re immaturity lingers them behind. In India, we mark maturity by age.

‘Oh, you are twenty-five, this doesn’t suit you now. You should know.’

‘Only fifteen, you are way too small to understand this.’

‘Damn, looks like you cannot be smart even at thirty-seven.’

It drives me up to a wall when I see kids smaller than me act so mature to their age and adults older to me, act insanely weird. That is what I was made to think and believe that maturity was an age thing. However, a lot of people confused maturity with knowledge. Sure, you can be as knowledgeable as one can get but maturity? That is one tough kid to raise.

So yes, my roommate who’s twenty-six, was supposed to hold prominent maturity, at least than me, but proving my theory well, Riya chose to be that adult weirdo.

For who has loud blasting music, at one in the night when a strange kid is right there in your living room, your roommate, who did not have proper sleep since two days is trying to get a wink of sleep and so much tension is already prevailing in the house?

I know I won’t.

Kudos to Riya Singhania!

I was thankfully not in a very good mood and someday this confrontation had to follow, with a hand over my head and ignoring the group of people who gathered in the living room, with alcohol in their hands, laughing and chilling, I headed straight to the music stereo and pulled the plug in one go.

The willful aww’s and boo’s echoed and in exactly half a minute I saw Riya walk out of her room, furiously walking towards me. “What. The. Hell.”

Her hair was messy and she had few of her buttons undone and wrongly clasped, she reeked of sex for all I know and now that I looked around, the music did stop one couple who were making out on the floor.

Disgusting.

“Out.” I told all of the drunken asses to get going and they did.

The guy, with whom Riya was in her room, came out with his pants in his hand, putting them on as he left and I breathed in the anger bursting in me. It was a blessing that the floor on which our apartment was, had only a silent old couple as neighbors who never interfered in our matters. It was another great thing that the landlord stayed abroad and his assigned assistant was always bribed to not let us be thrown out of the house.

“The boy cannot hear anyway.”

“He can see.” I groaned. “Or are you that immature to bring your sexually charged friends in front of a naïve five-year old?”

She had the audacity to role her eyes. “He is not my nephew that I should be responsible for him, and neither is he anything to you. You want to get rid of him as much as I do.”

“I want to.” I said, as I stepped away from her, and switched on the lights, killing the neon lights. “But not disgrace his childhood by this filth.” I eyed the beer bottles and whiskey on the board as she sighed.

“It is Sunday Night, can’t I just be myself.” She dramatically exclaimed. “Why are you being such a bitch?”

My eyes darted towards the small kid who came out from his hiding place, the kitchen table. He hid himself behind the marble wall only letting his small head peep out. “It has to only be about you? It’s been two days that this strange kid is been here and not one minute have you ever thought about him or his family or the fact that your roommate is slogging her ass off behind some kid.” I said, the lack of coffee and sleep was now getting mixed into one horrible toxic combination.

“No, he is not your responsibility and no, he is not mine either, but at least I am humane.” I picked my coffee mug from the stand. “I am not asking you to be around him, because we both know that you cannot be around with someone for a long time, but at least sympathize with humans your age.”

Riya did best what a rational human would do.

She stormed off in anger and bitter truth of reality.

I wanted to point the fact that she was away from her family, running away from her glamorous world into another world of destruction, but then who am I to point at the speck in her eye when there was a log in mine. Sometimes, I did feel the emptiness within me because of the hollowness my family dug. Sure, it wasn't like this kid, because I wasn't abandoned. However, my parents who had only two children to raise and their precious own world to manage, did the next best thing besides abandoning one.

They chose the best one and claimed their favorite.

The rest of the night felt exactly how the previous two did, empty. I whipped some food for the kid and let him eat in peace while concentrated on the notes June had sent me. It was not too easy but I had time and patience and that would help in the long run. The kid slept on the sofa with the same clothes from the day he arrived and he had ruined the sofa for good, so it was decided he should be getting at least some pair of clothes so he doesn’t ruin the rest of the furniture.

Arjun called me later and narrated the luncheon with the presidents of all parties, and yelled at me for not attending any of his speeches. It ended on a bad note because I couldn’t react due to the lack of energy and that pissed him even more.

However, what bothered me was that neither had Anirudh called, nor did he leave a message today. The morning was the only time we met and he looked depressing enough for me to kill myself, so the curiosity that killed the cat made me dial his number.

“Hey?”

“Purvi.”

He was astonished, waiting for me to say that I had called him in pure error, because only once did I call him and that was exactly why. “Yes. Is there a problem?”

“No.” He hesitated, something in the air settling me with the awkwardness. “Some problem?”

“With me, no.” I said, really intrigued. “With you, is there?”

There was a pregnant pause. “No. What says so?”

“Your behavior in the morning, you seemed upset and thoughtful. Did something happen which I should know? You weren’t even meeting my eyes.”

He softly chuckled, the anger which I was holding now composed. “You want me to meet your eyes? You should have said so, I love cute eye locks.”

Not supposed to be funny, because it was me who was stunned. Anirudh hardly flirted, never actually, but now, was he actually flirting with me?

“You do know that is not what I meant.” I changed the topic, flirting with your boyfriend’s friend is worse and it could lead to ways I don't want to imagine. “Tell me.”

“That, I will continue with our small eye locks? Sure, I will.”

His hearty laugh cheered the tensed budding inside me; I could picture the small dimple appearing on his left cheek. “Neer.”

That stopped his laughter, he was surely embarrassed. “Not that name.”

It was my turn to smirk a bit “Is a certain someone mortified? Don't worry; I will not disclose this to anyone, Neer.”

There was yet another pregnant pause. “Okay. If that helps you sleep, Apurva.”

Oh. He did not just say that.

“Call it even.” I muttered watching the one star in the polluted sky of Mumbai, still twinkle. “I do not like that name.”

“Okay.”

Should I ask him again? I mean curiosity did kill the cat but at least it died a peaceful death of finally knowing what was in the bag, right?

“Anirudh, is there anything you want to tell me?”

Silence

I waited for him to speak. “Because if you know something concerning me or anything at all, I guess…”

“It doesn’t concern you.”

Well, the matter was settled then.

For now, definitely.

“How is the kid?”

Quickly I turned towards the sofa; the kid was breathing softly and looked like an angel, his cheeks plump and cuter. “Asleep.”

Finally, is what I wanted to add! Like last night, this time too he did not want to sleep. His eyes were drooping shut; his legs were tired and wanting to give up yet stubborn as he was, refused to be put down to sleep.

After a lot of staring and glaring and my very futile attempt in making him sleep, he held on to my t-shirt and lay down for a minute. Just a minute and he was asleep.

What was holding him from sleeping, no one knew.

I glanced at the watch, it was way past two and my eyes were drooping. “You are drunk right?”

Another pause. “Just tipsy, how did you know?”

The fact that you were flirting with your friend’s girlfriend gave the hint away?

“Just, a wild guess.”

“Or because I am more upfront, chilled and flirtatious?”

“Good night Anirudh.”

No, I did not just wait for a reply, I did not just think about Anirudh and I definitely did not just for the first time, talk to him for more than a minute for something related to anything but work.

I really need sleep.

_

People have weak points, they have a certain doing something or not doing something which infuriates them, disturbs them, and irritates them.

“Hey.”

That hey right there made me realize that hunger and lack of sleep made me a monster and these two were my greatest weak points. You wouldn’t want to mess up with me during this time.

And by mess up, I mean start a conversation with me.

“Do not.”

She didn't take the hint, heck she took no hint, she can never take hint. June could have someone explicitly groaning in the conversation, rolling eyes and not even looking at her and she still wouldn’t take the hint that the particular someone is disinterested and move one.

And by someone, I mean me.

“Why you gotta be so rude.” She sang to me, sang to me.

I groaned and clutched my head, even in the library I had no peace. “What?” My voice a bit louder than I had practiced in my head.

“Shhh.”

Ministers and politicians will fail to do their government work, schools will fail to provide a better education, family will fail to instill basic values and lovers will fail to express their love sometimes. Yet, the librarian will never fail to shush you; no matter how secluded you are from her.

June apologized and I rolled my eyes at the prim and proper lady, she moved away soon when her work of shushing us was done. “Rude. Anyway, I really ought to know what is happening to you these days. Where have you been?”

“Drowning in my own misery.”

She laughed, waiving it jokingly with her hands. “Oh, tell me Purvi, did Arjun give you a good time?”

“Fuck.”

Shhh.”

“Ooh.” She wriggled her brows hinting that was what I did in the last 48 hours.

The youth these days.

“Not him, it is a general expression.” I cleared while checking the time on the cell, ignoring some missed calls. It was nearly dusk and Arjun’s anti-bullying speech already over and done with.

Even though I did come to college to attend lectures, I slept my entire time in the class, got pulled out, was made fun of and then I decided to sleep off in the library, completely forgetting that Arjun was expectantly waiting for me to finally listen and support him.

“Anyway, what do you want June?”

“Nothing, just here.” She gave me a photocopy of all the notes including today’s and thankfully I kept the same in my bag. “Just wanted to say that I miss you around in class.”

She sounded genuine. June always was genuine. The girl had her hair tied in a high pony tail, with the leather jacket not totally matching her top and baggy jeans to make her look even more plum and fat than she actually was. She wasn’t around a lot of people because she had issues about herself; it was clear that she always thought less about herself and never actually chose to make other friends.

Me on the other side, considered myself presentable more than pretty. You cannot just be a lazy person, take zero interest in presenting yourself, apply nothing on your stupid face and spend no time in choosing a good outfit and then compare yourself with the pretty girls who actually spend time on looking presentable. I may not be smart, but presentable I sure was because that was the only thing I guess made me suitable against Arjun.

June had complexities and did not find herself with other people who had friends; she was with me for no

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