The emotion, followed by scar-Part 6

WRITTEN BY NANDA NAIR

She wore a white sari, the one a widow wears. She had beautiful curly hair like mine. Her eyes resembled mine a lot. But she was taller than me. Almost my dad's height. She seemed to be educated but suppressed by her living conditions.

“Tanisha?” she asked, filled with emotions. She quivered a little. It wasn’t due to the weather, I'm sure about that.

I just nodded. She motioned me to get in and sit in one of the dimly lit corners of the shed, it wasn’t qualified to be called a house.

“Have some rotis'' she offered me Dal along with it. Since I was craving for food, I didn't refuse to eat it. Within a few minutes I had all of it. With the motherly gesture, she patted my head, gave me a glass of water and showed me a place to wash my mouth.

After all that welcoming, I occupied my previous location.

“Joshua must have sent you the letter, right? He had informed me . But we almost believed you would never appear.”

I didn't reply. After all what should I say?

“Your step-dad passed away a few days ago due to abdominal cancer.”

When she said “ step-dad” it reminded me of the injustice she had done to my dad. I got so annoyed at her, my brows cramped in the space between my eyes.

Maybe she understood I was annoyed at her, she fell silent for a few minutes. Then she continued,

“Glad that i could see you but i will have to return tomorrow itself.” I filled the silence.

“Oh.” that’s all she said.

“You will be staying here tonight, right?”

I just nodded. I don’t have much money left to stay in a lodge.

Then out of the blue she asked,

“Tanisha, can I come with you to Delhi?”

Now this was an unexpected question. Indeed, a complicated one.

I needed time to think. So I said I would tell her my decision by morning. She agreed.

There was no mattress, only a stretcher-like setup. She said I could sleep on it while she planned to sleep on the floor. I refused since I thought that was not right. But she decided to be even more stubborn and wanted me to sleep on a higher ground. I loosened up my stubbornness and went in her way.

---

She woke up at five in the morning. I had my train at 8. I hadn't slept the previous night: Was

quite troubled by what she had asked.I planned on taking her with me, hence I told her my

decision. You should have seen the glow on her face. Though i felt she acted like a vulture who

needed another body when the previous one was finished off, I kept all negative thoughts

aside.But then I warned her that in case my father isn't happy to deal with her, she had to return

back to her previous living conditions. She readily agreed. She packed a few items in a carry

bag and locked the door of her shed, as if robbers would be eager to search the nothingness

that existed inside the house.

Just when we boarded the train and the train began to move, she asked me an obvious request,

"Could you call me mom?"

Immediately I replied,"Not yet, not until my dad approves you."

---

................................................Back to the narration.................................................................

It was almost a month since she felt her dad. To avoid any speculations and to prevent being caught, she first went to Gujarat boarding a bus. Stayed in one of the lodges for a week.

Then she boarded a train to Pune and stayed there for a week. As the news of her missing case was all over news, people started recognized her. Do she shifted to another scarcely populated locality where she stayed for three days. She then took a train to Mumbai. She then stayed there for three days. By then money became scarce.

After all that series of events that followed, she boarded train with her mom back to Delhi. But due to really bad weather and rain, the train stopped somewhere in one of the railway stations for a few days. Finally after 27 days, Sangeetha and Tanisha arrived in Delhi. Taking an auto and directing directions, solely by Tanisha, they reached in front of Tanisha's house. Now this was a sight to behold.

Mohammed was the first one to see Tanisha. He wondered who the other lady was. Within a few seconds, they were the center of attention. Tanisha seemed far from any sort of mental illness. Thus causing utter confusion and havoc. The ladies in the streets got this hot news to talk about and primarily to blame about!

Tanisha was prepared for all this. She in fact prepared for worse, like cursing and swearing. But nothing of that sort happened, thankfully.

---

Ding dong.

No reply.

Ding dong.

No reply, again.

“Maybe he is asleep. Try calling him.”

“No charge.” I reminded her.

She took out her old, flip-flop mobile. “Try this.”

I raised my eyebrows. Taking the mobile quickly, I dialed his number. I could hear the mobile ringing from inside the house. Thankfully he had charged it., even after the third attempt, he didn’t bother to pick up the call. Now I turned suspicious. I started banging the door rudely. Oh my god! How can i explain this????

I heard the slight squeak of the fan!!!!

“Push the door!Push it open!” With our compiled power we pushed the door open, breaking its lock.

“Daddy! Pick up the footstool mommy!” i realized i called her mommy!

He had hanged himself, just a few minutes before our arrival. He was warm. I hugged him, trying to support his weight. Sangeetha had brought a chair, by then, to help support his body. Standing on a chair, she cut the rope loose. Since I was the one hugging him, we both fell flat on the floor. I twisted my ankle. That was the last thing that bothered me then. I could see the blood dripping(or rather oozing) out from his neck. I could see him going lifeless. I felt his soul drift away. With two pairs of teary eyes, two sinister knelt before him, dying inside.

An eternity left to melt over the remorse...