Chapter 9 Part 8

Prithvi...(past)

He rang the doorbell, his hand shivering slightly but not due to the fear. He was way past frightened now.

"Bhaiya!" Pratham opened the door and flung in his arms with tears in his little eyes "you came! Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

Of course his mother knew but hadn't bothered to receive him from the juvenile home. Six months had been short but felt like a lifetime for him. He looked older than his fifteen years and leaner, but tougher.

"How are you?"asked Pratham as his brother simply entered without a word.

"Who is it beta?"his mother came out of the kitchen and her eyes met her elder son's "Prithvi?"she gasped. He didn't acknowledge her but went straight to his room taking his clothes which he had worn at his first day.

She followed him to his room "Prithvi?"she called out softly and opened the door to see him curled up in bed. "How are you?"she asked, sitting next to him.

He didn't avert his gaze "why do you care maa?"he said without any emotion. She placed a hand on his back "I missed you". He scoffed "you must have missed hitting me".

"Don't say that!"she chided "I kept coming to see you..but you won't see me at all". He stared at the ceiling "I'm hungry maa..can I have food?"

"Yes...I'll keep it ready" she said and walked away. He watched her go, he didn't feel like crying; he had stopped crying since long as there was no point in crying for the inevitable. This was his life and he prepared to accept it.

They sat on the table for dinner as their mother kept the dishes on the table "I made pulav" she said in an excited voice "you love it don't you?"she asked her elder son.

"Yeah" said Prithvi as he gobbled up the rice in one go. Pratham kept giving furtive glances at him now and then. "I met your principal" she said, putting extra rice on his plate "you've been suspended this year...he said you can give exams next year".

Prithvi nodded "that's okay..I would have failed anyway"he washed his hands and walked back to bed.

"Bhaiya?" Pratham walked in as lay in bed and staring at the ceiling "I'm sorry". Prithvi turned his gaze "why?"

Pratham hugged him with tears in his eyes "I'm sorry...you went to jail because of me...I'm so sorry" he cried harder "I told maa but she wouldn't believe me..she said I'm lying to protect you".

Prithvi smiled "it's not your fault...you were angry" he wiped his brother's tears "and I would do anything for you..so don't be sorry".

Pratham looked at him "I told papa but he didn't believe me either..he went back to that boy..I hate him bhaiya..I hate papa!" Prithvi didn't know what to say to him.

"I'm sleepy..can we talk tomorrow?"he said instead. Pratham nodded and gave him the pillow. That was when he noticed his brother's hand "what is this?"he asked, observing the scar on his right arm.

"Uh..nothing..I fell" Pratham said, pulling his arm away. Prithvi felt like he was hit by a thunderbolt. He knew this was the same answer he gave his father.

"Did she..hit you as well?"he asked, the thought sickening him. Pratham forced a smile "no bhaiya! Its nothing..I'm telling you".

Prithvi got up and walked towards the kitchen where his mother was cleaning the dishes "how dare you!"he yelled "are you even human?"

She turned "what are you talking about?" He gritted his teeth in anger "what did we ever do to you? Why do you treat us like animals?"

She didn't say a word as she went on washing the dishes "maa?"he yelled again, not caring about the repercussion "answer me!"

She crashed the glass on the floor and it shattered into tiny pieces. She held the broken glass in her hand and approached him as he watched her in stunned eyes "one more word and I'll stab you with it!"

His eyes widened in horror as the full impact of what she was going to do to him struck him with full force and he finally accepted the transparent truth "maa?"he whispered "you need help".

She stared at him and suddenly threw the glass away into the sink "go to sleep Prithvi" she said, without turning back. He didn't move a muscle as he waited for her to say something but when she didn't, he walked out of the room.

He rummaged for his clothes on the cupboard and pushed then inside a large plastic. Pratham watched him wordlessly as he piled up his clothes as well "what's wrong? Where are we going?"he asked in surprise.

"We're not staying here" Prithvi said, zipping the bag and coming out of the room "we're going away from here". Pratham shook his head "but I'm not leaving maa". Prithvi stared angrily "fine! You choose her than me, isn't it?"

Pratham bit his lip "please..I don't want to choose anyone". Prithvi pulled his hand "one day she's going to kill us Pratham..she's sick and we need to go away from here" he cupped his brother's face "are you with me?"

Pratham seemed to be thinking "I'm with you..always" he said finally. Prithvi gave a sad smile "get hold of your school bag then".

They came out of their room and she stared at them "what's going on?" Prithvi shrugged "we're leaving you". She raised her eyebrows in surprise "where will you go?"

"Who cares? Anywhere but here..I'm sick of you and this life" Prithvi snapped "we'll go wherever our destiny takes us". She looked at them for a moment "I'm sorry.." she said and to his utter surprise, hugged him "please stay with me, I won't hit you again I promise!"

He looked at her and her tears, Pratham nudged him "please bhaiya, let's stay". He dropped the bag and hugged her, "I love you maa" he said smiling a little "I'm sorry..".

The next day Pratham was in school and Prithvi was in his room, cleaning his cupboard with a smile.

Everything was going to be fine, he knew it in his heart. Humming to himself, he came inside the kitchen to have lunch as he was angry only to find it empty.

"Maa?"he called out and saw her sitting on the balcony. "What are you going here?"he asked "let's have lunch, I'm hungry". She didn't move, he nudged her and she collapsed on the floor.

He let out a shriek...

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He couldn't believe his luck! They had believed it, every freaking bit of it! Inwardly laughing but satisfied at the way the night had turned out, he chatted with his colleagues endlessly, his eyes drifting every now and then towards Aarti who was talking to Teena.

He had to admit, she looked extremely pretty wearing a red anarkali suit which matched her complexion, but it was those heels which amused him. Probably to hide her real height, he mused.

"She's a sweet girl dude!" Kevin appeared behind him "I'm really happy for you".

"Thanks man" Prithvi felt bad for him, and many others for having successfully deceiving them, at his expense. But they brought in on themselves, he thought.

"Prithvi?" Pragati approached them with excitement "come on, it's time to cut cake!"she took his hand and led him to the table where a huge cake was placed.

Aarti stared at him and he couldn't read her expression. She's pissed, he thought as everyone cheered for them. "Cut the cake moron!" Kevin cheered.

Prithvi looked at her guiltily but she nodded and held the knife kept next to the cake. "Help her you idiot!" Prashanth teased.

Prithvi placed his hand above hers as they cut the cake together and everyone sang "congratulations and celebrations". After they had cut the cake and fed the others, Aarti looked at him "let's go" she mouthed.

"Wow Aarti!" Piped Teena before he could answer "that's a beautiful bracelet, diamond is it?" Aarti nodded "yeah..my grandpa gifted it to me".

"Wow..he must love you very much" Teena smiled. Aarti touched the metal softly "yeah..he did"she didn't smile. Teena held her hand "I'm sorry..".

"It's okay..excuse me" Aarti walked past them and that's when Prithvi realised why she didn't want to remove it. Shit!he cursed himself for being so insensitive.

He followed her but she had already disappeared into the ladies room. He waited outside to apologise. After all, she had helped him in the charade.

She came out and he noticed her nose had turned slight pink. She met his eye "what are you doing here?"her rude tone was back.

"I..uh..wanted to apologise" he stammered "I'm sorry..for being stupid..I didn't know about your grandfather". She gave a scathing look "who the hell are you to care?"she snapped "I don't pay you to be sweet.. so quit this innocent act and leave me alone"she walked past him and he couldn't help but gawk at her.

Why had she become hostile all of a sudden? he wondered in amazement and later realized she must really miss her grandfather as she had told earlier she didn't have her parents since she was searching for her father.

He came back to join the others but she was extremely quiet and stood out from the rest of his colleagues. "I think your wife's really tired" Kevin said, patting his hand.

"Yeah..I guess we'll leave then" Prithvi looked at the others "thank you so much guys..this means a lot" he said guiltily.

He joined her "shall we go?"he asked. She nodded meekly.

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"Thank you for being a sport" he said as they drove silently. She didn't speak and looked out of the window, without casting a glance in his direction.

"Aarti?"he called, trying to make a small talk; she did help him didn't she?

"Hmm?"she murmured, without turning back. "I almost forgot to tell you...the girl from the hospital we went to?" he reminded her "she called last night and told me the details are ready...that we can go and collect it the next day...she.."

"That's good" she turned before he could complete speaking "I'll collect it myself". He looked at her briefly "but you said you want my help...".

"I said I'll do it myself" she said firmly and he controlled his temper. Did she have a bipolar disorder? Was she demented? How could she change so fast?

They reached her apartment and he stopped the car in front of the entrance, getting out and opening the door for her.

"Good night" she said and he stared "don't you want me to drop you?" She shook her head "I'm not a kid..I can walk".

"It's too late..let me" he said, slightly irritated at her tantrum. She was being really nasty and he didn't understand why. "I'll be fine...you should go" she said.

He'd had it! "I'm coming with you" he said and walked with her towards the elevator. She gritted her teeth "please just go Prithvi..". He ignored her and pressed the button to enter.

He noticed her veil entangled at the door and tried to pull it. She caught her veil immediately and pushed it "don't touch me!"she yelled, moving away from him.

"I was only trying to.." he quirked his eyebrows in confusion "what's gotten into you?" The elevator stopped and she rushed out immediately.

"Aarti wait!"he called her "what the hell's going on?" She turned "thank you for dropping me..you can leave". He could feel her shivering a little, as if she was scared of him.

"Not until you tell me what's going on" he moved past her and opened the door to let himself in "you're acting weird...everything okay?" She wiped her brows "I'm not well... please can you leave me alone?"

He went to say something but thought otherwise "fine" he took a step ahead when she called him "one more thing...I'll inform you if I need you again...till then, don't bother to come here".

He took a step closer to her "okay that's it!"he caught her hand "I won't leave until you tell me..don't test my patience".

She tried to avert her gaze but couldn't but in vain as he locked her gaze with his "I don't know who you are..and what you've done in your past but I want you to stay away from me..and my life"she said, and he could feel her hands trembling beneath his.

He removed his hand "what have I done?"he growled. She swallowed the lump in her throat "I know you were in juvie..what have you done?"

He moved back, stunned "what? Who told you this?"he stammered. It had to be Teena, the bitch was jealous and she tried to create havoc, he somehow put the pieces together.

"I thought you made it very clear that we don't meddle in each other's business" he snidely pointed out, moving away from her.

"Yes...but I'm not the criminal here" she snapped. He scoffed "you're scared I'm going to kill you or something?" She gaped at him "I..won't let you..I'm not afraid of you".

He smirked and before she could gather herself, pulled her close against him "you're lying" he whispered in her ear "you're afraid of me..you're ready to piss yourself".

"You!"she tried to push him in vain "you've a dirty mouth". He grinned "yeah..one of my traits. So..middle eastern princess" he mocked "get used to dirt from now on". She glared "what are you going to do? Shove me away like Maitri?"

His hands suddenly left hers and for a moment, he looked at her with a blank face "is that why she left you? Because of something you did?" Aarti asked with a sneer.

He was a silent for a while, it had been a long time since he had heard that name from someone. Her name had been like a taboo because people avoided using her name, even Pratham although he used the terms 'chudail' and 'bitch' and telling him she was the only girl whom he called those words.

"Yeah..something like that" he said finally, settling on the couch and drinking the bottle of water. She settled on the couch "wow!"she mused, "I thought you were a con artist..I could never have guessed". He shrugged, feigning indifference "and I thought you were a virgin".

She held her hand to struck his face but stopped "why did you stop? I'm used to beatings..bring it on" he said, before he could stop it.

"I don't want to make my hands dirty" she remarked with spite. He gave a jeering snort "you already did babe".

Silence fell on them as she couldn't get a comeback to wipe that sassy smirk off his face.

He got up "I didn't kill anyone..don't worry.."he stated casually. She gave a dirty look "and blinding a kid and hitting him makes you a saint then?"

"I didn't blind him actually..I managed to hit his eye but he isn't blind" he corrected her "that Teena really is a malicious gossip".

Aarti stared at him "and you hit a guy so bad that he ended up in hospital" she pointed out "do you have a fetish for beating up people?"

He laughed "what if I say yes?" She got up too "just a hopeful reminder..if you ever show your fetish to me..I'll cut your balls" her voice was sharp.

"Talk about a dirty mouth" he gave a lopsided grin. "Guess I learnt from the master" she shot back.

He was halfway through the door when he cast a scornful glance at her "I went to juvie because I was stupid and young"he said "and I beat up that guy because he deserved it" he walked out.

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He lay in bed, thinking. She wasn't at all what he had expected...stupid little rich girl!he cussed tossing around. He wasn't feeling sleepy. At the end, they were all the same; they were all like Maitri...I should never let her close to my mind...please God, let me forget her...but he knew he couldn't..he was not even close...

His phone rang, it was Pratham from the hostel. "What's wrong?"he asked, checking the time as it was halfway through midnight "are you okay?"

"I'm fine bhaiya!" Pratham said "I tried calling you so many times but it was switched off". Prithvi remembered "I was...busy"he didn't want to tell his brother about the party or Aarti. His brother would see right through the facade, if not others and even know why...

"I thought so.." said Pratham "I'm sorry for calling this late..but it's papa". Prithvi sat up straight "what the hell? You're still talking to him?"he was angry.

"No...Shravan called" Pratham's voice sounded dull "papa..he's admitted to the hospital..he said the doctors are unsure of how long he's going to live".

Prithvi felt his insides constrict "I.. which hospital?"he found himself asking. "The government medical college hospital" said Pratham "can we seen him..please?" Prithvi looked out of the window before replying "no". Why was it so difficult to oversee things? Why couldn't he be like his brother? No! He could never be.

"Bhaiya? He's dying..we need to see him one last time" Pratham pleaded. Prithvi didn't cry but he could imagine his brother's hurtful expression "okay..you may see him..but don't count me in.."he said finally.

"But why are you..?"he cut his brother's words "and Pratham?"he said slowly "tell him I forgive him".