Jayamma's Bangles - Part 2

Naani loved jumping in the puddles. However, today she was in no mood. She avoided them and stepped onto the pavement. She took the longest route yet  her house seemed to have appeared sooner.

Jayamma who was waiting for her rushed to her.

"Did you find him?"

"No, Ammamma. I looked for him in every street" Naani exaggerated. Jayamma was getting restless.

"Did you ask anyone if they have seen him?"

"I did. I asked Venkanna from who we bought the bananas. He said taata took the 5.30 bus to the town."

"He did?"

Naani nodded her head. Jayamma knew it. She knew it all along. She knew her efforts would be futile.  Her eyes filled with tears. Naani went inside quietly to change her wet clothes.

That night Naani lied down on the folding cot under the open sky and waited for Jayamma to come to her. The unusual activity made her tired and counting the stars; Naani slept off. It was past midnight when she felt a small chill and looked for the blanket that normally rested at her feet. She didn't find one. She didn't find her ammamma too next to her. She woke up to go and get the blanket. Jayamma was sleeping alone inside. Naani went and snuggled her.

Naani woke up late the next morning. It was second Saturday which meant two holidays and more playing with Sumathi. But today did not feel like a holiday. Ammamma was quieter than usual. Today she did not even have breakfast. Naani felt sad. In a small voice, she called “Ammamma”.

“Ummm..” There was a moan kind of whisper from Jayamma.

“Will taata come tonight?"

"No”, answered ammamma almost to herself. It was as though ammamma knew that taata wouldn't come home that night.

“Ammamma when will he return?", she asked dread filling her insides. She no longer felt like having breakfast.

Jayamma replied, "Monday Morning"

"How do you know?"

"You will see for yourself"

 Naani nodded and tried to understand.

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Finally, it was Monday morning. Naani was brushing her teeth in their backyard when she heard the clank of the gate. Happily she ran. Her taata was right there. Ammamma was right all along!

"Taata is here!". She shouted, her mouth still full of toothpaste. But something was not right. His clothes were untidy.  Not just untidy, he looked shabby and dirty.

"Taata, where were you?" Little did she realize that he was half deaf. He smiled at her and went inside. Naani was surprised that Jayamma didn't say anything to him. She did not even look happy to see taata back.

She ran and tugged at her sari. "Ammamma, taata is home". Jayamma was silent. "Ammamma, taata is home".

"I  know, said Jayamma silently”.

"You were looking for him on Friday. He is home now".

"I know".

Naani didn't know what else to say. The silence was awkward. She slowly went and picked her books to write. She watched her taata brush, shave and go to the bathroom. Naani saw Jayamma rummaging through his dirty clothes. She went from pocket to pocket, only to find it empty. He came out with a towel wrapped around and switched on the iron.

Jayamma lifted the dirty dhoti with a stick and dangled it in front of him. "What is this?" Naani couldn't help laughing at her ammamma's sarcasm. Her taata yanked it away in a jerk. Naani felt scared.

Wearing a clean white dhoti, he walked out. Out of the same iron gate where she had been hanging for the past three days waiting for taata to return in big long strides. On the soft muddy roads hardening after the rain.

Jayamma slumped onto the floor and leaned against the gas cylinder in the corner of the kitchen. Naani ran inside. She knew her ammamma was about to cry. She was scared when elders cried. She wanted to hug her ammamma, tightly. Something drew her back. She stood there, silently. Jayamma held her last pair of gold bangles with her fingers loosely as if she was going to drop them any moment.

The house was filled with silence and it made Naani awkward. The same awkward silence Naani felt half an hour back. She bent her head pretending not having seen anything. But deep inside, she wanted to run. Somewhere where there was no silence. Where her taata didn't disappear on the Friday before second Saturdays, and she didn't have to run to the bus stand to fetch him, where her taata didn't come back with dirty dhoti and a stench on Monday mornings. Where ammamma didn't have to stare at the crumpled bills from the Kirana (Grocery) store and the current office with trembling hands, where ammamma would be wearing her last pair of bangles and not holding them between her fingers. Naani wished her taata never went to the clubs and spend his entire salary playing cards.

P.S: A special thanks to Sridevi Datta in helping me do a wonderful job in completing my first short story. Thank you for all your time.