A Companion Like No Other

[Querida]

I think daytime soaps could take a lesson from you for cliffhangers

I'm getting a supernatural feel from the last chapter...and then what happened?

[AudazJay]

-4-

“AMMA!” my child’s voice. Before I could turn, I knew that my 5 year old daughter was running towards the backyard to her mom. That’s Diveena…always so vibrant and excited. Unlike Rishi…now he’s a different story.

I turned to give a big smile at Diveena. She stopped at her tracks the moment she saw me standing with Chitra. “APPA!” she grinned and jumped at me. I carried her with ease.

“Wow, iniki ivalo sikirema vandhethinge! Evola naal achi ungele parthu?” she said hugging me tightly. Sadness quickly crept into me. I always knew that I should have taken more effort to spend time with them. And right now, the innocent words of my daughter felt like a slap on my face. Somehow I know that I’m guilty of depriving them from the family they need.

Chitra quickly noticed the transformation in me and attempted to change the subject. “Ennadi, ivalo naala amma amma-ne konjikite irundhe, ippe appave parthedhum, ammave marendhe poyiricha?” she teased Divi.

“Illama, appa and amma, rendu perum BEST!” she exclaimed and laughed loudly, clapping her hands.

“Ramana enge da?” I enquired about my driver.

“Uncle veliyile irukare pa. Amma, enaku sariyane pasi, oru chocolate please?” begged Divi in the cute way of hers.

“Adi vanguve! Class-ke pogum bothe oru chocolate mullenggithe thane? Iniki un-quota mudinjadhe. Marupadiyum chocolate venumne kethina, nalai-odhe quotavum cut pannidhuven,” scolded Chitra.

Divi’s face changed. She looked down and then to turned to me. “Appa, please pa. Ore oru chocolate thane pa? Please….”she begged.

I don’t know how Chitra managed to be stern with Divi. Looking at her adorable face, I just didn’t have the heart to tell no to her.

“Divi kanna, Amma sonne pechai ketkenum. Nalaiki appa periye chocolate vangi tharen, ok va?” I managed somehow.

Given a choice, I really don’t mind if Diveena has the second bar of chocolate. But the truth is, Chitra and I have an agreement between us i.e if one has set a particular rule, especially when it’s regarding the interests and the wellbeing of the kids, then the other is duty bound to go along with it, whether he/she likes it or not. This is in order for the kids to know that Chitra and I will always stand by each other’s actions and that no amount of “cute talks” by the kids would change our mind.

“Ponge pa. Bad appa! Bad amma!” she shouted and struggled to get herself out of my arms. “Videnge enna!” she shouted and started to cry. I looked at Chitra helplessly but she just stood there, shaking her head.

I was really not in the mood to hear Divi’s cries as well…not after what Ive gone through with Chitra just now…and definitely not after what I’ve heard about Rishi. God, what a day this is turning out to be.

“OK, OK, chocolate vendam, iniki appa unna shopping kutithe poren. Would you like that?” I asked.

And just like that, she stopped wailing. I could swear that her face looked as if a thousand bulbs were shining on it. “She should have been an actress,” I muttered under my breath.

“Really? Eppa porum? Ippave pogelam, vange pa!” she said and somehow managed to free herself from my grip. “Ramana uncle! Kadi ye start panunge. Namme shopping pogelam!” she shouted and ran off towards the front porch. At that point I was pretty sure that not only Ramana, but the whole neighbourhood would have heard about our shopping trip.

Ramana walked into the house the moment he heard Divi’s voice.

He smiled lovingly at her. “Enna illavarasi amma, shopping pogenuma?” he asked affectionately.

“Yes!, Kaadi start panunge Uncle,” she exclaimed.

“Irunge illavarasi. Thambi-ye kupedhe vendamma? Averum shopping-ke varenum thane?” he asked her.

“Rishi-ya? Aven enge varuvan? Yeppe pathalum avenode friend-da pathiye pesikithe irukan. Loosu Rishi!” she said.

“Diveena!” snapped Chitra. Diveena looked at Chitra and looked down again but thank God, no tears came out from her this time.

[AudazJay]

-5-

I was actually more stunned by Divi’s remark than Chitra’s sudden outburst. I looked at Chitra.

“Friend? We didn’t discuss this,” I whispered to Chitra.

“I don’t know anything,” she whispered back. I nodded, believing her immediately. I turned to look at Ramana.

“Ramana, car start pani vei. Ippo vandheruvom,” I told him.

“Ok boss!” smiled Ramana before leaving.

“I want to talk to him first,” I told Chitra.

“Yes, please,” she nodded. “I’ll get Divi ready.”

I was already walking upstairs to Rishi’s room while Chitra was talking to Divi.

“Ethanai thadhave unkitte solliruken. Rishiye loosu ne kupidhe kudhadhene-“ I heard Chitra telling Divi.

I knocked on Rishi’s room door before turning the door knob open. Rishi was sleeping soundly on the bed. “Should I wake him up?” I thought to myself.

“Rishi boy,” I called out softly. After a while, he opened his eyes slowly. The moment he saw me, his face widen with a big smile.

“Appa,” he called out.

I opened the door widely and went to sit on his bed. He opened his arms to me with a big grin. I just couldn’t resist kissing his cheeks and giving a big hug to him.

“Thukema Rishi boy?” I asked him. He nodded. Then grinning, he shook his head.

Funny, he looks perfectly fine. There was no fever and he certainly didn’t seem to be acting weird. What was Chitra babbling about just now?

“Uneke odembe sarilene Amma sonange,” I asked him. “Ippo epedi iruke?”

He looked at me…it was more like a stare actually. “Po-“ he said, or so I think. Did I hear him right? He said “po”? Did he really tell me to go away?

“Huh? Enna sonne?”

“Poi pa! “ he looked up to me and said sternly, his eyes glaring with anger.

I was really shaken up by this time. Without realizing, I had moved a few inches away from him.

“Amma poi solurange! Amma vendam pa! Rombe poi! Rombe poi!” he was hysterical by now.

“Hey, enna sollikithe iruke? Amma poi sonanggela? Enna poi?” I asked him, my voice quivering with fear.

“Ellame poi pa. Avenge soleradhe ellame poi! Nambenge, pa,” he pleaded.

I was totally dumbstruck. Chitra’s outburst, Divi’s remarks and now Rishi…suddenly the idea of coming home early didn't appear to be as appealing as i thought it would.

Even handling my most complicated clients is far easier than being with my family right now. I looked at Rishi.

He was lying back on the bed and tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Amma vendam pa. Rombe poi peserange,” he repeated continuously.

“Ram!” I could hear a distant voice calling me.

Chitra’s voice!

[pavalamani pragasam]

Nail-biting suspense!!!

[AudazJay]

Glad you think so

There were times when i wondered if my writing was expressive enough to create the feeling that i wanted to invoke on the readers.
Your remarks have just lifted my hope

[NOV]

add me to your growing list Jay.
continue quickly... suspense thaangala

[AudazJay]

continue quickly... suspense thaangala

With pleasure

[AudazJay]

-6-

I walked down slowly to the living room. My head was pounding, my heart was beating fast.

Chitra was lying? Was that what I heard Rishi said? What did she lie about?

“Hey!” a tap on my back. I turned. Chitra looks kinda strange now. Strange? No, not strange…different. She’s really looks different.

“So, what happened? Did you talk to him? Did he say anything?” she asked. Is she using a new perfume? She smells different.

“Hmmm…you’re right, he’s not well. Ethuvume solla mathinggira,” I told her.

“See, see! Didn’t I tell you?” she exclaimed. Her hair looks different too. Did she style it differently?

“Yeah…you did” I retorted.

“Maybe we should take him to the psychiatrist, what do you think?” She even did her manicure and pedicure. Chitra never did this…unless there’s a function to attend or someone special’s coming home.

Someone special?

“Yeah, maybe,” I managed. All of a sudden, I can’t seem to breathe easily.

“I heard about Dr. Vatsala Sivam, she’s really good, I think” So, you’ve done you homework too, huh?

“I’ll think about it,” I just have to sit. My headache is killing me. What’s happening to me? “I need some water,” I whispered softly, too soft even to my ears.

But I guess Chitra must have heard them. She was back in a jiff with a glass of water. I don’t know when I started to walk but before I knew, I was there sitting on the couch. Could this really be happening to me? Was Rishi right? I mean, I’ve heard of many stories whereby the wives cheat on their husbands, but could this be right in our case too? Would Chitra actually cheat me?

“Are you ok?” Chitra asked.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, taking the glass from her. “Are you expecting someone today?” I blurted out.

She looked at me with a blank look on her face. “Expecting someone? Who?”

“I don’t know,” I just shrugged my shoulders. “You look different, that’s why.”

“Yeah right!” so she said and went towards the kitchen. “Anyway, aren’t you getting ready?” she asked from the kitchen.

“Etheku?” For my funeral??? I’m going bonkers! I really think I am!

“You promised Divi you’ll take her out to the mall, remember?” she came to sit beside me.

“Oh right, I forgot…I don’t think I’m too well, Chitu-“

“Why? What’s wrong?” she sounded genuinely concerned.

“No, no, nothing. It’s just that…you know…with all these stuff going on today. I’m just very tired,” I informed.

“At least now you know what I’m going through,” she said.

“Can you do me a favor, honey?”

She looked up.“Yeah?”

“Can you please take Divi to the mall? I’ll look after Rishi,” I needed to do this alone.

“What? You know how difficult he is. How are you going to manage alone?” she asked.

“I’ll manage. Don’t worry. Nee kuthite po. Naan parthekeren.”

[AudazJay]

-7-

Half hours later, I was back at Rishi’s room. He was still lying on his bed, but this time I could hear him talking…but it’s hard to make out what he’s saying.

“Rishi boy,” I called out. I could see his body shudder. Slowly he turned around to look at me.

“What are you doing kanna? Mani 6 achi, yendira pa,” I told him softly.

He gave his cherubic smile again and sat up on the bed.

“Vaa, let’s go downstairs,” I just felt like getting out of this particular room.

He just shook his head. “Why? Ennachu?” I asked him.

“Avenge irupange,” he whispered with his head down.

“Yaaru?”

After a moment or two, came the reply. “Ma…”

“Amma irundhe yennada?” I tried to provoke him to talk more.
“Rombe poi,” he looked up with the same glaring eyes he had just now. It’s weird to note how his facial expressions could change dramatically from one minute to another.

“Enna poi? Amma enna poi sonange boy?”

“Ellame poi pa. Avengele veliye anupidunge! Veliye po solunge pa!” he started.

Such remarks? And that too from a three years old boy? What is he saying? Gosh! My headache came back!

I still remember how proud I was when Rishi said his first words at the age of 8 months. By the age of 2 years, he could converse fluently in both Tamil and English. That amazed me. He amazed me. But looking at him now, I don’t know if I could believe me own ears. I thought I had a perfect family. Why does everything seem to be breaking apart now?

“Rishi, please kanna,” I started. “Appadi ellam pese kudhadhe. Amma poi sole mathange."

“Illai pa-"

“Amma poi sonnangene unaku epadi theriyum?” I asked, my voice harsher than intended.

“Nikhil,” he whispered.

“What?”

“Nikhil told me,” he replied softly.

“Nikhil told you?”

[NOV]

Nikhil my friend