Kowsalya made Dammu shift her things to her son’s room. Krishna was very much offended by this. He looked at his mother with defeated eyes. He didn't like this arrangement one bit. But he could not deny his mother. He was still in confusion about his own heart. The fatal attraction he has for this little girl is extremely dangerous, and he knows it is completely wrong, but he could not help it. Dammu was not making it any easier for him. Everything she does makes his lips curl up in a smile.
Dammu, on the other hand, was swallowing her husband in her eyes at every chance she got. She got quite comfortable in her day bed in his room. He got her a phone on the request of his mom. She talked to her mom, dad, and sister every day. She kept playing detective games on her phone. Dammu spent her day chatting with Thulasi and Maruthani while helping them. She loved doing pooja with her mother-in-law. Agalya was just right for her. She kept playing with her out in the garden. She settled into her new home just like that! Everyone liked her for her funny talks and character. All these activities only happen when her husband leaves home. Once he is back from his work, she would paste herself with him. She would keep walking behind him.
“Are you ready?” He asked her as he was getting ready for his office. Dammu looked at him puzzled.
“Are we going out?” She asked him with wide eyes, to which he nodded his head in a yes.
“Aiya!” She jumped in her place and ran into the restroom to take a bath. It is monday and it is the day he wanted her to join the tutorial class.
“Ennanga!” Dammu peeped her head out of the restroom door. Krishna was dumbfounded!
“What?” He asked her, turning to the opposite side. He could clearly see her cloth-less shoulder! Her face and shoulder were decorated with water droplets!
“I forgot to take my towel.” She said, forwarding her hand to him. He shook his head and gave her the towel. He went out in a jiffy!
She was truly testing him. Even though he tried to avoid her, it was impossible for him to do it. It was all a facade for him! He thinks that he is safe until she thinks that his rejection is true. When she realizes that her husband is acting like he doesn't like her, if she decides to persuade him, he feared for the outcome.
“Where are we going?” Dammu ran down the stairs in her violet salwar with white pants and a dupatta with a floral pattern all over it. Her long hair was still in a messy bun on top of her head.
“Get ready soon!”
“Pch, please tell me where we are going. Is this dress ok? Or do you want me to drape a saree?” She asked him, showing her around. Krishna swallowed that lump in his throat at her display. She is a chubby girl. The salwar was hugging her curves perfectly. Her hourglass shape is making him mad. Her wide hips are so attractive. Her dupatta was not in place, and he could not move his eyes away.
‘Am I that weak?’ he thought to himself. He could not believe that he was looking inappropriately at a girl. That's too, a little girl! A girl 7 years younger than him!
“This dress is fine. But do dress properly. Come soon.” He told her, looking down her neck, and walked to the dining table to eat his breakfast. Dammu looked down at her and was confused about what he meant by dressing properly. She ran upstairs and brushed her hair in beautiful french braids. She put on a ring on her ears and threw the dupatta on her like she did before circling her neck and ran down the stairs in complete joy! This is the first time her husband is taking her out!
“I am ready!” She said. His eyes stayed on her breasts. It was going up and down due to her running. He stood up and walked slowly near her. His eyes have already made her dizzy. She gulped down her anxiety.
“Um… what?”
“Come!” He pulled her hands and pushed her into the guest room. He made her stand in front of the huge mirror on the wall. He stood behind her more closely so that she felt his breath on her shoulder and the back of her neck. She shivered at the contact but looked at him through the mirror. She looked at him in question.
“You are a very beautiful girl.” He said that turned her cheeks crimson. She looked down, and her lips curved up in a smile.
“You have everything a little too much!” He said, and she raised her eyes at him. “You should know that not all men are nice. You are very sexy and attractive.” He continued while his hands pulled her dupatta from her neck and slid it over her bosoms. Dammu was in shock! Her husband’s hands lazily dragged on her shoulders and bosoms while he fixed her dupatta.
“Do you understand?” He asked her after hiding her treasures under her dupatta. She nodded her head in a trance. She still could not come out of this feeling. A ghostly feeling that she has never experienced! Her stomach made knots, and she felt like she needed to pee urgently. Her throat dried up, and she felt it hard to breathe.
“Now go and get your new books! You are getting late for your tutorial class.” He dropped a bomb that brought her out of that trance he put her in.
“Aiyayo!” She said it out loud and tried to act like fainting.
“Don't you dare try it?” He warned her for which she looked at him with pitiful eyes. “Go and bring the books. Eat fast, and we have to go.” He said and walked out casually as if nothing had happened here in this room.
‘Poachu, jolly ah veliya polam nu patha, tuition ku poga solraru. Sariyana imsai! Intha aalu kita irunthu epdi thappikrathu? (I'm done, I thought of going out with him in a jolly mood, but he wants me to go to tuition. He is a torturer. How would I escape from this man?)’ she thought to herself, but her feet walked to their room and brought those books down. She gulped down the breakfast in silence.
“Athai, talk to him.” She nudged her mother-in-law.
“Krishna, what is the need for her to go to tuition?”
“Amma, she is my wife. I know what is good for her. This is between husband and wife, and I don’t like you getting between us.” He stopped his mother. He is angry at her for everything she is making him do. Kowsalya, though hurt by her son’s words, trusts in him. She knew that her son would never be wrong and her daughter-in-law would make his life colorful and happy!
Dammu dropped her head low and went with him with her heavy bag of books. He drove to the tutorial center that was two roads away from his home. He dropped her there after talking to the teacher.
“You will get all the help you need. Concentrate on your studies.” He told her before leaving.
Damayanthi felt like crying. She sat on the last bench but the teacher called her to the first desk. Scolding her husband in her mind, she walked to the first desk. Everyone was way ahead of her, and the teacher took special care of her. He started teaching her from the start, but all Dammu could think of was her husband’s hands on her. How dare he touch her like that and walk away as if he had done nothing wrong? Even now, she felt goosebumps erupt all over her body just thinking about what he did to her.
“Listen here!” The teacher raised his voice at her. She tried so hard to concentrate but no! All she could see was her husband and his strong biceps and chest.
“Pch, I want to go home.”
“It's not even an hour yet, and you want to go home?”
“Please, sir. This is not my fort. Let's make a deal.”
“What?” The teacher shrunk his eyebrows at her. He was an elderly male with a bald head and must be around 50 years old. Krishna already had told him about his wife and that she is not interested in studying further. He asked the teacher to be aware of her tricks.
“Just let me go. I will make sure you will not be in trouble. You can have the tuition fees in turn for this help.”
“What the hell? Wait, let me call your brother.” The teacher said, which made her shrink her eyebrows in confusion.
“Brother?”
“Yeah, the man who brought you here,” he said, and that is all she wanted to hear before standing up.
“Who do you call my brother? Sotta thalaya(bald head), Mandaya polanthuruven (I will break your head)! He is my husband.” she shouted, earning giggles from the students.
“Get out!” He shouted, and Dammu just disappeared.
As she was walking out on the roads, she came across a huge ground where many boys were playing cricket. Dammu loves playing cricket with her friends in her village. She walked into the ground and saw three groups playing cricket. One group of big guys must be college guys. Two groups of school boys. They all looked young, and some of them were in school uniforms. That brought the memories of her friends, and she terribly missed them.
“Hey, shall I join your team?” Dammu asked one of the school groups. A tall boy from the group came forward.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Damayanthi,” she said while dropping her bag to the ground.
“Did you bunk your school?”
“Pch, not school. Tuition. Please join me on your team.”
“Hmmm, how old are you?”
“23”
“So you are very elder than us! Do you know cricket?”
“Yes!”
“Ok, will you come regularly or just for today?”
“I will come regularly!”
“Ok! Then go near the boundary.”
“Haan! I want to bat first.” She said, and the boys talked to themselves and agreed to give the bat to her. She got the bat happily and stood near the crease. First ball, and she got bowled out.
“Out!” Everyone screamed, but she looked at them calmly!
“That was a trial! Hmmm, now!” She threw the ball that was near her feet and got ready to face the ball.
Second ball! She hit it high, and the boy behind her caught it without moving an inch.
“Out!” they screamed again, but she looked at them calmly!
“Ok, first out!” She declared and got ready for the next ball.
“Hey, you are out,” Harish said with anger. He was the captain and leader of the group.
“Pch, you have to out me five times to get my wicket!” she said without flinching. The boys walked towards her in anger, and she started running around the ground with the bat. Soon, the other group of boys chased her, and she sat down in the center of the ground, wheezing for breath.
“Happa! Ok, ok!” she surrendered. Everyone sat around her as they were all very tired of chasing her.
“Kathirikka mari irunthutu intha ottam odura? Unna sethukittathey thappu. Olunga odiru. Inimey unna intha pakkam parthen apro avlotha. (How could you run so fast when you look like brinjal? Taking you on the team was a mistake. Just run away. If I happen to see you around anywhere here, then you will be done.)” Harish threatened her.
“Adinga, yara pathu kathirikka nu sonna? Mandaya odachuruven. Iru da, unga school la um unga veetla um pottu kudukuren. School ku pogama cut adichu tu, koluppa paru! (who do you call brinjal? I will break your head. Wait and see, I will talk to your school and your parents. You have bunked your classes and talking like this to me?)” She shouted back, and that ball scored a sixer for her. The boys withdrew.
“Ok ok! Don't be afraid. Let's be friends!” She forwarded her hands, and Harish looked at her with confusion, but he gave his hand to her. Before the end of the day, they all became good friends.
“Dei Harish! Catch it!” Dammu was screaming at her top voice when their opponent's team boy hit hard. It was going to cross the boundary line.
“What the hell are you doing here?” She heard her husband beside her. She was standing on the boundary line near the entrance of the ground, and Krishna, who came searching for her, saw her there.
“Aiyayo!” Dammu murmured her usual dialog and turned to see her husband.
“Idiot!” He growled at her and grabbed her hands.
“Naney varen (I will come myself) !” She tried to wriggle her wrist out of his grip, but with a look from her husband, she was silenced and walked quietly behind him.
“Hey, Dammu? Is everything alright?” Harish came running to her as he saw someone forcing her.
“Everything is fine. I will call you. Bye!” Dammu hand signaled him before getting into the car.
“Get the fuck in!” He growled! As soon as she sat in her seat, he turned to her and grabbed her face in his hand. She felt like he was going to crush her jaw bones. Her eyes welled up instantly. He took his hand off of her face but his hard palm made contact with her chubby cheek! She grabbed her burning cheek and looked at him in shock.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” He asked her, getting closer to her face. Dammu closed her eyes tight as she could not see her husband’s terror face.
‘Intha side pallu ellam vilunthu irukum! Amma, enna adi! (all my teeth on this side are gonna fall! Uff, what a shot!)’ she thought to herself.
“Look the hell up at me. I need answers when I am talking. Do you have the slightest idea of what you have done?” He asked her. Even after giving her a tight slap, his anger could not be subdued.