Who the heck gave troubles my address?
|K I R A Z|
"Open your mouth."
He still has that frown on his face, his small hands folded before him.
"Veer." I call out, my tone filled in annoyance. But the child, still ignores me glaring at the food.
I huff a breath, removing the carrot from the rice. I bring the spoon before him, for a minute he analyzes the morsel, then grumbles before opening his mouth and eating it.
"Chew it, properly."
"What happened to him?" Kabir takes the seat beside Veer. I look at him, stopping Veer hands, from scrapng his cheeks with his sleeves.
"Veer, there is nothing? I washed your face." I repeat the same words for the umpteenth time. Continuous wiping has turned his cheeks red.
"What happened to his cheek?" Kabir makes Veer face him, preventing his hand from touching his cheeks. "Veer, is your skin itching?"
"Veer got kissed on his cheek," Kavya emerges from the open kitchen, bringing a bowl of curd and placing it before Veer, then taking a seat in front of him. I scoop some curd, mix it with the rice, and feed him.
Who kissed you, Veer?" Kabir asks, amusement and bewilderment on his face.
"Sheela," Veer grumbles. "Aunty," I add for him, but the boy just rolls his eyes.
"Did you just roll your eyes?" I put the spoon down, hands on my hips, gazing down at him sternly.
"Mumma, I exercised my eyeballs." He replies. "Look." He points his finger at his doe eyes, rolling his eyes. My frown deepens, I don't know how this boy twist my every word.
"When I tell you to do it, you don't and out of no where you want to exercise your eyeballs." I scoop the rice, "Mumma, I listen-" I put the spoon in his mouth, "Tho Yohuu." Still, he wants to completes his sentence.
"Eat your dinner."
"Kiraz, you seat down, I will feed him." Kaveri aunty keep the bowl of Chicken curry. The smell itself is enough to growl my stomach.
"It's okay, you seat down. Just two spoons are left. Veer open your mouth." He stops rolling his car on the table, looking at me, and opening his mouth.
"Kabir did you take out my Christmas tree."
Kabir looks at him, smiling lovingly at him, "Yess, I did."
Veer gets downs from the chair, but I hold his hand, feeding him the last bite. He run off to the living room, screaming whatever limited vocabularies of beautiful he knows.
I take my seat beside Kabir, serving myself. The couch shell settled on my left wrist, shining in the yellow light of the dining table.
"You know you should stop wearing this?" Kabir whispers in my ears, for only me to hear it.
"I like it." He looks at the bracelet, before focusing on his dinner.
"What did that Sheela said?" Kavya asks. "Yess, even I forgot to ask."
I chew the food, "Nothing much, just smiling, using taunts in her sentences and yes kissing Veer's cheek."
Both the sibling snorts. "You wouldn't believe me, that boy just made me wash his face thrice with soap, and even after that he was still scratching his cheeks." I snort.
He doesn't let anyone touch him except Kiraz. I can't imagine his heartbreak after getting a smooch on his cheeks from a woman whose TV he couldn't break." Kabir always finds humor in any situation. He's never serious, except when it comes to his business.
"Kabir, how are the preparations for the party going?" Aunty inquires.
By "party," they mean New Year's. Every year, the neighborhood pitches in to rent a place at a beach and organizes a party to welcome the new year with good wishes. There's dancing, bars, food-everything you can think of.
"This year, everyone is thinking of hiring belly dancers," he adds.
"Yeah, I heard that too." I nod my head, continuing, "Today, Ravi uncle approached me. He wants to get food for the event from Rayer."
"Wow! That's such good news." I smile at them, seeing their cheerful faces.
"Since Rayer is a pure veg restaurant, he'll get food from us and arrange the non-veg from somewhere else." I pick up the discarded carrot from Veer's plate.
"This calls for a celebration," Kavya exaggerates, throwing her hands in the air.
"Celebration?" Veer runs from the living room, hearing the word. I sigh as I watch him jump to his feet, his hair bouncing. "I want the big piece of cake," he utters. For Veer, the word celebration means, having a big piece of cake.
"Okay, Veerpari." Kavya pinches his cheeks.
"Massi, I am not Veerpari." He frowns, resting his hand on his hip.
"You are."
"I am not."
"You are." Kavya bobs her head.
"I am not." Veer copies her.
"Veer Kavya, enough." One warning from Kabir and that is enough for them to be quiet.
Christmas passes by too quickly to grasp. Maybe happy times are always in a rush. I grab my purse from the hanger, throwing on a hoodie over my tank top and matching it with bootcut jeans.
"Veer, hurry up," I call out, putting on my shoes.
"Yes, Mumma, just the last scene," he says, eyes fixed on the TV screen.
"You can pause it and watch after we come home. After coming home, I have to go to the restaurant." I check my wrist. It's 8 a.m.
"Just a little," he gets down from the sofa, moving closer to sit on the ottoman. "Move back, Veer." He stays seated, still watching Moana. Veer really has a strange obsession with this Disney movie and the character. I guess my son is in love with a fictional character.
"Move back, Veer, or else I'm not letting you watch TV for a week," I declare. He huffs, getting back to his previous seat.
I exit the house, stretching my arms in the sunny weather, but it's just a façade because after some time, it's going to be cloudy and windy. I look at Nirvan, the white walls glowing, the tall coconut tree leaves fluttering in the air. I remove a hair strand that blows before my face, blocking my vision.
The window of one of the rooms facing west is left open. Not only that, even the balcony door too. I look towards the door of my house. Veer still has time. Pushing my phone into my hoodie, I move out of the compound, walking towards Nirvan.
A few workers carry stuff inside the house, the driveway gate left ajar. I notice Mujli uncle, the dark-skinned old man, instructing workers to handle the stuff properly.
"Good morning, Uncle," I wish him. He turns, showing a glimpse of his gummy teeth.
"Kiraz. Good morning. Going to the restaurant?"
"No, to the market," I show him the cloth bag.
His attention diverts towards the workers, watching them keenly.
"Is Mr. Naman Nihar Nirvan back from Canada?" Mr. Naman Nihar Nirvan is the owner of Nirvan. A few years back, he shifted to Canada for better pay and a better lifestyle, as if Goa was denying him his potential wage. Anyways, people's choice. I haven't met Naman Nihar Nirvan; he left two years ago before we shifted to this part of Goa.
"No," the old man shakes his head, "Naman Sahab's friend is going to stay for a month here."
"Family or alone?" Okay, I am a nosy neighbor. According to me, one must always keep themselves updated about the place they are staying, even if that means finding yourself in the middle of gossiping ladies, hearing whatever gossip they've got under their maxi. Life changed me for the worst.
I shrug, shoving my hands in my hoodies pocket.
"Family," the old man gives me a one-word answer, clearly indicating for me to get lost and let him focus on his job. "Oh," is the only word that comes out of my mouth.
When are they coming?" Last question for Mujli uncle. "They will be here in a few minutes; that's why I am telling them to hurry up," he waves his arms before the workers, gesturing for them to hurry the heck up.
"Mumma," Veer run out of the compound, towards us, latching his hand on my fingers.
"Good morning, Bijli uncle." He tugs my hand, trying to drag me, with him. My eyes widen, hearing my son roast someone's name. "Veer, Mujli uncle, not Bijli." I hiss at my son.
He skids his feet, still trying to pull me with him, "But, I like Bijli." I look from him, towards the old man, who smiles, gazing down at Veer, lovingly.
"I am sorry, uncle." I mutter apologetically, holding Veer firmly by his hands. The old man waves it as nothing, "It's okay. He made me remember my old friends. They used to call me Bijli." He crackle in frolic manner.
"Mumma, lets go." Veer whines, trying to free his hands from my hold. I smile at the old man, when Veer licks my hand, causing me let go his small hands.
"Veer." I hiss, watching him run, dodging the workers. I wipe my hands on my jeans, "I will see you later." The old man only smiles fondly at me.
Moving past the workers, I follow Veer. He stands two houses away.
I pick him up, making him hook his arms against my neck, "You are really asking for a good beating."
"I was practicing running." He chirped.
"Practice, huh?" I spank his butt, but he only giggles.
"Where are the mother-son duo going?" I halt near the gate where Leela, the young girl, is feeding birds. Shifting Veer to my right side, I explain, "To the market. Veer wants to eat fish." I offer a smile.
Leela mentions, "Veer, you don't come to play with Samir in our house nowadays." Veer, playing with my hair, responds, "Samir doesn't bathe, and he smells dirty, so I don't play with him."
God has sent Veer, because he wasn't able to have his tea in peace until he sees me getting embarrassed. Leela's face drops, before she half-smiles at us.
Veer points out passing cars, exclaiming, "Mumma, look so many cars." We both turn to see a line of black-tinted cars entering Nirvan's driveway.
"I heard somebody is going to shift into Nirvan. I didn't know our new neighbors were filthy rich." Leela's face mirrors Veer's awe. I clarify, "Temporary."
Her mouth forms an 'o.' "Temporary?"
"They've come for a month vacation." Her lips drop, and then she exclaims, "That means I have one month. Kiraz, bye. I have to go to the parlor." She dashes inside her house.
"Drama," Veer glares at Leela's house.
Walking towards the market, I caution, "Veer, don't say that."
"Mumma, she's bad," he asserts, a line appearing on his brow.
"Did she ever do or say something to you?" I observe him as he looks up, then nuzzles his face in the crook of my neck. A muffled "no" escapes.
"Don't lie to me." I scrutinize his expressions, knowing he acts touchy when lying.
"I'm not," he insists.
I massage my forehead; extracting information from Veer is always challenging. He's a troublemaker, but when it comes to sharing, he's not forthcoming.
"Okay. Let talk about your report card of the day which has already filled themselves with one bad star."
"I was a good boy, since morning." He removes his face from my neck, grimancing.
"Don't shout." I chide, "You called Mujli uncle Bijli and Samir a dirty boy. Even freed your hands and ran away. So, no chocolates if you manage to get three more bad stars." I narrow my eyes at him.
"Mumma, don't please. You didn't even give me chocolate yesterday, please naah." He pouts, keeping his cheeks on mine own.
"Who broke the tap of backyard?" We enter the market. I straight away go to the Ministop, which is a convenient store.
"I was just washing my football." I put him down, taking the basket. "Don't leave my hand, and you washing your football broke the tap. What about the scratches it has on its surface."
"Okay, I hit the stone on it." He admits. I take the egg, and milk from the freezer.
"Why?" I scrunched my face, comparing two cheeze items.
"Because I want to see whether the water comes out or not." He blinks his eyelids.
"Baby, if you have a curiosity ask-"
"Mumma, chocolate." Veer jumps walks towards the chocolate racket. Parenting needs patience, and with Veer one needs every strength of the universe to not throw this boy in a rocket and send him to universe.
I sigh. "Take one." He takes a carton of dairy milk, where four different flavor bars are packet together.
"I said one bar of chocolate." He smiles sheepishly at me, before coming towards me. I sharp my eyes. He scowls a little, before thrusting the carton in the shelves and picking a bar.
I read out the last item from the list, "fish." I mumble. We head to the frozen section, analyzing each packet and checking the prices. '5000,' I mutter, feeling like it was born in a mansion.
"Mumma," I look down, watching Veer had crossed his legs, moving to and fro. Don't say, please don't.
"I want to pee." My head hangs down. Ministop has probably no washroom. Our house falls at a distance of seven minute and six minutes at run.
"Can it wait?" I breathed out.
"I will do it in my pants." That's enough for me to pick him in my arms, pushing the people before me, throwing the items on the counter.
"I will use my card, please hurry up." I take out my card.
"Madam, we were in the line." Someone pokes his finger on my arm.
I snap my neck toward him, my eyes narrowing, "My son has to urgently use the washroom, if you don't want to step on his urine accidently, so please let me check out first." The man grimace before moving back.
I swipe my card, taking the bag and receipt, before pushing the door, and dashing out of the store.
I keep him down, but the deed is done. Before I can open his zip, he pees in his pants. Which wet his trouser, a pool forming near his feet. I rank my fingers through my hairs. "Did you drink gallons of water before coming out?" Because he still wets his pants.
"Done." I remove my hoody, before bending down, and taking out his pants.
"We are home." I dropped the shopping bag on the dinning table, throwing the polythene bag which smells of urine, containing Veer's drenched pants, at the corner of the hallway. I walk to the common bathroom, unwrapping my hoodie from him, and throwing it in washing machine.
"Kavya, can you get Veers pant."
"Yess."
"You were holding your pee since the time you were watching Moana." Veer says nothing, instead of standing between my legs.
"Veer, how many times should I tell you to not hold your pee." I cried out. Taking the pants, I make him wear it. "Will you ever listen to one thing I say?" And the next moment I know, I hear a bawling Veer, fat tears rolling from his eyes.
"Don't cry now." I take him in my arms, patting his back. "You should listen to your Mumma." I speak softly.
"Why is he crying?" Kabir comes down from upstairs.
"He peed in his pants infront of the whole market and probably got stripped." Kavya jokes, which in turn caused Veer to cry more.
"Kavya." Kabir glares at his sister, before taking a crying Veer from my arms and whispering soothing words.
I slump my back on the couch throwing my hair backs. "Kiarz." I twist my neck at Kaveri Aunty who holds a fish packet before her.
"You got a fish of 5000." I seat up straight. Horror seizing my veins, making me reach back to the budget of this month, and then standing on my feet, walking towards the five thousand rupees of fish.
Kavya joins us. I flip the packet, where the is MRP is 7000, but the store gave a discount of 4999.
"Well, I don't think it's going down my throat." Kavya jests. I look at her, "Neither mine."
"I took it by mistake, when Veer told me he wants to pee. In that moment I didn't even notice." I cry in frustration, clutching my hairs.
"But who buys fish from superstore?"
"I was not going to. I was just checking the price." I said, pening down my frustration.
Aunty tears the packet, checking whether it's fresh or not. However, as soon as the packet opens, a foul smell polluted the air. The head of the fish which peaked out of the packets stays plastered on the floor, each of us, protecting out nose from inhaling the harmful smell.
"Did you brought a rotten fish, for thousands? And you run a restaurant?" Kavya voice even though muffled but I understand each syllable, to glare at her.
"Shut up, it's not rotten. I have eaten it. It smells like this only." Kabir picks the fish, and we all scrap to a corner, miles away from the foul item.
Veer pinch his nose, peaking from Kabir's neck, his eyes and cheeks wet. "Veer, you know this fish is very tasty." Veer just stares and his no talking indicates his anger, and he will only talk if I say a sorry with a choclate.
"How are we gonna cook it?"
"Yess," Alteast someone addressed the elephant in the room.
"In backyard. We will barbecue." Kabir smiles.
"Our neighbors?"
"They can close their window, but we are cooking it." He grins. We ladies look at each other.
I hope it doesn't get Sheela or my new neighbor knocking on our door.
•~•~•~•
Who is her new neighbour?
Hope you like it. The update was to celebrate my 200 followers achivement and not only that, Warm Love is about to cross 50K views.
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If you want to read ahead, the next two chapters are uploaded in scrollstack.
Next update on- 6 December,2023.
Published: 27November, 2023.