Have you ever seen crime in your real life?
Have you ever been a part of one?
I did.
Today morning, mom's three college friends came home.
I knew one of them from my previous life. Dad hated her. I don't know the exact reason.
They started gossiping.
It was fun to listen to. According to the rumours, one of their collegemates eloped with a teacher. Another one got divorced and a third one gave birth to a kid who doesn't look like his father.
I couldn't help but facepalm myself with my short chubby palm multiple times. Finally, I realized why dad hated them.
Anyway, mom chatted with them for a long time. They recounted their college days. They laughed a lot recollecting the old incidents. Some of those stories even included dad.
Hours passed in the blink of an eye.
When it was almost lunchtime, mom and her friends decided to fix something for lunch. Then one of the ladies volunteered to look after me as she wasn't good with cooking.
So within a few minutes, I was left with her.
I hated her for no reason.
She didn't know cooking, driving, and many other stuff. She was born and brought up in our place. Yet she talks in broken Malayalam as if she was a foreigner.
I hated this kind of poops with passion.
"Hola baby... How are you?" She asked playfully.
'Keep your ugly face away from me lady.' I said in my mind.
"Woof woof..." Doodu came to the room with his cute little barks.
"Wow... puppies!!!" She took out her phone and started clicking pics while making pretentious cute sounds.
'It's not puppies. It's just one puppy.' I wanted to correct her. But decided not to.
"You know what? Your mother is a real pain in the a$$." She stood up and said. In an instant, her facial expression changed.
Then she walked to the door, peeked out and slowly closed the door.
I was alarmed.
"She always acts high and mighty as if she is better than me." She continued.
"Always asking me to concentrate on studies as if it was life all about."
"I spent years trying to impress your dad and he didn't even spare me a glance. Then your mother just winked and he fell into her lap." She continued with gritted teeth.
A shiver ran through my spine.
"My family owns half of our town. He could have become a multi-millionaire just by marrying me. Instead, he chose to marry that ****." She reached the showcase and started running her hands through the stuff my mom has collected over the years.
My heart started beating like a drum.
'Should I cry? No. Then I will fail to see her real face. I should wait a bit.' I waited.
"Her yearly income is not a fraction of my pocket money." She scornfully said as she picked up a treasured teapot of mom.
It was a ceramic teapot mom got as a gift. She was scared of breaking it and so she never took it out of the showcase.
"Crack..." She twisted it and with a light cracking sound, its base broke.
She put it back as if nothing had happened.
My blood started boiling. Mom never used that teapot. But she really loved it. It had the painting of an elegant sakura tree. A truly beautiful pot.
"She wasn't even half as good looking as me." Her hand extended towards a crystal flower vase.
"WRawrr..." Doodu jumped and bit her leg out of nowhere. His mouth was too small for a proper bite and it just left a tiny mark on her leg.
"Stupid dog." She cursed and kicked Doodu.
He cried and tried to run away.
"Stay away from him you piece of poop." I was furious and I roared at the top of my lungs.
"Huh?" She turned around in confusion.
At that moment, pumped by anger, I sat up. I used my arms to push myself up and I actually sat on the bed supported by my tiny arms.
"Look at me you poop head. I am talking to you." I said again.
"Wha.. What?" Her eyes bulged and she looked at me shivering.
"If you touch my dog again, I will kill you and cook you for dinner," I added.
"What... Who are you?"
"Me? I am your grandpa. Just came from the grave to teach you some manners." I was shivering in anger as I did not hold back a bit from cursing her ancestors.
Her eyes were almost popping out of her eye sockets. She pointed at me in horror. Seeing her reaction, I was sure that she had watched a lot of horror movies with baby ghosts.
"Also, your fake accent is horrible to listen to," I added.
"Aaaahhhhh....." She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran out.
Unfortunately, she had closed the door earlier. She slammed into the closed door and fell down miserably.
She climbed on her feet. Looked at me for a second. Then she cried again and run out after opening the door.
"What happened?" I heard mom's sound outside.
I ignored it and looked at Doodu. He was standing right beside me. To escape from the lady, he had jumped on my bed.
"Come here. She won't hurt you anymore." I grabbed him and pulled him towards me.
He struggled and tried to escape. He was truly scared and shivering.
I hugged him tightly.
I fell back to the bed and lay there with Doodu in my arms.
"What happened?" Mom came in running. She was worried.
"Waa guu guuu..." I acted innocent.
Mom released Doodu from my grip. He ran out of the room.
Mom's friends went out to find the lady who ran away. Mom picked me up in her arms and made sure I was alright. She didn't even spare a second to check what happened to her friend. Fortunately, none of them heard my voice.
"Don't worry. She is an idiot. She is crying for no reason." Mom started talking to me non-stop.
I smiled.
Mom was relieved after seeing that.
After ten minutes the two friends returned.
"She is crying and saying the baby is haunted." One of the ladies told mom as she entered the house.
"Haunted? What's her problem?" Mom snapped.
"Don't know. She is really scared. Even her fake accent disappeared. Now she is talking normally." The other friend replied.
"Normal?"
"Yes. Now she is talking like a normal person."
"That's... interesting."
They continued talking for a while. Apparently, the pretentious lady was really scared and she ran away as far as she could before her driver came to pick her up.
I hope she won't ever come back.
_________
Anu (Author's view)
In my imagination, Anu is a chubby girl who doesn't know how to hide her emotions. She is very brave. Despite being just 4, she is courageous enough to sleep alone. She had the courage to go out alone at midnight to accompany Doodu who was crying.
Anu doesn't hold back even a bit when she has to express her love. Whether it is claiming her dad or the small kisses for Alex or trying to help Doodu at midnight, it is all a part of her nature. Her father, Philip knows this and doesn't want to change it. That's why he decided to leave it and brought the kennel of Doodu inside the house.
Unlike normal kids, Anu is very patient and loyal. She still hasn't broken the promise she made with Alex.
That doesn't mean she is an ideal child. She has a very naughty side. She used to pull the tail of the cat. She also poured water on Doodu multiple times. She regularly gets punishments from mom and dad.
She also lacks cleanliness. Remember the lollipop she was eating? It was too large for her to finish in one go. So she threw it away after licking it for half an hour. Two days later, she found it from under the table and started licking it again. Then again after two days, she found it from the stuff collected by Doodu and she started licking it again. In the end, dad took it and threw it in the river so that it won't return. Who knows... She might find it again and start licking it again.
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