Movie With Venky - Part 2

Read Part-1 Here

Having heard my foot steps, he cocked his head looking at me. Mom was sitting on the floor with her legs stretched out, leaning against the wall, reading her favorite magazine Vanita (pronounced "Vanidha"). She looked at me over the magazine’s top. I could only see her eyes and forehead and the rest of her face was covered by the magazine. The magazine cover had a full-shot of a beautiful lady showing off her new saree.

“Where were you for so long?” she asked me, her tone implying a lack of respect, as if she already knew where I was coming from.

“Nowhere” I shrugged “I was just playing cricket near Fayaz’s place” I said, affecting composure.

Dad kept staring at me, suspiciously.

“Look at that face in the mirror" he said. Disgust, of the highest order, loomed on his face. "Go wash up, useless fellow!” he yelled.

'Out of danger zone', I said to myself, and released a long sigh of relief. Like my grandpa’s voluntary fart.

He resumed his focus back into the TV. And mom now hiding her whole face behind Vanita. Their looks and reactions would have been totally different if they had really known where I was coming from. I can smell their emotions, in fact.

I was washing up in the bathroom when I heard the door bell ringing. The door was opened and I overhead indistinct adult voices - male and female - talking to my parents in telugu. I couldn’t make out who they actually were, but sounded sort of familiar. After a few mins, their conversation came to a halt and I heard the door shut.

I was wiping off my face with a towel standing in front of the mirror. When I was through wiping my face, I saw my dad in the mirror, standing a few feet behind me. His sudden appearance scared me a bit and I was somewhat confused. I curiously stared back at him in the mirror to make sure I was not hallucinating.

“Where did you go, you said?” He asked me with a frown, repressing an unknown emotion within.
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"Venky’s parents told us everything----” an unauthorized female voice broke in.

“Shhhh” he gestured at her to keep quiet.

A stroke of reality passed through my body, making a final stop in my head. That’s when I realized Venky can give me things even without asking. I turned around and looked at dad and mom alternately, like Wimbledon.

It took me a few moments to absorb all these.

“No No. I really went to Fayaz’s house” I muttered nervously “For playing cricket”, and in reflex sweeping my left hand, simulating a straight drive.

He looked clearly restless, his face turned red . He gave a glance at mom and nodded at her. If empirical knowledge is to be trusted, I knew what he had actually ordered for. Before she gets it for him, I thought, I should reveal the truth. Delay means disaster.

“Hum aapke hain kaun” I told him, in the humblest possible voice.

“What what what ?” he twitched his eyebrows and walked towards me like a wrestler, all set to do the honours.

I stepped back, raising my hands, indirectly gesturing him to stop moving towards me. 

No more space was left for me to step back further as I was already obstructed by the dressing table behind, which was against the wall. I contemplated climbing on it.  He however stopped moving further after making sure he maintained a strategic distance between us. Then, he slowly stretched out his right hand holding it in the air, his palm facing the sky. Instantly, a white school-belt dropped from nowhere.

After placing it in his palm, mom gave me a scornful look that reminded me of her afternoon’s double-cot bedsheet pounding, symbolic of the upcoming assault.

“WHY did you go?”  he asked me. The question of the day.

I knew this is a kind of question which, no matter how well I answered, would have one definite outcome.

I wanted to to fall down and pretend fainted. But having sensed the magnitude of his determination, I was sure he would carry on with the 'symphony' even if I am dead.
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For once, I wanted to commit suicide by voluntarily holding my breath.
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(To be continued...)
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