It was getting late enough to be worried. I once again stepped into the balcony and looked down. Except for a drenched street dog that was lying down miserably near the gate, there was not a soul to be seen anywhere. Rain water had puddled under the lamp post. A breeze ruffled the mango tree in the courtyard and a few twigs fell down and broke. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Did I hear a soft knock on the door? I turned back… and listened keenly. There it was again. It was too faint to be heard over the sound of the thunder. But thankfully the rain had stopped.
I increased my pace as I headed down the stairs towards the door. I hoped it was Vijay. There were times when I felt, that I was a bit too lenient with him. As I opened the door, I was relieved to see my fifteen-year-old son standing there.
“Where have you been Vijay?” I asked, in the sternest voice I could muster.
There was hardly any reaction from him. He was completely drenched and the rain water was dripping from his bag. He was making quite a mess at the door step. I quietly moved over to let him pass. He went straight for his room, without uttering a word.
I closed the door and came back to the sofa and sat down. There was something amiss with Vijay off late. He was not his usual chirpy self anymore and seemed to be very withdrawn. I told myself that I needed to have a serious chat with him, first thing in the morning. It was way past dinner time. Aarti would be back tomorrow from her official tour. Being a lecturer in a reputed college is sometimes a bane. So much of her time is taken up by her students, and on top of it, there were these tours every now and then.
I reluctantly walked to the kitchen to check the fridge, for any leftovers from afternoon. I had ordered from Lazeez during lunch. Though I was a decent cook, it was not something I loved to do. Luckily there was a portion of butter chicken and there were also a few eggs in the tray. I also found a pack of frozen Kerala parathas. I decided there was more than enough . I quickly put dinner together and arranged the table.
I called out to Vijay from the table, but there was no reply. So I walked over to his room and knocked. I waited for a response and knocked again. I was getting a bit irritated and called out to him. This time the door opened and he looked at me questioningly. He had taken a bath and changed into a fresh set of pyjamas.
“Dinner is ready”
“I ate at Gopu’s house. I am not hungry”, he replied
“At least have one paratha. There is butter chicken as well”
“I told you, I do not want anything. I am tired and going to sleep”, saying this he just banged the door shut.
I was taken aback for a moment. It was just not like him at all.
I wanted to knock again and give him a piece of my mind. But then decided against it.
Reminding myself to deal with him in the morning, I went back to the table.
After a quick dinner, I retired to the bedroom for the night. I fell asleep sooner than I would have imagined.
I was woken up by some commotion outside the window. It was not daylight yet. I quickly glanced at the table clock, which showed 3:15 AM. The dogs were barking and howling outside and the rain had started to pour again. The rolls of thunder seemed to be louder and the occasional bolt of lightning was lighting up the night sky.
I felt a bit uneasy. For some reason I decided to check on Vijay.
I grabbed my shirt as a I walked out of the room in my pyjamas and slippers.
I knocked a few times at his door but there was absolute silence. I turned the door knob and it opened quietly. I peered inside. Though it was pretty dark, the lightning was giving some visibility. I turned the light on.
My heart almost stopped for a second. The bed was empty!!
It took me a few seconds to come out of my shock. I called out Vijay’s name. It was only answered by silence. I quickly checked the bathroom but he was not there.
My heart started pounding. I frantically rushed out and searched the entire house. But he was not to be found anywhere.
I just collapsed on the sofa. My brain was on fire and there were so many thoughts flashing through my mind at once. I quickly grabbed a flashlight and went to the main door. It was securely locked. But it could be locked from the outside as well using the key.
I stepped out into the rain, with the flashlight in hand, calling out to Vijay. I could hear the dogs barking even louder now. I ran around the mango tree. There was no sign of anyone. The water from the rain had started to flood the courtyard, so I waded through the water in the pouring rain. But there was no sign of Vijay. He seemed to have just disappeared.
I rushed to the gate, which was bolted. I opened it hastily and looked both ways of the street. In the dim light of the street lamp, I saw a dark figure walking down the road. I ran after it, as quickly as my legs would carry me. But as soon as I reached the spot, there was no one there. The shadows seemed to be playing tricks with me.
I decided to rush back home and call someone. As I entered the house, completely drenched, my eyes almost popped out at the sight that greeted me. Vijay was sitting at the table, eating something out of a plate. He had his earphones plugged in.
“Vijay”, I shouted
He seemed to have not heard me.
I went near him and shook him by the shoulders. He was baffled by my appearance.
“What happened to you, Dad?” he questioned
“Where were you?” I snapped at him
“I was in the kitchen. Heating up some food. I was terribly hungry all of a sudden”, he replied calmly
“I have been searching all over for you. Did you not hear me shouting your name?”
I tried to recollect, if I had looked in the kitchen for him.
“Oh!! It must have been my iPod. I was listening to some loud music. Must not have heard you. Sorry Dad”
I was somehow not very convinced with his reply. But I had started to shiver because of the cold, so I rushed to the bedroom to change.
As I was in the shower, I tried to play back the events in my mind. This was the first time that I had seen Vijay awake in the night. And I was also pretty sure that I had looked in the kitchen earlier. I was confused. But I decided to sleep over it and then investigate a bit more in the morning.
I woke up pretty late as a result of the events in the night. The clock showed 9:32 AM. I quickly jumped out of the bed and rushed to the bathroom. I did not bother to shower. As I rushed down to the kitchen, I saw a note on the fridge.
“Hi dad. I am off to Gopu’s house to study. I had milk and egg. Will be back in the evening”
I cursed myself for waking so late. I wanted so much to have a word with Vijay. But then, I quickly thought of a few things to do before Aarti was back. She had messaged that she would be reaching around noon.
I put on my slippers and stepped out of the house. The rain had completely stopped and the sun was out. The whole place looked so different from last night. The water in the courtyard had almost completely drained. But it was a bit slushy. I could see some footsteps here and there. But I could not make out much from the signs on the ground. So I went around to the backyard of the house.
The kitchen door was locked. But it was the doorstep that interested me. I could make out a lot of muddy footprints on the couple of stairs in front of the kitchen door. I decided to examine them more closely. It looked like it belonged to two different people. I spent some time, looking at the position and direction of the prints. Only one set seemed to be going away from the door.
I quickly ran inside the house, to check for any signs inside. When I reached the back door from inside, the floor in front of it was spanking clean. The maid must have come in the morning and mopped the house. I cursed myself again, for not having woken soon enough.
Next I went to Vijay’s room and explored his shoe rack. There was no muddy shoe in it. I just looked around for some more time. As I was running my hands behind the basket for soiled clothes, my hand felt something wet. I quickly pulled it out. It was a wet umbrella. My face lit up with a victorious smile.
I put it back in the exact same place. Now I knew for sure, that there was something fishy going on. I thought it best to wait for the right moment. I did not do anything further. Just had a quick breakfast and waited for Aarti to come.
I was lost in some deep thought when I was startled by the sound of a car horn. I looked out of the window and saw Aarti getting out of the cab. She opened the gate and entered inside. I reached the main door just in time to open it as she reached the front porch. She was all smiles and gave me a quick hug.
The rest of the afternoon, was spent in listening to Aarti recounting her tour experience. I did not tell her anything about the happenings of the previous night. I managed to catch a quick nap, before she woke me up for tea.
Aarti had earlier asked about Vijay and I had quietly handed the note from the refrigerator to her.
“What time would Vijay be back?”, she asked suddenly, sipping on the tea.
“I have no clue”, I replied
After that we had some more casual conversation before she settled down with the television remote. I went back to the bedroom, to continue with some reading. I heard the knock on the door at 6:22 PM. I quickly went downstairs. Aarti had already opened the door to Vijay. He was visibly happy to see her. I could see a sense of relief on his face.
He paid a fleeting glance at me before entering his room. I checked with Aarti why Vijay had gone to his room so quickly. She said that he just wanted to freshen up first. So I settled on the sofa beside her. She was watching some boring soap on the television. I became restless after some time. So I got up and headed towards Vijay’s room. He had been there for a while now. I knocked on the door. He opened almost instantly.
“I was just coming dad”, he quickly said and then rushed towards his mom.
Aarti turned the TV off and started chatting with her son. I watched them for some time from a distance. I still felt something was not right in Vijay’s behavior. I made up my mind about a few things.
Once we were back in our rooms post dinner, Aarti fell asleep quite soon as she was still a bit tired from the travel. I lay awake on the bed, replaying the events of the last night in my mind. I got up and went to the window. I had a clear view of the back of the house. I just stood there waiting for something to happen. I don’t know if I had dozed off, but woke up with a jolt. It took a few seconds for my eyes to get adjusted to the darkness outside. Suddenly I saw two dark figures walking from behind the house. They were heading for the old garage towards one corner of our compound. It had never struck me to look there for any clues. Nobody went there anymore as it just had a pile of junk and could be filled with reptiles.
I quietly stepped out of the room. I took a quick look in Vijay’s room as I went down. As expected, it was empty. I did not want to use the kitchen door, as it could draw attention. I grabbed the flashlight and silently opened the main door. I took dainty steps towards the garage without turning the flashlight on. As I reached the door, I could hear some hushed up conversation inside.
As I pulled the door open, I turned the flashlight on at the same time. I was greeted by startled shouts from a couple of teenagers.
“Dad !!!” exclaimed Vijay, visibly shocked at my sudden entry.
“Uncle, you gave us quite a fright” said Gopu equally surprised.
“What are you doing here dad?” blurted out Vijay
“I guess I should be the one asking you that” I shot back
“Dad, I can explain everything. Please relax”
“You better have a good enough explanation for all this” I said in a shaky voice
I pushed them aside to take a look at what they were up to. There was dim bulb, but the light was not good enough. I showed my flashlight around. There were some empty and half-filled cans of paint lying around. In the middle of which was a canvas on a stand. As I shone the flashlight on the canvas, I was staring at myself. It was a painting of me.
Right at that moment, there was a beep from my son’s phone.
“Happy birthday dad” Vijay said, as he hugged me from behind
I quickly looked at my watch. It was exactly 12. I did not know how to react. My legs suddenly felt very weak and I just sat down on an old drum. When I finally found my voice I looked at Vijay and asked him.
“What is all this?”
“This is your birthday gift dad. I have been working on this for over a week” he said with a smile
“I wanted to surprise you, but it was taking more time than I had anticipated. So I had to work on it even during the night. Gopu also helped me with it. He came here in the night and we worked in this old garage. I guess the surprise is out now, but not a moment too soon”, he was sounding more like his usual self now.
It was taking time for all of this to sink in. I did not utter a word. I got up and gave a tight hug to my son. Gopu shook my hands and said
”Happy birthday uncle. We just wanted to keep it a surprise. But last night when you came out with the flashlight calling for Vijay, we got a bit worried. So we just hid here. We are sorry, if we caused some trouble.”
“That’s ok son.” I said squeezing his hand. “I think you should be heading back home now”
“I will, uncle. Good night”, he said and nodded at Vijay as he left.
I took my son’s hand and we headed back home. I narrated my side of the experience from last night and he was quite amused.
“And by the way. That’s a beautiful painting. The best gift I have ever got. You should paint more often”
“Sure dad” he chirped with a hint of glee.
Dipu's words 