A boy with a gift: part II

Please read the part I of the short story first, before starting with the second. You will find it right below part II.

Dark was the night and the downpour- merciless. It was as if lord Indra himself cried havoc on the planet. The wind was thick, moaning through out the house rustling heavily against the old curtains. Chottu laid there on the bed beside his nani, with his eyes wide open. The thunder and lightning were too cruel to let a lone child fall asleep when the worst thing happened, someone knocked at the door.

The knock echoed through the desolate house at the midnight hour. Chottu called for his nani but she was in a sleep too deep to awaken that easy. Having no choice the boy came out of bed and head towards the door. A dull glowing lamp lit the dripping verandah at night. Reaching above head he unhooked the latch, and pulled the squeaky wooden doors inside. A man stood before him, wet with downpour, in dripping dirty white kurta and the dhoti- all muddy. A little closer and chottu realised it was his father.

Chottu trembled with fear, his father had been anything but fatherly to him all his life. Rattled and confused, chottu could not reason why his father would be here, so far from the village, at such a terrible hour in that condition. Was he drunk? Was his mother hurt? Terrible thoughts gushed through his mind and his heart panicked.

But before he could question his father at all, the man yelled:
"Kutte ke pille, tu yahan chupa baitha hai!!! teri ye mazal! bahot samose aur kachaudiyan kha raha hai yahan? apne ghar ki durdasha dekhi hai, chal! paise nikal"

Chottu shuddered with fear.
"Tau, aap yahan kya kar rahe ho? aur kaise paise? mere paas koi paise nahi hai."

Lightning and thunder lit up the sky and the boy saw the man more clearly. His father was mad angry and his eyes red and scary. It were as if the devil himself had come to parle with the boy.

"Haramkhor!!! Teri itni himmat, mujhse zabaan ladayega? Tera baap hun, ruk aaj sabak sikhata hun tujhe"

He pulled chottu's hair with all the might and slapped him hard. Chottu screamed with fear and pain, hoping for someone to help but the poor boy's cry went in vain. He wanted to run, defend but he couldn't. The incident was too much of a shock for him. More slaps followed. Then came the punches. Hard blunt blows on face, eyes, chest. The pain was excruciating, so was the fear of what would come next. Chottu could feel the warm fluid oozing out of his head. He fell down and tried to crawl away but the mad man was quicker. Suddenly he could see an iron rod lying on the floor just at an arms distance. He sparred no time and grabbed the rod. The man cought his feet and pulled it towards the door, when a sudden rush of adrenaline gave some confidence to the boy, he flinched with all his strength and freed his legs from his father's monstrous grips. He had an opportunity he couldn't miss, gripping the rod tightly he bashed his fathers head with all the might. The man howled in pain and fell on the floor. It was blood everywhere, but no one was more traumatized than chottu himself.

Nani cried, "Uth ja chottu, kya hogaya tujhe! cheekh kyun raha hai?"

Wet with his sweat all over, Chottu opened his eyes. Mercy of the gods, it was just a dream. Chottu's mouth was all dry, his clothes all wet, his heart pounding like a deer's who just escaped from a lions jaws. Nani went to the rasoi and brought her kid a glass of water. He gasped for breath and guzzled up all that the glass had.

The night was cold. His clothes being all sweaty, he changed hoping he could sleep peacefully this time. All of a sudden there it was, a real knock on the door.

This time nani heard it too. She assured that it must be the neighbours wife's labour starting. Being a senior women, her wisdom was often sought after at moments of familial distress. Nani opened the door. It was a neighbour but a different one. Bihari lal stood on the door panting, he was the only one in the neighbour with a telephone at his residence. so over the time he had become the carrier of good and bad news altogether for the community.

"Kya hua Bihari? Itni raat gaye bahar ho?"
"taiji, bada gazab ho gaya! Chottu ke pitaji chal base! abhi abhi tauji ka phone aaya!"

She was shocked and disturbed, so was chottu. The pain- not so much. Not to blame anyone but his relationship with his father lacked the basic foundation of love, warmth and support. But he sure wanted to know more. Nani looked at him, then said to Bihari, "bahar chal ke baat karte hain." Into the verandah they went and locked the door from outside. Chottu could still hear them whispering.

"Aur kya bola aapke tau ne?"
"Tau bole, bahot nashe mein tha woh, Sumitra se peene ke liye paise maang rha tha to usne mana kar diya. Gusse mein maar kutai shuru kardi hamesha ki tarah, magar is baar Sumitra ne lohe ke chad uthake demara uske sar pe. Tauji rokene ki kosis kare magar tabtak der ho chuki thi, sar se bahot khoon baha, turant gire aur chal base."

"hey maa, meri bachhi"

"bhagwan se manao tai, kahin police ka case na bane, warna Sumitra ke liye bahot takleef  ho jayegi"

Chotu's heart broke down. He couldn't imagine anything worse happening to his mother. He realised that the Benarus trip was a lie, nana was in the village whole time. His heart went out to his mother because she wasn't a murderer. She was the most innocent and submissive women he knew.

He remembered his dream. There was a common pattern, very similar in fact. What was it supposed to mean? Was it a warning? Did his father's evil subconscious came to meet him before leaving? or could his dream predict future......??

Stay tuned to know more.
See you soon.