Veer was sitting on the porch, his arms were crossed across his chest and while his eyes were angry, his pouting lips showed he was more disappointed than angry. He had been asking mummy if the TV was fixed and she kept repeating the same thing, ‘not yet love. It will be soon.’
It was infuriating!
First they made him leave the school where he had finally made friends. Then they made him leave the pretty house that had all his toys and books and…that thing he used to love climbing over so he could see the world outside. It was something which mummy had strictly told him, complete with a wagging finger, not to do.
But you want to know a secret? He did it anyway. Especially if his mother was no where to be seen.
Was that why they had moved? Had he done something?
Disappointment forgotten, Veer tried to piece together what might be happening. He knew mummy and papa had had a fight and papa hadn’t come with them to this new house. But he wasn’t too bothered. He knew papa would be in office, the sun was still out after all, and he’d come home soon.
You want to know another secret though? Veer liked this new house. It had a staircase…inside…which he could just picture himself climbing up and down, with mummy running behind him, and her wagging finger, telling him not to do that and that or he’d get hurt.
He also liked the garden where he could run around, roll in the grass or simply snooze under the stars. But he did not like mummy and papa springing this on him, so he wasn’t going to say anything.
Anaya and Ki, his name was actually Kiyansh but no one not even the teacher had been able to say it correctly so all of them had started to call him Ki instead, were supposed to have been at his house, at this very moment. They had big plans of playing hide and seek. And then going to the play area and not letting the babies sit on the swings.
Now mummy and papa had ruined everything with all their fighting.
Hungry and thirsty, Veer made his way back to the house. He asked mummy about the TV and she said the same thing, ‘not yet pixie. It will be soon.’
Veer did not know what pixie meant though.
It was evening by the time the TV man left the house. But much to his annoyance, the TV was still not fixed.
“Mummy,” asked Veer, trying to sound nonchalant, “where is papa? Maybe he can fix the TV.”
He saw the look on mummy’s face and knew from experience he had said the wrong thing. Mummy was going to shout at him. He braced himself.
“Pixie,” mummy said calmly, not at all angry, “papa is not coming. Your papa and I are…we are taking a break.”
“Break? Like a lunch break? Like in school we have nap time?”
He saw mummy’s face twist and it did not look pretty at all and mummy was really very pretty. Especially when she put that pink stuff on her lips. She looked the prettiest then. Anaya had also put it once. She had not looked pretty at all. When he had told her that she had screamed and put it on him. He, Veer thought with some satisfaction, had looked rather dashing. Much like his papa.
“No. Not like in school. You will see him tomorrow. And then…and then you will come back to me.”
Veer tried to follow that logic. “So we will have two houses now?”
“Exactly pixie. It will be alright, you’ll see. Now why don’t you go and set up your toys, hum?”
Veer loved the idea. He popped into the room that would be his. It was huge and not at all like the other one. Now he could tell Anaya and Ki that he too had a big room like them!
He came back out after 15 minutes, looking distraught. “Mummy where is my pink stuff?”
“What love?”
“That thing you put on your lips. That tastes sweet.”
“Pixie it’s called a lipstick. And you know you’re not supposed to eat it!”
“I know mummy, I know. But it is so tasty I can’t help it.”
Mummy sighed, but it was her happy sigh. She rooted around in her purse.
You want to know a third secret? That purse was like…was like a…well it was like a swimming pool if you must know. Big and it contained mummy’s whole world. Anything he needed, came from the purse.
Mummy found the pink stuff…lipstick. It wasn’t the one she had bought specially for Veer, but it would do. He jumped in delight and ran back to his room. He applied it on like he had seen mummy do. Satisfied, he went back to arranging his toys.
It didn’t occur to Veer that it was the pink stuff on which mummy and papa had had a row. It was mummy’s refusal to take it away and papa’s stubbornness to take it away that had led to this. There had been many other unkind words and slurs thrown into the mix, but Veer didn’t need to know, did he? Not yet in any case.
You’ll keep this secret from him, right?
Written as part of Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.
Psst: I have 2 ebooks on Amazon, if you’re on Kindle Unlimited, they’re free. You can check them out below.
tales of Suchita 
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