“Is she mine?” Mister Rakesh’s voice shook and something shone on his cheeks. Aalo knew who had lost the battle of stares.
Her mother nodded, opening her mouth to speak but couldn’t utter a single word as she opened and closed her lips, like a fish gasping out of the water.
Mister Rakesh extended his hands towards Aalo. There was a silent beckoning in his eyes. Aalo could feel warm tears running down her cheeks, but before she could stake a step, her mother grabbed her hand.
“No, Rakesh.” Maa’s voice was groggy. “You don’t have the right over her. Not anymore.”
Mister Rakesh’s hands fell to his sides as he stared at her, baffled.
“But, as her biological father, I have the right. We never had a formal custody agreement,” he said gravely.
Aalo didn’t understand what was going on, but she realised tensions were rising and an argument was impending. The worst factor of all was that she was the cause why they were fighting.
“But you left us long back,” Aalo’s Maa replied in a steely voice.
Mister Rakesh’s lips turned up into a grisly smile, “So did you feed that lie to everyone?”
Maa kept quiet. Aalo looked from one face to the other, utterly confused.
“Did you?” Mister Rakesh raised his voice.
“You left me, Sudeepa.” His words seemed to float from far away. His eyes looked dead as a stone. There was no visible emotion in them anymore.
“You left me because I couldn’t have a steady job. Because I was a struggling artist and you felt it beneath your standard to live with someone who doesn’t earn a handsome amount. You…” Mister Rakesh stopped and look at Aalo for the briefest second.
Maa’s eyes were pained. She tried to say something but didn’t.
“I’m not that kind of person, Sudeepa,” Mister Rakesh shook his head, “I won’t bring you down in front of your child—our child.” He sighed, still looking longingly at Aalo.
“Please,” Aalo’s Maa breathed finally. “You can meet her but don’t go into a custody battle, for her sake, please…” her voice broke at the last sentence.
Aalo couldn’t understand what was happening. And then surprisingly her ever strong mother, who never cowered to anyone, folded her hands in front of Mister Rakesh. He seemed as flabbergasted as Aalo.
“Sudeepa,” his voice was gentle, as he took a step forward, as if debating how far he should come closer. “I’m not here to steal her. I didn’t know even that she was our child. And I’m married again. I just wanted to see her. She’s my flesh, my blood.”
“Are you happy?” the question seemed to startle Mister Rakesh.
“I guess I am,” he intoned. “I have a peaceful marriage, but we couldn’t have kids. So…” awkward silences again.
“Aalo, Sudeepa,” another familiar male voice sounded at the end of the alley. A pair of quick footsteps were coming towards them. Aalo recognised the voice before anyone else.
“Kunal,” her Maa breathed.
Kunal came running and stopped short behind them, sizing up the other man, trying to gauge if he was a threat to his girls. Rakesh had involuntarily taken a step back and was now crouched in a defensive position.
The two men stared at each other in shock. It was difficult to discern their emotions in the little amount of light straying from the little yellow porch light.
“Who is he?” they both demanded in unison.
Aalo’s mom let out a long sigh.
“Kunal.” She turned to Mister Chatterjee, “This is Rakesh. Aalo’s biological father.”
Aalo felt a whimper escape her lips. Somehow guessing something on her own was different. But then the fact being confirmed by her mother, it was surreal. This made the entire situation much more real. Aalo felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
“Rakesh,” she addressed the other man, “This is Kunal. My new fiancé and Aalo’s new Baba.”
“But I don’t want a new Baba?” Aalo interjected.
A silence dropped into that space.
“I have found my Baba,” she pointed at Mister Rakesh innocently, “He is my Baba.”
Gratitude shone in his beautiful eyes as Mister Rakesh almost suppressed a sob.
“But you like me, don’t you Aalo?” Mister Chatterjee’s asked soothingly.
“Yes,” Aalo said truthfully, “But that doesn’t make you my Baba, right?”
Mister Chatterjee blinked, staring for a long time at her. Finally, he said, “No. it doesn’t.”
“Then?” Aalo asked, shaking her head.
“Aalo,” her Maa chided, “is this the way to talk?”
“No, Sudeepa,” Mister Chatterjee’s voice was calm as he bent down to look Aalo in the eye, “I can’t be the Baba that Aalo belongs to, but I can try to be the Baba that Aalo wants for herself. Will Aalo give me a chance?”
Aalo’s knees turned weak. She knew there was a choice to be made. She knew they were both expecting a decision—a decision she didn’t quite understand the significance of.
But Aalo just burst into tears instead.
❤❤❤
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A 'SPECS'TACULAR SURPRISE | ONC 2021
Fantasy[Open Novella Contest Longlisted] A little girl meets a magical creature who takes her dream-surfing. When the dream world and real-world collides, she finds solutions to the questions she has been searching for a long time. ❤❤❤ When Aalo is advise...
