O Saathi Rey

Chapter 13

Month 8

"Hi Maasi, kaise ho?"

"Mai ekdum theek hu. Beta, tu kaisi hai, Haa? Sab theek hai na bhai?"

"Haa Maasi, maine kaha tha na aapse, hum ekdum first class hai." Raavi replied, putting the phone between her ear and shoulder, picking up a t-shirt to fold.

"College chalu hua? Teri padhai toh kar rahi hai na tu acche se?"

"Woh hum yaha term ke beech mein shift hue na, toh admission next term mein hi le paungi." She bit her tongue at the lie she just cooked up.

"Chalo theek hai. Itne din phone nahi kiya tune, socha mai hi phone laga deti hu."

"Sorry." She genuinely apologised, knowing she deliberately didn't call them all this while, always sticking to messages. "Woh mere phone ka speaker beech mein kharab ho gaya tha na. Isliye...."

"Par uss din tune apne doston se baat ki, jab woh yaha ghar aaye the."

Raavi squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't lie to her maasi about the baby. Not anymore.

"Woh maasi, actually..."

What ensued next was half an hour of Prafulla yelling over the phone, and Raavi trying to explain and answer every question that was thrown at her. Every why, what, when, how was followed by a shrill exclamation, and she only stopped when Raavi gave her answers to her satisfaction.

"Raavi, dhikri, tu apna khayal rakh rahi hai na? Aur woh junglee- mera matlab, Shiva tera dhyaan rakh raha hai na?"

"Haa maasi. Mera bohot dhyaan rakhta, bilkul aapke jaise. Woh best hai." Raavi smiled lightly, walking around the room.

"Aur tu uska dhyaan rakh rahi hai?"

"Kaha rakhne deta hai! Ekdum kaanch ki gudiya samjha hai usne mujhe. Mai kaam kar sakti hu, bas jaldi thak jaati hu.  Keh rahi hu, woh agar bimar bhi pada, toh bhi kahega 'Mai theek hu, tu fikar mat kar, mai khud dekh lunga.' Itne saal kaam kiya hai, abhi bhi kar sakti hu. Dekho, kapde fold kar rahi hoon. I can do it! " Raavi complained, sitting down on the bed.

"Par ye acchi baat hai na. Aise pati sab ko nahi milte."

"Pati nahi, bhootnath hai ek number ka. Bore ho gayi hu ghar mein baithe baithe. Mujhe lagta hai maine duniya ki saari movies dekh li Netflix pe." She fumed, dumping all their clothes in the cupboard, but neatly.

"Chal chal, reva de. Tu bata tujhe yaha se kuch chahiye? Tere mausa Mumbai aa rahe hai, toh tere address pe bhejwa sakti hu."

"Umm.... Haa! Aapke haath ka achaar, woh mawa se bana mithai, aur-"

"Accha mujhe list bhej de, jo bhi chahiye, mai sab bhej dungi, theek che? Mere kitchen ka satyanash kar rakha hai Anita ne. Ketlu kaam che, re bhagwaan."

Just then, the house door clicked. "Haa maasi, Shiva bhi aa gaya hai, mai baat karti hu baadme."

"Theek. Dhyaan rakhje."

The phone clicked, and Shiva zoomed past Raavi into the bathroom, door slamming shut.

Raavi tossed the phone on the bed, and walked to the door. "Shiva?" She knocked on the door, but he didn't respond. Instead, she heard dry retching sounds. "Shiva! Tu theek hai?"

4 minutes later, he stepped out, wiping his face, looking pale.

"Kya hua?"

"Bahar dinner kiya doston ke saath. Raaste mein mil gaye toh dhabe pe ruk gaye. Suit nahi hua, shaayad." Shiva croaked, his hand rubbing the front of his chest to ease the burn down his throat.