XOMANTORAL

Chapter 28

Aditi was not hesitant. She indirectly expressed her inner feelings, without saying them out loud. She didn't know why, but every time she was in his arms, everything fell into places. Everything was fine, when he held her, when she hid herself in his arms. She could fight with the world with him being by her side. 

It was almost 5 am when she reached her home. She took an auto ride from the bus stand to her home. Her parents didn't know she was coming. As she was knocking the door, Dhon opened the door. Seeing her, he rigorously rubbed his eyes and properly looked at her. She exclaimed,

"Toi akou ketiya ahili?"

She smiled and hugged him. He held her, hint of sleepiness was still prevalent in his eyes. She said,

"Ahi golu aru. Tor logot bohut din kotha pota nai bhalke."

Dhon took the suitcase from her hand. Her maa came to the door, patting her hair with a 'Gamosa'. When she saw her, she ran towards her and touched her head with her hands.

"Majoni, hothat ahili je, kiba hol neki?"

She narrowed her eyebrows and said,

"Enei ahibo nuwari neki?"

"Kio nuwari, ah ah. Eneo deutare koi e asil toi ahar kotha."

Aditi went to the bathroom and freshened up. Borma also made a tea for her. Her deta went for a walk. As she was drinking the tea, Dhon sat beside her and whispered,

"Eta kotha asil."

She looked over at him and raised her eyebrows. He continued,

"Moi Ejoni suwali thik korisu."

She choked on her tea. It was unreal for her to believe that he could actually look at girls, except his books. She whispered,

"Kor suwali?"

"Dibrugarh."

She changed her position and brought on of her foot on the sofa. She faced him and said,

"Hyderabad t Dibrugarh r suwali paiso?"

"Nohoi... mane... asolote... ami collegeot log paisilu."

She controlled a big giggle coming out of her mouth and said,

"Nam ki?"

"Jurita Bordoloi."

She nodded and kept drinking the tea. He said,

"Maa hotok kobo lage. Ki koru moi?"

He said, making a crying face.

"Koi de akou."

"Keneke?"

"Bad de. Nalage ja biya korabo."

As she stood up to go her room, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the chair. She said, with irritation,

"Er na, xubole jabo de mok."

He shouted with a lower volume,

"Xubi pisot, age mok ko ki koru moi."

She leaned her head on the sofa and said,

"Ki nu koribo ase. Deta aru bormak ko. Ma e eneo manibo jaa. Tok kom morom korene?"

He sat comfortably on the sofa, cross-legged on the table in front of him. He crossed his arms around his chest and looked at her.

"Joliso neki?"

"Ihh bor goroj porise."

She stood up and went to her room.

Their house was a big one. Entering the house, there was a big living room. The living room had two doors on each side, apart from the from the front door. On one side, there were two bedrooms, for Aditi and her parents. On the other side, there was the dining room and the kitchen. Near the dining room, there were rooms for her borma and Dhon. The dining room also led to a big verandah. The verandah led to the tubewell and the bathrooms. Although they had bathrooms inside the house, they preferred to use the old ones. 

As Aditi was sleeping, someone touched her face. The same old familiar touch. She opened her eyes to look who it was. Yeah, she was right, it was her father. He smiled at her and said,

"Bhale bale ahi pali?"

She nodded her head as the answer. He again said, being a little upset,

"Ebar toh kobou parili hoi. Loi ahilu hoi. Rickshaw napale ki korili hoi?"

"Tumak phone korilu hoi."

She smiled and turned to the other side to sleep. Her deta had been soft and caring towards her since her suicide attempt. He would be very careful talking to her. He would always be there for her whenever she needed. But it took her to attempt suicide in order to be loved by her family. Not only her deta, but even her ma and borma would be very delicate towards her. That was what she did, grow fear in everyone's minds about losing her. But, they also took her to the position where she wanted to kill herself. 

Anyways, she was okay now. Not tensed towards her future, satisfied with whatever she did. She was fine with the life she was leading, except for the fact that her mind sometimes played games with her. 

After a deep sleep of three hours, she somehow woke up at around 8:40 am. Her ma prepared breakfast for the family. When they sat to eat breakfast, Aditi said,

"Borma, maa, tumaloko boha sun. Kotha ase."

Borma and maa looked at each other, confused. They brought their plates from the kitchen and sat beside them. Her dad turned himself facing towards her. Dhon dada was still eating his meal. 

Aditi cleared her throat and said,

"Dhon Dadar biyar kotha eko nabhaba neki tumaloke?"

Listening to her words, Dhon dada stopped eating. He swallowed hard. Her dad started eating, considering the situation to be unserious. He said, without looking up,

"Dadaror biya potar kotha tak xudh. Ami kole sun uthi jai."

"Nohoi, mane Dhon dadai koi asil xidina, tar bule suwali ejoni bhal lagise."

Suddenly, Dhon's face became red. He slapped her thigh hardly. She shouted,

"Ouch, pagol neki toi."

"Mone mone bhat khai tak."

Dhon said, angrily whispering in her ears. This time, her father said,

"Kor suwali?"

"Dibrugarh."

"Nam ki?"

Aditi waited for a moment and looked at Dhon. He begged her to not say anything further. Anyways, she continued,

"Jurita.... Bordoloi."

Her dad picked up the cup of tea and took a sip. After the sip, he said,

"Ghor sor kot bhalke kobi. Xudhi meli saam. Kenekua ghor Khon."

There was a surprised look in both Aditi and Dhon's face. They couldn't believe that her dad was really saying those words. Borma looked towards Dhon and said,

"Mok kio kua nai Dhon?"

He made an irritated face. 

"Ahha ma, kolu sun etiya."

She brought her sadder and wiped her tears. She said with a shaky voice,

"Detar dhukuar pisot jiman parisu tor bandhobi hobo sesta korisu. Toi kio kobo nuwaro mok eibur kotha?"

"Haare"

He stood up and went to her chair. Hugging her from behind, he said,

"Tumak moi koluyei toi. Ei pagoli joniye eneke muck Khon meli dibo moi keneke janu?"

He kissed on her cheeks and went over to Aditi. Reaching her chair, he slapped on her back. She shouted,

"Ki hoise nu tor? Xohai koribo sesta korisu, thank you kobo eri mari kio aso bhai? Pagol sagol e hoiso."

Everyone laughed at the dining table. He smiled, seeing everyone happy. Giving a smack at the back of Aditi's head, he went out of the room. Aditi kept looking at the way he went out. She ate her meal, and said before leaving the room,

"Joldi biya Khon pati diba, nohole mor Khon o nohobo ge aru...."