Beyond the Beats

Chapter 44. Saviour

It was Friday, and as Srishti didn't have her classes on weekends, I was emptying her school bag to get it cleaned. I removed the books, pencil box, and shook the bag to remove the trash my niece I had collected in it. I took her stationery and sorted them out when I found an extra notebook.

All of Srishti's school books were labelled, and she was just in LKG, so she had only one notebook per subject. I checked the extra notebook without any name on it and noticed the first few pages being blank. I turned it around and found some numbers written on it.

47, 30, 10, 12, 66... In front of these numbers, combinations of random two alphabets were written, and even after I read those countless times, I couldn't understand them. But I noticed that it was my mother's handwriting.

Why would she keep her notebook in Srishti's bag? And what are all these weird numbers and letters? What if it's important to her, and she accidentally put it in Srishti's backpack? I can ask her about it.

I called my mother and showed her the notebook. For a moment, her eyes widened, and she took the copy from my hands very slowly.

"What's all these, Maa?" I asked about the stuff written inside it.

She waited for some time and smiled. "When I get bored, I write random things to keep myself busy. These are nothing but useless scribbles."

I felt like she was telling half truth, but I didn't voice out my doubt. I nodded and told her that I was going to leave within an hour. She gave me my tiffin and left to wash clothes.

As I had one hour before I left, I arranged the things in our cupboard and broomed our house. I had called Eknath Uncle yesterday, and he had a few freelance works for me, but if I wanted a higher wage, I had to travel a bit far.

I had already taken permission from Fatima ma'am and saved time on travelling, so I took up the job that was quiet far as I would have made two times' money at once.

The news had forecasted the weather to be clear for the next three days, so I was able to avoid buying a new umbrella. I thanked the sky and reached my workplace on time.

Eknath Uncle swiftly guided me through the venue and gave me the details of my jobs. I changed my clothes and joined my supervisor. She told me to first start with washing the vegetables and then start cutting them.

After that, I had to help the junior cooks, and after the main event started, I needed to work on making sure that the leftover food was properly thrown in eco-friendly bags and stored in a room. And once the event got over, I had to help in washing the utensils.

That was a lot of work, but I had come prepared. I had started taking my energy supplements, feeling the change in the morning itself. I knew the effects will take time to show, but I was happy with the little improvement. I had even bought the energy boosters with me to use if needed.

I worked with great enthusiasm, and there were a few girls and boys of my age working too, so I chatted with them to get our work done without getting bored. The preparations ended within time, and soon, the hosts arrived to start the event.

Slowly, the parking lot started looking like a jewellery showroom with all the shiny cars swarming inside it. The guests began pouring in, and I was totally not surprised when I saw Tejas's mother arrive and get the VIP treatment instantly.

Like her, Hriaan's mother also reached after some time, and both women joined their group of friends. While I didn't mind Viraaje Aunty, I thanked my supervisor in my mind for not putting me on the servers' list because I literally did not want to come face to face with Jyoti Jaiswal at any cost.