FALTER

CHAPTER 17: You know how a kettle whistles?

"Why can't we leave?"

Deepti tried to stiffle her gasp, but her brother heard it nonetheless.

Imti could feel his ears heating up from the shame, but right there, buried in his mother's arms, listening to her voice, he couldn't hold on to his limits anymore.

"Oh, Imti..." His mother's smile was always so miscible within her words that one could always feel the joy whenever she talked. Even now, when she was struggling to keep her own emotions in check, her voice did not waver. "You know why."

"I don't understand," Imti's voice was muffled as he buried himself deeper.

"Our beliefs mean you go with what life throws at you. If you don't swim with the current... you drown. Your father is just... going through a rough patch. But he loves us! He loves me."

Her voice strained on the last part.

"Ammu, he hits us."

Deepti's heart was going at a thousand miles per hour as she kept her eyes on the door. When she glanced back, she saw her mother's smile flicker.

"Sometimes... Adults have hard times in their life. It's like a kettle, abbi. The steam builds up and up and up until it shoots out like a whistle. Your dad is just a very explosive kettle."

"What kind of kettle are you?"

"I'm also explosive," She giggled. "Like this!"

Imti and Deepti were both hit with a barrage of tickles as their mother jumped onto them. The assault went on until both siblings were breathless with laughter. The woman looked at her children, her face flushed with love. She laid down between the tangled mess of bodies, hugging both her children and holding them close.

"Thank you," She said, her voice more joyful than ever. "Thank you both for loving me."

Imti held his sister's hand across their mother's chest. He curled up.

"Who put that bandage on you, abbi?"

"Auh," The boy's voice was suddenly almost non-existent. "It was-"

"That girl again?" His mother sighed. "Imti, how many times did I tell you to stay away from her?"

"She's-!"

"No. That woman..." Now sitting upright, the expression on the woman's face had changed. An outsider wouldn't have noticed the difference but Imti did. She looked... hateful. "She's a witch. Ever since she's started coming around, it's like the whole house has changed. That poor child, I don't blame her, but stay away from her, Imti. Stay away from her or you'll lose everything."

"But-" Imti whined but was interrupted once again by his mother clasping his hands in hers. She held them tightly as she looked deep into his eyes. Imti was born with identical features as his mom, but right now she looked unrecognizable.