A Heart of Stone with a Coat of Gold

Fatherless

Author's Note - Please share your thoughts dear readers, I would love to hear them  

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Neel, as promised gave Anu a list of the best schools in the vicinity. Then the arduous journey began. Reema was a smart kid. She scored excellent in all her tests, particularly in written English. But when the invigilators witnessed the poor communication skills she had, all the schools of the big city refused to accept the girl from the countryside. Anu tried her hardest, trying to prepare her but her shyness led it to be an exercise in futility.

It was the fifth day of scouting the city for a good school. Anu felt tired, her head ached and she was feeling hot. She glanced at the list of schools in her hand. Only one school was still left to apply.

She took a look at the little girl getting dressed in front of her. Reema's eyes showed her disappointment. Each time a school rejected her she felt embarrassed facing her sister. On the other side of the room, the Vice President of a big bank was donning his usual boring attire, a black suit and a tie.

"Neel," Anu asked nervously. "Can you take Reema today instead of me? I am really sick."

Half an hour later, a little girl and a man sat silently in a car, the man clearly irked at his babysitting duty. On the other hand, the girl was clearly in good spirits, as she kept on humming an odd tune, which Neel found particularly annoying.

"Where are you getting stuck?" Neel finally asked, his eyes glued to the road as his hands guided the steering wheel.

"Well, when they ask me questions, my knees get all wobbly, and I can't speak," Reema answered nervously, twirling her fingers.

"What have your knees got to do with speaking?" Neel asked coldly.

The rest of the journey, to Neel's surprise, was a pleasant one, as Reema's humming stopped while she kept on looking outside the window.

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"Name?" An old lady in horn-rimmed glasses asked.

"Reema Sharma," A little girl pipped, her eyes on the floor.

The lady noted her name and passed on a test paper to the little girl.

Neel and Reema were sitting in an empty classroom with the old invigilator. After filling the admission form which Neel had found too cumbersome to fill, he found himself accompanying the girl in her test. He had a big frown on his face, as he found the whole ordeal a big waste of his time. He could be cracking some big deals in his office, but here he was sitting in a classroom with a girl who 'found it too difficult to speak as her knees turned wobbly.'

"You are her father?" The old lady asked. Neel felt uncomfortable answering the question. He was about to answer but Reema beat him in the race.

"No, my father is Late Mr Raghu Sharma" she replied, an answer Anu had taught her, with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Then the little girl pointed to Neel and added, " He is Heathcliff."

She went on to complete her test, her eyes glued on the paper. If she had looked up she could have seen the anger in Neel's eyes.

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After completing the test the old invigilator informed them that they would call them in an hour if Reema cleared her test.

With nothing better to do, Neel and Reema sat on a bench outside the school, as the kids left for their homes with their parents. Reema could sense the impatience in Neel while he checked his watch every five minutes as if expecting time to move faster.

As Neel threw a quick glance at Reema, he saw her gazing longingly at a kid having a cheap ice cream near a vendor. A young man, probably his father, stood near the kid, and he and the kid took turns in taking bites at the ice cream. Neel honestly couldn't understand what the little girl found so interesting in them, they both looked very stupid to Neel. The man was probably a miser, he could have bought two ice creams instead of one.

Neel kept on observing Reema. The girl probably wanted ice cream, he mused. For some strange reason, he felt pity at her. It reminded him of a faint memory, but he couldn't remember it clearly.

Neel took a crisp 500 buck note and handed it to Reema. "Go and buy an Ice cream. The most expensive one," he told her.

The girl looked at him quietly for a moment and then shook her head and turned away from him. To his surprise, he couldn't understand why he thought he saw tears in her eyes.

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The result came. Reema had cleared it.
For the final part, Reema had to give an extempore. The teacher gave her a topic to speak. Neel waited for her to say something. She never did. She just gazed at her knees silently.

"Speak," he spoke in a loud voice. Reema just threw him a fearful glance and resumed her silence.

He had accompanied her the whole day. How could she let him down?

Later when they went home in his car, he glared at her. He had wasted his entire day on her, and she had just been a big disappointment. "You couldn't even say a few words," Neel said harshly. "Seems like you are only good for giving people rude names."

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Reema came crying to Anu. "I won't ever talk to Heathcliff. " She sobbed.

As he was later losing his tie, while smoking a cigarette, Anu came fuming and threw a paper at the table. "What kind of pathetic man are you?  A man who can't even feel an ounce of emotion. I shudder to think what kind of father you will be when Aryan grows up. In name he will have a father, but in truth, he will always be fatherless."

Neel picked up the paper. It was Reema's written test answer sheet. Somewhere deep down he felt a pang when he read Question 5.

Q.No. 5 Tell us 5 points about a new friend you made.

Ans
1. His name is Heathcliff
2. He likes burnt sandwiches and uncooked omelettes.
2. He is very old, like ancient.
3. He never smiles and I know he is sad.
5. So, I wanna help him.