Bugs Bite

CHAPTER EIGHT: A Goodbye

Learning how to harness what the man in black called "the essence of the universe" - whatever that meant - was hard, to be sure.

First, you had to void your brain. Avish had actually gotten pretty good at that. But then came the tough part. Filling that void back again; not with the same things, not with facts or math sums or memories of your juvenility, no. You had to cram the void with information on the Holder, about whom Bhoo had informed Avish in the form of - and what better than - a story.

At this point, they could have their own inside jokes, what with the amount of mumbo-jumbo Avish now knew of.

Avish really wanted to succeed. Then he'd be able to do cool things like summon chairs and bang doors, all with his mind. Telekinesis is not possible, people say. Telekinesis doesn't exist, Bhoo said; but it is possible.

Avish sat down in the living room (which would years later become a place of horror for him), trying to empty his brain and filling it back again with that hogwash Bhoo had told him about. Apparently, his looks while doing so scared the light out of Mom's headbulbs. 'Don't ever do that again,' she said. Then added: 'What were you doing, honey?'

The number of bruises and mild contusions on Shweta's body scared her son back, so they were even. Funny thing was, Mom seemed to bear them with pride, like they were battle-scars or something (which, in a way, they were, but still). Avish might be a kid, but he was growing up. Quickly too, thanks to the circumstances and the man in black. Who was now an undisputed, indispensable constituent of his life.

At school, there were a few heart-stopping, weird encounters with the Boogies (one with Raghu was particularly intense) he had. But they simply abstained. Probably clenching their jaw, wanting to slice Avish into pieces to feed him to hounds but not being able to. Telling Mrs. Pratibha had been the right decision, after all.

Which was all thanks to Radha. And all his friends, but her most of all.

However, Avish did realize rolling his tongue about Bhoo and everything else had been a mistake. He oughtn't have told her. But what had happened had happened, and now every time Radha tried stirring him up on the subject, Avish pulled down hard to precipitate. He willed that chapter close, if he could.

One day Deep and Divyam started chirping this new composed tune of theirs, and then Roy joined in, and then Radha and Avish. And soon the entire class was banging at their desks and clapping their hands and it was wholesomely awesome. They even gathered a whole squad for their game, "Guess Who".

'Alright, check this out,' Divyam said in his heavy accent. Then he stole Deep's thick specs and acted out a whole part.

'A - a chicken!' said Roy.

'I-I can't even see!' Deep complained.

'A speaking possum?' guessed Radha.

'Mr. Mathur?!' Avish yelled.

'Yes!' Divyam exclaimed, jumping with excitement.

'That was so not him,' Radha said. 'You suck at acting.'

Before they knew it, much of the class had joined them. It was like most of them weren't bad people at all; they sympathized with Avish, but then acted cool and normal. It was fun knowing their group wasn't as uncool and nerdy as they'd presumed. Radha had always been a social sweetheart, but now Avish felt like he was a part of the class too. He mattered.

Being a straight-A(s) student, studying was something he didn't really have to worry about. Besides, he was liking this new life at school. No bullies. Laughing with his friends. Occasionally crying from that laughter. Life was good, he guessed.