A Pocketful Of Peace

8. Midnight Medley

Aman walked in the cottage to find his uncle sitting in the living room with the newspaper. This particular habit of his had always amused Aman to no extent and yet, today he found himself surprised yet again. In the age of 4G internet, how could someone still rely on a newspaper? That too, reading it this late into the night, when the next day's edition was already enroute to be delivered. Once he had dared to ask his uncle, why he took so much trouble to even read it, when the news was already stale. Prasanna had replied that if Aman wanted him to read his news while it was still breaking, Aman himself would have to open the breakfast counter at daybreak instead. That did wonders because Aman never asked him that question again. He dearly loved his morning sleep and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, much less for his uncle's general knowledge. For that, he couldn't care any less. Still, he marveled at Prasanna's resolute nature and age-old habit though.

Right now, he didn't care what Prasanna was doing. There was something important to be discussed that Aman could not afford to put off for later. He knew he was asking for trouble when he decided to discuss Sandy's living conditions with his uncle, but it had to be this way and better sooner than later.

He approached his uncle and tentatively cleared his throat. The old monk was truly engrossed in his task at hand. Aman tried again, this time a little louder. It worked! His beloved uncle's eyes shifter higher above the newspaper's upper edge to take note of his esteemed presence. Without even changing his posture or straining his neck one bit, Prasanna managed to look intimidating, when he simply raised an eyebrow.

In that one gesture, Aman could sense a question and that was weighing down heavily on him. Why was he here, when he could have been anywhere else in the world? Well, not that he could afford to travel to any place nearby without becoming broke, much less the world. But that was the essence of the matter. They knew each other so well! Yes, after years of living together under the same roof, the duo had reached a level of understanding, where they didn't actually need to talk to each other. They could easily get away without uttering even a single syllable. They had tried it once and didn't speak to each other for over a quarter of a year. Aman still remembered that evening, when he had come home after giving a good beating to someone. That someone had been Mayuresh. What an irony, it was the same Mayuresh again that Aman had come to talk about. At that time, Prasanna had acted like a true responsible guardian and had yelled at Aman. Aman was grounded for a month and his pocket money was cancelled. It was after that incident that Aman started taking control of his life. The extracurricular escapades and love with the scholarships had started right after that. He never missed a chance to get away from home for as much time as possible.

"Ahem." Aman came back to the present as this time Prasanna cleared his throat.

"What?" Aman asked defensively.

"You tell me. You came over to talk. So, what is it this time?" Prasanna asked him.

"Remember the time you had grounded me for being violent?" Asked Aman, becoming a little offensive.

"I do. That was a pleasure." He replied.

"you loved torturing me, didn't you?" Aman asked. "It was the only time you were able to spank me."

"It was the only time I got to discipline you. And that's why It was such a pleasure. At other times, when I had wanted to, you were simply not home." Prasanna replied calmly. "Why bring up the old memories now? Have you done something distasteful again? It's not like you are not doing things undesirably, but why bring it up with me at this time of the night?"

"I know you haven't exactly been appreciative of the way I lead my life but just to let you know, I myself don't like to indulge in unruly behavior." Aman retorted back. Prasanna merely tilted his head sideways by about a tenth fraction of an inch. "Last time, you didn't listen to me. I was the one who was wronged and yet, I was punished and the real culprit got away scot free. I let it go since it was only about a few stollen project reports from the school office. This time it is different. The danger is as real as it can get."