Prescribed Insanity

Chapter 5: Cornflakes

He should have never agreed to her feather-brained plan. Made a complete idiot out of himself was what he did. Could have just entered respectably through the gate, but no. And look at her, shaking her head judgmentally at the window. Like he alone was to blame for this. Standing right at the window and couldn't even warn him! Now what was he supposed to do damn it?

"-Come, come inside beta," Ashish Gupta's voice broke Arnav's spell of self damnation. "Why are you standing outside? You should have rung the bell! How long have you been standing here?"

"No Uncle, actually I just reached five minutes back," Arnav lied through his teeth. "But I should get going now, I'll see you later."

"What? Nonsense. You're standing at our door and you think we'd just let you go?"

YES!

"Uncle no I-"

"Nothing doing. We have the best morning tea in the whole of Delhi. Too bad that our daughters are never awake to have it with us. Come inside and have a cup with me, now that you're here. Come come."

"Uncle-"

"Beta did you come to meet us or not?"

"....Well, yes but-"

"Then come inside. Oh and park your car inside the gate will you? Manohar Jha, our neighbor's dog is notorious for deflating tyres with his sharp teeth. I need to speak to Tommy Ji about him. He's getting out of hand now."

"Tommy Ji?"

"Our neighbour. Mannohar Jha is his dog." Ashish Gupta explained casually, walking ahead of Arnav towards the house.

Arnav stared at him dumbfounded. This entire neighborhood was crazy.

*****

"Garima, would you believe it, Shaurya's son is here. He's sitting in the living room." Ashish Gupta informed his wife, who was busy stirring cardamom tea in a pan with utmost concentration. She stopped the stirring, and looked at her husband with surprise etched upon her face.

"What? Why?"

"I am as shocked as you are. I asked him how he happened to be here at this hour and the chap says he was passing by and decided to check on us if we were doing fine. Tell me Garima, what disaster could befall upon us in the space of one night except that feral dog barking away all night?"

Garima contemplated for a moment in silence before her hyperactive mind immediately went for the most fantastic possibility. "Do you think they discovered poison in the mutton stew after we left?"

"Now, now, Garima, I don't think they'd have waited the entire night in that case. Also why would the stew be poisoned? Plus I haven't felt any oddness in the stomach by the grace of God. Have you?"

"Not in particular, but now that I think of it, I do feel a burning sensation."

"That is just your mind playing games with you now that you have fed it with this possibility. No but seriously, what else could it be?"

Husband and wife stood in silent contemplation for a moment, before yet again, Garima's brain came up with a hypothesis-B.

"Ashish, I think I figured it out." She said, failing to hide the excitement in her voice.

"What?"

"Okay, consider this. The boy sees you for the first time in years, and then there is this clear pain visible in his eyes all evening. Did you see the pain in his eyes last night Ashish?"