Till The Count Of Five ✓

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Hold me. Keep on holding me so that I can fall hard and still not get hurt.

Kiara

11th May 2019, Saturday
8:00

The printer rolled out a blank paper. I checked it again and pushed another sheet below. Blank again.

"Mum," I called. "Why is the printer not working?" The machine buzzed and stilled. "Great."

The flip flops hit against the floor and she stared at me with a tired look, a potato in my one hand and knife in another. I pointed at the printer. She walked over to me and examined it. When I tried to pull away the knife, she shot me a sharp look.

"Cyber café is two minutes away. Go and get it done from there," she said. "What were you doing, anyway?"

I snorted just thinking. "Work."

Nidhi Ma'am's work. The lady had the audacity to call and ask me to get a few pages printed. Tushar is down with fever, she had said early in the morning through my phone when I doubted anyone except the birds was up. I thought about asking if he had fever or was simply sick of her, like me. I had told her this would be the last time she'd take my help. She had asked for the pen drive. I had lied that I'd given it back to Sameer.

I picked up a note of hundred rupees and kissed Mum on the cheek. It was only when I stepped out of the house, I allowed my shoulders to slouch. Wednesday's conversation was still running wild in my mind. I skipped school on Thursday but attended on Friday. I had to admit it was quiet on the whole, especially with Shay walking around like a ghost. A glance at her face gave me tremors. I kept thinking about those mud covered shoes and her reluctance to speak. Then, I saw the paintings. They had been changed. I knew by just noticing the slight change in their positions. It was then, I knew, that she had called it all over. It did not matter who lied and played games. It was over.

I wanted to tell that to Nolan. I wanted to smile and say that maybe, just maybe, we'd move on, thinking Ash died in an accident. I nodded. It was an accident. The suicide note made no sense, not with us trying to move on.

"Good Morning, Kiara," the shopkeeper smiled.

I nodded. "Uncle, how are you?"

"As good as this heat can allow me to be. What can I get you?"

"I needed to take printouts of a document. My printer broke. Today's supposed to be a holiday and here I am being forced to do work for a teacher."

When he turned to get sheets, I noticed the thickness in the air. There was barely anyone which was weird because the place flooded on holidays. His shoulders were also tensed and his fingers shook slightly.

"Uncle, are you fine?" I asked.

He smiled at me, setting up my phone with the computer. "Yes, yes. Why did this teacher give you work on a holiday? Some project?"

I laughed. "Hardly. It's just her work I'm doing. She's the activity incharge and even when I left, I'm doing her work."

"You left the whole Samaritan thing?" I jumped at the voice.

"Roy? What are you doing here?"

He wore his uniform and looked a little older in it. A stubble covered his face and I realized it had been quite some time we had met. A lot of time. But I wasn't happy to see him in person, especially since he decided to ignore my take on Shay's adventures.