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‘She does sound very cool,’ Koyal smiled at the girl’s excitement.
‘She is. And she is nice and kind too,’ added Mansha primly and Koyal smiled again.
‘And she is strong, like all girls should be. This one time,’ added Mansha, ‘she beat up all the boys.’
Koyal couldn’t help but giggle as memories of the multiple times she had beaten up boys in school came back to her.
‘Did she now?’
‘And she has the prettiest heart-shaped face you will ever see.’
Does Atharv think I am pretty?
‘However, there is one problem.’
‘What?’ Koyal asked Mansha and then looked at Atharv who had gone red in the face.
‘And that problem,’ said Mansha, enjoying this thoroughly, ‘is her temper – she loses her cool super fast!’
Koyal nodded, trying her best to hide her smile.
‘Daddy says anger is never the solution, always the problem,’ Mansha added sagely. ‘That is where the crow comes into the picture.’
‘Oh, the crow?’
‘Yes, the crow. Everyone teases him because he is so black, but Kuku being Kuku and really the nicest person you would meet, except for her temper of course, tells him he is a beautiful coffee colour.’ Mansha giggled.
Koyal smiled, thinking of their childhood when she often told Atharv that he was a beautiful coffee colour.
‘So the crow,’ Mansha was saying, ‘is the voice of reason in Kuku’s life.’
‘The voice of reason?’ Koyal raised her eyebrows, stealing a look at Atharv who couldn’t possibly look more uncomfortable.
‘Yes. The crow has a calming influence on Kuku – he is like a gentle song that shushes a baby.’
‘Is that what the crow does, now?’ she said, looking up at Atharv, her voice teasing.
‘At least it’s what the crow thinks he is doing,’ said Atharv, grinning.
‘I wonder what will happen to Kuku if the crow was not with her,’ mused Mansha, looking up at her father.
‘I know what happens to Kuku when the crow leaves her,’ Koyal said and stared at the book, very aware of Atharv’s eyes, angry and indignant, that bored into her.
29
He stood there in the darkness, rage emanating from him. She took several steps backwards, desperate to get as far away from him as was possible, but nothing seemed to be w
orking. The further she tried to move away from him, the closer Amit came.
Her eyes were fixed, horrified, at the thing in his hands. A cane.
His face was contorted with anger and he screamed as he raised his arm. Koyal felt sheer terror consume her as she ducked to avoid the blow.
Koyal got up, breathing heavily, her face covered with sweat. Hands fumbling, she reached out for the glass of water on the bedside table and gulped it down, willing her body to stop shaking like a leaf.
She sat in the darkness for a long time, hugging her knees, hating how scared she still was of the man she was no longer married to. As was often the case, anger soon gave way to helplessness.
Tears streamed down her face. She reached out for her phone and then, just like that, as it sometimes happens to all of us, she was back in time.
