They sat mum for a minute on the cement platform adjoining the compound. He was being reprimanded for his wrong-doings. She kept her gaze, that didnt move from him. And she kept her frown.
"Why?" she asked. That pitch-less tone in the very same cold voice...thats the only thing he hated. Then why didnt he fear that before attempting what he attempted! She had no reason to contain her anger.
They always walked together. And he always told her everything. Sometimes preemptively and at other times immediately after. She trusted him to bits. And she trusted him to answer even now. He looked up at the shimmering rays of the sun that were blindling him. He closed his eyes, but refused to look down. Let the heat outside suck out the heat within! He breathed his longest, loudest breath.
Sweat can be a funny thing. It tickles your skin as it flows downwards, gently. But as new sweat-drops form and slide down, they follow the path of their predecessor. Same trajectories of life! Eventually they stop tickling, they begin to lose their claws, they begin to disappear. He lifted his hand and brushed off the first of the sweat drops from the back of his closed fist. Keep it tightly closed! Its not the right time to reveal the secret!
She couldnt wait though. She held his hand. "Why did you beat her up?" she screamed. Tears were now forming in her eyes, and they were waiting to flow down as swiftly as the blobs of sweat on his forehead.
"Mama," he spoke in fear and slowly released the fist open. "She stole your earrings from my bag!" He swallowed. "I stole them from yours," he admitted, "but I wouldve given it back once I am a big boy," he paused again, "big enough to not miss you!"
She picked up her earrings and wore them. She picked him up and walked. "I wont leave you at school when you're big enough, to not miss me! I'll keep you right next to me, every minute." She gave him a big, teddy bear hug. He cleaned his forehead with the sleave of her dress, gladly.
