The Benefit Season by Nidhi Singh

Monal would have
given her right arm for.
    ϖ

 
    Chapter
6
    The Benefits
     
    My phone gives a buzz and a nerdy voice full
of self-doubt on the other end informs me that the boss is
remembering me; and it’s not Monal, by the way, it’s her
husband.
    I’d nearly forgotten that Monal did own one.
Not a boss, a husband.
    I skid sideways on the shiny floor avoiding
the tall girl with the sheaf of papers and knock and enter. Monal
is sharpening her nails on a grindstone while her husband is
cutting a hole in the floor with a thin jet of thunderbolts
streaming from his eyes. He smokes and seems listless, for his leg
shakes uncontrollably. I notice a slight tremor as he jabs the
cigarette in an ashtray and rises to briefly take my hand.
    He taps me playfully on the shoulder and
says, ‘you are the man’. He avoids my eyes and lights up again,
motioning me to a sofa next to him.
    ‘ I like what I heard about
what happened back in the village’, he says.
    Monal smiles at him and
shrugs a, “ I told you so.”
    ‘ You’ll get a handsome
bonus for this.’ She tells me; ’and a car and a new apartment all
to yourself; like I’d promised’.
    ‘ This is all too sudden
for me’, I say.
    I don’t want to leave my roommates; I’ve
grown fond of them. And I can’t cook! And I’m pretty happy with
what I’m getting. They give me a 3% commission on the earnings
brought in by my existing clients, and that’s way more than enough
for me. I’m a simple man with simple needs and I can stretch a
couple of thousands a long way. And I hate driving through the
Mumbai traffic- I prefer the office cab, or my feet if the air is
cool and the clouds dark.
    I nearly say no, but then think of what
Aarti or my mom will have to say about it. I will have to hear
lectures on ambition and fire in the belly for days to come. And
Mr. Khosla will chase his daughter, shaking a knotty finger and
repeating; ‘see I told you so- the boy just doesn’t have it in him.
You have fallen in love with a Mahatma Gandhi’.
    ‘ Are you saying a no to me? What’s too
sudden? You can’t handle a raise?’ Monal is flustered.
    ‘ No ma’am…err, I meant
this is beyond my expectations- I don’t know how to thank you
enough’, I mutter.
    ‘ You just did’, she says,
relieved.
    So now I get to do my own housekeeping,
drive my own car, lose my cherished friendships, and live all by
myself in a strange apartment in a city that doesn’t care. And I’m
supposed to be grateful for all that. Well, that’s promotion for
you- all lonely. I abhor the thought of staying alone. I am a
social animal, and I need as many animals as possible to smother me
with their society. This day itself I intend asking Aarti about
planning the wedding.
    A thought crosses the mind of asking mom to
stay with me. But that would be too selfish- asking mama to mother
you at this age- robbing her of her comfort zone in which she has a
cozy circle of friends, relatives, kitty parties and gardening.
Plucking her out of her full life and dumping her in this
unfriendly city with nothing to do except stare at the sea and wait
for the son to get home from work would be cruelty to a senior
citizen- a very dear senior citizen. She would come away without a
murmur but would be miserable here: I dismiss the thought. She’s
happy with my calling her and reporting to her of my status every
hour- that would do for the moment. Let the happy status quo be
maintained. It’s for the good of all parties concerned.
    ‘ So the kid will do as we
say?’ Vishal repeats edgily while I am lost in thought; bringing me
back to the chilled room.
    ‘ All he does is whack the
ball. He can pretty much do that and you won’t have to ask him to
do that’, I tell him.
    ‘ No, no: other than that.
On and off the field I mean’.
    ‘ We have a contract that
says so. The legal team drew it up. I can’t say if they left out
anything. I have submitted it to ma’am already’.
    ‘ This is India. Anyone