2.1 Vhy
Actually.
That's like Ruch's favourite catchword. She uses it like my daadi--bless her soul--used to use 'Hai Raam' or Americans use variations of J.C.'s name. Actually, this, Actually, that.
Sometimes, when we're having a bit of a tussle over something, I can get really irritated by her using that word. But this time, she was totally justified.
I was coming out of my room, heading for the front door--because obviously I thought that's the way she had fled--when I heard her gasp behind me. I turned, and saw her standing there, at the door to Mikey's bedroom, looking in. She had this expression on her face, I don't know how to describe it.
It was like she had seen a T-Rex lumbering toward her.
She backed away, all the way to the wall of the corridor, banged her head against the wall, just a bit, not really hard. And stopped dead.
"Ruch?" I said, going to her. "Look, I just got carried way, okay. You don't have to go just because--"
I still hadn't caught on to what was going on. But then she turned and grabbed my hand so tight, I knew at once something was off.
"Vaibhav," she gasped, saying it the way she does when she's really upset, or emotional. "Your brother...he just...I mean, actually...actually..."
I stared at her, then at the door to Mikey's bedroom. It was still ajar. I looked at Ruchi again. "Actually what?"
She opened and closed her mouth, like a fish in a bowl. "He...actually...actually..."
See what I mean about the 'actuallys'? They can totally get on your nerves!
I patted her shoulder, comforting her. Then went to Mikey's door and pushed it open slowly. I looked in.
There was Mikey's comp, the monitor displaying the usual dozen-odd browser pages, email clients, direct messaging clients, etc. Probably chatting with fifty different people at the same time, using fifty different handles himself! That was Mikey. The room smelled of stale pizza, spilled cola, and the usual group of Mikey smells. Except for something else. A strange, pungent odour that I couldn't quite place.
I poked my head all the way into the room and looked around. "Hey, bro? You here?" I was hoping he had been sitting securely in his room all this while. It was one thing to watch Eyes Wide Shut with my gf in the privacy of my room, behind closed doors. And quite another to have my kid brother sneaking around, listening at keyholes--or worse, looking in. Shudder. Or Yucks! as Ruchi would say.
But Mikey wasn't like that. He wasn't into things like eavesdropping and peeping through keyholes. Nah. He was glued to his comp, and if he'd gotten up for a minute, it was probably to answer some unavoidable call of nature, or to fetch the next pizza or can of cola. Right now he was probably in the loo.
For a second, out the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the image on his monitor change, as if a screensaver had come on, and I glanced back it. But it was the same as before--more or less, I guess. No screensaver, just a bunch of browser pages and chat thingies.
I turned back to Ruchi. She was staring goggle-eyed at me.
"He's not here," I said. "Probably in the loo." Or in the kitchen, getting himself another can.
She put a hand to her mouth. "He was sitting at his comp when I looked in, Vhy. Sitting there. Actually." She said it once more, just in case I hadn't got it the first time round: "Actually!"
"Yeah, I know," I said, more than a little irritated now. I was still flushed from our little, ahem, grope-fest. "He probably stepped out just now."
"No!" she almost shouted. "I mean just now, just this minute. He was sitting there. And then he wasn't!"
I stared at her. "He wasn't?"
She nodded so vigorously, I thought her head might fall off. She started to add something, then thought better of it for some reason, but I clearly saw her lips move to form the first syllable of, what else, "Actu--."
There was a sound behind me. I turned and looked into Mikey's room. He was sitting there at his desk, typing away at his keyboard feverishly, tapping and clicking on his mouse like a net-nerd in the heat of an online auction for Re 1 air tickets. I frowned. He looked like he hadn't moved for hours.
"Hey, Mikey?" I said, puzzled.
"Yeah," he said after the usual long Mikey pause to allow time for my words to penetrate through his thick fog of net-nerdiness.
"Where were you just now? Like a moment ago?"
"Here," he said shortly. That's Mikey, my bro, man of few words. Few spoken words.
"No, I mean, when you got up and left your comp just now, where were you? In the loo?" He couldn't have been out of the room, obviously, because Ruchi and I were standing right here. "Or the balcony?" Though that sounded stupid the minute I said it--why would Mikey go to the balcony?
He turned slightly, just enough so I could see his partial profile. In the light of the monitor he looked a bit less chubby than usual--probably the angle or the light. "Never got up. Never went anyplace. Sitting right here for the past hour and a half." He paused. "Since the pizza arrived." He added after a moment: "Get the door, will you? And get a life."
I shut Mikey's bedroom door slowly. When it clicked softly, Ruchi flinched.
I turned and stared at her. I was starting to understand why she was so freaked.
"Ruchi....When I looked into the room just now...Mikey...He wasn't there just a minute ago, right? He wasn't sitting at his desk, right?"
She shook her head. What had she said when I found her in the passage? "Just now, just this minute. He was sitting there. And then he wasn't!"
And now he was sitting there again. As if he'd never gotten up at all--and he even said he hadn't gotten up. And I didn't see why he would be lying--or how he could be lying. I was standing right here when he re-appeared again at his comp, after all. I would have seen or heard something if he had come from the bathroom and sat down at his desk.
Which left only one explanation: Mikey had disappeared from his chair, then reappeared moments later.
Actually.
That's like Ruch's favourite catchword. She uses it like my daadi--bless her soul--used to use 'Hai Raam' or Americans use variations of J.C.'s name. Actually, this, Actually, that.
Sometimes, when we're having a bit of a tussle over something, I can get really irritated by her using that word. But this time, she was totally justified.
I was coming out of my room, heading for the front door--because obviously I thought that's the way she had fled--when I heard her gasp behind me. I turned, and saw her standing there, at the door to Mikey's bedroom, looking in. She had this expression on her face, I don't know how to describe it.
It was like she had seen a T-Rex lumbering toward her.
She backed away, all the way to the wall of the corridor, banged her head against the wall, just a bit, not really hard. And stopped dead.
"Ruch?" I said, going to her. "Look, I just got carried way, okay. You don't have to go just because--"
I still hadn't caught on to what was going on. But then she turned and grabbed my hand so tight, I knew at once something was off.
"Vaibhav," she gasped, saying it the way she does when she's really upset, or emotional. "Your brother...he just...I mean, actually...actually..."
I stared at her, then at the door to Mikey's bedroom. It was still ajar. I looked at Ruchi again. "Actually what?"
She opened and closed her mouth, like a fish in a bowl. "He...actually...actually..."
See what I mean about the 'actuallys'? They can totally get on your nerves!
I patted her shoulder, comforting her. Then went to Mikey's door and pushed it open slowly. I looked in.
There was Mikey's comp, the monitor displaying the usual dozen-odd browser pages, email clients, direct messaging clients, etc. Probably chatting with fifty different people at the same time, using fifty different handles himself! That was Mikey. The room smelled of stale pizza, spilled cola, and the usual group of Mikey smells. Except for something else. A strange, pungent odour that I couldn't quite place.
I poked my head all the way into the room and looked around. "Hey, bro? You here?" I was hoping he had been sitting securely in his room all this while. It was one thing to watch Eyes Wide Shut with my gf in the privacy of my room, behind closed doors. And quite another to have my kid brother sneaking around, listening at keyholes--or worse, looking in. Shudder. Or Yucks! as Ruchi would say.
But Mikey wasn't like that. He wasn't into things like eavesdropping and peeping through keyholes. Nah. He was glued to his comp, and if he'd gotten up for a minute, it was probably to answer some unavoidable call of nature, or to fetch the next pizza or can of cola. Right now he was probably in the loo.
For a second, out the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the image on his monitor change, as if a screensaver had come on, and I glanced back it. But it was the same as before--more or less, I guess. No screensaver, just a bunch of browser pages and chat thingies.
I turned back to Ruchi. She was staring goggle-eyed at me.
"He's not here," I said. "Probably in the loo." Or in the kitchen, getting himself another can.
She put a hand to her mouth. "He was sitting at his comp when I looked in, Vhy. Sitting there. Actually." She said it once more, just in case I hadn't got it the first time round: "Actually!"
"Yeah, I know," I said, more than a little irritated now. I was still flushed from our little, ahem, grope-fest. "He probably stepped out just now."
"No!" she almost shouted. "I mean just now, just this minute. He was sitting there. And then he wasn't!"
I stared at her. "He wasn't?"
She nodded so vigorously, I thought her head might fall off. She started to add something, then thought better of it for some reason, but I clearly saw her lips move to form the first syllable of, what else, "Actu--."
There was a sound behind me. I turned and looked into Mikey's room. He was sitting there at his desk, typing away at his keyboard feverishly, tapping and clicking on his mouse like a net-nerd in the heat of an online auction for Re 1 air tickets. I frowned. He looked like he hadn't moved for hours.
"Hey, Mikey?" I said, puzzled.
"Yeah," he said after the usual long Mikey pause to allow time for my words to penetrate through his thick fog of net-nerdiness.
"Where were you just now? Like a moment ago?"
"Here," he said shortly. That's Mikey, my bro, man of few words. Few spoken words.
"No, I mean, when you got up and left your comp just now, where were you? In the loo?" He couldn't have been out of the room, obviously, because Ruchi and I were standing right here. "Or the balcony?" Though that sounded stupid the minute I said it--why would Mikey go to the balcony?
He turned slightly, just enough so I could see his partial profile. In the light of the monitor he looked a bit less chubby than usual--probably the angle or the light. "Never got up. Never went anyplace. Sitting right here for the past hour and a half." He paused. "Since the pizza arrived." He added after a moment: "Get the door, will you? And get a life."
I shut Mikey's bedroom door slowly. When it clicked softly, Ruchi flinched.
I turned and stared at her. I was starting to understand why she was so freaked.
"Ruchi....When I looked into the room just now...Mikey...He wasn't there just a minute ago, right? He wasn't sitting at his desk, right?"
She shook her head. What had she said when I found her in the passage? "Just now, just this minute. He was sitting there. And then he wasn't!"
And now he was sitting there again. As if he'd never gotten up at all--and he even said he hadn't gotten up. And I didn't see why he would be lying--or how he could be lying. I was standing right here when he re-appeared again at his comp, after all. I would have seen or heard something if he had come from the bathroom and sat down at his desk.
Which left only one explanation: Mikey had disappeared from his chair, then reappeared moments later.
Actually.
posted by Ashok K. Banker at 12.10.05
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