Charlie Next Door

by Debashish Irengbam

  ‘You can’t let it go, can you?’

  ‘I’m sorry. It’s just stuck in my head.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because of that thing you said: “you don’t gift cream biscuits to strangers without knowing their back stories,” remember?’

  She did. ‘No.’

  ‘I’m just curious. What did you mean? Is there really a back story involved?’

  ‘It’s personal, Charlie.’

  ‘Okay.’

  He started humming a low tune to himself, while Anupama closed her eyes and breathed in the freshness of the clarified rainy air, enjoying the fleeting sense of an unadulterated tranquillity she hadn’t felt in so long. When she opened her eyes, Charlie was staring at her.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I just want you to know that the terrace offer was not just a formality. If you ever want to, you know, talk or something, you can come up. I’m there until midnight usually. There’s a nice shed area too in case it’s raining.’

  Great, another wannabe therapist in the making, thought Anupama wryly. It’s like she was a magnet for vacant shoulders to cry on. ‘Thank you, Charlie, but I’m fine.’

  ‘I’m not saying you’re not. I just—’

  ‘I got it.’

  They drank the rest of their teas in silence.

  The moment their auto crossed the HDFC ATM by her apartment block, Anupama kept her eyes sharply focused outwards. She instructed the auto to slow down and stop a few metres past the building gates. Charlie gave her a quizzical look, but didn’t comment. As they passed the gates, Anupama caught a glimpse of some ladies seated under the shed of A-Wing. Damn.

  Charlie offered to pay, but she was adamant. She paid a few extra bucks in addition to the fare and asked the driver to wait for a few minutes.

  ‘Are you going somewhere else?’ asked Charlie.

  ‘No, but I need you to do me a favour.’

  ‘Okay…’

  ‘I will go in now, and I want you to sit here for five minutes or so and then come in.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘So it doesn’t look like we have come back together.’

  ‘But we have come back together.’

  ‘Yes, but it shouldn’t look like that.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because I know people around here, and they might take it the wrong way.’

  ‘But we haven’t done anything wrong, so how does it matter?’

  ‘Charlie, it doesn’t work that way. You have to be in my position to understand.’

  ‘I am in your position. We are both in the exact same position.’

  ‘That’s not what I mean. Why can’t you just do what I am asking you to do?’ she said irritably.

  ‘Mrs Arora?’ said a voice behind her.

  Anupama’s insides turned to ice. Slowly, as if in a nightmare, she turned her gaze around to behold Mrs Mehtani standing beside her auto, peering in. Her right hand was balancing an umbrella, and in her left was a bag of groceries.

  It simply wasn’t fair.

  Of all the people, why did it have to be Mrs Mehtani, the motor-mouth local tabloid of the entire block?

  ‘Are you okay?’ asked the wily serpent, barely able to conceal her glee.

  ‘Yes, Mrs Mehtani. I wasn’t feeling well so this helpful young man here dropped me back.’

  ‘Oh, but the rest of us returned half an hour ago. Where were you?’ she asked in an innocent tone.

  ‘I had to stop for a while. To rest.’

  ‘With him?’

  ‘He happened to be nearby.’

  ‘I am Charlie, by the way,’ said Charlie, with a wave of his hand.

  Mrs Mehtani passed him a sweet smile. ‘Hello Charlie, are you staying here too?’

  ‘Yes, C-704.’

  ‘Oh, same floor as you, then,’ she said to Anupama.

  ‘Yes, we are neighbours,’ said Anupama, through gritted teeth.

  ‘How nice. But isn’t that the one with the leaky pipes?’

  ‘Doesn’t make a difference to me, I’m hardly ever at home,’ said Charlie.

  ‘And yet, you found the time today to give a neighbour company. Isn’t that sweet?’

  Anupama clenched her fists so tight she was sure her nails were drawing blood.

  ‘Anyway, chalo, you two carry on. I will catch up with you later.’

  With a diplomatic grin and a pronounced twirl of her umbrella, Mrs Mehtani turned on her heels. Anupama could see the spring in her step as she trotted past the gates. It was like the woman had discovered a new raison d’etre.

  She turned and snapped back at Charlie. ‘Are you happy now?’

  ‘Huh? What did I do?’

  ‘Leave it, Charlie. Just leave it, okay?’ she hissed, clambering out of the auto and flouncing through the gates with furious strides. Behind her, the auto continued to splutter sadly until the sound finally died.

  7

  ‘You should have taken separate autos to begin with,’ said Neena, over the phone.

  Anupama sighed; her mobile balanced between her left ear and shoulder as she sprinkled sabji masala over the sizzling ladyfingers before stirring them in the frying pan. She covered the pan and lowered the heat to allow it to simmer. The chapattis and curd curry were already done. Her eyes drifted up to the clock. Dinner would be ready by 9.15. Thank God, something in her world was still in order.

  ‘My life is over, isn’t it?’ she asked morosely.

  ‘No, it’s not. Gossip comes with its own expiry date. Just make sure you don’t get spotted with him again.’

  ‘How can I do that? He lives right next door.’ She walked over to her kitchen window and cautiously peeked through the sliver between the newspapers plastered over the pane. Charlie’s kitchen was dark. He was probably out somewhere, chilling with friends, having the time of his life, blissfully unaware of the wreckage he had just caused.

  ‘So avoid him then. Sooner or later, he will get the message too.’

  ‘I just feel a little guilty, you know. It wasn’t really his fault to begin with…’

  ‘It doesn’t matter, Anu. We have to be careful about our image. The problem with these youngsters is that they just don’t get it.’

  ‘So, I just cut him off completely then?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  ‘Won’t that seem downright rude?’

  ‘You can’t please everyone, Anu.’

  ‘I would rather just avoid Mrs Mehtani, to be honest.’

  ‘That will only make you look guiltier. Trust me on this. Now, what are you making for dinner?’

  The bell rang before Anupama could reply. She asked Neena to hold on for a second and hurried to the door. When she opened it, there was an envelope waiting for her outside with her name and address on it. Anupama flipped it over. There were no sender’s details. She tore it open to see a single chit with a mobile number and a one-line message: Call me. Charlie.

  She glanced up in surprise. The corridor was empty. How had he managed to get away so fast? Had he run back to his apartment after ringing her bell? Or was he hiding downstairs? She stared back at the chit.

  ‘He gave me his number,’ she murmured into the phone.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Charlie.’

  ‘What? When?’

  ‘Just now. On a chit. But I can’t see him anywhere.’

  There was a chilly silence at the other end.

  ‘Hello?’ said Anupama.

  ‘You want me to call someone?’ said Neena.

  ‘No … it’s just his number.’

  ‘Do not call him, Anu. This is not normal behaviour. Inform the watchman, if you have to.’

  ‘About what? That my neighbour asked me to call him? I don’t think that even qualifies as harassment.’

  ‘Do you want me to come over? I can bring Deven with me.’

  ‘No, it’s fine. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.’

  ‘Just don’t call him, okay? Under no circumstances should you encourage h
im any further. Go wash your hands.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Sorry, Deven just walked into the kitchen. No, beta, let it cool first. Anu, I’ll call you later, and be careful. Call me if you need anything.’

  Anupama hung up, the note clenched in her left hand, the mobile in her right. She stood like that for a few moments, deliberating. There was no denying the oddness of his actions, but then who was she to comment on odd behaviour? And let’s face it: she did owe him an apology. More than one, in fact, if you counted the previous disturbing encounters, to which today’s was the crowning glory. Curiosity won over caution, and she dialled his number. What was the worst that could happen? He didn’t appear to be the ballistic type anyway.

  The phone rang twice, before he picked it up. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hi, Charlie, Mrs Arora here. Why is your voice echoing?’

  ‘I’m in the loo.’

  ‘Oh, should I call later?’

  ‘No, no, it’s fine. This will take some time.’

  Ugh. She resisted the urge to hang up or do something drastic yet again. ‘Why didn’t you just give me your number yourself?’

  ‘I didn’t want to risk anyone seeing us together again. This way, things can be completely confidential. Just save my number under a pseudonym and burn up the note once you’re done.’

  ‘Look, I know I overreacted, and it wasn’t your fault. I just panicked. So—’

  ‘That’s okay. I just wanted you to know that the situation is sorted. So, you don’t need to panic anymore.’

  ‘You don’t know Mrs Mehtani—’

  ‘Actually, I do. Mrs Patil – my client – ranted about her all the time in the salon. She is supposed to be a gossipmonger of some sort, right? Didn’t take long to make the connection.’

  ‘Well, anyway, the damage is done so—’

  ‘And it’s undone too. Don’t worry. She won’t be gossiping about us to anyone. I made sure of that.’

  She didn’t like where this conversation was headed. Neena’s warning came back to mind. ‘What have you done, Charlie?’

  ‘You’re going to love this. I was just coming back from my jog this evening when I saw her buying vegetables from a vendor. So, I stopped by to pick up some too. And then, I made sure to keep pace with her all the way to the building, even though she did her utmost to evade me. And as soon as we entered the premises, I struck up a conversation with her in front of a couple of witnesses as if we had been chatting the whole way.

  ‘The masterstroke was that when we reached her block, I handed her my share of vegetables too, thereby giving all the curious onlookers the impression that I had been carrying them for her. Then I bade her goodbye, said it was a real pleasure and that I hoped we could do it again sometime soon. You should have seen the look on her face!’

  Anupama didn’t even notice when her jaw had fallen open. All she could do was listen in silence. And awe.

  ‘So, you see?’ he cried out happily. ‘Now everyone believes that she’s the shady one, so even if she does try to slander you, they’ll assume it’s a defensive strategy or something, ’cause no one else saw us.’

  It took her a few seconds to find her voice. ‘You … you thought up all of this on your own?’

  ‘No, no. I didn’t even care about it. But then I felt bad for you, so I called up my mother. She is a huge fan of these TV soaps and stuff, so I figured she would be a suitable advisor for, you know, the rather dramatic situation we were in. She gave me the idea. Apparently, Har Ghar Ki Bahu has a similar track going on right now.’

  Anupama couldn’t help but smile, which progressed into a chuckle, and the chuckle into a laugh; a laugh which burst out involuntarily from her, as if it was out of her control.

  ‘So, are we cool now?’ asked Charlie.

  ‘Yes, we are cool. Thank you, Charlie. That was … quite impressive.’

  ‘I know. I can be pretty awesome that way. Now if you will excuse me, I’m almost done here. Took quite a bit of pressure this time.’

  ‘Charlie, please! We are about to have dinner.’

  ‘I’m fixing my shower head.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Why do you always assume the worst with me, Mrs Arora?’

  ‘Goodnight, Charlie,’ she said, with another laugh.

  She hung up and turned around, her head and heart feeling much lighter. God bless this boy – at least, for the time being. Her phone rang again.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Sorry to disturb you,’ said Charlie. ‘But I just wanted to inform you that there is a monsoon offer going on at my salon right now. So, if you are in the mood for a makeover—’

  ‘Thanks, Charlie. I’ll keep that in mind.’

  ‘There is a free papaya facial too if you get a friend along.’

  ‘All right, bye.’

  She hung up and was about to head for the kitchen when her phone buzzed again.

  ‘What?’ she asked tersely.

  ‘Whoa, someone’s in a foul mood,’ said Renu.

  ‘Oh, hi—’

  ‘Neena said you got caught with a hot young item today. Speak.’

  ‘Bye, Renu.’

  ‘What the hell! You can tell her but you can’t tell me?’

  ‘I just said it was a mistake. And I never said he was hot.’

  ‘So, he’s not?’

  ‘That’s not the point.’

  ‘Nice!’

  ‘Could you just turn it off for one second?’

  ‘What’s his name?’

  Just then, the sound of a door being unlocked reached her ears. Misha walked out of her room, her nose crinkled.

  ‘What’s burning?’ she asked, sniffing the air.

  The bhindi!

  She hung up and rushed to the kitchen. With trembling fingers, she lifted the lid to be greeted by the sight of charcoal black bits of bhindi stuck to the iron. Great. She turned on the exhaust fan and poured some water on to the vegetable pyre. Billows of steam rose up in an angry, accusing hiss. It was like someone had cast an evil eye upon her cooking. So preoccupied was she in scraping off the dish that it took her a few seconds to spot Misha still standing in the doorway. They hadn’t exchanged a word since their showdown yesterday. She had a thoughtful, uncertain look on her face, and experience had taught her that that was usually never good news.

  ‘Who’s he?’ she asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Who were you talking about? On the phone?’

  ‘It’s rude to eavesdrop.’

  ‘So you’re not going to tell me. I thought I was at an age where we could both be frank with each other. As friends.’

  ‘It’s nothing. Renu was being silly about someone, as usual.’

  ‘She’s cool. I like her.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘And I didn’t mean to listen in, by the way. It’s just that I heard you laughing back there and was curious. It’s been a while. It’s great you have someone like her around.’

  She was on the verge of clarifying that it wasn’t Renu to whom the credit was due when something told her that that was probably not very relevant info for her daughter anyway. Besides, she had a strong feeling Misha was building up to something here.

  ‘And I just wanted to apologize to you. About last night. And this,’ she said, pointing to her neck, which was now covered with a scarf.

  Relief began to drip over Anupama in tiny, uncertain trickles. So, the ship was returning to the harbour, finally. She wanted to say it was okay, however the thought of someone touching her daughter in that way still gave her the jitters. And God forbid that she give the impression that such an act could ever be repeated again. So, she just nodded quietly and carried the kadai off to the basin, with Misha following her.

  ‘I know this must be tough for you, but you have to accept that I’m an adult now. I can make my own decisions—’

  ‘Like getting that ISI mark of affection on your neck?’ She hadn’t intended to be snappy, but some things were just too much to take
.

  ‘It was a mistake. I thought he was just kissi—’

  The kadai slipped from Anupama’s hands and clattered heavily into the basin.

  ‘Why are we having this conversation?’

  ‘Because I’ve realized that keeping things from you isn’t fair. So, from now on, I’m going to be totally honest with you about everything. Like I was with Papa.’

  The mention of Rajeev alongside the burnt kadai in front of her eyes and the uncomfortable topic being discussed made Anupama feel a rising sense of discomfort. Times like this made her wish she had the liberty to go and lock herself in her room too.

  Still, anything was better than being kept in the dark, she presumed.

  ‘So now you know about Mehul,’ said Misha.

  ‘I do. And it was a bit of a surprise. I thought you were seeing Tarun.’

  ‘There was a bit of an overlap, but I’ve broken up with him now.’

  ‘Thank God. I mean, I think you deserve better. Just tell me this new one is unmarried, please.’

  ‘Of course he is,’ said Misha. ‘Plus, he’s smart, mature, sensible—’

  ‘Then how come I haven’t heard about him before?’

  ‘He has only just joined the college. It’s been about a month.’

  ‘Really? Isn’t it a bit late for student transfers?’

  Misha let out a tinkling laugh. ‘I never said he was a student, Mamma.’

  The trickles of relief halted mid-flow to be replaced by a siren of maternal alarm that went off with a wailing cry.

  ‘What is he then?’ Please say librarian, counsellor, caterer, peon – anything, just not—

  ‘He’s our new English lecturer. Came in place of Sapna ma’am. And he’s like this super smart, double PhD genius. You should see the way he talks about Chaucer and Tennyson and—’

  ‘You’re seeing your teacher,’ said Anupama in a choked voice.

  ‘Temp, actually. He is still to be confirmed, which he will be, of course. I mean, the man has taught at Venky and Xavier’s and—’

  ‘How old is he?’

  ‘Hm?’

  ‘How old is this man? The one who gave you that thing on your neck?’

  Misha waved her hand dismissively. ‘Oho, age is just a number, Mamma.’

  Anupama could almost feel the neurons ignite inside her skull as her forehead reached boiling point. ‘Misha, beta, do you deliberately make such choices to torture me?’