Sorting Out Sid

by Lal, Yashodra

  ‘Now, you listen to me. Just put the fork down so that no one gets hurt.’

  The man turned his gaze to the fork in his hand as if it was the first time he was seeing it. He then looked back to Kippy and Sid. He seemed to be having trouble getting any words out, but finally muttered, staring unseeingly at the grass.

  ‘I don’t believe it. She married again? Without telling me? We’ve been divorced barely a few months and…’

  Sid was still staring warily at the fork, a quarter-inch of juicy red papaya hanging precariously off the end. Sid wasn’t able to concentrate on the fellow’s rambling, but what he heard was enough to give him a clue as to who he was. This was Neha’s estranged husband. Aha. That was it. He had kidnapped Kippy in a diabolical plot to avenge himself.

  Kapil sprung up from his crouching position. He was just a little taller than Sid but was almost twice as broad, clearly another one of those Punju gym-freaks. Sid couldn’t help wondering why on earth Neha couldn’t have picked someone her own size. Kapil yelled, eyes blazing, ‘That’s it. I’m suing her for everything she’s worth. I’ll move the court again! I tried to play fair with her because I thought she would take better care of Kippy than I could any day! But she can’t spring new husbands on me and my daughter suddenly. We have rights too! You’re not her real father and you never will be even if you try for the next hundred years!’

  Kippy could sense that the new uncle wasn’t all too pleased at the moment. Her already tremulous state at having been alone with this strange person for a stretch of time now turned into abject fear. She started to whine and cry. Immediately, Kapil’s voice changed back into the half-witted, childlike voice he adopted while addressing the girl and he bent down to her, saying, ‘Oh, what happened, little bitiya? Don’t worry … more papaya? Papeeta?’

  He held out his fork imploringly towards Kippy in an attempt to pacify her and Sid cried, ‘Just leave the girl out of it! She has nothing to do with it!’

  Kapil straightened up again, shouting, ‘She’s not your daughter! I will tell you to leave her out of it. She’s my child.’

  ‘Prove it!’ Sid shouted back. Kapil looked confused. Sid didn’t quite know why he had just said that, since he was fairly certain that this man was Kippy’s biological father. Sid then caught sight of something on the ground next to Kippy, and gasped.

  He set his jaw, and managed to say through clenched teeth, ‘You … you took my … Fashion Barbie too?’

  ‘What?’ Kapil looked down towards the box, ‘You’re crazy. I bought her this today because I knew she might not come so easily with me from the day-care. Neha wouldn’t even have thought of it.’ His voice took on a proud tone. ‘It’s not Fashion Barbie. It’s a Fashionista Barbie, the newest model. The guy at the airport store told me it’s got more accessories, dresses, and even a little hair dryer that works.’ He turned to Kippy, his voice becoming high-pitched again. ‘Right, Kippy?’

  Sid saw that the box was indeed bigger than the one he had bought, and somehow this drove him over the edge. Taking advantage of the fact that Kapil had his attention on Kippy, Sid leaped forward and grabbed at the fork. He managed to get a grip on it and attempted to wrestle it out of the fellow’s hand. That was the first priority – separate the deranged, angry man and his weapon of choice.

  Kapil was caught unawares, but he was much stronger than Sid and refused to part with the fork. Sid too hung on to it with a sort of crazed determination. For a few moments they struggled with the fork. Sid was vaguely aware that this was more awkward than heroic, but he kept his concentration on trying to wrest the fork away.

  ‘Let go of my fork,’ Kapil cried through gritted teeth, his face straining with the effort of trying to keep Sid at bay.

  ‘Never!’ boomed Sid. ‘I won’t let you hurt an innocent little girl, you, you bloody kidnapper!’

  This distracted Kapil and he loosened his grip on the fork the exact instant Sid applied his full strength in a desperate heave. Sid lost his balance and stumbled to the ground, but quickly scrambled to his feet, triumphant. ‘Hah!’ Sid exclaimed and swung his arm up to show that he now had the usually innocuous dining implement firmly in his hand, narrowly missing poking himself in the eye. He pointed the fork at Kapil, trying to keep his hand from trembling, and ordered, ‘Step away from the child now!’

  Kapil stood frozen, making no move, neither towards nor away from the now howling Kippy. His attention was completely focussed on Sid. He repeated, ‘Hurt her? Kidnapper?’ His expression suddenly changed to one of comprehension. ‘I knew it, I always knew. Only someone completely crazy would marry her.’ He pointed one accusing finger at Sid and exclaimed, ‘You, sir, are mad! I am not a kidnapper! Why would I hurt my own daughter?’

  Sid was affronted at being called crazy by someone who clearly was on the wrong side of the fence himself, but decided to put that on the backburner for now. The fellow actually seemed to mean it. Sid didn’t think he could possibly be that good an actor. Sid asked in a suspicious tone, ‘So, why did you steal her today?’

  Kapil looked irritated as he said, ‘I wish you would stop saying that, yaar. I was supposed to pick her up today. Neha sent me a message yesterday. I suppose she didn’t want to see me…and, well, that’s fine with me … I don’t want to see her either. Anyway, I just brought Kippy here to play because I knew she’d be comfortable around home.’ Kapil put his hands into his pocket to feel around for something and Sid quickly held out his fork again as a warning.

  Kapil cast him another irritated glance as he pulled out his cellphone and pressed a couple of buttons. ‘Here! See!’ He held out the phone towards Sid.

  Compelled by curiosity, Sid edged closer and peered at the phone. Sid read the text – it was a message from a number saved as Neha: ‘Fine. Pick her up from Vasu’s Kids Care Phase 2 around 6 p.m. next Wednesday.’

  Sid scoffed, ‘That proves nothing! She is going crazy looking for her right now as we speak.’

  ‘She’s not going crazy, she is crazy!’ Kapil shouted. ‘She’s always been like this – delusional, blaming me and trying to make me look bad. This is just like in January 2009 when she said…’

  This was clearly going down the wrong path and Sid quickly cut him off. ‘There’s only one way to resolve this. Let’s call her right now.’

  Kapil threw both hands up in an annoyed gesture. ‘Fine with me!’

  Sid pulled out his phone. Oh. Rather a lot of missed calls from Aditi and Neha. Sid pressed the button to call Neha back. He put the phone to his ear, still holding the fork out at Kapil. Kippy was calmer, now that the shouting and wrestling was over. She was kneeling in the sandpit nearby, busy digging what was clearly intended to be a grave for Fashionista Barbie.

  ‘Neha!’ Sid barked.

  ‘Where the hell are you? How is Kippy?’

  ‘She’s okay,’ said Sid. ‘We’re in Sherwood only. I sent you an SMS about it! Did you not get it?’

  ‘You’re an idiot. You didn’t mention where … never mind … how is she?’

  ‘She’s okay. Her supposed father…’ Sid spat out the word and Kapil rolled his eyes, shrugging helplessly, ‘…brought her here to the park. He said he was to pick her up from the day-care today.’

  There was a pause.

  ‘Not today, next Wednesday!’ shouted Neha. Sid winced and held the phone some distance away from his ear. ‘Is he nuts? Are you sure it’s him?’

  ‘I think so,’ Sid said, glancing at Kapil and murmuring in a softer voice, ‘Is he an overly muscular, sweaty-looking fellow who goes around trying to feed children papaya in parks during late evenings?’

  ‘Sounds like him all right.’ Neha’s voice was grim. ‘I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t let Kippy out of your sight, okay?’

  ‘I won’t.’

  Kapil and Sid stood there giving each other unfriendly, suspicious looks while Kippy dug away happily in the sandpit. Sid didn’t quite lower his fork, but now felt distinctly foolish holding it like that.
r />   It looked like it would be a long ten minutes.

  12

  That Thing Called Closure

  ‘When did you get back, Sid?’

  Meenakshi fluttered her eyelashes coyly, her long hair swishing against his desk as she leaned over him. ‘You disappear for days and when you come back, your HR doesn’t even know about it?’

  Sid smiled as he continued to pack up his things. ‘Got back three days ago … guess my HR needs to do its homework a little better.’

  ‘Leaving already?’ Meenakshi asked, tossing her hair back and perching on the edge of his desk. Sid noted there were three empty chairs, but she seemed to prefer this pose.

  ‘Yep.’ Sid stood up and swung his laptop bag over his shoulder. ‘Meeting a couple of friends this evening.’

  ‘That sounds nice.’ Meenakshi’s expression, however, said it didn’t sound all that nice to her. ‘But what about that long-pending, overdue coffee with your friends from office?’

  Sid gave her a thoughtful look and then said, ‘You know what? You’re right! I’ve been thinking of taking the seventh-floor team out in any case. Why don’t you and a few others from HR also come along? Tomorrow?’

  For once, Meenakshi looked unsure about how to respond. Then she regained her composure, pasted a bright smile on her face and purred, ‘Sure. Let’s do it that way.’

  Sid returned the smile and made a polite ‘after-you’ gesture. After a pause, she stood up and sashayed away. Sid maintained a straight face as he made his own way out of the office. He was pretty sure Meenakshi finally got the message.

  Sid got into the car and glanced at his watch. He was running a little late.

  He drove for about twenty-five minutes and then pulled into the parking lot near the Cafe Coffee Day where they were meeting. He got out of the car without pausing to check himself out in the mirror. Just being properly dressed was enough these days. And clean-shaven, of course. He had got rid of that prickly French beard. No more trying to look older. So what if Mandira said he had a weak chin. It was his chin and he was going to wear it proudly, dammit!

  Sid spotted his date sitting at a table for two in a corner near the far end of the cafe. It was a secluded spot. Good!

  Vikas looked up as Sid approached. He stood up to clasp Sid’s hand and give him the manly half-hug the two of them had exchanged as a greeting for so many years.

  ‘Hey, buddy, it’s been really long. Glad you called.’

  Sid returned the half-hug in a slightly stiff manner and then sat down opposite Vikas. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to say, but he knew he had put this off for long enough. He took a deep breath and then opened his mouth to tell his so-called friend exactly what he thought of his backstabbing, but Vikas spoke first with a troubled expression on his face.

  ‘Sid, I’m sorry I let you down.’

  Well, well. Sid narrowed his eyes. Vikas wasn’t even bothering to deny it. Well, how could he, anyway, after that night at the farm? Still, he was certainly being rather upfront about the whole thing.

  Vikas continued, ‘I should have talked to you earlier, but Mandira asked me not to.’

  Sid found his voice. ‘I guess she would, wouldn’t she?’

  ‘Oh. So, you do know then. But she insisted she could do it only with someone who knew you really well.’

  Sid stared. ‘That was her precondition?’

  ‘Oh yes.’ Vikas sighed. ‘And I did tell her that you would be upset if you found out. But she kept insisting that you guys couldn’t talk any more and she needed someone to mediate. Honestly, I didn’t want to get into it, close as we all were. So I just advised her every time to try and sort it out directly with you.’

  Sid opened his mouth and then shut it like a fish.

  Vikas went on, ‘And now, I keep thinking about whether I could actually have made a difference. She even came over one evening while I was at the farm. She seemed really desperate to get help, and asked me not to tell anyone about how bad things were, not even Sunny. But then, just when we started talking, she got a call and ran out, and never came back. It was really strange … and the next thing we knew was that you guys were talking divorce! That’s when it hit me. I should have listened to her, and tried to help. Maybe if I’d intervened, you two would still be together.’

  Sid managed to keep his face impassive throughout Vikas’s speech, but inside he went through a range of emotions. Shock, disbelief, guilt and relief in equal measure. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. So, Mandira and Vikas … hadn’t actually … but then … and Cynthia’s prediction…

  When Sid looked up, he saw that Vikas was looking at him with a worried expression. Sid blinked a couple of times and took a deep breath. ‘Vikas?’

  ‘Yeah?’ Vikas looked about ready to take whatever was coming. It was obvious he had struggled with his own emotions for a while now.

  ‘Could you at least buy me a Latte so I have something to sip on while you blabber away in that sorry manner of yours?’

  Vikas was stunned for a second, but then his face split into a broad grin, mirroring the relief that Sid felt. Sid grinned too as Vikas turned to summon the waiter and place an order.

  It had never been anyone else’s fault. It had always been just between Sid and Mandira – and things had turned out this way for a reason.

  For the first time, Sid felt that taking complete responsibility wasn’t a burden. In fact, it brought an incredible sense of freedom.

  Sid had to hurry through the second Latte and promised Vikas that he would drop in soon to see Sunny and him. He hummed to himself as he drove to his next destination, feeling light. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic on the way. It was very important to be on time for this one.

  Today was his young friend Kalpana Cauvery Mehra aka Kippy’s birthday and Sid had an important role to play: Chief Game Organizer. Good ol’ Sid Uncle to the rescue, again.

  Sid was looking forward to seeing Neha. It had been a few days since they last met, but it wasn’t as if he had been pining for her … and that was nice. Things had been different ever since that day.

  When Neha had arrived at the park with Aditi and Krish in tow there had been utter chaos. Neha, face red with emotion, first grabbed and hugged Kippy and then shouted at Kapil that he had no business taking her away like that. Kapil staunchly stuck to his guns, repeating his story about how he was supposed to pick up Kippy on Wednesday, and that he had the text message from her to prove it. She shot back that it was stupid to assume that it was meant to be the very next day if someone said ‘next Wednesday’ on a Tuesday! Apparently not one to back down easily, Kapil argued that it was actually the most natural assumption to make because in fact it was indeed the next Wednesday, and in any case, Neha had always been weird about the way she communicated. He then added, rather unnecessarily according to Sid, that since she was the flighty kind, always changing her mind at the drop of a hat, he had jumped to take the next morning’s flight before she changed her mind yet again. Neha bristled at this and had she not been holding Kippy in her arms, Sid thought, she might have flown at Kapil. It was clear no one managed to push her buttons like this guy.

  At this point, Krish stepped in to calm them down; he pointedly mentioned that he was calling the police to tell them that their services were no longer required. This quieted the two of them down. Neha hugged Kippy tighter and Kapil finally seemed to realize they had all seriously thought Kippy had been taken away. After a pause, Aditi tentatively invited Neha and Kapil home for a chat to clear the little misunderstanding. Kapil appeared to have been caught off-guard with Aditi’s invitation, which was perhaps why he agreed. Neha muttered, loud enough for Sid to hear, that their whole marriage had been a little misunderstanding. But eventually she too agreed to go along.

  Neha shot Sid a long and grateful glance when he offered to take Kippy home to Julie and play with her until she got home. It was the first look they had exchanged in almost a month and it was an eloquent one.

&
nbsp; Sid headed to Neha’s place and played with Kippy for the next hour, glad that he wasn’t part of the conversation taking place at Aditi’s. He felt slightly worried about Neha. However, when she returned, she didn’t look perturbed at all. In fact, she looked quite calm.

  Kippy jumped into Neha’s arms as soon as she walked in. Neha held her close until she scrambled out of her arms and went back to her jigsaw puzzle. Sid rose from his place beside Kippy on the floor and faced Neha. He swallowed once before he spoke.

  ‘Look, Neha, I’m sorry that I made such an ass of myself that day with Shiv. I didn’t know he was your cousin, and even though it doesn’t excuse it, I guess I was crazy jealous and I don’t know why I didn’t just apologize … but … you do know that I … I mean…’

  Her angry scowl threw him off and he couldn’t find the words to finish his sentence. Then her face cleared and she murmured with a sheepish grin, ‘Can’t you just shut up?’

  After a moment, relief flooded through Sid and he returned her grin and said, ‘Okay.’ He knew it was sound advice.

  Neha walked up to him and put her arms around him in a tight hug, standing on tiptoe as usual. It wasn’t the first embrace they had been in, or the most passionate one, but it was warm. And friendly. And nice. And…

  ‘Sid?’ she whispered.

  ‘Yes?’ he murmured into her curly hair, happier and more at peace than he had felt in a long time.

  She pulled back, holding him by the shoulders, and finally flashed him the smile that he had been waiting to see, before delicately wrinkling that nose with its halfway bump.

  ‘Could you please go take a bath?’

  And so Sid had started cleaning up. He accepted Aditi’s repeated offer to help clean his house and the two of them worked through three evenings to make the place more respectable. It still had a long way to go, but that was okay, he would do it one step at a time.