Picking up the remote from the table,
Khandu changes the channel when Yangchen’s cousin brother, who arrived this
afternoon from Paro, sitting on the sofa beside him stands up and walks towards
the toilet when Yangchen walks towards him from the bedroom. She stands in
front of him, when he ignores her and keeps changing the channel.
“Ummm, can you please get chicken for
dinner?”
She asks hesitantly, when he pretends not
to hear. She keeps standing when he finally looks at her angrily.
“He is your cousin, right? Get it
yourself.”
Making a very sad face, she pleads,
“Please, Khandu.”
He is about to shout when the cousin gets
out of the toilet. Khandu forces a smile when Yangchen goes back to the
bedroom. As the cousin sits down, Khandu’s phone rings. It’s Tshoki. Picking up
the phone, he gets up giving the remote to the cousin. Receiving the call, he
goes to bedroom when Yangchen looks at him.
“Where are you Tshoki? Why are you crying?”
Listening to the phone, he says, “I am
coming, right away. Just wait there.”
Keeping his phone down on the bed, he goes
to the bedroom and changes dress. Then, he looks at the mirror, when Yangchen
says, “Where are you going?”
He turns back looking very irritated, “Who
are you to ask me?”
Yangchen stays silent when he walks out of
the room, grabbing the car’s key from behind the door. The cousin looks at him,
when he forces him a smile and says, “I will be back soon.”
Driving to Taba, playing his favorite song,
he checks his hair style in the mirror when his phone rings again.
“I am coming, Tshoki. Just wait there.”
After a few minutes of driving, on seeing
Tshoki sitting above the road, with her head on her knees, he stops when she
rushes towards the car. Getting inside the car, she cries out loudly.
Looking very surprised, he asks her, “What
happened, baby?”
“My sister beat me and chased me away. She
is very rude,” says Tshoki, making a baby face as if asking for mother’s milk.
Taking his hand on her back, he takes her
head on his chest compassionately.
“Don’t worry, I am here to look after you.”
He starts the car and drives towards the
town when a boy approaches the car. Lowering his window down, Khandu stops the
boy and asks, “Hi, Dorji. Where are you going?”
Dorji stops walking and looks back, “Town,
uncle.”
Tshoki hides her face and fortunately,
Khandu drives past him before he can see her. She has no idea about how they
are related.
Surprised by this, she asks, “Who is he?”
“Oh, bother of my sister’s husband.”
“Oh!”
On reaching the town, as they drive past
the movie halls, she asks, “Shall we watch a movie tonight?”
“Okay.”
Back at Taba, Tshok’s sister checks time
and looks at her husband as he gets inside the house. Looking at her worried
face, he asks, “What happened, Lhaden?”
“Tshoki ran away.”
“What do you mean?”
“I slapped her.”
Going near to her, he says, “Call her.”
“Her phone is with me.”
Getting up, she walks out of the house,
towards Dema’s building which is a few meters away from her, thinking that she
will be there. What if she commits suicide? These thoughts running in her head,
she runs towards the building crossing the road. Ringing the bell, she waits
when Dema opens the door.
“Umm, Dema. Is Tshoki here?”
Looking surprised, Dema says, “Nope. What
happened?”
Going inside, her heart beating very fast,
she looks at Dema, “I know, Dema didn’t go for watching movie. She was lying.
Please, tell me. Where was she last night?”
Dema stands silently and finally says, “I
didn’t know. She came here and left soon after changing her dress, keeping the
phone here with me.”
Confused by her words, Lhaden cries,
“Please, Dema. Why are you lying? I know, you know everything about Tshoki. She
is my youngest sister and I don’t to lose her. I think, she is getting spoilt.
Please, help me.”
Dema stands touched by these words but she
does not say a word, when her mother stands beside her.
“Dema, speak the truth.”
“Act-ua-lly!”
Dema stammers, when her phone rings from
her bedroom. Her mother goes there and comes back with the phone. It’s a new
number. She knows, it’s Tshoki’s new number.
Showing the number to her, her mother asks,
“Who is this?”
Story by: Phurpa Dorji (PJIKKS)
Chapter 6 Tomorrow @9PM
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