Best Laid Plans (Published)

Chapter 4

As Arnav stopped the car in the premises of the apartment complex where Aman lived, his neck automatically craned up. His eyes zeroed down on the illuminated window of the corner flat on the third floor in the third building. Aman's house. Arnav knew exactly which flat to look at because the flat above that one, on the fourth floor, was where he used to live with his mother. The flat was still his, thanks to Ranjan uncle, but it was locked now. He seldom opened it, unable to face the memories of his kind and loving mother. After what he has become in life, after what all he has done, after what all he plans to do, his mother wouldn't approve. He knew.

"Is that Kaki?" shrugging off the gloom he asked Aman, who had rounded towards driver's side to take his leave, pointing towards the figure pacing in the small un-lit balcony of Aman's flat. Aman looked up too.

"Is she up waiting for you?"

Aman scratched the back of his head. "Umm.. yeah."

Arnav looked at his watch; 1 am. It was late, they had just returned from a day trip to Maaleghat, a prime and an extremely secure illegal port on the western coastline where most of their smuggled stuff was loaded on or offloaded of the ferries going across the Arabian Sea, and he was too tired to go to the club tonight. So, why not! 

He turned off the ignition. "I think I'll use this opportunity to meet her. I never get time to visit her anymore." 

Aman did not say anything but looked flustered.

There was no elevator in the building. It was a very old, low-income class society and the flats were all one bedroom kitchen units. Aman has told him that he had asked Kaki to move to a better larger flat now that he was earning good, but Kaki had refused to leave the house where she had memories of her late husband. Arnav could truly understand her heart. He himself had never wanted to leave but had no choice. And then years later, when he had a choice, he just didn't want to taint those beautiful childhood memories with his mother that were scattered in every corner of their flat with the new ugly inevitable ones. Arnav's eye's misted at the long ago memory of her mother bent down and Kaki leaning out of her balcony, talking for hours. They even had a basket attached to a pulley rope installed between the balcony of two flats, for the easy exchange of sugar, potatoes, flour, sweets, and other goodies. He never understood why they just didn't walk down or up a flight of stairs, and gossip in comfort. He blinked back the moisture successfully.

As they came to stand in front of Aman's flat and rang the bell, Arnav looked around. Kaki had given her sons her permission to move to newer establishments, but both Nandu and Aman loved their mother too much to leave her alone here. And with Aman marriage plans in near future, it will be impossible for them to manage in this flat. There were four flats on every floor. Arnav decided that he will gift Aman the other three flats as a wedding present and he can renovate and make them a single unit later. There was a very old Parsi man living in one, who should have been in an assisted living facility long back; one flat was a disputed property between five brothers, Arnav figured he can resolve the dispute much swiftly than the court; and the last flat, he will decently negotiate with them. Well, at first at least. He had recently started taking interest in the building and construction scene of the ever growing city of Mumbai and he was sure a solution can be amicably worked out.

The door opened and the wrinkled face of the plump old woman on the other side split into a motherly smile. "Arnav beta!"

"Try to smile like this at me too once in a while," Aman grumbled as he passed by her into the flat. The woman hit him on his shoulder with mock indignation.

"Don't listen to him, Kaki. He is just cranky. We had a long day," Arnav said smilingly and bent to touch her feet.

"Stay blessed, beta," she said with a gentle sweep of her work-roughened palms on his hair. "How are you? Come in, come in." She sat him on the old wooden sofa, that had been there since Arnav could remember.