The Light In The Dark

Mahati shut the door of her room, deeply hurt. Her parents couldn't do this anymore. This was too much for her. Her father was an expert hacker, and her mother, an equally expert thief. They had succeeded in Operation PLKC Bank, where they had robbed one of the richest banks, PLKC Bank. Her first aunt, Aunt Adhisthi, was a famous lawyer who always made sure that Mahati's parents weren't caught.

Aunt Adhisthi was excellent at pushing the blame onto somebody else all the time and using her influence as a lawyer to keep Mahati's parents out of the matter. Not just her immediate family, her entire family of her three uncles and their families were all criminals working together on their criminal operations. 

After every robbery, her parents would hide the robbed goods and keep them until somebody else was blamed and the matter was kept quiet. Then, the entire family would gather and divide the goods and quietly sell them off. 

This time, they would all divide the money and move farther away from the town, towards the city. Then they would create fake identities and live off their robbed money. Mahati had just finished arguing for over twenty minutes and locked herself in her room. She wouldn't let this be. She would expose her family, some way or the other. 

Unfortunately, Aunt Adhisthi was a lawyer, so she would be sure to find out what Mahati was doing in court. Also, being only thirteen, Mahati's case would not be taken seriously. Mahati's cousins, whose bedrooms were next door, would definitely know what Mahati was up to. So there was no way she could give her case now. She thought hard. 

Then, she decided she would keep, along with her personal diary, a criminal record. She pulled out her personal diary and a fairly new book, which she would use as her crime record diary. She began to flip through the pages of her diary, which she started writing when she was ten. Every time she found a page with a crime recorded in it, she reminisced about the day and wrote down every single clue she could remember. 

After an hour of writing, she was finally done. She put her crime record diary in a secret compartment in her bed, where she hid other special things. Mahati had secret compartments all over her room, where she hid various objects. Her parents would never give away the location of the robbed goods to her, so she always waited for an opportunity to know more about the goods. Then she planned to hide them in the secret compartments. 

In the headrest of her bed was a secret compartment. It required a password to open, but looked like a part of the bed. Mahati, who was always curious and eager to learn more, had taught herself to do many things that required good spy skills. 

About two minutes later, a bell rang outside her room. Seven-forty. She had five minutes to run downstairs for dinner. Her parents were extremely careful people who kept alarm systems all around the house in case they were going to be exposed. Mahati's second uncle was the children's private tutor, who taught them usual subjects, and criminal stuff. 

She had no friends, and her cousins never liked her much and didn't really care to include her in anything they did. Shopping was done by the older women. In case somebody needed the doctor, Mahati's third aunt, Aunt Bhishika would take care of it. She was a good doctor and could handle simple cases. So Mahati could never step out of the house.

After dinner, her parents saw that Mahati went to bed. Mahati couldn't sleep. Her family, her own family, had robbed not only a bank of its money but also the people who depended on the bank of their livelihoods. A bit later, her mom came to check on her. Mahati pretended she was asleep and heard her mom say, "Clear."

Clear? What was clear? Why was her mom talking about clear? Mahati guessed she meant, "The coast is clear." But why was she talking about the coast being clear at night? Were they going to rob somebody else's house? Were they going to hide the money they had stolen? Or worse, were they going to double-cross the rest of the family? Head full of questions, she stepped out as her mother went downstairs. 

She followed her mother downstairs. On the third floor were her first cousin's and her rooms. On the second were her third and fourth cousins' rooms. On the first were her parents and her aunts and uncles' rooms. On the fourth floor was the school classroom. 

Above it was the terrace. None of the children was allowed up there, in case they were spotted and recognized. So Mahati had kept off there. On the ground floor were the lounge, drawing room, pantry, and kitchen. Mahati's mother went into the pantry. Mahati decided to hide behind the refrigerator and watch. 

Her mother entered the pantry and switched on the light. Mahati kept herself hidden from view. Her mother pushed the back of the pantry, and it clicked open, revealing a flight of stairs. Mahati was shocked. How many times had she gone in there to get spices! And she hadn't noticed it at all!

She remembered when her mother had once sent her to get some sugar. Mahati had been standing right next to the door to the flight of stairs. Her mother looked shocked and worried. She asked if she had hit the back of the pantry. It seemed weird, but Mahati answered that she hadn't and she was fine.

Mahati thought of what might be above the flight of stairs. It might be the stolen goods. It might be a communication device that connected them to other criminals. Or it might be some sort of spying device. All she knew was that it was against the law. After all the law Aunt Adhisthi had studied, she was no better than a criminal. 

Her daughter, Achitti, was no better. She was very fashionable but uncultured. She was always indecent in talk. Never did Mahati hear Achitti say something nice to anybody, let alone her. Deep in thought and expecting her dad to come too, she hid behind the warm back of the refrigerator. 

Mahati was falling asleep. Just as she was getting up, she heard footsteps getting closer. Her second uncle, Uncle Dhrisht, was coming. She hid back as her other aunts and uncles went into the pantry and took the flight of steps. So her mother definitely wasn't going to double-cross the entire family. 

Were they hiding the stolen goods? Or were they planning a new crime? Aunt Adhisthi was there too, so Mahati guessed they were planning how to cover up their crime. She watched as Aunt Adhisthi carried her fat copy of the Constitution of India and a few files, which Mahati thought were law files. It made her angry to think that Aunt Adhisthi was backstabbing the court and the law. 

Mahati thought this was enough for now. She couldn't afford to be seen, or she would be suspected. She would come back tomorrow. She went to bed and fell asleep. She dreamt that she traversed the flight of steps and ended up in a palatial room full of sunshine. A few girls came in after her, and they all chatted and laughed. 

They watched a movie. They then went on a mission to catch criminals. They were all ready, gear on when Mahati's bell rang. This bell rang out, yelling, "Wake up!" every morning. Mahati woke up, still in a dreamy state. If only it were true and she had some real friends, she thought sadly, as she made her bed. 

She thought of the spying she had done last night. She hadn't recorded it in her diary! But now wasn't the time. It was a Monday, and she was on a tight schedule. She had to brush, take a bath, and go down for breakfast. She quickly got ready, put on her shirt and pants, and went downstairs. Her second aunt had whipped up a few dosas and chutney. Her mother was nowhere to be seen. 

Mahati was just sitting down, hoping for a peaceful breakfast today without Achitti being mean to her, when, speaking of the devil, Achitti came. She pushed Mahati aside, sat down, and began eating. Mahati took another chair and started to eat. She quickly gobbled up her food and brought a can of orange juice from the refrigerator, poured herself some juice, drained it, put her dishes in the sink, and dashed upstairs to collect her books.

Homeschooling started at 9 a.m. on the fourth floor. Uncle Dhrisht was a good teacher, but very ruthless when it came to stealing. Mahati sat through all her classes until noon, cleared up her books, and went down to lunch. At 12:30, everybody had to come back. Today, Mahati was distracted. 

She was closely watching Uncle Dhrisht for any hint of the previous night's secret passage. Unlike other days, when one of her aunts, uncles, or parents would come and talk to Uncle Dhrisht, today, nobody came. Mahati suspected that nobody came because Mahati was against them, and she might overhear and ruin their plans. 

After class, she sat trying to put things together. She decided to go downstairs and try to find out what was going on in the kitchen. She didn't even have a clue where the front door was! Her second aunt, Aunt Shaili, was at work and didn't seem pleased. Mahati hit upon a bright idea. "Aunt Shaili, where are my parents?" she asked, "I haven't seen them since dinner last night." 

Aunt Shaili turned around to look at her. "They aren't feeling very well, so they are in their room. And they asked to keep away, so don't try to pick another fight with them," she said firmly. "No, you misunderstood me," replied Mahati cleverly, "I wanted to apologize to them for last night. I got carried away, so I spoke so harshly. I just want to say sorry."

Aunt Shaili seemed to be in a better mood after that, and so did the rest of the family. Realizing that the girl was not out to expose them, they kindly told Mahati that her parents were unwell, Achitti was nice to her at tea, and her second and third cousins, Durvinit and Nichaman, joked around with her at dinner. After dinner, Mahati innocently made a get well soon card and asked her first aunt, Aunt Bhishika, to give it to her parents.

Aunt Bhishika had no idea how "innocent" Mahati was! That night, she went spying again. She hid behind the refrigerator and watched her aunts and uncles leave through the passage. Then she tiptoed after them, once she could hear them no more. The flight of stairs was quite exhausting, but Mahati wouldn't give up. Finally, it reached the classroom. 

Uncle Dhrisht went up to the switchboard and was about to switch on the lights when Mahati made a quick escape. That was close! She didn't know what they were doing there, but she definitely knew where they went. But what was curious was why they didn't use the staircase, and why they used the secret flight of stairs. 

She fell asleep, still wondering. The next morning, she was up at 6 o'clock, way before the bell rang out. She brushed, took a bath, dressed, and went downstairs. She stopped outside the kitchen as she heard Aunt Shaili and Aunt Bhishika. 

"I don't understand why she suddenly burst out like that. She realized her mistake, naturally, but psychology never said that thirteen-year-olds have sudden outbursts," she heard Aunt Bhishika say, "Unless it's intermittent explosive disorder, I guess. It's very rare, and even more rare in children. She might expose us. We need to be careful. She might have to take antidepressants like fluoxetine." 

"I'll slip some into her food," replied Aunt Shaili, "Just do a casual check-up and hand me the medicine." Mahati was taken by surprise. Antidepressants were very strong and could have a serious effect on her. She had to make it look like she had the intermittent explosive disorder while avoiding the antidepressants. 

She entered the kitchen with a fresh, I-just-got-ready look on her face. Both aunts looked shocked. "How come you were up so early?" asked Aunt Bhishika, "The bell didn't even ring, and goodness, you've even taken a bath! When did you wake up?" "Only a few minutes ago. I just came down for breakfast," lied Mahati. "I haven't made breakfast yet, why don't you go watch TV?" suggested Aunt Shaili. 

Mahati nodded and went to the TV room. This was the first time her family was being nice to her, the first time she was able to watch TV in peace, without Achitti around, asking for her favourite show, On The Fashion Runway. This was the first time nobody would bother her as she relaxed. 

A while later, Aunt Shaili called her in for breakfast. Mahati went in and saw that she had made sandwiches. Aunt Shaili's sandwiches were never those of a passionate cook. They had cheese and uncooked greens in them and were absolutely tasteless. "Aunt Shaili, I don't think I can eat cheese, I feel a bit unwell after eating it," she said.

"Why didn't you tell me before, Mahati? I would have made them without the cheese," replied Aunt Shaili. "I thought I would be scolded for it, that's why," replied Mahati, acting sad, "I'll have some buns from the pantry instead." She took the buns herself and ate them, Aunt Shaili looking on, extremely displeased.

A week passed with no clue about her parents. She knew they were still safe and criminal, but had no idea where. She didn't mind asking anybody and just kept bombarding Uncle Dhrisht with questions in class. Clearly, he was getting annoyed, but did not yet show any signs of impatience. She decided that she would have another outburst in a day or two, and cleverly avoided the fluoxetine. 

Three days later, she was halfway through the class, learning about the four nucleobases of deoxyribonucleic acid, when she suddenly stood up. "What now, Mahati? Another question?" asked Uncle Dhrisht, impatiently. Mahati had asked at least eight questions, and Uncle Dhrisht was impatient to finish the lesson. 

Mahati suddenly burst out. "What kind of a teacher are you if you don't listen to your own students? So impatient, cruel, and horrible. You withhold all that knowledge and don't teach us anything properly. You are an absolutely unfit teacher. I have no idea how you got that B. Ed. certification unless the examiners were as mean as you." 

She went ranting on for twenty minutes and left the class in a huff. When she yelled at her uncle, he did not have the usual "how-dare-you-yell-at-me" look. He looked concerned instead. And as soon as she left the class, Uncle Dhrisht went downstairs. 

Mahati went and locked herself in her room like she had done last time. About half an hour later, a concerned Aunt Bhishika rapped on the door. "Mahati," she said sweetly, "Are you all fine? Can you open the door?" Mahati opened the door, hints of anger still on her face. "I'm all fine and you can get out," she replied harshly. 

Aunt Bhishika looked worried and shocked and quickly went downstairs. Mahati slammed the door. Almost just then, Aunt Shaili came knocking. "Open up, Udaya," she said in a honeyed tone, "I've made you some cheesecake," she said. Aunt Shaili never baked much, so the cheesecake was an absolute shock. Durvinit could be heard begging his mother for cheesecake. 

Mahati opened the door, shaking from laughter inside, took the cheesecake, and shut the door again. The cheesecake was cold, clearly straight from the refrigerator. It looked weird because there was a curious liquid that the cherries seemed to be covered in. She googled up "fluoxetine" and found the liquid of the cherries strikingly identical. She then carefully disposed of the cherries and ate the cheesecake. It was delicious! Clearly, it wasn't Aunt Shaili's terrible cooking, but store-bought. 

And in less than ten minutes, she was downstairs, apologising and being nice again. Before dinner, as the children were watching On The Fashion Runway (Achitti had forced them into watching it), Aunt Bhishika took Durvinit, Achitti, and Nichaman into the kitchen. Mahati knew she was going to tell them about her "disorder". When they came out, they all had pity etched upon their faces. 

After that, Mahati was treated most kindly. She was the only ray of light among the dark deeds around her. But a question was still rotting in her head-where were her parents in the middle of all of this? If her aunts and uncles thought she had a mental disorder, why didn't they seem to tell her parents anything? Why didn't her parents come back?