Bitter chocolate!

SHORT STORY

Pushpa moved her hand across the bars of expensive chocolates in the drawer of her study table. Her expression was blank, but she could not hold back a sensation of dark thrill.

It was not the first time she had swiped foodstuff from Ramlal’s shop. Moreover, last evening, there had been no customers about, and the two unsuspecting helpers had no clue about what she had done.

Pushpa’s mouth watered for a bite. But she decided to go downstairs for her snacks first, and enjoy the chocolates for dessert later.

In the kitchen, Pushpa’s mother was laying out a glass of milk and a plate of steaming hot aloo parathas on the table.

“Wow, parathas!” chimed a voice from the kitchen door. Pushpa suppressed a sigh of disappointment as Surbhi, her friend, stepped inside. She would now have to part with at least one of the three parathas, if not more. To make matters worse, she couldn’t even dig into her chocolates while her friend gave her company.

“You don’t look happy to see me,” said Surbhi, breaking into Pushpa’s thoughts.

 “That’s not true!” said Pushpa hurriedly.

“In any case, I haven’t come to stay,” said Surbhi, putting a tiffin carrier on the table.  “In fact, I wanted to ask you if you could come to the hospital with me.”

“Hospital? Is everything okay?” asked Pushpa.

Surbhi pointed to the tiffin carrier. “I have to deliver this dinner to our maid. She was terribly ill last night and had to be rushed to the hospital.”

Pushpa’s mother immediately took out a cloth bag from the cupboard. “Please get two loaves of bread from Ramlal’s on your way back, dear.”

Pushpa’s face shone with anticipation at the thought of another trip to Ramlal’s shop. She thought excitedly about what she could swipe off this time – more chocolates perhaps?

It took the girls just 10 minutes to cycle down to the hospital. At the reception, Surbhi asked for directions to the general ward where the maid was being treated.

“Mom’s paying for the entire hospitalisation,” she said as they made their way to the ward. “There’s no way she can afford to get treated here by her own means.”

There were five other patients besides the maid inside the ward. But what made Pushpa break her step was a young man of about twenty standing by the bed on which the maid lay. He was one of the two helpers from Ramlal’s shop. Tears were streaming down his thin face.

Surbhi quietly kept the tiffin carrier at the head of the bed. The young man looked up and hurriedly wiped his face on the sleeve on his shirt. “You and your family are very kind.”

“Mom wants to know what happened,” said Surbhi softly. “Your mother seemed quite well yesterday.” The young man sat down and steadied his breath.

“I ran out of Amma’s daily medicine on Wednesday, and she has been without her regular dose for the last two days. Yesterday, I carried just enough money to work to buy the tablets on my way back home. But Ramlal sir accused me of stealing some chocolates and I had to give him every paisa in my pocket. By the time I took some more money, went to the chemist and returned home, Amma had gone pale and she was breathing heavily.”

Pushpa’s face burned as the maid’s son recounted his sad story. Although the man was looking at Surbhi, Pushpa felt as if his eyes were piercing her heart, reminding her of her crime.

“We might be poor, but I’ve never done a wrong thing my whole life. Last evening, not only was I accused of stealing, but also lost my job,” he cried afresh.

Pushpa felt nausea rising from the pit of her stomach. In all her months of shoplifting, never once had she realised how dark the consequences of her misdeed could become.

As she looked at the maid’s frail form, she loathed every inch of herself. She had every comfort a girl could wish for, yet she stole just for the fun of it. Now, an honest man and his mother were paying for her wrong.

“I hope she gets better soon,” said Surbhi turning to leave.

Outside the ward, Pushpa clutched Surbhi’s hand tightly. “Hospitals make you feel blue?” asked Surbhi. “Come on, we’ll pick up the bread from Ramlal’s and go straight home.”

“No, I want to go home first. There is something I have to take care of.”

Back home, under Surbhi’s puzzled gaze, Pushpa opened the drawer of her study table and put the chocolate bars into her cloth bag. “I’m ready to go to Ramlal’s now.”  It was time to make amends. There would be a lot of questions and explanations. But as she got on to her bicycle once again, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She was finally on the right track.