Trivial concerns

The doctor’s house is nearly complete.

The labourers, back to work after their short afternoon meal. The puny lady puts her baby down. She picks up a tray of cement and walks inside. The child plays with a tire, beating the tire with a stick. His mother’s absence does not affect him, neither does the afternoon heat. A dog comes to greet him. Just like the tire, he beats it with the stick. The dog howls but doesn’t move. “Racky, hogu*” he says and continues to beat the tire with the stick. The dog wags its tail and lies down beside him.

The boy is distracted by some fighting inside. He walks to the doorway and peeps in. He calls, “Amma” but his voice is drowned out by the loud voices inside. No response from his mother. She walks out of a room, yelling at someone. He stands on his tip toes, attempting to see more than he already can. He calls out to her again. She ignores him. The dog barks. A man comes out of the room, yelling. “Appa” he calls, his father storms towards him. He grabs the stick from the little boy’s hand and raises it to hit the dog. The dog runs away. He aims the stick at the little boy. The mother catches his hand, trying to reach for the stick. He hits her with it. She screams, he hits her again. Her head bleeds, she walks away. The little boy picks up the stick as his father throws it down. He walks back to the tire and beats it.

The doctor’s house, big and ugly, is nearly complete.

 

*Rocky, go!