86 Deal (2)

"You owe me 210 rupees." Anuchi ran to mom immediately after returning.  Anuchi and appa were gone for about two hours. The moment the door was opened, Anuchi ran to mom. She was excited and demanded the payment right away.

"What? 210 rupees? Why?" Mom asked even though she knew the answer.

"For the deal we made earlier today. 42 elder sisters came to talk to appa." Anuchi answered happily.

"That many? Don't lie." Mom had difficulty believing. Even I was a bit skeptical. Appa was popular. But he wasn't this popular.

"Hihihi..." Appa laughed heartily.

"I am not lying. You can ask appa. That many eldersisters came to talk to appa."

"How???" Mom was at a loss. I could see multiple expressions flashing on her face.

"First give me the money. I will tell only after that."

"Take from my purse." Mom grumbled.

Anuchi immediately ran to get the money, and I excitedly followed her. Anuchi was the only one who had permission to handle Mom's purse or phone. Mom didn't trust me with her phone, and I cannot really blame her.

"Ahh... I forgot. I have brought sweets. It's in the car." While counting the notes, Anuchi remembered and told me.

"Appa... Where are the sweets in the car?" I ran to appa.

"Ohh... I had forgotten that." He got up and walked to the car. Pichu, Piya and I excitedly followed him. Doodu had no interest in sweets. So he turned to mom. Whenever we get sweets to eat, Doodu would get treats. Appa got a box from the car. He passed it to me as I was the eldest among the ones that followed him.

"Give it to amma. You can eat it after dinner." He told me.

I went back in and obediently passed the box to mom.

"I am telling you. I counted it correctly. They were 42." Anuchi assured mom while happily counting the money again and again.

Mom looked still bewildered. I too was a bit shocked by the high number. We knew appa was popular. He was a politician. But at the same time he had the image of a next door familyman. So people found him easily approachable. Even then, this was a high number.

I looked at appa.

He had a smug smile. But he had no intention of explaining.

"Tell me everything that happened." Mom ordered Anuchi.

"They all came to wish him happy birthday." Anuchi finally gave the answer mom desperately wanted.

"Birthday? But his birthday is next week." Mom was still confused.

"Yes. They came to wish in advance."

"How did they know?"

"Hihihi... I told them." Anuchi answered with a proud smile.

Mom glared at Anuchi. The look was enough to scare Anuchi to explain further.

"You know, I was at the program. But they were talking about the newlyweds through the mic. I was bored. So I started chatting with an elder sister. She had seen appa in the news. I told her I will take her to take a selfie with appa if she gives me ten rupees. When she came to take the photo, I called appa 'appa'." Anuchi proudly explained her business.

"..."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds. Mom looked at Anuchi with her mouth agape. I was expecting something to go wrong with the deal. But she had managed to go beyond my expectations.

"I made her return the money and told her not to do it again." Appa consoled mom.

"Yaa... Appa don't know business. We could have made a lot of money." Anuchi grumbled.

All of us looked at Anuchi.

She shrank back a bit on seeing our looks.

"But I wasn't discouraged. I had another idea. I went and told many elder sisters that next week is the birthday of Phillip sir. So many of them came to wish him happy birthday in advance. When they came I called him 'appa'."

"I counted correctly. 42 elder sisters came to talk." Anuchi concluded her explanation.

Mom's face looked like she had swallowed a fly. She never thought that her idea would backfire so badly. Appa sat at the table with a happy smile. I was impressed. Once again, Anuchi had lived up to my expectation. I was proud of my big sister. As for Pichu, Piya and Doodu, they were playing without paying any attention to the conversation.

"Thank you very much for all the help," Mom said suppressing her anger.

"You are welcome. Ohh... Two elder sisters said that it was too early to wish him. So I gave them appa's number. When they call to wish, I will call 'appa' and you should pay for that too." Anuchi added.

"Why am I feeding you!" Mom grumbled and lightly kicked her.

"Eekk..." She screamed and ran away.

"Hahaha..." Appa laughed.

Mom glared at appa. He immediately wiped the gin on his face.

Truth to be told, I didn't feel even a bit pity for Mom. Even after multiple experiences, she had the courage to make a deal with Anuchi. She should have known the consequences of making such a deal with our dear devil.

We had our dinner. Anuchi didn't eat as she had filled her belly from the function.

After the dinner, we all ate the desserts Anuchi had brought for us.

***

"I can't believe that this hell burner sold me for money." I heard appa complaining.

After playing the whole day, we were peacefully sleeping in our room. Unexpectedly, I was woken up by the sound of our parents talking in hushed tones. I kept my eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

By 'hell burner' he was obviously referring to Anuchi. If my memory is right, this name was coined by the priest in our church. According to him, if Anuchi were to reach hell one day, she would burn down the hell.

"I am more worried about Achu. He is growing up learning everything from her. Once these two start acting as a team, we will be in real trouble." Mom replied.

"Aren't they going to the bakery together tomorrow?" Appa asked.

"Yes. Any idea what she is scheming?"

"I don't know. She wants to keep it a secret."

'We are going to the bakery? I didn't know about this. I think Anuchi has planned something. Can't she give at least a week gap between two disasters?' I thought.

"She is probably trying to make more money."

"How much does she have?"

"I think around 1500. She has involved Arjun also. So they might make the full amount sooner than we expected."

"I am worried they will start racing once they all get bicycles."

"I know. I will take them to the ground regularly so that they can race safely."

"We are not destined to have peace in this life. Right?" Mom asked worriedly.

In response, appa chuckled.

"Doodu, keep an eye on your siblings." After patting Doodu's head. Both of them left the room.

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Does anyone remember my book, 'God of Death Goes to School'? I had unpublished it long ago. I am thinking of publishing it again.