Chapter 23

My stomach was rumbling with hunger now, and I realized that I’d told Kalpana aunty not to bring lunch today. Dialing the number of the local pizza joint, I ordered a pizza for lunch. As I settled down to wait for the pizza, I switched on the TV and started surfing through the channels. They were showing a re-run of the old Aamir Khan movie ‘Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar’ on the local cable channel, also featuring the pretty Ayesha Jhulka and the sultry Pooja Bedi.

A song sequence was playing featuring these two Bollywood actors dancing around in school classroom set. As I watched enact their school girl roles wearing the ubiquitous perfect school uniform, my thoughts drifted off to my experiences while I was in school. After a long hiatus, I was getting all the sex I wanted, but for some reason it did not hold the same excitement that my days as a naïve school boy did. At 20, I was already feeling old!

As I lay in my couch at home, I couldn’t help but think that that encounter with my sexy Hindi school teacher Sarita ma’am had to set in motion a chain of events that expanded my sexual horizon way beyond my wildest imagination; a chain of women and girls, some predictable, some totally out of the blue. My reverie was broken with the shrill sound of the bell ringing. Opening the door, I found the pizza delivery boy with my lunch. As I was paying the delivery boy, I wondered why pizza delivery boys were always boys, and never girls.

Well if they were girls, I’d have ended up fucking them too, I thought to myself with a grin. Finishing my pizza and washing it down with a Coke, I stretched out on the couch once again. My thoughts wandered to that sexy sales girl, Sapna, who’d given me her number and offered to come out with me whenever I felt like it. I had half a mind to call her, but decided against it, since I was feeling too lazy to go out in the sweltering heat. Just as I was beginning to doze off again, the phone rang.

It was Mayuri ben. “What were you doing beta?” she asked.

“Nothing, Auntie ... was just lying watching TV.” I replied, my voice still heavy with sleep.

“Good.” she replied, pausing as if thinking of what to say. I too couldn’t fathom why she had called me. “So you’re at home right now, beta ... you’re going out somewhere?” she asked.

“I’m home and staying home for now. Why?”

“It’s nothing. Alka has come over here ... so I thought...” she began, pausing once again. Hearing no response from me, she continued “I would send her to your place...”

Not expecting this at all, I fumbled and said “Uh ... but aunty...”

Sensing my discomfort, Mayuri ben said “Oh beta, it’s what we’ve discussed, didn’t we? Why are you overthinking it?”

Somehow, I was just not comfortable with this set up. In my lust crazed state of mind, I had expressed this fetish of indulging in some kinky play with a lactating woman; but I had never expected it to become real. Moreover, I had no intention of exploiting a poor housewife just to indulge in my wild fantasies.

My mind in turmoil, I mumbled “But Auntie ... I still don’t feel right about it.”

“Oh beta ... Why do you think that way? You’re not forcing her to do anything.” she said, trying her best to convince me. “All you have to do is is see her once all by yourself, and then do only what you think is right.” she said in her most convincing tone.

I could figure out why the slutty Mayuri ben had set me up at Radhika aunty’s massage parlor, and why she was pimping her own daughter too. But I couldn’t figure out her interest in getting a totally submissive and docile 27-year old housewife into the picture.

After all that she had already done for me, there was no need to do anything more to make me feel obligated. I shook my head and said to myself that there was no point in trying to read too much into this. After all, the offer she was making seemed fairly reasonable; there was no harm in my just meeting this woman.

“Alright, aunty...” I said into the phone.

“Very good, beta...” she said like a proud school teacher “I’ll send her over right now.” With that she hung up the phone.

I was still in only my boxers and a t-shirt, and with the intent of making myself a bit more presentable, I headed to the bathroom. After splashing some water on my face, I changed into a pair of comfortable slacks and a polo-neck t-shirt, and settled down to wait for Alka bhabhi. After a few minutes the door bell rang. I jumped up to open the door. The pretty 27-year old Alka bhabhi stood at the door, clutching a small black purse in her hand. As I said earlier, she was quite fair, and had a small build. She must have been 5’4” at the most, and had a pretty round face with big black eyes. Her hair was tied into a tight bun like most Gujarati women, and she wore a peach-coloured cotton saree with a matching blouse; the pallu of the sari on her right shoulder since she’d tied the saree in the Gujarati style.

Apart from a small red bindi that adorned her forehead and a small gold stud on her earlobes, she was pretty much devoid of any ornaments or make-up. There was of course the ubiquitous mangalsutra around her neck, and the mandatory half a dozen glass bangles on each of her wrists. Her flawless skin had a certain glow to it that only came with pregnancy. Even under the floral-print cotton saree, I could make out the prominent swell of her swollen breasts inside her blouse. A portion of her fleshy but not flabby, white-skinned belly could also be seen between the pallu and the waistline of her saree. Like most newly wed housewives, who’d just delivered a child, her slender waist flared into full wide hips.

“Namaste, Jignesh bhai...” she greeted me politely, folding her hands in greeting.

“Namaste, bhabi...” I replied, smiling warmly. “Come on in please.” I said, standing back and welcoming her inside. As she walked into the house, I closed the door behind her. “Please have a seat. I’ll bring you something cold to drink.” I said to her, pointing towards the couch.

As she sat down tentatively on the edge of the couch, she said “You don’t have to go to this much trouble, Jignesh bhai...”

“No trouble at all. This is the first time you come to my house.” I said, flashing my most charming smile. Unable to think of anything else to say, I went into the kitchen and busied myself with squeezing some fresh lime, and making some soda-based lemonade for her.

Pouring the lime extract and soda over a glass filled with ice, I came back into the living room. “Here you go, bhabhi...” I said, extending the tray with the glass of lime-soda in it. She took the glass from the tray, avoiding eye contact. As she sipped on the freshly squeezed lime juice, I settled down on the single seat recliner opposite her. A few drops of sweat were lined along her forehead, and I also noticed how her blouse was soaked with sweat at her armpits. She gulped down the cold drink thirstily, and wiping her mouth with a small handkerchief that she was clutching in her hands, got up from the couch. Before I could say anything, she picked up the tray along with the glass, and headed towards the kitchen.

“You shouldn’t bhabhi, I’ll take care of it later.” I protested.

She just smiled in response, and went ahead all the same. As I sat in my recliner, I heard her rinse the glass with water at the sink, and place in on the platform to dry. She came back into the living room, wiping her hands on the pallu of her saree. She then proceeded to sit down on the couch again, once again almost at the edge in a tentative manner. There was a moment of awkward silence between us, both of us not knowing what to say. Finally, she cleared her throat, and said pleasantly “You have a very nice house Jignesh bhai, it’s very well decorated.” her eyes glancing at the numerous paintings and other decorative items that were on display in the living room.

“Um ... hhh...” I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders.

Once again, there was an awkward silence between us. “So how many more days will you be alone, Jignesh bhai...” she asked hesitantly, breaking the silence.

“Umm, a month or two, bhabhi, after that my mother may be coming back. Nothing is sure yet.” I replied.

“Oh...” she said. After a pause “So what do you do for food, Jignesh bhai?” she asked, once again trying to make conversation.

“Um ... twice a day, Kalpana Aunty’s brings me food, and sometimes I eat outside too...” I replied.

“When do you start college?” she asked.

“It’s a month away ... I haven’t decided yet which college I’ll go to...” I replied, glad that she was continuing with the small talk. All this while, she was avoiding looking at me, and only making eye contact with me whenever she spoke, or I replied. To prevent this from becoming a monologue, I said to her “How long have you lived in the neighbourhood?”

“Three years almost, Jignesh bhai...” she replied immediately.

“Oh...” I mumbled “I didn’t realize...” leaving my sentence unfinished.

“Yes, you have never seen me around,” she replied, smiling at me for the first time. “But I have seen you many times. You used to go for jogging every morning, didn’t you?” she continued, the smile still on her face.

“Yes,” I replied, smiling back at her, surprised that she had noticed me going for my jogs. In the early days when the fitness bug had bitten me, I used to go for a run every morning. “Whenever I used to sit on the terrace for breakfast, I used to see going by.” she said, a hint of shyness in her voice. A lock of her dark hair had escaped from the knotted bun, and was dangling tantalizing across her pink right cheek. My eyes were riveted to her lush pink lips and the white skin of her slender neck. Realizing that I was staring at her, I pulled my eyes away. I thought I saw her blush, and her pink cheeks seemed to become a shade darker.

“Umm, bhabhi...” I began, desperate to keep some conversation going between us “What does your husband do for a living?”

“He has electrical business.” she replied, pronouncing the word business as ‘bijhnez’.

“Yeah,” I intoned “and you have two children, right?”

“Yes,” she replied immediately, her face brightening immediately. Most mothers loved talking about their kids and she was no exception. “My first daughter will be three years old now ... and the younger one is seven months old now.” she continued, her face smiling with pride.

“Oh...” was all I was able to muster by way of a response.

Once again, there was this awkward silence between us. Clearing my throat, I said “I saw your little baby that day at Mayuri ben’s house she is very cute ... just like you...”

She glanced up quickly towards me when she heard these words, and for a moment, I was scared if I had said the right thing; since the only time I’d seen her baby was when I had accidentally stumbled upon her feeding the infant at Mayuri ben’s place. But to my relief, her cheeks flushed with joy, and a warm smile creased her pretty face. She started to say something, and then stopped, as if changing her mind. After a pause, she said in a sad tone “But my husband was very angry ... when I had another girl too ... he wanted a boy...”

I groaned inwardly, and shook my head in frustration. This obsession with the male child was so bloody typical of these illiterate folks, it never ceased to rankle me. “It’s not your fault, bhabhi...” I said with some consternation.

There was a forlorn look on her face, as she stared at the foot of the teapoy, and said in a resigned tone “What can I do, Jignesh bhai ... you tell me ... is it in my hands for a baby to be a boy or a girl?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying...” I retorted, the irritation evident in my voice.

She looked up at my face and with a wry smile said “But not everyone is as educated as you are, Jignesh bhai. I have at least passed the tests, but my husband even left school...” There was a distant look in her eyes as she began “I was 24 when I got married, he was already unhappy with me. He had wanted an eighteen-year-old. But my mother Bapu gave a lot of dowry. That’s why he married me.” She was staring fixedly at the floor now, as she narrated her tale of woe. “And then when my first daughter was born, he started saying that it is my fault. And then his business is also not going well ... and he ... he blames me for that too ... says that I am wretched.” she continued, her voice beginning to break now.

Her eyes were wet with tears now, and I saw a drop roll down her pink flushed cheeks. Dabbing at the corner of her eyes with her handkerchief, she continued “My father had sold everything to give dowry for my marriage, and now that his business is not doing well, he tells me that I should ask my father for more money.”

I just sat there opposite her, feeling sorry for her, and furious at her husband at the same time. Looking up at me, her eyes red with tears, she said “How can I ask my father for more money, Jignesh bhai ... He has yet to get my two sisters married.” her voice breaking again.

Wiping her tears with the handkerchief again, she continued “And ... and when I gave birth to a second daughter, he threatened to throw me out of the house, he said that I can’t produce a boy because my dad never produced boys.” almost sobbing now. “I begged him dearly, I begged him not to throw me out of the house. I told him I will do every service to him ... that I will remain his maidservant, only then he agreed.” she wailed, the tears flowing freely now.

“And there is no money even to live, he has borrowed so much money that now it has become impossible to borrow any more.” she continued, sniffing. Wiping her nostrils with her handkerchief, she said “He hasn’t paid the rent in four months now. I don’t know where the money that he makes goes. And if I ask him anything about his work then ... then he raises his hand on me ... now he has started beating me too...” She was shaking her head to and fro now, and watching her bare her soul like this, I felt a lump begin to form in my throat.

I wanted to reach out to her and hug her, but some straw of decency inside me was making me hold myself back. “When the landlord threatened to kick us out of the house, he told me to talk to him ... Told me to go to him, cry, beg, for a few more months’ time ... by saying that I am not a woman ... so he will take pity on me.” she continued.

I grimaced inwardly, as I felt a pang of guilt course through me. Wasn’t this the same kind of exploitation I would be indulging in with her, if I were to go down the path Mayuri ben was laying out for me?

I hated to be in this spot at that moment, and was cursing Mayuri ben for ever having put me forward as some sort of a sexual predator in front of this absolutely innocent and helpless housewife. Interrupting my thoughts, she said “Jignesh bhai, I did ... I went to the landlord last month ... my mister said so I took my 7 month old baby too, and begged the landlord for mercy ... but he did ... he did...” she broke down and began to sob uncontrollably, burying her face in her hands. Not able to hold myself back any longer, I jumped up from my seat and went to her.

Sitting down next to her, I gently placed my arms around her back, and caressed her shoulder. “Bhabhi ... don’t cry, please ... please bhabhi ... don’t cry.” I said softly, guilt and empathy engulfing me at the same time. Lifting her teary flushed face from her hands, she looked at me, not able to control the sobs that racked her body. Even with her face red from the tears, and her pink lips quivering, she looked so incredibly desirable to me. “Get a hold on your self, you bastard...” I said to myself, clenching my teeth.

“The landlord is my dad’s age, Jignesh bhai...” she said, shaking her head as if still refusing to accept what had happened “But he is...” her voice break again. I was beginning to get an idea about what would have happened. “He told me if I want to stay in that house then ... I will have to pay the rent...” she continued, still crying. “I told him, we will pay your money ... you just give us a few months’ time ... I beg you ... we will pray for you forever.” her voice quivering. “But he did not agree ... and said that if you do not have money to give then ... then you give your body to me.” she said.

I wasn’t too surprised to know about this, but still hearing it from her in her own words, sent a shiver of cold fury down my spine. I just clenched my jaw and nodded at her, my hands still resting chastely on her shoulder. “Oh Jignesh saheb, he wants me to be his mistress. I cried a lot and I even kissed his feet, and asked him to have mercy on me ... and my two little kids ... but he wouldn’t listen...” she said, her voice husky with crying.

“In the end he said ... that if you can not get rid of ... then ... then ... at least get naked ... and ... more ... suck my cock...” she finished, a tone of helplessness and bitterness in her voice. With that she buried her face once more in her hands, and began to sob. My cock had given an involuntary lurch when I heard this 27-year old ripe young housewife narrated so blatantly what her landlord had told her, and in spite of the fact that my heart had gone out to her, my cock had become rock hard now.

I had hardly even touched her, as she was sitting chastely with her hands in her lap. Even though I was sitting next to her, my thighs were not touching hers. The only contact I had with her was my hand resting on her shoulders gently. Even then, I was aroused, and my cock was erect. Letting out a sigh of dismay at the state of my own rampant libido, I said to her gently “Bhabhi, just ... don’t say anything else ... everything will be fine now...” Even though I’d said that, I had no clue how I was going to make all her problems in life go away.

She sat there with her face buried in her hands, and continued to sob uncontrollably, her body heaving. The small patch of bare skin that my palms touched at her back above the cut of her blouse, felt hot to touch, and I could almost feel the heat emanating from her emotionally charged body. Pulling my hands away from her back, I tugged at her arms gently, saying “Bhabhi, go wash your face...”

After a few seconds; she lifted her face from her hands, and looked at me. Her lips were still quivering with the emotion, and her pretty fair round face was streaked with tears. “Come on bhabhi...” I said to her gently, taking her hand in mine and getting up from the couch.

She followed me meekly as I led her to the bathroom attached to my bedroom. Leading her inside, I stepped out to wait. She came out a few moments later, having splashed water liberally on her face and blown her nose. Even in that state, with her pretty face flushed red from all the crying, and a few wet strands of hair dangling from her forehead, she looked incredibly erotic to me. With a smile on my face, I handed her a fresh white towel. She took the towel gratefully from my hands, and wiped her face dry.

Leaving her to get herself together, I went into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water for her. When I returned to the bedroom, she was sitting perched on the edge of my bed. Hearing my footsteps, she looked up with an embarrassed expression on her face. But seeing the glass of water in my hands, she managed a weak smile, and stood up. Taking the glass from my hands, she said softly “Thank you, Jignesh bhai...” letting her fingers linger for a few more moments than necessary on mine. After she finished the glass of water, I took hold of her hand again and led her into the living room.

I relished the feel of her soft fingers in my hands as I helped her sit down on the couch again. “Jignesh bhai...” she began as she sat down “I’m sorry ... don’t know why I told all this to you ... don’t get me wrong, don’t ... I...”

“Bhabhi, you don’t need to say anymore.” I said, interrupting her. Kneeling down on the floor in front of where she sat on the couch, I took the liberty of placing both my hands on her thighs. Looking into her face, I said “I don’t know what to say to you, but I know what needs to happen.” I said to her with some intensity.

Unable to comprehend the meaning of my words, she just looked at me.

Taking both her hands in mine, I kissed them, and before she could react, got up quickly. I went into my bedroom, and opening the locker in my cupboard, extracted 10 notes of 500 rupees from the wad of cash that I kept in my locker for emergency use. Returning to the living room where she was still sitting on the couch, I knelt down before her again. As she looked at me questioningly, I pressed the money into her palms and closed them forcefully. Before she could say a word, I said “Bhabhi ... This is some money ... you will be able to pay at least one month’s rent from this...” hoping that the 5,000 rupees I was giving her now, coupled with the 1,500 rupees I’d given her earlier at Mayuri ben’s place would be sufficient to cover at least a month’s rent.

There was a stunned expression on her face, as she looked at the wad of folded notes, and she opened her mouth as if to say something. But her words failed her, and all she succeeded in doing was blinking her eyes rapidly, causing a fresh dollop of tear to roll down her pink cheek. Reaching out to wipe the tear from her cheek, I said to her gently “A while back you said no ... that I don’t misunderstand you ... now I’m begging you ... So that you don’t misunderstand me ... this ... take it as a help from a friend...” Clearing my throat, I continued “And ... from now on ... until your husband’s business is in good shape, you don’t need to worry about house rent every month...”

I was not sure if I was doing the right thing in making such a big commitment, especially when all I was dolling out so liberally was my dad’s new found wealth. I’d done nothing worthwhile with my life so far, and was just living off my father’s money. But at that moment, it just seemed like the right thing to do, and I decided to go ahead and trust my instinct. She gulped a few times rapidly, and finally managed to open her mouth to say something. But I interrupted her again, and said “Bhabhi ... please, don’t say anything, don’t take it as a favor or begging for mercy. Take it and solve some problems with it, give it back whenever possible for you.” once again squeezing her hands reassuringly.

I’d helped out quite a few women with money so far, but I’d never seen such an expression of pain and gratitude in any person’s eyes. Pain at having to be reduced to this state where she couldn’t refuse the money; and gratitude at a benefactor like me coming into her life from nowhere. I was half expecting her to throw her arms around me and say profound words of gratitude, but she did nothing of that sort. She just sat there, stunned with what was happening, and stared fixedly at my eyes. Embarrassed, I let go of her hands and stood up.

She just sat there unmoving, looking down at the floor. The pallu of her saree had got displaced from her shoulder slightly, and as she sat there staring at the floor, I could see the deep cleavage formed by her swollen breasts inside the blouse. My cock had lost some of its hardness, but was still stiff inside my underwear. I didn’t want to spoil the purity of the moment with anything sexual, so I said to her gently “Bhabhi, you should go home.”

She just sat there unmoving, still looking at the floor as if in some trance. Thinking of something, I said to her “Bhabhi, where did you leave your daughter to come here?”

Hearing this she seemed to come out of her reverie, and looking up at me with those big tear filled eyes, said softly “Mayuri ben is taking care of her.” Once again, her eyes simply bored into mine, as if searching for some meaning.

Not able to handle her silence any more, I said “You should go, bhabhi, what if she’s crying for you?” my face conveying the concern for her newborn baby.

“Yes, ok,” she mumbled, nodding her head dumbly. Her zombie like mannerisms were beginning to scare me now and I didn’t know how to deal with her anymore. “Ok.” she repeated, getting up from the couch.

She stood for a moment in front of me, as if about to say something. But then she just looked down at her hands which were still holding the money that I’d just given her, and shook her head. She walked towards the door and began to fumble with the latch. I helped open the door, and watched her as she slipped her white naturally shapely feet into a pair of old worn sandals. On an instinct, I looked into the room to see if she’d left anything behind, and spotted the small black purse that she’d come with, lying on the couch. “One minute, bhahi...” I said, and went inside to pick up the purse. Handing her the purse, I said with a smile “You forgot this.”

She just nodded dumbly and took the purse from my hand, mumbling something that sounded like a thank you.

As she opened the gate of the verandah and stepped outside on to the road, I waved to her. She too waved at me weakly, and began to walk towards her house. As she disappeared around the corner, I closed the door behind her. Perplexed at her strange behavior, I plopped down on the couch. Squeezing my still stiff cock inside my slacks, I said to myself with a wry grin “Ok, at least for once, you did the right thing ... and did not let the dog out...”

Just as I was reclining on the couch, recollecting the events that had just occurred; the bell rang. Shaking my head in exasperation, I dragged myself out of the couch once again. The bloody bell just didn’t seem to stop ringing today. To my utter surprise, when I opened the door with irritation, ready to snap at whoever was there, Alka bhabhi stood there.

She had pulled the pallu of her saree above her head from behind like a ghunghat of sorts, and tears were streaming down her face. Alarmed, I asked “What happened, Alka bhabhi? Why did you come back?”

She just stood there, sobbing silently, holding the ghunghat close to her face with one hand. Worried that someone might spot her standing like this at my door crying, I took her by her hand and led her inside.

Closing the door behind us, I turned towards her and was about to ask something, when to my total surprise, she fell on her knees, and flung her arms around my legs. “What are you doing bhabhi?” I exclaimed, reaching down immediately to pull her up. But she hung on to my legs with a fierce determination, and buried her face near my knees.

“Jignesh bhai ... Jignesh bhai...” was all she could muster, between her heaving sobs. I was totally clueless about what to do now, but somehow managed to pull her hands away from my legs, and pull her on her feet. She was almost faint with crying now, and literally fell against me. As my hands instinctively went around her to hold her, I was rewarded by the feel of those swollen milk-filled breasts of hers press against my chest.

She was crying non-stop now, and muttering something incomprehensible even as she rested against me, held on her feet only because I was holding her up. Not knowing what else to do, I just held her head pressed against my chest with my left hand, even as I gently massaged her back with my right. Her ghunghat had fallen off her head now, and I could see the smooth flawless skin of her back above the cut of her blouse from behind. My fingers could also feel the contours of the thick-strapped bra she wore under her blouse. My cock lurched in spite of myself, and I prayed that she wouldn’t note it as my crotch was mashed against her belly. She was a short woman, and looking down I could see the red sindhoor in the parting of her hair.

“Shh ... shh...” I shushed her, gently rubbing her back, even as she clung on to me with her hands wrapped around my back, her lush body heaving as the sobs wracked her body. Gradually her sobs subsided, and her body stopped quivering. However, I held her in my arms, continuing to try to soothe her. I was wracking my brains trying to figure out, what was making her cry so much; and more importantly, why she had come back.

Slowly she lifted her face up from where it was buried in my chest, and gazed at the wet spot on my white t-shirt that had formed due to her copious tears. Instinctively, she reached out to touch it and attempted to wipe it with her hand, muttering “Oh, I messed up your shirt.”

“Oh bhabhi, you didn’t.” I chided her gently, gently lifting up her face by her chin.

She clasped my hand to her cheeks where I had touched her, and looking into my eyes through her teary red eyes, said in a tearful voice “Jignesh bhai ... I ... I ... I don’t know what happened ... I ... I don’t know what to say to you...”

Pausing, she swallowed, and then continued in a faltering voice “I ... I ... did not come to you asking for money ... I am telling the truth, Jignesh bhai ... I didn’t come to ask you for money.” she repeated herself, shaking her head vigorously as if to reaffirm what she was saying. Her big dark eyes on that pretty fair round face nearly melted my heart, and with a sigh of genuine feeling, I cupped her soft face in my palms.

Looking into her eyes, I said earnestly “Bhabhi ... please don’t embarrass me ... I know you didn’t come to ask me for money, that’s why I was telling you not to misunderstand me...” trying my best to assuage her hurt pride. That’s when I realized that she was still holding the money I had given her, clenched in her fist. Lifting her hands, she opened her palms, and trying to push the money into my hands, said “I can’t take this money from you Jignesh bhai ... no ... no ... I just can’t.” she kept repeating, tears continuing to roll down her cheeks even though she had stopped sobbing. I was touched well and truly by now.