Free You Were My Crush: Till You Said You Love Me! by Durjoy Datta, Orvana Ghai Page B

They seemed happy! Mom looked happy in those pictures.
    ‘Why don’t you talk to your aunt?’ Diya suggested.
    ‘You think she would know anything about this?’ I asked her.
    ‘If anyone would—’
    ‘I should leave then,’ I said and picked up the car keys. I gathered all the pictures and other stuff and put them back in the envelope. ‘Come with me, Diya. I can even show you then what I wanted to.’
    ‘
What?
Wasn’t this what you wanted to show me?’
    ‘No! I will be outside your place in ten minutes,’ I said and disconnected the call. She was waiting when I got there.
    ‘What?’ she said. ‘You got to be kidding me!’ she shrieked in pure excitement. ‘I am sure your dad can buy Russia too!’
    ‘Why the fixation with Russia?’ I asked and she just laughed.
    We sat in the car and left for Deb’s mom’s place. Diya
loved
the car.
    ‘Benoy, are you sure I should come? It’s your family matter,’ she said.
    ‘I want you around,’ I said.
    As I drove, my questions, my anxiety and my anger tapered down. I thought if Mom could forgive him, so could I. After all, I was not half as nice a person as Mom was. By the time I reached my aunt’s place, I was sure that no matter what explanation I would get, I would forgive my father.
    It was time.
    ‘Beta?’ she said, as she opened the door and I handed over the envelope. I touched her feet.
    ‘Go through it,’ I said and introduced Diya.
    They both smiled at each other and she asked us to sit. She slowly went through all of it, alternating betweenlooking at me and what was in her hands. She didn’t look shocked. She just looked sorry that I had got to know.
    ‘Who gave you this?’ she asked, her hand on mine.
    ‘That doesn’t matter. What’s all this?’ I said. ‘And I know you know.’
    ‘I don’t know what to say, Benoy.’
    ‘You don’t know what to say? I grew up without him being around because my
mom
asked me to stay away from
him
. Then what was all this? Trips? Dinners? Just tell me anything. Anything would do! Seriously. Tell me anything and I would believe you,’ I said desperately, angry that I was the last to know.
    ‘See, Benoy. I wouldn’t lie to you.’
    ‘Then tell me.’
    ‘See, beta. It is not how you think it was. Your mother had a tough time dealing with your dad. He was nice when they got married, but then he got involved with his work, his business, and he just forgot he had a wife and kid at home. It was really hard for your mother. She used to cry for days on end. I saw her go through that. And with you, he just became
worse
. He wanted to turn you into him. He was strict and would even go about beating you, even when you were just a little kid. And that’s why she left him. Not because he cheated, not because he didn’t give her time, but because he was a very bad father to you and she couldn’t take it.’
    ‘I don’t remember any of it.’
    ‘You don’t remember because your mother brought you up like that,’ she said.
    ‘But why this?’
    ‘You know your father always kept tabs on you andyour mother. He still does. After your mother discovered that she had cancer, she didn’t tell anybody, not even
you
. But your father, he knew. And he begged, he almost literally signed off all of his businesses to his partners just to be with your mother. Eventually, she forgave him, but she still wanted to punish him for being a bad father. What you have in your hands is their last times together. As husband and wife.’
    ‘Okay.’
    ‘It’s not like how you think, Benoy. She always thought about you first. She just didn’t want you to turn out like him, that’s why she kept you away,’ she said.
    She clutched my hands, expecting me to break down into tears, and hugged me. I ruffled that package in my hands. I was not crying. I was smiling. I was glad that Mom had Dad around during her last days; she looked
happy
in those pictures, content. I had more to remember her by, and I was glad that she had a