Problem Child

          

       *Reader discretion advised*

           The winds were strong outside. So strong that their presence was gallantly announced by creaking windows and shattering panes. Aspens sang songs to calm the winds down, but it was of no use. Man would have been scared to death two thousand years ago, but now he sat comfortably in a heated room, sondering and pondering on lives of others, more so than his own. But these were winds of change, bringing in the winter, and they were to be respected at all costs. Their identity was forged by nature billions of years ago; no mortal epoch could dare disgrace them.

            Man had become the master of every corner from space to sea; from art to discovery. And yet a tiny glimpse outside through a pin-hole would reveal how puny his existence is and how much more there is to know, beyond daily scuffles over petty meticulousness. But blinded by greed and apathy this problem child achieves nothing but scattered blood and bone on his platters. Indifferent to all these thoughts, on a soft sofa in his wooden house, sat Nick, attended by single-mindedness of his video game.

            The doorbell rang, but he was too engrossed in his game to attend to it. The bell rang again, and again. Finally he ran to the door; unlocked it and rushed back, nearly tipping off the vase over the crooked table. Then he jumped over the sofa and grabbed his controller and shook it like a monster. “Yeah!” His ardour was all over the place. “I did it. I've killed Balthazar! You're dead my brother!”

In all his enthusiasm he had failed to notice the visitor who was now quietly sitting beside him on the embellished sofa. “Oh. Hey Gwen. Wassup?”

“I have something to say” she said softly.

“You can tell me now” he said looking at her.

She hesitated for a minute and replied “I’m pregnant.”

“MOTHERFUCKER!!” Nick screamed looking at the television “The villain is not dead. He has got another life. What the fuck?”

“Hey, you are not supposed to use those words” she said “Do you remember what happened the last time you used them.”

“Yeah. But no one’s home. Relax” he said twisting and nimbly tapping buttons on his controller. A thousand expressions occupied his face every minute. Analogues from anger to desperation; from joy to fear.

“FUCK! I died. This was my last life!” he tossed the controller down on the ground “This game is fuckin’ impossible.”

“Nick! No one is home. I’m pregnant” she said prudently.

He paused for a moment “What? . . . . Will you die now?”

“No” she whispered.

“What does that mean then?” Nick whispered.

“I do not know” she said after thinking for a while.

“But this means something. I’ll tell Scar when she gets home. She would know what to do. She’s a well-educated person.” There was nothing else to do but stare at the ceiling for a few minutes then.

“Who’s Scar?” asked Gwen almost remembering something.

“She’s my cousin; arrived here today morning. She’s gone to the hospital with everyone.”

“Oh. My dad went to the hospital after dropping me here. I had told him I’d be scared alone” she pointed at the window “The winds are strong outside.”

“Yeah. I hope that mom’s alright.”

“Yes. I heard she fell off the stairs at night.”

“Yeah. You know better. She’ll come back. She always does. Let me get some water” he said and left the hall.

“There is no one in the house. Do you know what that means?” he asked with a sly smile, carrying a glass of chilled water.

“Yes I do” she said and gulped it down at once.

“Yeah MOTHERFUCKER!! It’s us who rule!” screamed Nick.

“This world is a BITCH! Fuck them all!” yelled Gwen and climbed on the sofa.

“Fucking Lord this feels nice” said Nick jumping up and down.

“Fuck you and fuck you too” they screamed together “Fuck them all!”

“Nick!” a yell from above the stairs.

They gasped in horror “I thought you said we were alone.”

“Yes we were!” he seemed confused and scared.

“We’re in trouble.” They waited in fear for a familiar face to come down the stairs.

“You people are monsters!” said a young woman rushing down the stairs “Who talks like that? Who SWEARS like that?” The culprits stood frozen in fear. “Eight year olds aren’t supposed to behave this way. What are you doing?” she grabbed Nick by the collar and landed two slaps on him. Fear struck, they rushed to the corner of the hall and rolled into a ball. “Who taught you these words?” she screamed as she advanced. Her rage had heated the ambience.

“Please. Please don’t hit us! We won’t do this again. Please forgive us. We’ll clean your clothes. We’ll clean the house. Please don’t hurt us” said Gwen.

“Clean my clothes? What do you mean?” puzzled by their words she asked “Who are you?”

“I live in the house two houses away from here. We study in the same school” she said in a breaking voice.

“Why were you swearing? You are supposed to watch TV, play outside or do something fun at your age. Where did you learn those words?”

“I am sorry Scar. I will not do it again. I did not think you were at home” said Nick with tears in his eyes.

“Doesn’t matter if you are alone or with people” her voice grew softer “You shouldn’t swear like this anywhere.”

“I won’t do it again” he said crying “I’ll wash your clothes, or bring you drinks from the fridge. Please forgive me.”

“What clothes and drinks?” her voice grew deep.

“I do that for dad and mom all they time. They do not hit me then.”

“What? Where did you learn those words?”

“My father called my mother a bitch and hit her hard yesterday when she told him she was pregnant. I heard them scream, from my room. I did not understand the words. So I came to Nick to help me understand” said Gwen in a timid, scared voice.

“Yeah. Mom and dad use these words all the time they fight, or when they hit me. I do not know what they mean. But it feels nice to shout them out loud.”