Abir's tanned face had turned crimson with excessive anger. Fury was clearly visible in his eyes. Within 5-7 minutes, Abir was rushing down, having gotten ready in a terrible hurry.
Megh took her books and notebooks from her reading room and headed towards her room.
Suddenly, she stopped and stood to the side at the bottom of the stairs.
Abir bhai was coming down in a frenzy. Megh stared intently, the girl was in mental turmoil. Megh couldn't stand in front of or near Abir. Every time she saw Abir, she seemed to lose her composure. The eighteen-year-old's heart would pound. She would feel restless. Just as intense as her desire, so was his demeanor.
Thinking all this to herself, Megh seemed to drift into a daze. As Abir passed by, the sharp scent of his body combined with a strong spray scent reached her brain. Suddenly, Megh's daze broke; Abir bhai was no longer on the stairs.
In a few strides, Abir reached the main gate.
Suddenly, 'Maliha Khan' called from the kitchen,
"Where are you going at this hour, son?"
Megh turned back and looked that way.
Abir, as he stepped out the threshold, replied in a hurried and angry voice,
"Have some work outside, will be late returning."
He didn't stop for a moment. He walked away swiftly.
Megh stood fixed at the bottom of the stairs, nothing seemed to be entering her small brain. After a few moments, Megh also went to her room with her books and notebooks as usual. She had a lot to study today. Tomorrow was a coaching test, class, and a new tuition on Sunday. All in all, she got busy studying.
Everyone sat down to eat at 9 PM. The Khan family's dining table was quite long. The head of the Khan household, 'Ali Ahmad Khan', sat along the width of one end of the table. There was no chair opposite him because no one in the house had the资格 to sit facing him. On one side were four chairs: Iqbal Khan, Adi, Tanvir bhai, and Abir bhai's chair on one side. Even when Abir bhai wasn't there, the chair wasn't removed. On the other side were three chairs. Mozammel Khan, Mim, and Megh's. The women didn't like to sit close together, so they kept three chairs spaced apart, with one chair kept in the storeroom.
Although if guests came, three or four more chairs were easily added. Since Abir bhai hadn't been here for so many years, Megh used to sit in the corner chair. Even after Abir bhai's return, she was forced to sit in this chair.
Sitting opposite Abir bhai and being martyred in World War I were equally terrifying to Megh. Twice a day, enduring the cerebral hemorrhage in front of her eyes, controlling the tumultuous waves inside her chest, that sharp gaze seemed to cut the eighteen-year-old's heart into pieces every time.
Meanwhile, the naive Megh still couldn't figure out whether Abir bhai was just her crush or if she was falling in love with him.
Suddenly, Ali Ahmad Khan's heavy voice interrupted Megh's deep thoughts.
Ali Ahmad Khan: Where is Abir?
His office work finished in the evening, so where is he at this late hour?
Maliha Khan replied nervously, "He came in the evening, rested, had coffee, and then left!"
Ali Ahmad Khan: Tell the boys not to roam around late at night.
Iqbal Khan said easily, "Elder brother, don't worry, the boy has returned home after so many years. He has to spend some time with his friends."
Ali Ahmad Khan finished eating silently. Just before getting up, he looked at Megh and said, "How did Shahriar teach, my dear?"
Megh softly replied,
"Alhamdulillah, he taught well."
He didn't say anything else and went to his room after washing his hands at the basin. After some time, the other two brothers also went to their respective rooms. The three monkeys of the Khan household were sitting at the dining table and eating. Megh was the big monkey, Mim was the middle monkey, and Adi was the smallest monkey. The three of them were engrossed in endless stories.
Halima Khan came and scolded them, "Hey Megh, is this the time for your monkeying around? Your exams will start in two days, instead of studying, you're always busy gossiping."
Megh's cheerful face immediately turned sad. She finished her food somehow and went back to her room. She concentrated on her studies.
No one kept track of how late Abir returned.
Tanvir returned at 11 PM, and Halima Khan was still waiting. Tanvir told his mother to go to sleep, but Halima Khan waited until 12 o'clock. Abir hadn't returned, so she was forced to go to sleep.
Abir returned around 2 AM. He somehow freshened up and leaned back in the chair on the balcony, looking at the sky. His gaze was fixed on the moon far away, which would be covered by clouds from time to time and then become bright again. Abir thought for a while.
Then, in a serious voice, he questioned himself,
"Will you ever improve?"
Abir's sleepless night passed.
At 8 AM, Mim, Megh, Adi, Tanvir, and uncle Iqbal Khan were sitting at the dining table and eating. The two elder brothers had left for the office early in the morning. Megh was busy whispering and chatting with Mim. Tanvir seemed to be eating as if he didn't see them. Earlier, he would have scolded them and said, 'Be quiet'. Today, he didn't do anything. So Megh and Mim were eating and talking happily.
Megh's attention was broken by the sound of someone pulling a chair. Megh looked up immediately. Abir's pure gaze was fixed on Megh's eyes. Megh looked for a moment and then lowered her eyes. The rate of her heartbeat was increasing, and along with it came a look of worry.
She lowered her head and thought to herself, "Abir bhai didn't sleep all night? His face is pale. What happened to him? Megh kept getting startled thinking about all this. He went out yesterday evening looking angry. When did he return at night? Where was he all night!"
Megh's cheerful mood was ruined by these thoughts.
Megh became normal at Mim's call. Mim had finished eating and was getting up. By this time, Tanvir and Iqbal Khan had also eaten and left. Only Adi, Abir, and Megh were at the dining table now.
Megh quickly finished the rice on her plate. Just as she was about to get up, Abir bhai put two more spoonfuls of rice on Megh's plate.
Megh almost screamed but didn't. Her eyes fell on Abir. Seeing Abir's tanned face, she lowered her eyes.
Abir said in a stern, hot voice, "Finish these and then get up!"
Megh was about to say something but stopped.
Abir spoke up again, "I keep hearing complaints about you all the time. You don't eat, you don't eat! Now eat quietly. If you say one word, I'll give you one spoonful of rice."
Megh lowered her chin to her throat and ate the rice little by little. Suddenly, Adi said in a cheerful mood,
"Megha-pu, I'm finished eating, you're last! Ha ha ha."
Megh's face became even smaller. A little while ago, the three siblings had challenged each other that the one who finished eating first would be given a KitKat.
Megh would have been first, but with Abir's sudden presence, Megh's concentration was lost, her eating stopped, so Mim became first. If she had finished before Adi, she would have at least been second. Megh was a little angry at Abir bhai. Immediately her concentration was disrupted.
She thought to herself, "Should I ask Abir bhai, 'What happened?'"
By then, she had forced herself to finish the rice on the plate.
Megh's questioning eyes were on Abir's face.
Megh's hands and feet were trembling. Her throat was dry. Everything she wanted to ask got mixed up. Every time she saw Abir bhai, it was like someone was beating a drum and dancing inside her chest. Today was no exception. She couldn't utter a single word. Her throat was dry as wood. She lowered her eyes, pulled the glass, and finished the entire glass of water in gulps.
Abir didn't pay any attention to her. He was engrossed in his eating.
Megh couldn't sit in front of Abir bhai, so she somehow went to the basin with trembling legs. Abir looked up for a moment, saw the plate, and since she had finished eating, he didn't say anything more.
After washing her hands, Megh somehow rushed towards her room. She ran up the stairs as if her tingling legs would collapse if she stopped.
It was 9:30/40, and Abir was leaving the house. Father and uncle had left for the office early in the morning, so it was not a problem if Abir left a little later. Megh also came out a little behind Abir. Coaching was open today, Sunday. Megh stopped in front of the main gate. Abir bhai was turning his bike around.
Megh was staring at him. She had first seen Abir bhai here that day. Since then, the eighteen-year-old's small world had become chaotic. In her thoughts and dreams, it was only Abir bhai.
The eighteen-year-old really wanted to go to coaching by bike. Megh had never ridden a bike until today. Not just Megh, but Mim and Adi hadn't either. Megh really wanted to ride a bike under the open sky and enjoy the beauty of nature and the wind.
She thought to herself, "Will Abir bhai take me?"
Suddenly, Abir's voice reached her ears,
"Megh."
Hearing her name from Abir bhai's mouth, the spring wind blew in her heart. It felt like her heart had been sliced open with a sword. Thousands of birds were chirping in her mind, as if they were saying, "Your crush is calling you!"
Abir's serious voice came again,
"I'm calling, aren't I?"
Megh shrank, lowered her eyes, and walked towards Abir with trembling legs, thinking to herself,
"Will Abir bhai really take me by bike...?"
Abir said with annoyance in his eyes and face,
"Why do you roam around with your hair open?"
Megh seemed to be dumbfounded.
Abir's voice became twice as heavy,
"From today onwards, I should not see you anywhere outside with your hair open. If I see you like this again, I will slap you so hard that the mark of the slap will not go away for a month. I hope you haven't forgotten the beating from your childhood!"
Saying only this much, Abir put on his helmet, started the bike, and left.
The sky fell on Megh's head. She remained silent for a few moments. Megh sighed in self-pity. Since Abir returned, Megh's excitement, crush, and feelings of love seemed to have water poured on them, no, not water, but ice. The Megh who was thinking of being head over heels in love with Abir felt like he had drowned her in a deep pit. She remembered the dark chapter of Abir's beating from her childhood. Only Abir had hit her in her childhood. Until today, her parents, even Tanvir who scolded her so much, had never laid a hand on Megh. After so many years, Abir bhai returned. Seeing Abir bhai, Megh had just started thinking about Abir bhai in a new way, forgetting everything old. That guy set fire to those thoughts and left.
She stood there for a while with hurt eyes. Suddenly, her lips, like a red jaba flower, broke and she started crying uncontrollably. How long this crying lasted was unknown.
Suddenly, Megh was slightly shaken by the sound of a flood (Bonna's name meaning flood). When she answered the phone, Bonna said,
"Hey, where are you? Aren't you coming?"
Megh hung up the call without saying anything. Megh's cheeks were soaking wet. Then she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and went towards the car.
After some time, Megh became somewhat normal. She was angry inside. Sitting in the car, she was fuming with rage. Even sitting in the AC, sweat was dripping from the girl's forehead. She pouted her lips in anger and resentment. She decided in her mind,
She would never think about Abir bhai again. Abir bhai is truly a Hitler, otherwise, he could think of hitting an innocent girl like me for no reason. What damage have I done to his ripe ধান? Megh thought to herself in an sulky tone.
Thinking all this, she reached the coaching center. The class had started 10 minutes ago. Bonna had kept a place, so she sat next to Bonna.
After one class finished and before the teacher for the next class arrived, Bonna whispered to Megh,
"Hey, why were you so late? And you said you'd show me a picture of your crush boy Abir bhai, where is it?"
Megh looked at Bonna with a pathetic look and then replied in a serious voice,
"Firstly, I was late because of him. Secondly, the word crush is buried and dead in my heart. I just wasted three days of my life for nothing. From now on, I will only study. I won't think about anything else."
Bonna listened to Megh's words attentively and then laughed out loud.
Megh looked at Bonna with a sharp gaze.
Bonna then slowly and quietly said,
"I told you that day that all this crush stuff is nothing, focus on your studies. See, I was right."
Just then, the teacher came into the class. Both of them focused on the class.
Megh returned home and quietly went to her room. Her mood was very bad. She freshened up and came down to eat, and then went straight to her room to study without looking anywhere else. A tutor would come after evening, and she had to memorize her lessons. The girl was engrossed in trying to forget the morning's scolding.
Every day in the evening, Megh would come downstairs and get engrossed in chatting and playing with her younger siblings. But today was an exception. After noon, Megh did not come down even once. Mim and Adi had gone to call her several times. Megh was studying with the door closed, saying she wouldn't come.
Abir returned home after evening. There was a brightness in his eyes and face. His eyes fell on the mothers and aunties in the kitchen. He called the auntie and said in a cheerful voice,
"Auntie, please make chicken pakora!"
Mother and the three aunties looked at Abir with surprise. The boy never asked for anything openly, he never complained about food. No one even knew the name of his favorite food. Today, he suddenly asked for something to eat himself.
Auntie smiled and said,
"You go freshen up, I'm getting it ready."
Abir went to his room normally. On the way to the corridor, he heard the sound of Megh studying, the girl was reading non-stop, it seemed like she wasn't even breathing. Abir's lips curled into a slight smile, and then he went to his room quickly.
Abir took a long shower and rested for 10 minutes. Then he came out of the room wearing a black t-shirt and trousers. As he came a little further, his eyes fell on Megh's room door, which was open, Megh was not there.
Abir came and sat on the sofa as usual. Seeing their brother, Mim and Adi ran away beforehand. Otherwise, he would immediately say, "No studying!"
Maliha Khan gave Abir coffee. While drinking coffee, Abir called Tanvir,
"Where are you?"
Tanvir: I'm at the party office, brother, need anything?
Abir: If you don't have work, come home quickly.
Tanvir asked nervously, "Has something happened, brother?"
Abir laughed out loud and said,
"Nah, nothing happened, Auntie is making chicken pakora, come quickly if you want to eat!"
Tanvir: Okay, coming.
Even though she didn't hear the words, the sound of Abir's laughter definitely reached the eighteen-year-old sitting in the reading room. Her heart immediately trembled. She asked herself,
"Is Abir bhai laughing? Has he returned home?"
Immediately, she remembered the morning's incident. At once, her face turned black, and she got busy revising her studies.
Tanvir had returned 5-7 minutes ago. He had freshened up and come downstairs. By then, the chicken pakora was served. It takes time to cook something taken out of the fridge, they knew that. That's why Abir was sitting patiently and Browse his phone.
The two brothers were busy eating pakora and talking to each other. Meanwhile, Megh was waiting for the tutor to arrive. The tutor was 40 minutes late. She didn't know what to do. She studied for a while, thought about random things, and then studied again.
Tanvir suddenly called out,
"Megh, come here!"
Megh trembled a little hearing her brother's call. Then she stood at the reading room door, wearing a light pink dress and a dupatta on her head. Her back and stomach were all covered with the dupatta, Megh looked very serene.
Abir was still laughing out loud. Tanvir bhai and Abir bhai were busy joking with each other. Megh stood at the door, engrossed in Abir bhai's laughter. She hadn't seen this person so cheerful in three days. He was always serious. The day he bought the bike, he had tried to talk and smile a little, and Megh had a crush on that smile. Today's laughter captivated Megh. She wanted to look away but couldn't.
Abir's eyes fell on Megh standing at the door in the distance. After a few seconds, he stopped laughing and looked away.
Tanvir immediately said, "Megh, want some pakora? Come and have some!"
Megh was completely stunned.
"Brother is asking her to eat, something like this had never happened to her in so many years!"
Tanvir called again,
"Come and have some, you can study later."
Megh took two steps forward, then stopped, thinking something.
She replied in a somewhat sulky voice, "You eat, I won't!"
Megh went back to the reading room. Tanvir and Abir didn't say much more either. After finishing eating, Abir went to his room. Tanvir rushed back to the party office; he had a meeting. He had rushed back because his brother had called him, leaving his meeting.
Megh waited for the tutor for another 30 minutes. She was hungry from studying.
It was just past 8 PM, and Megh sat down to eat. She kept looking at the door, she had to sit down to study if the tutor came.
Eating was finished, but the tutor didn't come. So Megh took her books and notebooks and went upstairs, telling her mother to call her if the tutor came.
Everyone sat down to eat at 9 PM. Tanvir had also returned home after finishing his meeting. Everyone was at the dining table, but Megh was nowhere to be found.
Tanvir asked the auntie,
"Won't Megh eat?"
The auntie replied normally, "She ate in the evening and went upstairs, said she was hungry."
There was not much talk among anyone. Abir ate a little somehow and went to his room. The boy hadn't slept last night. He was very sleepy from the day's fatigue. So he went to his room and lay down.
Meanwhile, Megh was studying and crying with a pouting lip from time to time. Again, she was comforting herself. Somehow, she had to get a chance (in college/university). She said in an sulky voice, "It would be good if the university was far away. I will leave this house and go far away. Brother... how will Abir bhai get me and scold me and beat me?" Immediately, she broke into tears thinking of her mother. How would she live without her mother!