Nadir

It’s Thursday and the sun’s piercing through the clouds for the first time in weeks. The sky is a deep cerulean blue and the cabbage patch in the backyard looks all good and ready to go. Nadir thinks all of this as he admires the view from the kitchen window, while calmly sipping his first-morning chai. He wonders that maybe today he should check on the other vegetables he’s been growing for the summers, as it’s been a while since he’s been outside with the weather being all dull and grey. Then he realizes he doesn’t remember where he’s put the keys to the gardening shed. The thing is, Nadir always locks up his shed without exception because he knows what his grandson Ali is like. But with his age creeping up quicker than the grapevine, he’s growing in the backyard, he's prone to forgetting such petty things.

He fumbles with his baggy trouser pockets, checks all the boxes of tea bags in the kitchen drawers and then peers behind the frame of the grand family picture on the mantelpiece. Finding it nowhere, he finally grabs his coat from the hook on the front door to check his case of bifocals, where he keeps the keys nowadays as Ali has raided all his other hiding spots. He plunges his hands into the coat pockets only to feel something gooey and slimy clinging to his hands' papery skin. He pulls them out to reveal some slugs from his cabbage patch. He’s been tricked again! 

“Ali!”, he shouts with all the breath he can amass from his poor rickety lungs. “Ali! Come back down this instant. I know you are hiding somewhere and I know you are the devil behind all this. I demand that you show yourself now or you’ll be responsible for the consequences.” Pin drop silence. “Ali! Stop being a coward and show yourself!” Slight shuffling of footsteps upstairs. “Ali! Enough is enough!” This has to end, he thinks as he slowly stumbles up the stairs. He flies open the bedroom door with a thunderous push and exhales deeply. There he sees Ali sitting in the centre of the bed, curled up in a cocoon and laughing so hard that tears are streaking his soft baby skin. “I’m sorry, Grandy. It won’t happen again. I promise.”, he says. A big fat lie! He said the same words for the past three times without fail when he had performed the slugs-in-the-coat-pocket trick on his grandad. And the worst part is that Nadir didn’t even realise that he’ll be tricked again, not even after the second time. The third time came as a pure, utter shock.

“Impossible! I am not hearing those words again. This time I’m calling your parents right now and I’ll put everything straight out to them. I’ve been refraining from doing so, hoping that you’ll learn your lesson. But it seems like you're enjoying making fun of Grandy. It has to stop, okay? Okay?” Nadir says, restraining his anger. His blood rising up his neck, flooding his cheeks with colour and pulsing in his ears.

“Okay... But Grandy…”

“That’s enough!” Nadir mutters as he turns, closing the door behind him.

Regaining his composure, he moves to the telephone in the hallway and dials Ali’s parents. Pervez, Ali’s father and Nadir’s only son is an esteemed neurosurgeon. He is part of the attending faculty at the hospital where he is in his last year of residency, so his work schedule is very hectic. He has patients to operate, reports to file, and more patients under his constant observation. His job consumes him so much that he has only enough energy to come home and collapse in his bed. Shiza, Ali’s mother, is a successful fashion designer. Recently, she is about to launch the spring collection for her line of clothes, so she too stays occupied with the planning and administrative bits of her work.

This leaves Nadir with the sole responsibility of parenting his grandson. An old man with a feeble frame and rheumatic fingers. It’s difficult to hold on to things, let alone stand up. An act that sucks him out of the very little energy he has these days. The ebb and flow of time have worn him out, and taking care of a wicked 9-year-old like Ali is certainly way too much for him. 

***

It’s Thursday, and the sky's ablaze with the fire of the setting sun. Its slanting rays are falling on the cabbage patch, giving it a deep orange tinge, fused with a bit of cadmium yellow. Nadir is sitting at the kitchen table calmly sipping his evening chamomile tea. He likes to watch the setting sun. It gives him a sense of peace. He glances at the time on his new Apple watch and smiles. He closes his eyes and time slowly ticks backwards and everything feels good again. The watch is a gift from his grandson. The same person who likes to put slugs in his pockets.

The other day when he called Ali’s parents, they returned home a bit earlier than usual and he told them everything he could remember. 

“Well, that’s horrible, Dad! You should’ve told me before. I would’ve set this kid straight. Young people nowadays don’t even know how to treat their elders. It’s just... I’m ashamed, dad. I’m sorry on his behalf.” Pervez said, frowning.

“But darling, he’s just a kid! He’ll surely grow up. Don’t worry, dad. He’ll make it up to you, I promise.”, said Shiza reassuringly, holding Pervez’s hand in hers.

The next day, as Nadir woke up, his body sore and his hands stiff, he was pleasantly surprised to see a neatly wrapped present with a letter of apology on his bedside table. He opened it up to reveal a smartwatch the likes of which he’d never seen before. He called Ali to his bedroom, who was already at the door the next instant and turning the knob to enter. 

“What’s all this for, kid?” Nadir inquired.

“Um... Grandy, you weren’t accepting my apology, so I thought a present might help.”, said Ali, looking intensely at the gap between his two big toes.

“Ah, darling! I wasn’t angry with you because I wanted a present. I wanted you to be a good boy and behave well. That will be the greatest present you’ll ever give me.”

“Yes, mom told me about that. I promised her I’ll be a good boy and I promise you as well.”

“Ah, buddy! You know that sometimes your simplest of gestures can melt this old man’s heart. Come and give Grandy a kiss.” Nadir opened his hands wide and embraced his grandson with a fondness he hadn’t felt in a while for him, and then he kissed him on his cheek.

From then on, Nadir’s been wearing this watch all day, even when he sleeps. He can’t imagine parting with it. It’s just too precious a gift he’s ever received. He’s not a man much experienced with technology. He doesn’t even know how to use a smartphone, let alone have a Facebook account like his friends Javed and Siddiq. So, Ali has helped him with the settings of the watch and he doesn’t touch it lest he alters them.

However, one fact has been continuously bugging Nadir for the past couple of days. He can’t exactly place what has caused such a sudden change in his demeanour, because, by his standards, Ali’s been acting weirdly recently. He goes for walks with Nadir, cleans his room and neatly adjusts his bed covers so that Grandy doesn’t have to do the hustle. He eats the vegetable Nadir cooks for them instead of piling them under the sofa cushions. Nadir even checks Ali’s bedroom pillows just to be extra sure that he’s not hiding the vegetables there: surprise, he isn’t. Well, he’s finally growing up, Nadir wonders loudly to himself as he places the dishes from the evening’s glazed lamb chops and parsnip puree dinner in the dishwasher. He then glances at the time on his smartwatch. It’s 12:34am on the 1st of April. Way past midnight and he should probably be in bed by now, but he doesn’t sleep well nowadays. Possibly another consequence of his declining body and ageing mind. Wait! He takes another glance at his watch and realization dawns in a place where there was firstly only confusion. It’s the first of April. How could he have forgotten that! No, he can’t let himself get hoodwinked again by his devilish little trickster grandson. It just can’t happen again. He feels elated that he’s caught his grandson before he could succeed in his scheme, and more so because his own gift gave him away.

The rest of the night, the mere thought of what his grandson has in store for him the next day plunders his dreams and he wakes up the next morning with enormous bags under his eyes the colour of bruises and the size of a baby’s fist. He washes his face with ice-cold water and swears to himself that he’ll not have anything to do with Ali today. He makes a mental note to not accept anything from him, not talk much with him, and certainly not touch his coat pockets today. He’ll manoeuvre cautiously through the day, avoiding obvious signs of danger, and then savour the annoyance on Ali’s face as they’ll sit together as a family for today’s evening dinner. Nadir proceeds steadily down the stairs and into the kitchen. He makes his usual cup of chai in his favourite willow patterned mug but instead of drinking it in the kitchen; he drinks it instead in his room.

From then on, the day unfolds as planned, Ali prods Nadir for a morning walk around the neighbourhood, but Nadir excuses himself because he wants to lie in as he couldn’t sleep well last night. Ali, concerned by his Grandy's disengagement, thinks that he might be upset over the fact that he can’t do gardening on such a bright day as today. He knocks on Nadir’s door and enters without permission.

“Grandy if you are still upset with me for the keys. I’m sorry, here they are.”, he says as he reveals the keys from behind him and places them with a thump on the bedside table.

 “I knew you hid them in your glasses case, so I took them. Now that you have them, can we go gardening? I would love to see what’s in your shed.”

Clearly surprised,” Wait. Haven’t you been there already?” Nadir asks.

“No. I thought we’ll go there together someday.”

Instantly, thoughts of a ploy zoom in his mind: Ali must be planning something that might involve his head crashing into his gardening tools or his slipping on the cemented floor, slick with oil. He wasn’t ready for any of this. “No, dear. Not today. I’m feeling very weary and I’d like to nap now.”, he says, pulling the covers closer to his thin frame and turning away from his grandson.

Dejected, and clearly bored, Ali plays a bit of football in the backyard and then, feeling famished, he calls upstairs from the kitchen, “Grandy, if you’re feeling unwell I can cook lunch for both of us.” Nadir bolts upright in his bed, eyes glazed. He gropes for his glasses: instead, he sends the willow patterned mug crashing to the floor. “Oh, you devil!”, he curses under his breath.

With his voice ringing in his ears, Nadir quickly stumbles down the stairs, holding the bannister for support. “No. That won’t be necessary. I’ve napped a bit and I’m feeling better. You play your video games. I've prepped the tuna sandwiches and I’ll bring them to the living room. Off you go, boy.” He knows he is behaving awkwardly today, but he must take every necessary precaution. He checks the food containers, kitchen cupboards and the fridge for anything unusual but can’t find any. Gosh, this kid's making me go bonkers, he ponders.

Throughout the rest of the day, he busies himself in cooking tonight’s dinner: fish and chips. The family’s favourite. He elaborately makes the marinade and the batter for the fish along with three types of dipping sauces and then checks his watch. About time.

The exhausted parents arrive home at about 7; Nadir insisted that they come home early today as he’s in a festive mood and doesn’t want to ruin it with a late-night dinner alone with Ali. They eat in silence, not much to talk about, and then they gather around the television. Ali jumps down next to Nadir on the sofa and Nadir wraps his arm around his grandson. Ali flinches, remembering his unfriendly attitude in the morning, but then relaxes down a bit.

With a soft glance in his direction and a menacing smile, Nadir says to Ali, “Seems like I ruined April Fool's Day for you, honey. Didn’t I?” 

Ali laughs and says, “But Grandy, It’s already the 2nd of April.”

“Yes, Dad. It’s the second of April. What were you thinking?”, asks Pervez, obviously confused.

Nadir glances at his watch again and realizes that he can’t outwit that devil of a boy. And then he laughs a big hearty laugh and the others join in.

.