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Aminah Asim
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“Ah! It sucks living without a house, without
a job,” exclaimed Peena, an unfortunate wife,
“What can we do with just $100 we are left
with now, which you just inherited from your
late mother. FIND A HOUSE NOW!” With
his forefinger constantly in his nose, Paul
replied, “An illiterate person like me can’t
merely get a job in the blink of an eye. You
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should wait a few months.” “SHUT UP PA!”
cried Peena, now red in anger, “Come on, Pa!
Look around! We are sitting on roadside.
Have a little shame and find a job now, or I
will have no choice but to leave you alone.”
Paul was feeling a little awkward now, seeing
people staring at him. “OK! I’m sorry Peena.
First, we are going to find a house, and then
I’ll have a job soon. Grab your stuff,” he said,
bending down to pick up his scattered goods.
Paul recalled the way to a good looking house
given in the newspaper for rent, and led Peena
to that house. After a terrible walk of several
minutes, they finally reached their destination.
Paul anxiously rang the bell, dropping some of
his stuff on doorstep, as if he had owned the
house. “To prove shameful to the people you
know, you have to be shameless to people you
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don’t know,” Paul pronounced his usual motto.
Peena sighed, still observing every inch of the
house.
The door was slowly opened by a nice looking
lady. “Hello! Can I help you?” she asked
politely. Paul immediately started reciting his
learned lines, “Good day, Miss Elena! I’m
Paul, and this is my beloved wife, Peena. I
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would be pleased if you show us the rented area
of your beautiful house.” “It’s Aleena, and I
wanted to rent one room only, but you can use
the whole above floor. I actually live alone, so
that portion is of no use to me,” said Aleena.
“Oh! You live alone. We’ll be a good
company,” Paul chuckled, “How much rent
will you require?” Aleena looked at both of
them, and said, “A $100 per month.” Paul
pushed Aleena aside, and entered the luxury of
that house with a shine in his eyes. “It’ll be a
great pleasure living here,” he said to Peena,
and rushed upstairs. Aleena looked at Peena,
who was standing ashamed. Peena said, “Oh,
I’m sorry! He is just too tired.” Now Peena
also walked upstairs.
Everyone in that house was soon sleeping. It
was 2 AM, when Peena’s eyes opened
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suddenly. She looked on her left side to
discover that Paul had disappeared. “Where are
you, Pa?” she shouted in distress, but no one
answered. “PAAAAAAA…!” she cried again,
but again ended in disappointment. She stood
up dizzily, and switched on the light. There was
no one in the whole room. She got a little
worried now. She went out in the lounge, but
no one was there. She checked all the other
rooms, which were still locked. When she
came towards the stairs, she heard some noise
of rattling metal. With trembling steps, she
moved downstairs. The house was dark, except
the kitchen, from where a dim light was
coming. She reached there to discover that Paul
was cooking something, while continuously
humming. Peena was outraged to see this.
“ARE YOU MENTAL, PA?” she dreadfully
whispered. “NO! Can’t you see? I’m cooking,”
he said, without getting his eyes off the food,
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“Nothing can come between me and my food,
especially when I’m this much hungry…” and
he tasted the soup from the finger he had
dipped in the pot. “If we are spotted, we’ll be
kicked out of here, so please learn to behave,
Pa!” Peena said, and dragged Pa upstairs by
pulling him from his ear; he still held the pot.
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Peena knew that Paul would try to escape
again. She was increasingly suspecting
footsteps approaching their room, and couldn’t
think of being left on roadside again. Paul’s
blunders had been causing heavy losses to her.
Moreover, she couldn’t separate him from his
soup. She was now left with no choice but to
lock him in the cupboard, which she
momentarily did.
While in the cupboard, Paul made sure that
every single drop of his soup was finished.
Then he knocked on the cupboard to ask Peena
to free him. Hearing no reply, he started
banging the cupboard with all his strength.
Peena hurriedly unlocked it, otherwise Aleena
would have been awakened. He fell outward,
shaking the whole floor with his hips. “You
should sleep now,” commanded Peena. He got
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up and jumped into the bed, and was soon
snoring heavily. As usual, Peena fixed some
cotton in her ears, and slept.
Aleena was a working woman; she woke up
early in the morning. She took her routine bath,
and went to the kitchen. Paul and Peena woke
up by her voice. She was scolding her kitten.
Paul rushed downstairs. “What a bad kitten! It
trashed your kitchen,” said Paul, “If I were you,
Elena, I WOULD HAVE KILLED IT!” Aleena
stared at Paul, and said, “I think you should be
upstairs now. I’m going to work.” “Yeah,
sure!” replied Paul, going upstairs. “She is not
as polite as she seems,” whispered Paul to
Peena, who was already standing beside the
staircase. Just then, Paul and Peena heard a
loud bang. They ran downstairs to discover that
Aleena had fallen on the doorstep, messing all
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her clothes. It was the Paul’s stuff that he had
dropped there the previous day, which made
her fall. Paul involuntarily gave a loud laugh.
Aleena was soon gone, after changing her
clothes, leaving Paul and Peena alone in the
house. “Pa! Go and buy something for
breakfast,” said Peena. “Don’t be ridiculous,
the kitchen is in front of you!” said Paul
calmly, “Go and enjoy, and don’t forget to rub
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some food on the kitten.” “When will you
become shameful Pa?” sighed Peena. Paul
replied, “How many times do I have to tell you
my motto; to prove…” “STOP IT! YOUR
MOTTO HAVE BROUGHT US TO THIS
LEVEL OF POVERTY,” interrupted Peena.
Peena was hungry for two days, she had to go
to Aleena’s kitchen to save herself. There, she
hesitantly cooked some delicious cookies.
After they were ready, she carried them in their
room upstairs. “Breakfast is ready, Pa!” she
said, and went to wash her hands. When she
returned, the cookies had disappeared. Pa was
holding the innocent kitten, and was rubbing
baking powder on it. “PAAAAA…! WHERE
ARE MY COOKIES?” cried Peena. “Oh, I
didn’t know you would also eat stolen food,”
he replied, “Here, have a carrot,” and he threw
a carrot towards her, which hit her distressed
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face, and fell in her feet. “Look at yourself!
You are getting fatter day by day,” scolded
Peena, “If you continue to live like this, you’ll
blast some day!” “Are you kidding?” replied
Paul, “You are lucky to have a strong and
handsome husband like me!”
Pa and Peena were watching Aleena’s
television, when they heard Aleena’s car
approaching home. Paul immediately switched
off the TV, and both of them rushed upstairs.
Sitting in the empty lounge, Peena said, “It’s
time for you to get a job. We just have rent for
this month.” “Don’t worry Peena, everything is
planned. I’ll soon be a millionaire,” he replied
as if he really was going to be rich.
Pa got up, and unscrewed the door of each
room in his portion. He threw the doors in the
yard from the balcony. “WHAT THE HELL
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ARE YOU DOING?” Peena shouted. “These
wooden doors don’t suit us. I’ll soon fix some
golden doors here, made of real gold!” replied
Pa, as he hurried downstairs. He took the doors
in an empty plot and fixed them together to
form three small walls. “What a wise person I
am!” he encouraged himself. He searched the
trash bin for empty plastic bottles, and brought
them back home. After filling them from tapwater, he inserted some ice cubes in each of
them, and wrapped some blue tape around
them. He then went to Aleena’s TV lounge to
find her blue-colored shawl, lying on the sofa.
Then he took a black marker, and wrote on it,
‘PAUL CHILLED MINERAL WATER.’ He
wrote the same words on every bottle. He took
all the bottles to his self-made shop.
After setting the shop with the bottles and a
banner made of Aleena’s shawl, Paul was now
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ready for his new job. He uttered every
customer-attracting word he could think of,
“New arrival! Paul’s chilled mineral water!
One good bottle for just one dollar! We care for
your thirsty needs on the go! We have brought
you a healthy way of fulfilling your thirst
needs…”
Soon, the very first customer came rushing,
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glasses. She took off her glasses, and Paul
realized that it was Peena! “So, this is your new
job? Giving people junk water!” she
exclaimed, throwing all the bottles angrily in
the street, “Find a proper job! I am sick of your
ways of doing things.” Then she ran back,
before Paul could say a word.
Peena was really depressed, thinking of how
she can make her life any better. She soon saw
Paul entering the room with a wide smile on his
face. “I’ve got a real job now,” said Paul, “We
are going to live happily ever after!” “A REAL
JOB! What is it?” asked Peena. “It’s in the
nearby school. I’ll now spread healthy lifestyle
there,” replied Paul. “Really, Paul! I can’t just
believe my ears. You are a science teacher
finally…” exclaimed Peena, now extremely
happy. “NO! Not that nonsense teaching job!
I’ve been employed as a sweeper!” Paul
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corrected Peena, who was stunned to hear this.
She couldn’t repair her badly broken heart, and
fell on the bed.
Disturbed by their voices, Aleena came
upstairs. She found that the house was badly
trashed. There were no doors on any room. She
also saw Paul surrounded by vegetables stolen
from her fridge. She was outraged, and
couldn’t control her anger. Once again, Paul
and his wife were pushed to roadside. Both of
them went to the park to avoid further insult.
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Peena was really angry on Paul now. “You and
your illiteracy! You are the one, who threw
boiling water on my beautiful Pee Baby, the
only child we ever had.” Peena knew that Paul
would never get achieve anything permanently,
unless he got educated. She snatched the $100
from him, and went to the nearby Montessori
to hire a tuition teacher for him. After reaching
an agreement with a suitable teacher, Peena
returned with success.
Now, every day in the evening, Paul would go
to learn something from the tutor. Peena, on the
other hand, got employed as a nurse in a nearby
hospital. For the time being, this was the best
solution for paying Paul’s tuition fee, and the
rent for any new house they were going to live
in. A week later, Peena met two old people in
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the hospital, who were willing to give them a
portion of their house on rent.
Paul would usually come back from the tuition,
saddened by the fun made of him by the other
children, who went to tuition. “These old
people are retired, Paul!” Peena would usually
say, “So they will be watching you all the time.
PLEASE, don’t be a fool here, I’m begging
you. You are now getting educated.” Paul
hated going to tuition, but he didn’t stop going
because he dreamed of being rich soon by its
virtue.
Paul remained busy in studies, for the first three
days in the new house. Peena also kept a strict
eye on him. One day, on returning home after
taking some harder lessons from his tutor, Paul
was very tired and sweaty. He inserted his pen
in his left pocket, and a stolen ink-pot filled
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with red ink, in the other one. He entered the
house, and passed from the door of the old
couple’s room. There, he felt a heavenly cold
air touching his feet, coming from the little
space beneath the door. Paul could no longer
control himself, and opened the door. He was
mesmerized by the effect of cooling that
surrounded him. The room was dark. Paul took
a deep breath, and stepped into the royal room.
Closing the door behind him, he jumped into
the middle of the bed, just between the old man
and
his
wife.
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He woke up in the morning by the scream of
the couple. He was badly dragged by the old
man, and thrown into the dirty street. Peena
followed, with her face down. A familiar
looking car passed Peena, and hit Paul on his
right side. Paul was unharmed; the car had
slowly hit him, plus his fat guarded him.
However, the red ink flowed from the broken
ink-pot. Shocked, the lady driver got out of the
car. It was Aleena! She looked very afraid, and
so did Peena. Aleena begged Peena to call the
ambulance. Paul, who was still very sleepy,
slept right in the middle of the street.
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When Paul finally woke up, he was lying in a
white bed in the hospital, in which Peena
worked as a nurse, now constantly sitting
beside Paul. He was tightly wrapped in bulk of
fake bandages, which was the Peena’s
cleverness, after she realized that the ink was
not blood. “Pa! You woke up…” acted Peena.
“Thank God!” added Aleena, standing on the
other side of the bed, “You almost got me
arrested.” “When I usually wake up, no one is
happy, what’s so special today?” asked Paul.
“You will get arrested Aleena!” Peena warned
Aleena, “You consider us so helpless, that you
were going to kill my husband! What if we
messed with your house? It doesn’t mean that
you should take revenge like this…” People in
the hospital were now staring at Aleena.
Ashamed of her deed, Aleena said, “I’m very
sorry! Please don’t call the police; my career
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would be further destroyed. I’ll give you my
house without any rent, until he recovers.”
Luckily, Peena and her husband were in the
same house once again. “Home Sweet Home!”
exclaimed Paul. “Paul cannot climb the stairs,”
informed Peena, “We’ll have to live
downstairs.” “As you wish…” uttered Aleena,
who quickly grabbed some basic belongings
from her room, and went upstairs.
Paul stood up, as soon as Aleena disappeared,
and started exploring the cupboards in her
room. He opened a drawer and inserted his
hand in it. “AAAAAAAH...!” screamed Paul,
whose hand was now really bleeding, pricked
by the needles present in the drawer. Peena
heard Aleena coming downstairs, so she
pushed Paul towards the bed. He lied on the
bed, still screaming while holding his swollen
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bleeding hand. Aleena entered nervously in the
room. “What’s happened to him now?” she
asked. “His hand also got badly damaged by
your car,” replied Peena. “Oh my God! This is
worsening every coming moment, since I
pushed you out,” said Aleena, “Things started
disappearing from my house, I slipped on the
doorstep again, I was blamed by the police for
selling some kind of junk water, who showed
me my shawl being used as a banner, I got fired
from my job on the offence that a I had sent a
man in the disguise of a sweeper for stealing
things from the nearby school, which I hadn’t.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHY?” Before Peena
could say anything, Paul started, “If you
continue to live with us, YOU’LL SURELY
DIE! My mother died, despite I cared for her.
Our new born baby, Pee Baby died, despite he
was the only generation of mine. Only Peena,
my beloved wife, survives.”
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Aleena, who was now shivering with fear,
asked, “So… I…… Should I kick you out
again?”
“NO!
DON’T
YOU
UNDERSTAND!” shouted Paul, “If you kick
us out, you’ll be hanged, due to an attempt to
murder me earlier. You should leave this house
immediately, but you should continue to send
us money for our survival. If you do otherwise,
YOU’LL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!”
When the sun rose the next morning, it gave a
peaceful message as it shed light on a house,
just empty for Paul and Peena. “Hah! No
education, not even pens, just a broken ink-pot
changed our life Peena. This is what I ever
wanted to achieve,” said Paul, the rich illiterate
man. While unpacking him from bandages,
Peena, now a lucky wife, smiled.
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