Page 247 of The Circle of Exile
“Now you want to eat your breakfast cookie?”
He shook his head, bringing his thumb up to suck. Iram reached down, plucked a cookie and handed it to him. He had said no, but his son pulled his thumb out and began to nibble on the cookie hungrily. Both pudgy hands wrapped around it and Iram deposited him on the passenger seat of the car, making sure he was safely sitting back before turning to him.
“It’s ok, Atharva,” she whispered. “He is hungry and sleepy. And in a new place…”
“Not ok to hit you.”
“Ath…”
“This was the second time. I saw him take a swing back there too.”
She glanced over her shoulder at their son, and for a boy who had said he didn’t want it, Yathaarth had eaten his way through the cookie. Iram grabbed another one and handed it to him through the open window. He crammed it into his mouth, his face leeching of frustration slowly.
“Hunger is equal to anger in Yathaarth-land,” she turned and smirked.
Atharva still couldn’t shake his anger off. “There are other ways of showing it. This one is unacceptable.”
“I agree…”
“Baba angry,” a tiny voice popped from inside the car. Atharva eyed him — “You are telling me that you are angry or that Baba is angry?”
“Baba angry at Arth.”
Atharva held back his smile — “One more cookie?”
His head bobbed. Atharva grabbed another one and handed it to him, leaning his arms on the window panel.
“I was angry at you because you hit Mama. Will you hit her again?”
He shook his head.
“Will you hit anybody again?”
He crammed the top of the cookie into his mouth and shook his head. Atharva couldn't hold onto his anger any longer.
“Good boy,” he wiped the crumbs from his chin. He turned and Iram’s eyes were fixed on him, amused and awed.
“What?”
“You.”
“Me what?”
She shook her head — “You know we have a week’s touring in Uttarakhand and then Punjab, right? Our family drama has just begun on this road trip.”
Atharva chuckled, glancing back at Yathaarth, on his way to finishing his third cookie in five minutes.
“We’ve seen a lot of drama on road trips, this one will be the best of them all.”
“What is your plan this evening?”
“Why?”
“I am behind on my writing schedule…”
“Say no more. I have a meeting with the local hotel owners and then Shayan Aarti in Rishikesh. Arth is with me tonight. You write peacefully in the hotel.”
“What would I do without you?” She mocked dreamily.
