“Dedication,” by Karan Mahajan

This is the archetypal communicative successful this summer’s online Flash Fiction series. Read the full series, and our Flash Fiction from erstwhile years, here.

“You’re not a doctor,” helium said.

The young pistillate said nothing.

“I thought I was going to spot a doctor,” helium continued. “I person yellowish eyes, determination mightiness beryllium immoderate anemia, and I’m suffering from a tummy infection.” He coughed astatine the extremity of this drawstring of achievements. He was eighteen, astir to commence his archetypal twelvemonth astatine the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, successful Delhi.

The young pistillate stirred. Then she tossed a vessel crossed the desk. It came rattling done the air. He caught it. The vessel was brown, translucent, and packed with a 100 tiny achromatic balls. “It’s homeopathic,” she explained. She had a sweet, faraway voice. She thrust her manus nether the table and came retired with a fistful of agelong achromatic tablets, pouring this treasure connected the table. “And these are immoderate vitamins for you,” she said.

The lad had nary prime but to expanse the tablets toward himself and past propulsion them, 2 by two, into his outstretched palm. ​“What is your age?” helium asked.

“Why?” she said, and smirked.

​“Just curious, yaar,” helium said.

“Have you not been taught astir women and their ages?” she said, smiling. Then she said, “Seventy-six.”

“You’re older than my boorhee grandmother!” helium said.

She couldn’t person been much than twenty-four.

“So you should springiness maine the aforesaid respect arsenic your grandmother, no?” she asked.

“She’s unluckily passed away,” the lad said, and sighed.

“Condolences,” the pistillate said. “But nary 1 is much respected than the dead.”

“Now you’re saying a precise close thing,” the lad said, solemnly. “Totally correct.”

The pistillate said, “Professor-sir informed maine of what you told him yesterday.”

“I told him galore things,” the lad said quickly, straightening up.

“The happening astir your father,” she said. Then: “It indispensable person been precise tough, isn’t it?”

“People spell done overmuch tougher things,” the lad said with a shrug.

“But a dormant body,” she went on. “It smells atrocious. How could 1 support studying with specified a smell?”

​“It was 1 room, but determination were windows,” the lad said, astir angrily.

“It was a corpse,” the pistillate reiterated. “You’re a bully student, truthful you cognize however decomposition processes work, and however decomposition attracts microorganisms, flies, ants, cockroaches. There’s a crushed each civilization has a customized for disposing of bodies. The odor is inhuman, it’s unbearable.”

“Well,” the lad said. “If you privation to cognize the truth, Mrs. . . . Counsellor, for me, studying for the I.I.T. entranceway exams—that was overmuch more unbearable. It’s not arsenic if I did nothing. After my begetter stopped breathing, God bless his memory, I covered his assemblage up successful blankets—two blankets, 5 blankets—and past a tarpaulin. My begetter was a tailor, and helium had tons of cloth bundles lying around. But, contempt each this, of course, determination was a smell. How tin determination not be? But I kept my chemoreceptor unopen with my fingers, and I washed my eyes continuously. I went extracurricular and sat adjacent the pump and read. I lit mosquito coils. I applied Vicks VapoRub nether my nostrils. It was winter, truthful the assemblage didn’t commencement smelling for 2 days. There was nary large issue.”

​“People successful your locality didn’t accidental thing erstwhile they recovered him similar that?”

“What were they going to say?” the lad replied, wiping his chemoreceptor connected his sleeve. “They person their ain problems.”

The woman—she was so a counsellor—knew that the lad had lived unsocial with his begetter successful a azygous room, successful a slum, and that his 2 older brothers were successful Kuwait.

“What did you devour during those days?” she asked.

“What I ever eat: Maggi.”

“I see,” she said. A registry laic connected the desk, and she opened it up and flipped done it.

“You privation maine to cry, is it?” the lad said. “I cognize what you want. Then you tin archer professor-sir, ‘He’s a very delicate boy. Such a brushed heart. He is suffering truthful much.’ But I can’t marque up things. You mightiness deliberation I americium mad, but I had lone 1 dream, and that was to summation admittance to I.I.T., and I didn’t fto anything basal successful the way. Yes, I felt bittersweet astir my father, but I didn’t judge determination was immoderate large occupation successful postponing his ceremonial for a fewer days truthful I could springiness the exam. He was a loved and respected antheral successful the community. Everyone got apparel made from him. He was an expert. He had style. My cousins, who worked for him—they’re each heroes with their sewing machines, but they don’t cognize the shapes of clothes. Now, the happening you’re wearing—where did you get it?”

​“From a shop,” the counsellor admitted.

“If helium had made it,” the lad said, “he would person advised you not to exposure your shoulders successful this manner.” The lad smiled up 1 broadside of his face. “He was ever offering specified proposal to his clients. He sometimes irritated them, but they ever came.” He paused. “I deliberation your kurta is precise nice, by the way. It is good cut. He would person approved of the cut, adjacent if helium would person questioned your morality. As a tailor’s son, I know.”

“And you didn’t privation to go a tailor?” she asked. She was chewing a pencil and looking astir the room, arsenic if to find a mode to get escaped of him.