After a while, Mum returned, and she carefully locked all doors and windows.
She strictly forbade Anu and Doodu from going outside.
She even locked him in his kennel.
Anu and Doodu protested.
But Mum conveniently ignored them.
I knew what was happening.
Mum probably arranged poison for the cat.
So she wanted to make sure that Doodu wouldn’t wander and eat it.
I made a mental note to never piss off Mum more than enough.
She was too scary once she was flipped.
Mum then changed our clothes and waited for Dad.
Dad came home soon.
He checked the wounds on both the kids.
He kept frowning.
Anu excitedly narrated the entire story again.
According to the latest version of the story, the cat had steel teeth.
Once we were ready, we all got in the car.
Doodu was also taken with us.
Anu continued the story in the car.
“Where are we going?” Anu asked excitedly.
“To see Aunt Lakshmi,” Dad replied, and I smiled.
I know this sounds weird.
But I did have a crush on her in my previous life.
She was very beautiful and very gentle.
In my defence, I didn’t know that she was my dad’s ex.
Anu and Doodu happily sang songs in the car.
After a long drive, we stopped in front of a veterinary hospital.
As usual, the doctor was a friend of Dad, and we got special treatment.
Anu narrated the entire story again to the doctor.
As time passed, the story evolved.
According to the latest version of the story, the cat was even fiercer, and Doodu was ten times more heroic.
Fortunately, ten was the highest number she knew.
While treating the wounds, the doctor noticed the ‘bandage’ on Doodu’s tail.
“What happened to his tail?” the doctor asked curiously.
“Ahh…
“What?”
“It is not my fault.
He first stole my sweet.
Actually,….” Anu narrated the entire story, and Doodu interjected multiple times.
After hearing the entire story, the doctor scolded Anu and then gave her many tips about handling dogs.
He checked Doodu’s tail to make sure it was fine.
He was a very nice guy.
Doodu finally got a vaccine injection.
He was very obedient.
But still, he pitifully cried after the injection.
Seeing this, Anu teased him, and both of them almost got into another fight.
“Don’t let Doodu sleep with the kid.
It will affect the personality development of the dog.
He won’t learn to be independent.” The doctor advised before leaving.
“Woof woof…” Doodu replied.
“What are you saying, little guy?” The doctor playfully asked Doodu.
“He said that animal doctors are not real doctors and you cannot tell him how to sleep.” Anu translated.
“Huh?
What the hell are you teaching the kids?” The doctor got angry and smacked Dad’s head.
Dad denied the accusation.
They were friends.
So the doctor thought that Dad taught Anu to say it like this.
Our next destination was Aunt Lakshmi’s hospital.
Aunt Lakshmi met us at the entrance and took us to get Anu vaccinated.
Anu didn’t know that she too was going to get an injection.
She excitedly narrated the story to Aunt Lakshmi.
My ear was ringing from hearing the same story again and again, the whole day.
By then, the story had evolved so much that the cat was as big as a tiger and it had steel nails.
Aunt Lakshmi played with my nose as she listened to the story.
Once the story ended, she got vaccinated.
Unlike Doodu, Anu tried to escape.
But Dad pinned her down, and she got the shot.
She started sobbing as she never expected Dad to backstab her.
Seeing this, Doodu started laughing.
Annoyed, Anu started another fight with Doodu.
It will affect the personality development of the kid.
She won’t learn to be independent,” Aunt Lakshmi advised Mum and Dad.
“Woof woof…” Doodu replied.
“What are you saying, little guy?” Aunt Lakshmi playfully asked Doodu.
“He said that psy-chia-trists are not real doctors and you cannot tell us how to sleep.” Anu translated.
“Huh?” Everyone’s face darkened.
“I didn’t teach her that,” Mum stated before it was too late.
Dad immediately intervened to defuse the situation.
Mum was also a bit disturbed, and she invited Aunt Lakshmi to have dinner with us.
But she politely rejected as her husband would be waiting for her.
We went to my dad’s friend’s restaurant for dinner.
We got a private room as we had Doodu with us.
They kept me at the table and started eating.
Doodu also got a small plate for him on the table.
At first, Doodu ate from his own plate.
But soon Anu and Doodu were eating from the same plate.
Mum and dad conveniently ignored it.
I looked at the two stupid kids happily devouring a piece of chicken.
Anu’s face was covered in oil.
She was holding a piece of bone with both hands and biting it while groaning.
Compared to her, Doodu was more elegant and ate with manners.
After reaching home, Mum took us all inside and locked us in.
Dad came in after a while.
Only after getting permission did Mum let the two kids out.
Anu and Doodu started preparing for the next war with the cat.
They collected some sticks to fight the cat.
Dad helped them make a fort using pillows and a blanket.
He also placed me in the fort, and later Mum also joined us.
I knew that the cat was never coming back.
Mum sent her off to another world.
To her, it didn’t matter whether the cat returned to find her original home.
In her eyes, the only thing that mattered was her daughter.
What a scary woman!
No wonder even Dad goes silent when Mum is angry.
Dad made Anu sleep with us as he wanted to make sure that the vaccine didn’t have any side effects.
Doodu slept in his kennel, which was kept in our room.
It was an eventful day.