John was moved and also felt sad at the same time. He felt guilty lying to an innocent man but he strongly believed that he didn’t have a choice. He already lied once, so he didn’t hesitate to add one more,

“Uncle Peter, don’t worry ….they will go to hell eventually. Why should we bother? Moreover, it's been a long time. They might have forgotten and even changed.”

John didn’t want to escalate the problem anymore. He again started perspiring like a pig about to get slaughtered.

Peter thought for a while. He valued the opinions of people close to him, hence, he decided to let go.

“Alright John, next time when you face bullies, make sure you notify me. I will handle it.” Peter flexed his sturdy muscles and patted John’s shoulder before leaving.

John felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He thanked Peter before running towards his bicycle. Looking ahead he found that his ex-friends were long gone. Hurriedly he took his bicycle and chose a long route to bypass any chance of meeting them again.

On his way home, he felt another headache.

John didn’t tell his mom about his suspension from his colleagues as he didn’t want to change his mom’s perfect image of him. He bought some medicines before peddling them to his colony. His colony was the poorest area in the entire city.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to pay the house rent since the house was left behind by his late Father. Although his house looked shabby, it looked habitable. He parked his bicycle outside and went inside the house “Mom I brought your medicine.”

His widowed mom, Tara, was around 45 years old but looked 60 because of overwork. John felt his heart tighten every time he looked at his mom. She had worked in a nearby garment factory until recently and single-handedly took the burden of John’s education and family expenditure. A few months ago due to bad working conditions in the factory, she became extremely ill and reluctantly took early retirement.

“John, don’t waste your time on this part-time job, focus on your studies. Go freshen up, lunch is ready.” said his mother who was resting feebly on a worn-out bed.

Although they had a little bit of savings, John insisted on taking a part-time job. But Tara was against it as she thought it would negatively affect his studies. John somehow managed to convince her saying that, it was important to develop professional skills in advance to get a good job later.

John’s heart was warmed by her concern and he worriedly said “Mom I have already given you money to hire someone for house chores. Why are you being so stubborn and do everything on your own?”

Tara just smiled back and said “It’s alright son, it is a small thing. Anyway, cough, cough, I don’t have anything to do at home. Moreover, I don’t like food cooked by someone else.”

“In that case, I will cook for you then. You should just take a rest.” John felt an urgent need for money to admit her to a good hospital. He had already applied for a loan in a bank by providing his monthly salary statement but it was yet to be sanctioned.

“Son I know you are worried about me but our difficult times would be over soon, cough, cough, once you joined a company after your studies. Then I won’t work even if you tell me to do so. I will get a beautiful daughter-in-law and play with your kids all the time, cough, cough, but for now, study hard. Don’t waste your time on small things. If I had the energy to work a few more years I would not have allowed you to work no matter what but ....” She felt sad thinking that she had let her son down.

John’s eyes filled with tears. He wanted to tell her that he was the one who had let her down by getting expelled in the final year. He didn’t want her hopes to shatter, so, he steeled his heart once again to tell a comforting lie “Don’t worry mom, you have worked hard and it's my time to take care of you. When I join a company in the upcoming campus placement, we will move out of this old house and live a comfortable life.”

She felt gratified looking at his son. She knew there were many unfilial children in the world, who chew their parents like sugarcane and did all sorts of illegal things like drugs, crime. She felt that her son grew up well and secretly thanked God.

She nodded happily with tears in her eyes.

John felt guilty fooling his frail mom, he somehow controlled his frustration. After finishing his dinner, John silently entered his small room. He finally let loose and slammed the wall with all his strength. Old paint on the wall cracked and his fist started to bleed.

But the pain he felt in his heart was greater than his fist. Hence, he didn’t even flinch. He had no idea how to fulfill his false promises and was very afraid of facing his mom when she finds out the truth. He suddenly started regretting his decision to cheat in the exam.

He didn’t understand any technical stuff in engineering but he somehow managed to clear 3 years. He could have asked his friends for help but he was too concerned about his image. So, his overall CGPA was too low to even qualify for an interview. He didn’t want to let down his mom’s high expectations of him. Hence he decided to cheat once. But unfortunately, he was caught that day and expelled without any notice.

It had already been one and half months since he left his college. From next month new and final semester would start. He still had a window of opportunity to request the Principal but he was afraid to even go to college thinking, how his ex-friends would mock him. So, he somehow convinced himself that he was happily working in a Pizza restaurant which provided a new environment and, much-needed security to his insecure mind.

“I will try to look for another job with good pay but I wonder if my qualification is enough. If I can get a job at around Rs20000 I am more than happy. This is the only solution to solve all my problems.” Without any further thought, John started to look for new jobs online.

In the meantime, his mom was watching a serial on a second-hand T.V without any sound. Because she was worried that her son’s studies would be disturbed by her stupid serial.

Whenever the main character in her serial came in a nice car wearing luxury clothes, she would involuntarily picture her son. In her small world, everything was his son. She began to smile foolishly thinking ‘Soon my son will also come and pick me with a car..’