When the doorbell rang the next morning, Vijaya glanced out the living room window to see her lecherous neighbor out in front and she felt herself tense while a ripple of distaste coursed through her.
She had never met anyone she disliked more than her owner's son-in-law. Everything about Ashok set her teeth on edge.
She answered the door with a grim look on her face, hoping that Ashok would pick up his television set and leave without stopping to pass the time of day with her.
She hated his boastful manner and parasitic tendencies. If I don't think of some way to get rid of him, Ashok will invite himself to lunch, Vijaya thought, opening the front door.
Ashok stood with his lanky form draped in the doorway, a cigarette drooping from his sullen lips. He appraised Vijaya's conservative outfit with cold, narrowed eyes. "Well now," he said in a mocking tone. "Don't you look sweet this morning!"
Vijaya was suddenly self-conscious about her conservative blouse and long nightgown. Ashok undoubtedly preferred seeing the opposite sex clad in something sexier, but Vijaya dressed to please her husband.
And Uday liked to see her dressed decently, even around the house. Ashok, however, would probably have preferred to find Vijaya in a pair of tight jeans and a low-cut sweater, trying to ignore his thinly veiled sarcasm, Vijaya pasted a thin smile on her face and stepped backward, inviting him in.
"Guess you've come for your television set," she said, trying to keep her voice pleasant. She gestured toward the portable set on the floor. "It's all ready for you," she went on. "The picture is really great now. Uday's got it fixed up like new."
Ashok took a drag-on his cigarette, glancing at the set with a bored expression. "Is Dolll at nursery school?" he asked, his pale-blue eyes darting about. Vijaya nodded, grateful that Ashok had come while her daughter was away. Otherwise, he might stop and play with Dolll, staying for hours.
The only redeeming quality about her lecherous neighbor was the fact that he did seem genuinely fond of his young niece.
The only real generosity he'd ever shown was toward little Dolll. He seldom came over without some sort of present for the girl. "I don't go pick her up until one o'clock," Vijaya explained, hoping the information would discourage him from sticking around. It was only a little after ten now. And Vijaya certainly did not welcome of having Ashok park himself for three more hours. "It's just as well," he said, crushing his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "It's you I've come to see, anyhow," he added, looking at her with a strange grin.
Vijaya felt a flicker of annoyance. Why didn't he just pick up his television set and leave, she thought with exasperation. Didn't he realize that she had things to do?
She cleared her throat, quickly searching her mind for some phony excuse to get rid of him. "Well, I was just about to go out to do some grocery shopping, the supermarket has some good specials I can't afford to pass up. And it's much easier for me to shop without Dolll." Her lecherous neighbor crossed his arms and gave her a long look. "Is that right?" he asked, a smug look on his thin face. "Well now, bhabhi," he drawled, his lips twisting into a smirk, "it looks like you're just gonna have to postpone that shopping trip for a while."
The false smile left Vijaya's face to be replaced with a frown. Who did Ashok think he was anyway? "I'm sorry, Ashok," she said in a cold voice. "But I've already planned my day."
She walked over to the television set, lifted it and handed it to him in a gesture of dismissal. "Maybe you can come back sometime when Uday and Dolll are here," she told him. That way, Vijaya could leave the entertaining of this neighbor friend up to her husband while she went about her business.
Ashok took the TV set from her and set it down. "Oh, I don't think that would be such a good idea, Vijaya dear," he said, reaching into the pocket of his leather jacket. "Not unless you want your husband and daughter to see these!" His thick lips stretching into a sneer, he withdrew an envelope. His pale-blue eyes never leaving Vijaya's face, the young man removed the contents of the envelope and held them up in front of her.
Vijaya breathed a gasp of horror and her green eyes grew round as she stared, her mouth open and her jaw slack. For the lecherous neighbor she so despised was holding up copies of the four photographs she had received in the mail the day before! "Where did you get these?" she croaked, her cheeks flushing crimson.
"Down at my friendly neighborhood porno shop," he replied, his sneer intensifying. "And they've got lots more. Why, dear?" he taunted, his sneer stretching into a mocking grin. "Did you want a set for your family album?" he asked, thrusting the lewd photos at her.
"You!" Vijaya choked, clutching her throat as she held the pictures. "You sent the letter!"
"That's right, sweetie," Ashok said, unzipping his jacket. "My, you do catch on fast, don't you, Vijaya?"
"What is it you want?" she asked, her voice a ragged whisper. "I ... I can't give you much, Ashok. Only about some money a week!"
Ashok tossed his jacket on a nearby chair, an unpleasant smile on his thin face. "Oh, I don't want your money, sweet Vijaya," he told her, unbuttoning his shirt. "That would be like stealing from my own brother, don't you agree? I mean, after all, whatever you get comes from him, right?"
Vijaya's mouth felt like cotton and her heart pounded with fear. "You ... you're going to tell Uday, aren't you?" she asked, her voice cracking. "Not unless you make me, sweet Vijaya," he said, removing his shirt. Vijaya watched her lecherous neighbor fumble with his trousers and felt her heart skip a beat. "What do you mean?" she asked in a shaky voice.