Amballore House by Jose Thekkumthala Page A

leftwards and rightwards and start walking backwards, another receding owl in action. This would allow Ann to take a badly needed break. All the little children would approach Ann and rub her face with their little hands, consoling her and crying at the same time. They would feel insecure, unable to take the horror scene of their elder brother and mom being under attack by a drunken soldier.
    Ann would make use of the break and start preparing rice, giving instruction to Rita and Kareena to make sure that it was not overcooked.
    The mother would not be able to handle the sight of her eldest son being beaten by a maniacal father. She would soon reenter the battle zone, and interpose herself between Thoma and George. Once more, Thoma would switch gears and start beating Ann, abandoning George. George would get out of the battlefield gracefully and take a break, while war was still raging, with his siblings wailing out of control.
    George would collect his siblings, and all of them would step forward and hold on to Thoma’s mundu. Some of them threw themselves at his feet, blocking him from proceeding with his one-man marching band. These combined acts decelerated the drunkard’s forward march and Ann would get away from his arm swings. Some children would then run to her and escort her outside her belligerent husband’s blows which were still continuing, except he was beating the hell out of the air. He was too drunk to note that he was no more beating Ann. He appeared to be blowing the hell out of the air, or at least catching invisible mosquitos.
    ***
    Thoma often visited the toddy shop on his way home from work.He not only got drunk in the shop, but also carried a bottle of kallu with him. “One for the road,” He would place the order to the toddy shop owner in a singing voice and with dancing steps, at the end of a heavy drinking in the shop. The owner would faithfully pack up the bottle and hand it over to Thoma. “Don’t drop it and break it, Thoma.” He would look at Thoma with concern and make the request. At home, he would drink the packaged alcohol. None dared to approach him while he was in the company of kallu. “My bottle is my girlfriend, and I go to bed with her.” Thoma would proudly declare to the world. He would go to bed in the company of his girlfriend.
    Ann and her little children would sometimes dare to approach his bed while he was snoring, extricate the bottle from his grip, praying to Mother Mary for their safety throughout this operation. They then would drain out the white liquid and replace it with starch water that Ann drained out from kanji she prepared for the family. They would all be scared like hell when this delicate operation was underway, like they were approaching a sleeping lion in its den, resigned to be killed any time.
    “This kallu is not good like it used to be,” Thoma would declare to the walls later at night when he would take a sip between his sleeps. The family, if they were still awake, would struggle to suppress their laughter.
    ***
    George always was family’s favorite son. He was the first support that Thoma had, to step in to share his grueling task of providing for his wife and children. Unassuming like Vareed, his grandfather; humble; and hardworking, George took no credit for the good things that he did to support his siblings.
    George sacrificed his own life, foregoing an all-important education in order to support his father in meeting his fatherly duties. Ann knew that their first-born was selfless and therefore wished him all the best in his life and thanked God for giving them a son like him. She never forgot the scenes of George blocking Thoma when he was beating her in Thoma’s younger days. Ann remembered sadlythat George was taking all the beatings from her husband to protect her. This remarkable scene would often play out in Ann’s mind like on a silver screen.
    Thomas was the eldest son of George. It broke everyone’s heart to learn that Thomas