Greentext · 4 minThree And Two

>be me, 13 years

>2000, railway quarters in kazipet

>rows of yellow houses, same doors, same windows, same tulasi pots

>my best friend vasu lives in quarter number 41-b

>vasu's nanna was a loco pilot

>he drove the goods engines to balharshah and back

>every night shift he came home at one or two in the night

>and he had a knock

>on vasu's window, which is next to the back lane

>three knocks, stop, two knocks

>tak tak tak

>tak tak

>that meant "nanna is home, sleep"

>vasu told me he never slept before that knock, never, since he was small

>in march vasu's nanna died

>on duty, in the engine, heart attack near mancherial

>the assistant brought the engine to the station

>i remember the whole colony standing outside 41-b

>vasu standing in a white shirt that was too big for him

>after that vasu stopped sleeping

>he came to school with eyes like a ripe jamun

>he slept on the desk in the second period

>teachers did not scold him, everybody knew

>one day in july he caught my hand at the cycle stand

>"come and sleep at my house tonight" he said

>"why"

>"i will tell you there"

>i asked amma, amma said ok, amma knew

>that night we lay on the floor of his room on one bedsheet

>window open, mosquito coil burning

>the back lane outside dark, one bulb at the far end

>vasu said it in a very low voice

>"from last week, the knock is coming again"

>i did not say anything

>"three and two" he said

>"same"

>"at one o clock"

>my whole back went cold

>"you are dreaming ra"

>"you stay awake and see"

>he turned to the wall

>i stayed awake

>i listened to the goods trains on the main line

>the long ones, they take five minutes to pass

>eleven, twelve

>vasu was breathing like a person who is not sleeping

>at ten past one

>tak tak tak

>i stopped breathing

>tak tak

>on the wooden window, just above my head

>very soft

>like somebody who does not want to wake anybody except one person

>and in two minutes vasu was sleeping

>deep, with his mouth open

>first time in months, i think

>i did not sleep at all

>i lay there till the sky went grey with my eyes on the window

>next morning his amma gave us idli and did not ask anything

>she looked tired

>she was always tired after march

>next night i went again

>this time i did not lie near the window

>i lay near the door, where there was a gap between the curtain and the frame

>from there you could see a piece of the back lane

>ten past one

>i saw somebody come along the wall

>slowly, with no slippers

>a shawl over the head

>it stopped at the window

>it put up one hand

>a thin wrist, no bangles on it

>tak tak tak

>tak tak

>then it stood there

>it put its forehead against the wall next to the window

>it stood like that for a long time

>a goods train went past on the main line, the whole thing

>then it went back along the wall to the back door of 41-b

>the back door closed very softly

>vasu was already sleeping

>i lay there and my eyes were burning

>i did not tell vasu

>not the next day, not that year

>i went to sleep at his house many times after that

>every time, ten past one, three and two

>every time vasu slept

>slowly it stopped

>by the time we were in tenth he was sleeping on his own

>he said "it does not come anymore, maybe nanna knows i am big now"

>i said "maybe"

>vasu got a railway job also, he is a station master near warangal

>at his wedding in 2012 i was standing on the stage next to him

>during the photos his wife was teasing him

>"he cannot sleep without somebody knocking, your friend told me"

>everybody laughed

>vasu laughed and said "my nanna's knock, from childhood"

>"three and two"

>and he knocked it on the stage table to show her

>tak tak tak, tak tak

>i was looking at his amma

>she was in the second row in a new silk saree

>she was not laughing

>she was looking at me

>she knew that i knew

>i do not know how, but she knew

>after the photos she came to the stage to give me prasadam

>she put the sugar in my palm

>and with two fingers she tapped my wrist

>three

>and two

>then she went to see about the lunch