Adultery Avi's Sexual Marathon: Family, Village, College, City

[lee.jae.han]

## Update 27: The Widow, the Maharaj, and the Missing Man

When we went to the market, I immediately noticed the attention Meena Chachi was drawing. Everyone stared at her. Anyone who walked past her—men, and even some women—would turn back to look. I felt a strange mix of annoyance and pride about it. But what could I do? My Chachi was so incredibly beautiful, with her tall frame, alluring figure, and confident way of carrying herself, that everyone was bound to stare at her.

We went into a small provision shop in the market. A woman named Mangla, a middle-aged widow, ran the shop.

"How are you, Mangla Kaki ?" Meena Chachi asked warmly.

"I'm fine, Meena. You tell me how you are, looking so fresh," Mangla replied, smiling.

"I'm fine too. I just came to get some things," Meena Chachi said.

"You brought your nephew with you too," Mangla observed, her eyes lingering on me.

"Yes, I just brought him along since he was done with his tuition," Meena Chachi said.

"Okay. Give me your list. I'll get your things ready," Mangla said.

"Here. And tell me what's going on in the village," Meena Chachi asked, leaning closer as she handed over the list.

Mangla glanced quickly at me, then gestured towards me with her eyes, indicating my presence. "Nothing much that can't wait," she said cryptically.

Chachi understood that Mangla wasn't speaking freely because of me. "Avi, you can go to your friend's house. How long will you stand here? I'll call you when I'm done with my work."

"Yes, Chachi," I replied. My friend's house was nearby, but the secrecy between them made me suspicious. I walked ahead, turned the corner, and hid to watch the shop. Chachi and Mangla went through a back door, leading from the shop straight inside Mangla's private house. I moved cautiously to the window of Mangla's house, but it was tightly closed. I stood there, confused and curious, wondering why Chachi had gone inside with Mangla. Mangla was a widow; her husband had died two years ago, and she lived only with her daughter, Rati.

After about half an hour, they came back out, their expressions calm. Mangla immediately locked the internal door to the house. So it was nothing like what I was thinking, I concluded, disappointed that my suspicions of some illicit behavior were unfounded. I quickly went back to the shop, pretending to have just returned. Chachi saw me and said, "You're back already?"

"Yes, my friend went out with his family, so I came back to the shop," I said.

"Meena, your nephew has grown up. He looks like a wrestler, so strong," Mangla said, her eyes running over me with appraisal.

"Don't give my son the evil eye, Mangla," Chachi said, pulling me closer playfully.

"Hide him in your pallu, or I'll snatch him away," Mangla joked, laughing.

"Try to touch him. I'll cut off your hands," Chachi retorted, a strange, fierce possessiveness in her voice.

"Then I'll have to put something else on him," Mangla said, her meaning entirely lost on me but making Chachi laugh.

They both started laughing heartily, their conversation clearly carrying a hidden meaning.

"Come on, Mangla, I'm leaving now. I'll meet you again soon. And thank you for helping me," Chachi said, settling the bill.

"Anytime, Meena. If you need my help, consider your nephew mine for a day," Mangla said, winking.

"What?" Chachi asked, confused by the odd statement.

"He'll be my nephew for one day—I'll call on him if I need a favor," Mangla clarified, laughing even harder.

"Okay, I'm leaving now," Chachi said, pulling me away.

"Yes, go, and give me the good news soon," Mangla called after her.

"Chachi, what was Mangla saying? Why did she say she'd take me away?" I asked on the way home, genuinely puzzled.

"Don't pay attention to her words, Avi. She's just a lonely widow trying to joke," Chachi dismissed me gently.

"Yes, Chachi," I said, dropping the subject.

After getting home, I ate dinner and went to sleep, the long day and the intense encounter with Madam demanding rest.

-------------

Later that night, the three women gathered in the room.

Meena Chachi entered and announced to the two others, "Didi, I have some good news."

Suman Chachi looked up immediately. "What? Did you find a man already? You didn't waste any time!"

"No, I didn't find a man, but one task is complete," Meena Chachi said, a triumphant look on her face.

"I don't understand anything you're saying," Suman Chachi said, growing impatient.

Seema Chachi jumped in. "Tell us clearly what happened, Meena. Stop talking in riddles."

"We had a problem that people would get suspicious if we got pregnant now, so soon after the uncles were found to be unable to father children," Meena Chachi began, laying out the core issue.

"Yes, you told me about that problem with the timing and the gossip," Suman Chachi confirmed.

"I have found a solution to that entire problem," Meena Chachi announced with great satisfaction.

"What is the solution?" Suman Chachi asked, her voice hushed.

"What? But how did you find it?" Seema Chachi asked, astonished.

"Suman didi, you know Mangla, right? The one at the provision shop?" my Meena Chachi asked, confirming the key source of her information.

"Yes, I know her well. She's a good woman," Suman Chachi said.

"Does she have the solution to our problem?" Seema Chachi asked, still baffled.

"Seema didi, Mangla has a solution to our problem, and she doesn't," Meena Chachi said, enjoying her theatrical suspense.

"What do you mean by that, Meena?" Suman Chachi demanded.

"Didi, you know that Mangla had a daughter three years after her marriage, right?" Meena Chachi said.

"Yes, I know that. So how does that benefit us? Mangla's husband was a man," Suman Chachi asked, confused.

"Didi, first listen to the whole story," Meena Chachi insisted.

"Yes, tell me. What is it?" Suman Chachi urged.

"Mangla told me that she had that daughter with the blessings of a Maharaj," Meena Chachi revealed the secret.

"What do you mean? Did she adopt?" Suman Chachi asked, missing the implication.

"Mangla told me that for three years after her marriage, she didn't have any children. Doctors couldn't help. Then someone told her about a powerful Maharaj who blesses women with children. With the blessings and prasad of that Maharaj, she conceived and had a daughter," Meena Chachi explained.

"Are you telling the truth? This Maharaj can really do this?" Suman Chachi asked, the hope in her voice immense.

"Yes, I'm telling the truth. She swore on her daughter's life," Meena Chachi confirmed.

Seema Chachi's eyes lit up. "Then we'll also meet that Maharaj and become mothers. Then we won't need a man at all!" she exclaimed.

"Didi, be quiet and listen! We need both a man and a Maharaj," Meena Chachi corrected her firmly. "Because of the Maharaj, no one will be suspicious of us. Everyone will think we had the child through his blessings. And because Avi's uncle is impotent, he can't make us mothers, so we still need a man."

"When do we have to meet the Maharaj?" Suman Chachi asked, already focused on the plan.

"Didi, I say we go tomorrow. Why waste time?" Seema Chachi suggested impatiently.

"Seema Didi, you're so impatient. First, we have to find a man—the real source of the pregnancy—then we'll go to meet the Maharaj for the cover story," Meena Chachi stressed the necessary order of operations.

"You do whatever you think is right, Meena. You are the only one who has managed to find a solution," Suman Chachi conceded.

"Can I say something, just one thing?" Seema Chachi asked.

"Yes, say it," Suman Chachi said.

"We'll find a man from another village, someone no one knows," Seema Chachi suggested for better security.

"No, we'll have to find a man from this village. It will benefit us in ways you don't realize," Meena Chachi said, a hidden agenda lingering in her eyes.

"You do what you have to do, then. Now go to your room. Don't you know what will happen otherwise if the men find us talking?" Suman Chachi warned, reminding them of the rules of the house.

"Okay, we'll talk tomorrow," Meena Chachi agreed, the three women parting with a new, dangerous secret binding them together.