#janatha garage

sathyam wakes with the crowing of the rooster.

his bad leg doesn't hurt him as much this morning. it'll get worse with the cold, he knows. the house is quiet, apart from the few vehicles shuddering down the road outside. he thinks he can hear bose's motorbike approaching the garage. sathyam lies there contemplating life, in those few moments of peace before his alarm goes off.

like clockwork, he hears his bedroom door open, and in bustles a young man—he's finally trimmed his hair and beard like sathyam was telling him to for weeks, and today's choice of clothes are his yellow button up over his red vest, and the dark green lungi they bought him for his birthday. he looks like a walking traffic signal.

"sathyam garu! good morning!" he calls, setting his tray down on the bedside table a little too loudly, making sathyam wince.

"good morning, chitti." he heaves himself into a sitting position and takes the glass of water that chitti holds out to him, his head subconsiously tilting. he raises his voice to ask, "did you sleep well?" chitti presses the plastic cap of tablets into sathyam's hand.

"did i sleep well, he says," chitti grumbles, yanking sathyam's blanket off his legs to fold it. "i wake up at four-thirty in the morning, sweep the yard, feed chicken, get your medicines and your breakfast ready, all by myself because no one else in this house does any work, and you're asking me if i slept well. no!" he tosses the folded blanket onto the mattress. sathyam notices, not for the first time, how chitti's accent gets stronger when he's rambling. it reminds him that the boy hasn't always been around. "i can't sleep thinking ayyo, is it too cold for sathyam garu? and will he get up in the morning when i call him for his walk? and did he eat enough for dinner? what if he gets hungry?" he steps back, tapping his foot impatiently. sathyam must make a face, because he raises his eyebrows. "you won't get up? you won't go for a walk? see?" he asks his non-existent audience. "how can you get better if you won't cooperate? and how will i sleep if you don't get better? eh?"