Grandpa was losing his memory. He would spend half the day looking for his spectacles, comb or cupboard keys. As days went by he could not remember our names.
“Vicky! Come here,” called my grandpa.
“Grandpa, my name is Nitin,” I said.
“Oh, sorry! I can’t find my spectacles,” said grandpa.
My search proved futile. But I found Grandpa reading the newspaper with his spectacles.
“Grandpa, where did you find your spectacles?” I asked.
“Vicky found them on the dining table,” said grandpa.
“Vicky?” I was the only one at home. My parents were at work. My elder brother Ajay was at tuition.
We laughed at grandpa’s imaginary friend named Vicky.
“When you are away, Vicky is here to take care of me,” said grandpa.
“Then tell Vicky to meet me and I will appoint him as your caretaker,” laughed my father.
Much to grandpa's displeasure, my father hired Muthu to take care of grandpa when all of us were away during the day. Grandpa’s first day with Muthu didn’t go well. They had a long list of complaints about each other, when my parents returned.
A week later, Muthu was late. Chaos “Don’t open the door for anyone till Muthu comes,” said my mother as we left home.
In the evening, when my brother and I got down from our school van, we were surprised to see a large crowd in front of our house and there were some news channel vans too. We jostled our way through wondering if something had happened to grandpa. But, grandpa was sitting proudly on the sofa, answering questions from the press. Apparently, Grandpa had single-handedly fought a burglar and tied him up and then called the police! I saw my father talking to the inspector and I inched my way closer to eavesdrop. A man posing as a courier man, with a big box had rung the doorbell. Grandpa opened the door and the man barged into the house pushing grandpa down. But grandpa overpowered him and nabbed him.
“Your father is a hero. We were on the lookout for this notorious burglar Kaliraj. He always chooses to burgle a house, during daytime where an elderly person stays alone and decamps with money and jewellery,” said the inspector.
A reporter approached my father and asked him who Vicky was. “Your father keeps telling us that it was Vicky who nabbed the burglar,” said the reporter.
“Er...Vicky… is his imaginary friend,” said my father.
After everyone left, we asked grandpa about Vicky. “One day, when you were all out, a young man came asking for food. I opened the door and served him breakfast. He asked me if I stayed alone and told me it was not safe for me to stay alone and that he would take care of me till you all got back,” said grandpa.
“Why did you allow a stranger inside the house?” shouted my father.
“It was Vicky who saved me. I opened the door and the burglar came in. It was Vicky who came to my rescue. Vicky told me he always kept a watch over me till Muthu arrived. He saw the burglar barge into the house and he immediately rushed in. He hit the burglar on the head with a flower pot. He used the rope the burglar had brought and tied him up. He told me to call the police. He then dragged the unconscious burglar and locked him inside the kitchen and left.
Now, my parents leave for work only after Muthu arrives. Grandpa received prize money for nabbing the thief. Grandpa wants to give the prize money to Vicky. Several months have passed, but Vicky has not come to collect the prize money yet.
