SPITFIRE'S REVENGE

THE VEGETABLE VENDOR

I pushed my cart full of vegetables as I moved further into the colony.

The streets were empty and rested in utter silence. I shouted the names of vegetables as loud as I can but it sounded more like I was begging people to buy from me.

I shifted my eyes around and saw a woman on her balcony who was looking at my cart. I quickly asked her if she wants to buy any of it.

She stared at me for a second, more precisely at my beards and then shook her head.

I frowned.

Same thing happened in past three hours. Why everyone is so scared of me? What I had done? All I want is to sell vegetables so that I earn money for my family's two time meals. What's wrong in that?

Pushing my cart again, I took a steps into different colony. Another woman came to her balcony but this time instead of staring at my appearance, she decided to ask by herself.

"Are you Muslim?"

I never heard someone asking this before.

"Yes. I am." I replied.

She took a step back and covered her mouth and nose with her palm.

"You spit on the vegetables, don't you?" She said in fear.

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. Why would I do that?

She quickly went inside her room but come back with a mask on her face. She applied something on her hands and stared at my face.

"Don't ever come to this colony." She screamed.

I let out a breath and decided to return back home.

Now I know, they'll not buy anything from me.

On my way back home, I thought about my wife. The first thing she'll ask is about my today's earning and like past two days, I've to tell her the bitter truth that I earned nothing. I know after hearing my answer she'll say nothing but worry about the fan on the ceiling which needs to be replaced with new one. My children are unable to sleep at night without fan and the weather is getting hotter day by day. I don't know what I am going to do. I need money to buy new fan but there seems no hope of earning.

"You returned this early?" My daughter asked as soon as she caught my sight.

I nodded my head.

"First go and wash your hands." She smiled.

"Why?" I asked, trying to hide my worries.

"That's how we can save ourselves from the Corona virus." She answered.

She must have studied all this. I went to wash my hands and came back to the room.

"How much you earned?" My wife asked.

I said nothing.

"Oh." She got the answer from my silence and just like how I thought, she looked up at the celling.

"Today something strange happened." I said.

"What?" My wife asked.

"One woman asked me if I spit on the vegetables." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Really?" My daughter looked at me in shock.

I nodded.

Why would I spit on my only source of earning?