Ram, Malini, and Shruti return home, and Mummy is not there yet. They eat the simple dinner of idlis she has made, and put Shruti to bed.

Ram's mother usually sings her a laali, so she asks for one. Ram sings Thyagaraja's laali laaliyani, and she drifts off, humming, before the last charanam has begun.

He and Malini enjoy the quiet time. Malini watches a romantic comedy on TV, laughing and relishing this time, no mother-in-law, no child, no responsibilities. She thinks it would be perfect if Ram just sat with her.

Ram catches up on work from his day job as an accountant. It is a job he neither loves nor hates, but which pays the bills and allows him to pursue music the rest of the time.

When Mummy gets home, she is tired, eats and watches the rest of the movie with Malini. They finish watching, clean up, prep for the next day, and head to their respective bedrooms, leaving Ram still working by the glow of his computer.

******

Lisa and the dirty-haired boy push in the door to Mickey's place, a studio apartment made from an office, but covered with so much metal and plastered in posters, so that you could mistake it for a garage.

Now the place looks like a tornado has hit it. Magazines on the lone table are crushed, half the table wiped clean of stuff. A bookshelf lies across the floor, shelves down.

Lisa looks back and sees that the door lock is broken. The boy follows her gaze.

"Some fool broke in!" he exclaims. He looks around. "Where's the guitar? What'd they take?"

Lisa almost whispers, "Mickey!"

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