Outcasts Read Online Free PDF Page B

relishing the warm water and his mother's soft, gentle hands on his body. Even as an eight-year-old, he knew instinctively that he lived in a paradise. His family lived on the grand acres of the Perenyi Estate, where his father was not only responsible for running the distillery, but also for harvesting and bringing in the crops needed to operate it. This entailed hiring the workers, organizing the farm machinery, and ensuring that everything was completed in a timely, efficient manner.
    When his friends weren't around, Suti had his siblings, his dogs Buksi and Medi, and the cat Pityur to play with. Aliz and Bandi were much older but Suti felt comfortably cushioned between his middle sister, Hedy, and Icuka, the youngest in the family, who was a year and a half younger than Suti and always around. Hedy and Icuka were also his best friends, although he wouldn't tell them that directly.
    He adored spending time with Hedy. They were constantly laughing, inventing riddles and word games. The days were never boring when Hedy was around; she was smart and he learned a lot from her.
    Their town had an entertainment centre called the Casino, a hall where dances and social gatherings were held. On rare occasions, it was even transformed into a cinema and it was where Suti saw his first movie, The Thief of Baghdad . He was mesmerized by it. Hedy explained to him beforehand that those weren't real people on the big screen, they were actors who were acting, and it was all recorded with a camera and film. But, to Suti, it all seemed so real. During one particularly hair-raising scene when the evil magician Veidt was ready to kill the native boy Sabu, Suti couldn't stand the tension. He stood up, pointed at the screen, and yelled, "Look behind you! He has a knife!" Hedy wouldn't speak to him for a week after they were ejected from the theatre because of his outburst.
    Hedy was Icuka's role model and told everyone that when she grew up she would be just like her picture-perfect older sister. When Hedy was getting ready to go out to meet her friends, Icuka would sit on a footstool next to her sister and imitate her every move as Hedy primped in front of the mirror, combing her hair, brushing her teeth, and applying a bit of imaginary blush.
    Icuka, being a year and a half younger than Suti, followed him around everywhere. Suti didn't really mind and he had fun with her even though she was younger. There was something about his younger sister that was irresistible. Icuka had chestnut-coloured brown eyes that matched her deep brown hair and she had a warm, loving nature, a quick wit, and a delightful smile.
    As soon as she could walk and talk, everyone in the family noticed how clever she was. When Suti read a book, even as a toddler, she would sit next to him and pretend to read. She imitated his every intonation. One day, as she was telling a story from a book she had heard Suti read dozens of times, she completely skipped a page but kept turning the pages and telling the story. The family knew she didn't know how to read and had just memorized the entire book, which she recited from memory.
    Suti smiled now, remembering how funny it was. He closed his eyes and relaxed into his mother's arms, swaying back and forth as she scrubbed the black soot off his back. His mother was the true centre of his life. He knew she was the centre of all their lives, but Suti liked to think that, in some ways, she belonged exclusively to him. He could not imagine anyone more beautiful than his mother, and it fascinated him that whenever he asked her anything, she always knew the right answer. How could anyone be so smart? When he was at home, he just wanted to be near her comforting presence.
    Suti knew instinctively that it was because of her that they all felt so safe. She had established a routine to their lives that never varied. Monday was wash day when Suti and Icuka squealed with joy as they played hide-and-seek between the freshly washed sheets drying