The next day, Sameera faked being sick. She sat at home all day, cooped up in her room. Her mother came to check on her a few times, but nothing else. Sameera was tired. She wanted the thoughts to just shut up for once. It felt like too much, all at once. Her mother noticed the wetness on her pillow but refrained from commenting on it.
But when dinner rolled around, Sameera's mother dragged her out of her room and made her sit at the dining table. Sameera reluctantly went along, still feeling exhausted. Her father, in an unusual move, was also sitting with them. She started on her dinner, tearing out small pieces of her roti and picking up the daal with it, before putting it in her mouth. Her parents, on the other hand, did not eat. She looked up at them, slightly confused. Her mother was the first to speak.
"Sameera, we need to talk about your behaviour since yesterday. What is happening?"
"Nothing ma, just tired. And I've had a fever since morning. Of course, I'm tired," she whined.
"Sameera, I'm your mother - I know you were not sick. I just didn't have the energy to argue with you in the morning."
"Maa, I'm really tired, okay? Just let me take a break!"
"Sameera, you can't take school this lightly. If you can't do it, tell us - we'll just find a boy for you as soon as you turn 18. If you are tired at just 11th grade, there's no way you can handle college, na? I'm sure there's some guy who'll be willing to take on a 12th-grade pass," her father said, barely looking at her.
Her mother scoffed, "She has to pass 12th for that, no? Look at her marks. Did she tell you what she got last time? She's failed two subjects, you know that?" Her father turned to her with a stern look on his face, then looked away - as if he had never expected anything more from her, but still hoped that she would break those expectations.
Sameera was barely managing to hold on to herself through this. "I won't get married at 18, never," she said, in a small, but firm voice.
"Of course not - if you do just your 12th, you will never be able to live the luxurious life we've given you till now. If you were fairer, you'd have a better chance, but no, you had to go and get your father's complexion."
"What am I supposed to do about that, Maa?!" Sameera looked at her mother in exasperation.
"Nothing! And watch your tone! Can't you speak more politely?" she raised her voice now.
Sameera hung her head and continued to eat her food in silence. Her mother broke the silence, again. "Is it a boyfriend? Did you go through some breakup or something? I swear to god Sameera if you've done all of that - I don't even know what I'll do." she asked. Sameera took a deep breath to control her breathing, then assured, "No, nothing of that sort."
"Then what is happening?! Who will you tell if you don't tell us?" her mother asked her.
"Nothing is happening. I'm tired, and I took a day off of school. Is that such a crime?" said Sameera, her tone curt. She finished her food, put the plate into the sink, and practically ran upstairs, ignoring her mother, who was desperately telling her father how she had gotten completely out of hand, and how they could not control her anymore.
Once she softly pushed the door of her room to the maximum acceptable limit, she broke down. She put her hand over her mouth as she sobbed, not knowing what to do. In a teary haze, she hunted for her phone and did the first thing that came to her mind.
A few streets away, Indu's phone lit up, and she did a double take when she saw the name showing up on her screen. Hesitantly, she picked up the call. The first thing she heard was muffled sobs and her mind went blank. "Sameera!" was all she could muster. She could hear Sameera hurriedly trying to calm herself down. "I... I'm sorry for this... I impulsively did this, I didn't expect you'd pick up," she said, her voice trembling at each syllable.
"No, no, tell me. Did anything happen?" Indu asked.
"I don't know... Are you free right now?" Sameera had gotten a little more control over her voice now.
"Yeah, sure"
"Wanna go to the ice cream shop?" Sameera could hardly believe what she was saying.
"Huh? Ice cream shop? At this time?" Indu was perplexed.
"Ugh, I'm not thinking at all. It's okay, I'm sorry..." Sameera pinched the skin between her eyebrows, in an attempt to get a hold over herself.
"No, no, the one near the main road right?" Indu asked.
"Wait, you can come?"
"Yeah, my mother's not home tonight, so I can lock the door and come." She assured, wanting to console Sameera in any way possible.
Indu put a jacket over her shoulders and grabbed some money and her keys. Her mother wouldn't be home until tomorrow evening - she was safe. But her mind was troubled. Sure, she'd seen Sameera crying before, but she hadn't particularly been the best shoulder to lean on... Why was she the one called then? She wished she were Swara, ever so soft and warm. Maybe she could help Sameera better that way, whatever was happening.
She reached the ice cream shop and saw Sameera waiting, looking truly haggard for the first time. Her lips were dry and cracked, two large dark half-moons under her eyes, and she had an old dirty t-shirt thrown on. She seemed like she would collapse at any moment. Indu rushed forward, but couldn't say a word. Sameera looked up at her and gave a small smile. Her eyes, however, gave away her guilt at making Indu come out at this time. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to come." were her first words.
Indu retorted immediately - "Don't be. I'm here because I want to, that's all. If this were a burden, I wouldn't be here. If you haven't noticed, I don't particularly like being around people - would never put myself through it if I didn't want to" Indu did not smile, but her words were firm and comforting.
Sameera was surprised - she wondered if anyone had ever come through for her as Indu had just now. She whispered a small thank you, her gratitude not enough for mere words.
"Do you want an ice cream? The shop is open anyways..." she asked, her tone shy and soft. Indu shrugged - she was fine with anything.
They walked into the ice cream shop and sat down at a table. "What did you tell your parents?" Indu asked. "That I was going out for a walk... It's been a hard day, so Paapa let me go," she said, head hung low. Indu was beginning to get scared. This wasn't the Sameera she had seen till now. Even when she had broken down, she had gained her composure within a few minutes. Externally, at least. And again, why her?
'Why is she in front of me after ignoring me the whole day yesterday?' she wondered. This was serious. She saw Sameera's eyes well up again, as she put her head into her hands to stop the tears from flowing down freely. Indu got up, quickly ordered a banana milkshake and vanilla ice cream for Sameera, and a chocolate ice cream for herself, and came back with their order. She placed Sameera's food in front of her, and awkwardly sat down, not knowing what to do.
She thought about what Swara would do in this situation. Would she comfort her? About what?
"Sameera, what happened?" she asked.
"I don't know... I'm supposed to be the happiest I've been - but it's the complete opposite," Sameera replied, her voice shaky.
"That's very vague. What happened? I thought you finally were getting somewhere with Raghav. He seemed to be pretty friendly with you yesterday..." Indu tried her best to put on a supportive voice, even though seeing them holding hands the previous day had made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Yeah... We're... Um... I asked him out and he said yes," Sameera said.
"Oh. Nice," replied Indu. "Anything at home then? Did they find out?"
"No, nothing like that... I'm breaking up with him first thing tomorrow morning, if not today night."
Indu frowned. Ok, something was seriously wrong. She hesitantly put her hand forward for Sameera to take it if she needed it. Sameera looked at her, surprised, then shyly put her hand forward as well. Indu placed her palm over Sameera's, gently comforting her.
"I... I might have realised something. Mirzab put the idea in my head, and um... I think he's right about it," Sameera used her free hand to wipe away the tears that were starting to appear. She couldn't look into Indu's eyes - the concern, the fear and the apprehension were all too much to bear, both hers and Indu's. She saw Indu gently nodding her head from the corner of her eye. Indu's hair was unkempt, out of its usual braids, and the messy bun she'd put on in a hurry was coming undone, and it looked mesmerizing. Realizing that she was staring, Sameera hurriedly looked down.
"What is it?" Indu asked verbally this time. Sameera took a deep breath and jumped.
"I don't like guys - I'm not into them in any way"
Indu's eyebrows flew up in shock. Sameera - the straightest girl in school, the one who had gone after so many guys in her short life, the girl whose mood depended on how many guys complimented her, was not straight?! Indu's mouth formed a perfect 'o', getting a giggle out of Sameera. Indu blushed and looked away as well.
"Well, that's... Honestly the hugest surprise. Is that why you called me? And not Swara or someone?"
"Oh no, you just flashed to my mind first, I suppose. God, I'm glad I admitted it to you, though." She said.
"Thank you for trusting me with this - and... congrats?" Indu said, still in a state of shock.
A question lingered on her tongue, but she was too hesitant to ask... Was she into girls? Asking her seemed weird, as she did not want to come off as creepy, but she ached to know. But Sameera seemed to have significantly calmed down as if a load were removed from her shoulders. She didn't want to ruin that. She looked on as Sameera took a big gulp of her milkshake, giving herself a milk moustache. She put the glass down, and wiped it off with the back of her sleeve, giggling a little. Yeah, she could ask her later.
But another question came to the surface.
"But this still doesn't explain why you were that down... Did anything happen?" Indu asked, her hand still on Sameera's. Hesitatingly, she gently stroked the back of Sameera's palm with her thumb, hoping she would take it as a comforting gesture. Sameera felt acutely aware of it, and how safe it made her feel, but did nothing. She had been reminded of the fact that she had to go back, back to all that her parents preached, with this even heavier load on her back - she could never be their good, faithful daughter. She would always be a traitor to them.
"It's my parents. We fought," she said, her eyes dead.
Indu leaned forward, "Tell me all about it, Sam"
Comments (0)
See all