Bhuvana had gotten up quite early and as she tiptoed into the living room, she could hear the faint snores of her two best friends coming in from the other bedroom that wasn't closed. She took a quick peek into the room to see Eshwar and Raghav fast asleep, each on either sides of the bed with ample space between them.

She didn't wish to wake them up, so she pulled the door to an almost close, leaving it just slightly ajar, and then proceeded to the kitchen to make herself a strong cup of coffee. A few minutes later, as she sat at the dining table with the steaming coffee in front of her, she looked at her phone with a feeling of hurt.

Her half-brother Prakash had texted her late the previous night. "Hi Akka*, I know you have been waiting for dad to call you or at least send some indication that he wants to talk to you. I tried talking to him a while ago about you, but he isn't willing to yet. I guess he needs some time to get around. If you want to visit him again anytime soon, I would suggest you not do that for now. It's better if we don't trigger him. He is already growing fragile with age and it would be difficult if his health worsens with stress upon seeing you. I will keep you updated on how he is doing so you can be rest assured. I hope you don't get too upset by this. See you again soon."

Bhuvana could understand the implied, underlying meaning of his words: don't ever think of visiting our father, leave the place and better not come back until I tell you to do so, which may not be ever again. A major part of her anguish over the text message didn't stem from her father's reported denial to see her, but from the fact that it was Prakash who was conveying it and commanding her to refrain from any visitation. Of all the people she knew, she never thought Prakash would try to distance her from their father. She had believed him to be on her side, know that she never intended to take his place in the family or even play any bigger role than a daughter who had the right to see her father whenever she wanted. All through the years Prakash had maintained a respectable contact with her: he texted her a few times a year, wished her on important festivals and called once every one or two years. It was definitely more than what she would expected from him in the precarious family-situation they had.

Maybe she had read him wrong.

"Why are staring at your phone like that?" Eshwar's sleepy voice from the hallway snapped Bhuvana out of her thoughts. She turned sideways to see him standing outside his bedroom, his hair all tousled up in sleepy mess, and his eyes blinking tightly to get rid of the drowsiness.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked him.

"It's my usual time to get up," he answered making his way to the dining table. He sat down in a chair next to Bhuvana and asked, "You look really upset. Did anything happen?"

Bhuvana showed him Prakash's message and elaborated, "I thought he would speak for me, make our father see some sense at least now. I believed him to be close to what a real sibling would be like. Guess I was wrong. It's like his mother used to say when she was alive - we would never be family."

Eshwar sighed. "First of all, not all siblings are good to each other. I have seen siblings born of the same parents fight and even kill each other over things like money, and they aren't half-siblings like you and Prakash. And secondly, you are forgetting all his relatives who are currently stationed in that neighbourhood for the eleven days of funeral proceedings. You think they would let him or your father talk about you? They will definitely brainwash him into not welcoming you home. They have their own vested interests: some of Prakash's uncles manage your family's farmlands. They are scared that if you arrive in the picture, you might ask them to leave."

"Why would I do that?" Bhuvana was a little exasperated. "It's not like I would stay here or have any interest whatsoever in what they are doing with those farms."

"What happened?" Raghav's gruff voice sailed to them from the other end of the hall. They both looked up to see Raghav walking in sleepily towards them. He yawned and took a deep breath as he sat down at the table facing his two friends, shaking off his sleepiness and asked, "Did your father or brother told you to get out again?"

Bhuvana chuckled. "Genius of you. That was quite close." She briefly explained the situation to him.

Raghav was not the least bit surprised. "You really thought Prakash was keeping in touch with all these years out of some brotherly affection?" he asked, his eyebrows raised in retrospection. "I didn't break it to you till noe because it would have sounded a little far-fetched. But the truth is that Prakash was just keeping tabs on you - just to see if you would be coming back here or not. Why? Because the moment you come back or decide to act on it, you would be in the picture for the inheritance being passed don from your grandfather, not to mention your own mother's real estate property and money that has till now been in the control of your father and Prakash's mother. Everyone down there in your paternal home are scared you would put a claim on it all and they would loose millions to you."

Bhuvana studied Raghav for a moment, noting in his words. She took a pause and slowly answered, "I have had my doubts, Raghav. But I had made it clear on many occasions that I am not interested in it all."

Raghav waved it off. "They would have thought you were saying that because you are scared of that old witch. Now that she is dead for good, people expect you to not stay quiet anymore."

Eshwar nodded as he added, "I don't want to make you feel more vary of Prakash than you already are, but I wouldn't trust that guy. You want to mend your relationship with your father? It won't happen, not unless your father has an epiphany on his own, and that won't happen anytime soon. Not until he grows much older and notices how people treat him as nothing but a free source of money."

Bhuvana bent her head in deep thought. Raghav and Eshwar both gave her the time to introspect and stayed quiet. After almost five full minutes of silence, Bhuvana lifted her head and declared, "I will go back to USA in two days, or as soon as I can."

Eshwar and Raghav looked at each other, both not surprised by Bhuvana's decision. "You can stay here for a few more days and relax," Eshwar suggested.

"Yeah, once you go back you will be thrown into the election mayhem again. You might not get to have some time off for a long period," Raghav chimed in.

"Maybe that's what I need," Bhuvana admitted. "I need to do something that will not give me the time or space to think about how absolutely abandoned I am."

"Bhuvana..." Raghav trailed off, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Family is not the only thing that can sustain people from feeling loneliness, Bhuvana," Eshwar spoke with conviction. "All three of us have been forsaken by our families, but that doesn't imply we are alone. We three never abandon each other, and I believe many, many years down the lane, we three will still be by each other's side." He put an arm around her as he continued, "There are people who look up to you everywhere. Ignore the shitty people who don't know your value. We love you, and as long as we are here, you will never be abandoned."

Bhuvana looked at her friends as they gave her assuring smiles.

"But I am still going back," she said after a moment with a grin. "If I don't, they will lose the elections. I can't let that happen."

"Yeah, we know," Raghav chuckled.

*Note: Akka is a Telugu term of calling an older sister.