My family and I - Chapter 19

I had a big smile plastered on my face when Sona walked in. Sona didn’t disappoint. She glanced around the room, saw the goodnight  and the sheets folded and turned towards me disbelief written all over her face.

“What do you want Pinkoo?” She asked suspiciously.

“Nothing!” I denied vehemently while my mind calculated furiously whether there was something that I wanted from her.

She peered at my face, “Are you sure?”

I nodded, “Uh huh.”

“That’s too bad, I was feeling a little generous.” She remarked off-handedly as she started getting into bed.

Generous? Golden opportunity! I glanced at her wardrobe, Sona always had some nice stuff in it. Maybe I could borrow something for tomorrow? I just couldn’t get myself to pass on the offer!

“Ummm, there was one thing..” I said hesitantly.

Sona sat up in her bed, “Which is?”

“Something to wear tomorrow?” I shrugged.

I saw her frown a little, “What’s tomorrow?” She asked.

“Nothing.” I declared unceremoniously.

“Then?” she asked curiously.

“You’re feeling generous. I need to take advantage of that.” I smiled at her.

Despite herself she laughed, “Fine, lets put it on the tab okay? Next time you want something, you can use today’s generous feeling.”

Now it was my turn to be suspicious, “Why are you being so nice?”

“I’m just returning the favor.” She said gesturing towards the goodnight and sheets.

“Hmmm..” I considered that as I got into bed. All this niceness in the air was kind of alien for me. I shut my eyes tightly. Hopefully, tomorrow we would be back to normal.

“Pinkoo..” Sona shook me a little. I opened one eye and looked at her. “What?”

“You remember that pink color dress you have?” She asked casually.

I racked my brains, which one was she talking about now?

“The one with the white belt. Remember?” She continued to poke me.

I sighed deeply, “What about it?”

She cleared her throat,“Is it okay if I borrow it?”

So that was it! I took my own sweet time. For the first time EVER, Sona wanted something of mine! Did that mean my tastes in clothing had improved?? Was I really, becoming cool???

“Okay.” I said reluctantly. I kept taking stuff from her, it was only fair that she could take some of mine.

“I want to cut off some part of it too..” I heard Sona say.

I got up in a flash. “What! Why? No way! I love that dress!”

“B..but.. but.. the belt looks so tacky!” Sona said making a puppy face.

“What?!  It looks hot! You have terrible taste!” Cut my dress! No way! I mean! It wasn’t like she was cutting my dress, it was just the belt. But still! Hmmm, was there something in it for me?

“Please Pinkoo!” She pleaded.

I thought about it for a while, “Can I borrow your new clothes?” this was the acid test. Sona never let me touch her new things. Especially the ones she hadn’t even worn once.

“What?! No way! What’s wrong with you?”  She turned away in a huff.

“Oh,” I said mildly disappointed, “You are going to CUT my dress.” I said, emphasising on the “cut”, hoping to make her feel guilty.

She turned around. “Fine. Just this once.”

I have to say, I was kind of taken aback with this sudden desperation to agree to my terms and conditions. I had to ask.

“What’s the dress for?” I said switching off the lights.

Even though there was darkness all around us and Sona had her back to me, I could tell she had a small smile on her face as she said ,“I have a date with Samrat.” 

My family and I - Chapter 18

As you can imagine, I wasn’t too excited about sharing a room with Sona, especially with her in such a mood. But there was no work around, mum just wouldn’t budge.

“It’s either this room or the balcony, take your pick!” She had told me when I had tried to discuss the serious implications of leaving me in Sona’s room for the night.

Dinner was a quiet affair, nobody spoke much. The unsaid tension between Sona and I was killing all the attempts my poor dad was making to liven up the conversation.

Finally he gave up, “I’m going to watch TV.” He declared as he picked up his plate and marched into the living room. I followed silently. I never really understood why we had the “no-tv-while-eating” rule.

Sona and mum stayed put. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have stayed back and eavesdropped. If Sona told mum what had actually happened, I would get double the punishment doled out for lying.

I gobbled up my food quickly. Not only would I interrupt Sona and mum’s conversation, I would also have an opportunity to implement the Goodnight-sheet-folding law.

You see, this was not the first time Sona and I had to share a room. Everytime a relative came over, I was unceremoniously kicked out of my room into Sona’s and for a couple of days, we managed. We formed a number of little rules which helped us to live together without killing each other in the constricted space. One of them involved etching our names on the furniture so that we didn’t confuse which side of the bed was whose. Of course, mum wasn’t too happy about it.

Another one was the goodnight-sheet-folding law. As per the rules, the first person who came in to the room at night, only had to put on the goodnight and toss the bedsheet onto the other person’s bed and the other person had to do the actual job of folding the extra long bed sheet. Don’t ask me why the rule existed, it just did and both Sona and I followed it religiously and it was a BIG deal!

I dashed into the dining room and found Sona and mum deep in conversation. Mum glanced at me and even though she didn’t look like she was angry, she waved with her hand, a little shoo,go away kinds.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t about me. And honestly, Sona did look a little sad. Boy! I hoped it wasn’t because of me. I just wanted to fool around a little and I had gone and got her into trouble. I made my way to the room and hid behind the curtains trying to listen in on the conversation but I couldn’t hear much just some bits and pieces,

Sona: “Just horrid..”

Mum: “Don’t worry.. I’m..nothing.. happens..”

Sona:”Everytime.. Samrat.. Glass..”

 As soon as I heard “glass”I realised it was time for a confession! I snuck out of my hiding place and walked over to the table, my head hanging in shame.

“Ma, Sona didn’t throw the glass thing at me, it was an accident. ” I blurted out quickly before Sona could finish her version and make my confession seem like stale news.

“What????” My mum turned towards me, shocked.

It took a while for the tubelight in my head to go on,“You guys weren’t talking about that were you?”

A small smile had touched Sona’s face as she realised I had just committed a foot-in-the-mouth blunder. “No,” She said slowly, smirking at my misery.

“Pinkoo!” My mom admonsihed, “ You should be ashamed of yourself! Letting your sister take the blame!” I gulped, the impending lecture was bound to end in a punishment. I stole a pleading glance at Sona.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Ok fine!  She said in a weird eye contact language that I guess siblings tend to make over the years.

 “Let her be ma, she’s an idiot.” She said to my mum.

My mum considered that, “Yes,” She said slowly, “That she is.”

I turned towards my mum, surprised. Hey! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being called an idiot, if there’s something in it from me.

I felt my sister push me a little, “Now scram before she changes her mind.” She whispered.

I didn’t have to be told twice. I made my escape quietly and swiftly feeling quite happy. My big sister had saved me from getting into trouble. I felt like doing something nice for her.

You guessed right. The little angel I was, I put on the goodnight AND folded the sheets!

My family and I - Chapter 17

I tiptoed inside. Sona was sitting on the bed, with her back towards me.

“Let’s get one thing straight.” She started, “This here is my side of the bed and room. I don’t want any of your stuff in my territory. Get it??” She drew an imaginary line with her hand straight down the middle of the room.

I nodded, half a room was much better than what I had expected.

“Now get out..” she ordered.

“What?! Why?” I protested.

“I need to practice, I can’t do that with someone watching. Out!” She said plugging her guitar into the amplifier.

I didn’t think it would be wise of me to fight for staying there. Sona was good with the guitar, but after a few minutes my head started spinning with all the heavy metal guitaring she used to churn out.

I started to walk out of the room when Sona spoke to me again. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did.” She warned me.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Maybe I could set it right, like, right now.

“Ummm Sona?” I stepped towards her side of the room gingerly.

She saw me moving towards her but made no attempt to take off her headphones, but as my foot crossed over the imaginary divider, she exclaimed, “Hey! What do you think you are doing?”

“Sorry..” I muttered, scrunching up my face.

She took off her headphones and regarded me for the longest time, “Go on..”

I cleared my throat, “I’m sorry about the whole Samrat episode.”

She put aside her guitar and glared at me, “Okay, so what were you trying to do there?”

I ran a nervous hand through my hair, “I don’t know, I was just trying to get out of a tricky situation.”

Sona stood up suddenly, forcing me to back into a corner. “How dare you! Do you know what you did? I should kill you for this!”

“Sona I’m sorry!” I said raising my arm while leaning backwards on the table behind me, anticipating a physical fight.

Unfortunately for me, I lost my balance and went crashing down, grabbing whatever I could to stop my fall. Of all the ruddy things I could grab, my hand hit a glass painting Sona had made. For a moment, I was afraid that it would fall on me. But after seeing the look on Sona’s face after the crash, I found myself wishing that it had!

“Mom!!!” Sona screamed loudly, “She’s already breaking my stuff!” She turned to face me, “I want you out of here, get it?”

Big tears rolled down my eyes as my mum walked in and inspected the sight. She saw me lying on the floor with the glass shattered around me and completely misinterpreted the situation.

“Sona!” My mom exclaimed, aghast. “Are you crazy! She could have been hurt!” My mum rushed to my side. “Are you alright Pinku?”

“Ma, this is all her fault!” Sona stood at the door, refusing to help me.

“That’s it Sona! You’re grounded for a month! No phone calls, no outings. Get it?” My mum said furiously.

“But I didn’t even touch her!” Sona protested.

“I don’t care. I don’t care what happened here, but this is not acceptable. Throwing things at each other? That too glass? U-N-A-C-C-E-P-T-A-B-L-E!!” My mum helped me out of the room.

I know I should have said something, but I wasn’t in the mood to be nice to Sona. She had been particularly nasty to me today. As though it was my fault that we had to share a room! I mean, I knew it was, but it wasn’t intentional.

 In fact, if I may admit it, it felt rather good getting her into trouble. Of course, I wasn’t going to let her be punished for a month, I’m not that evil. Maybe just for a week or two.

“Tell her!” Sona screamed at me as my mum lead me out.

“Sona! Stop harassing your sister! In fact I want you to apologize to her!” My mum pushed me in front of Sona and stood behind us, her arms crossed.

Okay, now mum was overdoing it! I saw the murderous look in Sona’s eyes and retreated immediately, “It wasn’t her fault ma!”

My mum shook her head, “You could learn something from Pinku Sona, she’s still trying to protect you!”

That was the worst thing my mom could have ever said!

My family and I - Chapter 16

Sona kind of erupted into a violent stream of abuses, most of them directed at me. How I had ruined her life and such other stuff. Her wrath soon turned towards my mum, but that didn’t last too long. One glance at my mom’s disapproving face and her angry charge changed into a desperate plea.

“You can’t be serious!”  She said throwing my stuff out.

“Hey!” I protested mildly. I could see this was going to blow up sky high, and I didn’t want to be in the line of fire. I made my voice heard and started picking up my things quietly.

“Ma! Come on! Anything but this!” Sona protested, hurling my clothes at me.

My mum watched in amusement as I scampered around grabbing my clothes.          

“The more you protest, the longer the punishment lasts.” My mum said, effectively stopping Sona in her tracks.

I could see Sona mentally compute the pros and cons of sustaining the fight.

“For how long?” Sona asked suspiciously, temporarily suspending her chucking activities.

My mum shrugged, “A month, two maybe. I haven’t really decided. But, it’s going to last till both of you start behaving like sisters.”

“What!?” I exclaimed despite myself. “That’s never going to happen!” I could see my future college life go down the drain. No sleepovers, no late night phone conversations, no late night texting! And I think I could safely cross out sneaking out at nights.

“Well, then you’re going to share a room forever.” My mum said simply.

“This isn’t fair! Dad!!!!” My sister stormed into my parent’s room.  I shook my head, that road was going to lead nowhere.

And I was right. Five minutes later, Sona walked out, shoulders slumped. “I hate you!” She screamed at me as she walked into what was now going to be our room and slammed the door shut.

“I hate you too!!” I yelled back.

I saw my mum cross her arms and shake her head negatively. Most probably our little stunt here had just convinced my mum that the punishment that she had doled out for us was justified.

To salvage a rapidly crumbling situation I screamed out, “But you’re still my sister so I love you!” I turned around and but on my best fake smile.

My mum smiled back, “Not enough sweetie,” She said ruffling my hair, “Not nearly enough.”

I sighed deeply and picked up my meager belongings which had been unceremoniously dumped outside. I gulped, opened the door and walked inside.

I had just entered the lion’s den.