In His Custody ✎ | (MaNan)

✰ 17 - ride or die

Manik

The sprinkles of water were abruptly shut off. As I stood there beading the cold water droplets off my body, I thought about the whole night at a glance. The day I learned that I was adopted, my whole life had turned upside down. It was true, I was merely a teenager dealing with an existential crisis even before the whole ordeal had unravelled. That day I had irrationally rushed to Nandini's place, without thinking twice about the consequences.

March 2011

I was halfway up the stairs to the front porch with a badminton racket in one hand when I realised Abhimanyu's bike wasn't parked at the gate. He was most likely at the football grounds already. The potted plants on either sides of the porch were budding, a sign that February was nearing its end. I knocked once on the door, loudly. A short lady in a pastel yellow salwar kameez opened it.

"Aunty, Nandini hai ghar pe? Oh—sorry..." I scratched my head, "...is Nandini..."

Her reaction was that of sheer confusion, looking at my height, my tardy uniform and the way my bag was casually slouched over my shoulder she inferred that I was definitely not in her class, surely senior to her. Nevertheless, the warmth in her face hadn't disappeared. "Haan, andhar aao na beta," I kicked my shoes off at the doorstep before entering with my right foot.

"Hi Aunty, I'm Manik... aapko toh bohot acchi tarah Hindi aati hai?!"

"Main toh Punjabi hoon beta, Nandini ke Chacha se shaadi karke naa main Kannad seekh paayi hoon na unko main Hindi sikha paayi, kya loge, chai? Nandini abhi aa rahi hogi," I heard the tap running the bathroom closest to the lounge. Perhaps that was where Nandini was.

"Haanji," I took a seat at the head of the dining table. We had a proper chat in Punjabi where she was discussing her hometown and referencing certain towns, to which I didn't have much to say. Understanding my reluctance, she quickly changed topics to some delicacies that she had planned to make for the evening, and that had she known I was coming she would have started making them sooner. My heart dropped in my chest. A woman who had known me for a mere ten minutes was more affectionate and happy to see me than the woman that raised me for almost fourteen years of my life.

Nandini had mindlessly walked in the middle of Chachi's conversation, with a towel hung on her arm. Her feet, hands and face were damp from freshening up, and she had just changed into some comfortable pajamas. Her eyes widened at me and she quickly composed the sudden thrill and fuzzy feeling within. "Hey Manik, how come you're here? Abhimanyu is out with the rest of your gang," She asked as she strode to the kitchen to have her cup of tea, trying hard to maintain her stance as a girl who had nothing to do with me. She beamed behind her cup.

Her Chachi relaxed further upon hearing that.

"I actually came to invite you to play badminton with us, your brother and Mukti are playing a 1v1 tournament so she appointed me to come pick you up,"

She looked down at herself. "I just changed into pajamas..."

"It'll be nice if you came, Mukti would really love to have you there," Part of me wished she would've joined without hesitating. The other part of me wanted her to know it was me who really needed her then.

Scanning my face for a moment longer than just-friends, she took a sip as she saw my half-undone tie and restless feet. "Okay, I'll come, give me two minutes," She said, placing the almost-full teacup on the countertop and rushing back up.

"Oye Nandini, at least finish your tea! What is this? She never leaves her tea unattended," Chachi complained, the second part being directed to me.