Vows of Misfortune

7.

Uncle ended up picking me up from the side street since I had gotten out of the auto rickshaw on a whim. The whole incident had managed to calm the anger swirling around my whole body.

He came sputtering down the busy road, weaving through trapped rickshaws, on his grey scooter without a helmet. I figured he had it with him just that he wasn't wearing it, but nope. He had none at all.

Was I going to have to get on it without a helmet, too? What if we got into an accident?

I tried to not let my fears overtake the fact that I had to get back home. That, and not wanting to offend my uncle. My phone kept ringing as we were going back but I didn't look. I was afraid the phone would fly away from my hands if I didn't hold onto my uncle's waist.

It didn't take long before we got home and I was able to check my messages on my phone.

Anjali.

I grit my teeth. Why was she calling me over and over? Then that was when it clicked. The message that I had sent to her. Oops. I walked past my mum and dad that stood up from the sofa to ask me a question. I headed into the bathroom and closed the door.

My thumb hovered over the green button as she called me up once again. With a sigh, I clicked it and placed it against my ear.

"...You picked up?"

"What." I had no interest in speaking to her. It was as if the tone in my voice snapped her back to reality; to why she had been calling me in the first place because when she spoke to me again, there was no lilt of surprise.

"The messages you sent me were fucking uncalled for Arshia, and you know it."

"I knew it?" I scoffed. "Because of you no guy in this area wants to marry me. I'm probably going to marry a pig that'll treat me like a pig as well. All because of you." I didn't give her a chance to respond to that because I hung up before I got out of the bathroom.

My uncle, aunty, and my parents were all situated on the sofa in a circle. Seeing me, they popped their heads back up like alert giraffes.

"What was that ruckus?" My aunt asked.

"We could hear you yelling from here," my mum said, thinly arched brows brought together in one line.

"It's nothing important."

And no one important.

***

Things weren't going great in the marriage department. I was forced to be decked out in this blue saree which I had no idea how to wear or move.

One guy came along to our house with his parents and his face sagged as soon as he stepped in. He whispered something to his mum whose face turned as pink as her saree.

"Uh, are you Anjali Mohan's family?"

My parents exchanged a 'oh crap' glance. My dad cleared his throat and gestured for them to sit. "Yes, but we assure you we're—"

"Actually, I think we came to the wrong house," the son said, grabbing his mum's arm and dragging her back. The father gave us a smile of pity and mouthed a 'sorry' before following his family back out.

Great. 'Wrong person's house' was absolute bullshit.

Another guy came the next day. I was dressed in a lime green sleeveless kurti under jeans, which was much more comfortable than the saree. He was very good looking and I mean so good looking that my jaw had dropped.

And he hadn't run away.

"We'll let you two speak," my aunty said, everyone out of the room and to the very back where the kitchen was.

After a few seconds of silence where we sat opposite each other, not speaking, the man cleared his throat, stretching his collar out a little. "Sorry. I'm a little nervous."

"Oh, don't be," I said, trying my best to be polite. "I don't bite."

He chuckled.

"So, what do you d—"

"Are the rumours about your sister true?" My smile fell off my face and I straightened up. "I'm only asking because my parents were saying that this was the family that had the black sheep of a daughter. I didn't believe them. You don't look anything like her. I'm sure you're not like her, either."

I sighed. Of course. "Get out," I said.

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I said get out." He stood up slowly, turning his head in the direction his parents headed. "Are you deaf or what?!"

At the commotion, everyone ran out. His parents rushed over to his side, looking me up and down as if I had laid hands on him. "What happened?"

"I don't know," he said, lifting his hands up. "She's crazy."

"I'm—"

"Let's go," he muttered, rushing out with his parents following closely behind.

My dad ran behind him and stopped in the doorway. "Wait! We can—we can talk it out."

My mum on the other hand gripped my upper arm and turned me to face her. "What on earth was that about? I thought you said you knew this wasn't a game."

"That's exactly why I kicked him out. I don't want to marry these ignoramuses who only want to see me like I'm sort of attraction. They're all judging me for what Anjali did. That's literally all they talk about if they stay long enough to even give me a shot."

I didn't have much luck with the third, forth, or even the fifth guy after this. I was slowly starting to lose faith.

Maybe this wasn't for me, after all.