THE UNLISTED

Chapter Three

By the time Dru made it home, Kal was already in the kitchen drinking a glass of juice. Dru stared at him, wondering if he was going to freeze again, but he was just being his annoying regular self.

Dadi and Vidya were also there, preparing the food for Diwali.

Vidya, her long black hair tied back into a ponytail, already looked like she was resenting having to be Dadi's helper.

Vidya was not keen on cooking and would have much rather preferred to be in her room. She was trying to open a jar of ghee but it was stuck.

'You have to put your back into it!' Dadi encouraged her granddaughter.

'It's not budging,' said Vidya, frustrated.

Dadi turned to the twins. 'We've tried everything: a wet towel, tapping it seven times with good intent –'

Kal finished his juice. 'I'll do it.' He grabbed hold of the jar, gave the lid a quick, easy twist and the jar shattered.

Dadi and Vidya screamed in unison as glass exploded everywhere.

'Whoa!' Kal stared at his hands in shock.

'How did you do that?!' demanded Dru.

They all stared at Kal, stunned.

Dadi was shaken. 'Are you hurt?' she said, moving to Kal's side. She examined his hands. 'Did the glass cut you?'

Kal looked down at the glass, surprised by the mess he'd made. He tried to comfort his grandmother, 'Nope, I'm fine.'

Dadi looked at the broken jar. The ghee had oozed out onto the floor, which was littered with glass shards. Now she knew her grandson had not been injured, her attention moved to her party planning. She gasped in horror. 'It's ruined! No ghee means no food, no lamps. You can't have Diwali without light!' Every year the Sharma family had a Diwali party.

The house was decorated with lights, Dadi cooked all their favourite food and everyone dressed in their best traditional clothing.

Kal knew how important today was to his dadi. 'It's okay, Dadi. I'll get you some more,' he offered.

A glimmer of hope sparkled in his dadi's eyes. 'Good boy. You'll have to be quick.' She reached for her purse on the bench and passed him some money. 'You go while I tidy this up.'

Dru followed Kal outside to the driveway. 'Something's going on for sure. You just broke a glass jar with your bare hands!'

'Stop with the conspiracies, Dru. You're worse than Dadi.' Kal grabbed his bike and put on his helmet.

From inside the house Dadi called out, 'Dru! We have a million things to do!'

'Can't Dad help?' Dru called back.
Dadi appeared at the front door. 'He's still at the bakery.'

'And Mum?'

'She's doing Pilates in those tight pants. Why? Don't you want to help your dadi?'
Dru knew he'd run out of options.

Kal smirked at his twin's defeated expression, and immediately Dadi frowned at Kal. 'And you. What are you still doing here? Ghee!'