Poles Apart

Epilogue

Author

"I know you love Karthik Anna more," an angry Arvi yells at her mother, her big, brown eyes filled with rage. Tears brim in her eyes, but they don't fall. "I hate you. You always support him."

The little girl, just about five years old runs out of the house, leaving her mother with herself. "I hate you. You always support him."

Madhurima Ravichander shakes her head, her heart burdened by her daughter's distress. No, she did not love Karthik anymore than she loved her little girl but she did not know how to explain it to her five year old daughter. Would she even believe her?

Madhurima's sisters thought she was her dad's favourite. But that was hardly true. It was about as true as Karthik being her favourite.

Arvi had gotten in a fight with her older brother, Karthik. They never fought at all, which is why it upset Arvi incredibly when they did get in fights.

Karthik watched the scene unfold, his sister proclaiming her hate towards their mother, the sadness in their mother's eyes, and the lack of action as Arvi ran out, crying. He continued to watch, wondering why his mother would rather simply shake her head with a sigh, accepting whatever Arvi had said and go back to her room than try to make Arvi understand her standpoint.

Arvi had just run out of the house, did she not care?

Karthik left his school project be, one that Arvi was trying to help with, but ended up spoiling; the reason for their fight, and ran out to see where she had gone.

Arvi ran outside the house, angrily rubbing her face to stop crying. She was only trying to help. Why was Karthik and her mother being so mean about it? Of course she could help. Even if only running to the kitchen to bring scissors, of course she could and would help.

"Pigtails!" Arjun hoots, when he spots her coming outside her house, ready to get on her nerves and watch her turn red.

"I don't want to talk to you," Arvi grunts at him through gritted teeth, not wanting him to know that she had been crying.

"Pigtails, pigtails, pigtails!" He continues to tease, skipping to the gate connecting their houses so he can bully her in peace.

Arjun notices her rubbing her chubby cheeks with her small hands and crouches down to see if she's crying. "Are you crying?" He asks her.

"No," Arvi sniffles stubbornly. "I'm not."

"I was just teasing," he insists, sitting in front of her on his knees. "Don't cry."

Arvi looks up at him, her round eyes brimming with tears. "I'm not crying because of you," she tells him as Karthik watches on from a few feet away. "Karthik Anna yelled at me because I spilled glue on the floor."

Karthik's feet remain rooted to the ground, unable to move or make himself known.

"But you spilled glue on the floor," Arjun tries to reason with her. "Did you say sorry?"

"I was trying to help," Arvi insists. "He yelled at me," she complains, her voice faltering into heavy sobs.

Arjun sits next to Arvi, possibly not knowing how to deal with her crying. Arvi wouldn't usually cry, she always gave it back to him when he teased her, going so far as to hit him if he didn't stop. Now that she was crying, and it wasn't because of him, he didn't know what to do or how to make her stop.

"Arjun!" Ram yells at his son. "Did you make Arvi cry?"

Arjun's eyes widen in shock. His dad never yelled at him. Arjun's eyes begin to water, and Karthik runs up to them before Ram says something he shouldn't.