Sparks Fly

CH16: Holi (Part II)

Whistling while holding both my hands behind my body I enter the living room which though is the same as it always has been, the people look different from how I saw them a few hours before. Speakers have been bought out and the music is blasting. White clothes worn by them now have different shades of colour on them. Some of them have brought out their black shades and are dancing in a way never seen before. I make my way to the kitchen like a cheetah and find the container of the fruit punch almost empty as a little quantity remains on the bottom. A man stumbles closer and tries to grab the container for the last drop of it but I snatch it away and throw it in the sink and try to justify my actions.

"I saw a cockroach drop in it, from the ceiling. We have plenty in our house."

He looks at me weirdly as I leave the kitchen and search for mother. From one face to another, they all start to look the same. As I begin to venture into the master and guest bedroom I hear my mothers voice. She's near the exit talking to someone who has his back to me. I rush towards her and notice that she's also leaning on the wall. Her eyes dropping as she speaks,

"Where have you children been?" She pinches my cheeks and pulls me in both the directions simultaneously.

"Yes. Where have you and Neil been?" asks Mr. Sharma, Neil's father. He stands stoic with his hands by his side. He too has a drink in hand but it doesn't look like he's been drinking it.

"Manu has been looking for his family, he needs the house keys," mother tells me.

"Oh, I can get it for you," I tell him.

"I don't wanna be an inconvenience, just guide me towards them. I'll be fine," he says.

Mr. Sharma and I exchange a glance, the glass in his hands feels heavier but he doesn't bother to put it down. I open my phone and fire Neil a message to meet me here with his house keys. Till the time he comes the three of us keep standing there, awkwardness seeps into our circle. Mother gets called my someone so she excuses herself and sways as she walks up to her friends.

"Your mother is quite the drinker," says Mr. Sharma as he pours down the drink he was holding into the plant kept near the doorway.

"She's not," I tell him affirmatively.

"So you and my son, huh". I sense some hostility so I try to be as straightforward as possible to him.

"Just speak out whatever's on your mind".

"Well just a little piece of advice then, you don't want a boy like him in your life. You can do better than that," he says. I get offended by his statement and am beginning to respond to it when we see Neil on the other side of the room approaching us.

"Or maybe you don't. Don't tell me I didn't warn you" he continues. Neil doesn't greet him, instead just hands him over the keys and Mr. Sharma is out of the house.

"What was he saying?" Neil asks me.

"Nothing important." I try to keep his statement at bay as we have an important situation at hand.

Neil and I safely escort all our 'allegedly drunk' guests out of the house and into a cab that would safely take them to their house, hopefully. He does the more heavy lifting stuff, that is drunk men while I'm stuck with the women and put their arm around my shoulders to help them walk straight. I put my mother to bed and a glass of water and a pill on her bedside table as I know she would wake up with a killer headache. Sara is on my bed, sprawled and in a deep slumber. There's still a bit of vomit in the corner of her lips and I wish she had used a mouthwash before going to sleep. Jay can't go back to his house and he can't even stay at Neil's house with his father in there, so Jay takes up the couch for the time being. Anyway he needs to stay here when mother asks for a rundown of exactly what happened at the party.

As the crowd thins out Neil is still at the same duty while I start cleaning around the house. I start with my room with a mop, looking at Sara's sleeping form I am reminded of her mother. Abandoning the task at hand I go looking for her mother around the house. From bathroom and balconies to double checking the master bedroom and kitchen. I head for the guest bedroom and rotate the knob but it doesn't budge. I push the door inwards hoping the pressure would make it swing and open for me but that doesn't do anything. Knocking on the door I call out for whoever's on the other side to open the door. But that also doesn't turn into any action. A thought struck into my mind of how the person inside could be drunk and knocked out. With concern in my voice, I say

"Just hang in there, I'm going to get the keys to this room".

As I turn to leave the door opens swiftly and I find Neil's mom on the other side of the door. Her hair is out of place with strands out of her pony covering her face, her eyes scream guilty but for what that I am unable to place as she tries to catch her voice.

"Gia, it's you," she says in a nervous tone.

"One and only. Mr. Sharma was looking for you," I tell her. Panic laces her voice as she speaks,

"Is he still out there?"

"No, he went away. He just wanted the house keys".

"Ok. I was just about to leave," she says and steps out of the room and closes the door behind her.

"Oh please don't close it, I'm looking for Sara's mom"

"She's not in there"

"She might just be"

"I'm sure I must have seen her inside"

"Well the naked eye can't catch everything. I'll just check the bathroom and the balcony" I tell her as I open the door. She stays rooted at her spot and the door opens. My eyes land on Gia's father sitting on the bed facing the door.