Somewhere Only We Go (Editing)

Chapter 41

Avinash

It's finally over. Kabir and Rishabh are both sitting with me and none of us have any idea what to say. It's around 2 pm and I have no idea where the time went since last night when we stepped into my mother's apartment. Should I even call her my mother anymore?

After Rishabh and Aman made sure Mom was well restrained, Rishabh called my father and his. He is one of the most chilled-out guys in our family so when he called and asked them in the most serious tone to come to Delhi they didn't ask twice. Both of them understood it was something serious.

Turns out yesterday wasn't the first time my mother tried killing him. When my mother found out she was pregnant with me she was about to sign with an agency that worked with production houses. My mother wanted to become an actor, but when things didn't work out for her in the beginning her parents got her married to my father. When Ishan happened, my mother wasn't too happy but there was nothing she could do either. So she left him in the care of maids and got back to trying her luck again.

She finally hit the jackpot with one of the top agencies only to find out that she was pregnant with me and abortion was not an option due to some complications. She loathed the idea of having another child and when the agency dropped her after finding out that she was pregnant she never saw me as her son. It was my mistake the agency had such rules in place that they were not working with pregnant women. When Ishan started going to school one day she saw him standing in front of our shared bathroom mirror and making his hair like some actor he has seen on TV.

That small insignificant incident planted an idea in my mother's brain. Reema Mehrotra was never going to be an actress but she was going to make Ishan into one. And there was no stopping her.

She carefully started having us watch more movies and now that I think about it, if Rishbabh or I dozed off she hardly cared but she would never let Ishan fall asleep. I remember how she once shook him awake so badly that there were tears in his eyes. But I was a kid and I didn't know if it was something wrong. To me, it always looked like she loved Ishan more than me. But now I am not so sure.

After a while those movie dates were just one on one for them, me and Rishabh had no interest and we spent most of that time playing with Disha. When Ishan turned 10 she slowly started cutting him off from us, the worst part is we didn't even realize what was happening. It was in small ways like he would skip our playtime but not regularly. It would happen once or twice a week. Back then I thought Ishan genuinely loved studying with his acting coach more. Yes, my mother had gotten him one as soon as he turned 10.

But what if he didn't? What if he needed us to rescue him?"I know what you're thinking right now Avi and don't, don't go there," Rishabh says softly. Kabir takes turns looking at us and then gets up saying something about getting food for the three of us and grabbing the car keys. As soon as the door shuts behind me I look at Rishabh. "I was-""Thinking about Ishan?"I nod. Guess he is thinking the same thing, did we miss any signs that he needed our help, did we not see if he was happy or not?"Aman told me he wasn't happy about leaving school," Rishabh says.I clench my fist. "I always thought it was his decision.""Hmm. It shouldn't have been." "What do you mean?" I ask."Think about it, he was a minor, it shouldn't have been his decision. Chachu should have never let it happen. And now we know he didn't want it either. Reema needed help, Avi, something that our parents, especially your father, should have seen. We were all kids back then, there was nothing we could have done. We didn't understand these things as well as we do now. Chachu isn't completely innocent in all this and neither...neither are my parents. After that fire incident, Dad shouldn't have walked away with us, not like that. He had all sorts of sources available and he should have protected you. I should have protected you. That woman tried killing you twice before yesterday and what did I do? I left with my parents, went to college, and settled in Singapore. I knew in my gut something was wrong with her, but I never said anything."