Five
Ritika walked towards her room carrying a jug of lemonade and five glasses, one topped over the other. She could hear them laughing inside and in the background she could hear some grunge music playing on her laptop. When nobody stood up to open the door, she put her body weight against it and pushed it open.
There the three sat, Advaita lying with the laptop on her single bed, her legs dangling dangerously close to the charging cable. Mansi and Kara were fighting over the beanbag. “Calm down will ya? Aadvi you are gonna knock my laptop off the bed.” She glared at them in false anger. She poured out lemonade in each glass.
The sounds of their laughter suddenly ceased. She found them staring at the glasses. And that is when she realised.
One...
Two...
Three...
Four...
Five...
Kara particularly looked horrified; her eyes were already starting to glisten.
Advaita suddenly burst out, “Lemonade. Nice! Just what I wanted.” The words came awkwardly sputtering out of her mouth. Finally, the spell broke, Kara blinked her eyes twice, and the tears disappeared in thin air.
The fifth glass sat lone by itself. The chaos that had been ensuing a moment ago was now subdued by the presence of the lone glass.
Losing the person that was supposed to sit beside the fifth glass hadn't been easy on any of them. But the worst who had been affected by it was Ritika; she had been the best friend she could ever have. What she had with her felt real! Aadvi, Mansi and Kara were great friends, most of the time but there was something that lacked. Life felt like a dream with them while with her she had felt alive, awake.
Some singer crooned through her laptop,
“I am so happy,
Today I found my friends.
They are in my head.”
It has just been a month or so back when she had sat next to her throwing pillows at each other while the other three had been spectators, watching both of them had been that fun. But since she had gone, Aadvi had discovered her loud side. Maybe it had always been there or maybe it had just come out because it was what they all required. What she needed. Aadvi was a nice soul. It was Kara who was sometimes unbearable, she had her moods. She was way too judgemental, always telling people that they were going to hell for something or the other and when she had come to know about the cuts that Ritika bore on her upper arms, she hadn’t been impressed clearly. She had given her the evil eye ironically for the next few weeks. And then there was Mansi, a sweet girl, unfortunately too self obsessed to notice others. Sometimes they all sat in a room and Ritika felt like they were not even there.
Suddenly Kara stood up; the lone glass of lemonade was knocked off by the pillow in her hand, the light red carpet turning a blood red colour as the lemonade drained out of the glass.
“It was your fault, bitch. You whiny piece of crap! You killed your only friend, probably the only person who didn’t hate you. You are a monster, spawn of Satan. You killed Kriti.” Kara’s finger pointed out to Ritika, the blood red nail paint standing out, it was too much for her.
Ritika sat down holding a knife in her hand, her arm red with fresh cuts. Her eyes were filled with tears while her lips were pulled up in a sardonic smile. She needed to talk about this to someone, someone who would care enough to make it stop, care enough to not mock her. Her other hand reached for her cell phone, her fingers pressing the speed dial 5.
A cheery greeting came from the other side, before Ritika could comprehend what to say, her throat betrayed her, a strangling cry came out. Kara’s voice echoed in her mind, “Pathetic!”
“I... I need you Kriti. Help me...”, the phone slipped off her hands. But she knew that Kriti was already running towards her house, the blood dripped on the bathroom floor imitating a ticking clock.
One...
Two...
Three...
Four...
Soon the sound of crickets chirping was mixed with the sounds of Kriti’s feet crossing the road to her door.
Five...
Instead of the doorbell ringing, there was the sound of a motorbike engine followed by a cry. As her cuts left a blood trail behind her, Ritika ran out of the bathroom, towards the window.
It was not her fault! If she could change anything about it, she would. It was an accident.
This was it. She had enough. She didn’t need them, the memories of Kriti, the good days they had, were enough.
“Get out! I didn’t kill her. Leave me alone!”
For once, she really meant that.
A knock at the door was simulataneous witha searing pain in her head.
Suddenly Ritika’s eyes lit up as she saw Kara fade away, followed by Advaita and Mansi.
They were gone, they had left her. No more voices. Of course they’d be back, but for now she was alone. And that thought had never made her smile more.
“You alright there?”, Ritika heard her mom say. She moved towards the door, pulling the latch.
Her mom picked up the glass that was staining the carpet. Her mom clicked her tongue as she picked up the two glasses and the half filled lemonade jug.
“What have you been up to?” her mother wondered picking up the pillows off the carpet placing them neatly on her bed. Getting no response, her mother continued, “You really need to start going out honey, I know the last few months have been hard on you. Maybe you should consult the psychiatrist again?”
“I am better Mom. Don’t worry.”
“That’s like a good girl. I never liked that stupid old shrink anyway.” And Kara’s shrill voice was back.
