On Mumbai Street (Published)

Chapter 4

"Hey, where are you going?" Rohit asked me just as I was about to leave the house. He was sprawled across our couch, watching television and he has been watching it from eleven in the morning (that's when he woke up) till now, that is, six in the evening. Our parents had gone out as it was a public holiday.

"Just meeting my friends," I answered, turning to him.

"Isn't your school starting tomorrow?"

"By 'school', if you mean college, then yes, it is starting tomorrow."

"Won't you meet them tomorrow then?"

"Yes...but we are having a get-together before college starts...but, wait! Why am I even explaining this to you?" I said, turning back to the door and opening its latch.

"I am your elder brother."

"You have never acted like one before."

"You should be taking your words back if you want me to drop you off to your 'school' tomorrow."

"Wait...what do you mean?" I asked, curiosity etched on my face.

He held up his hand and there, clutched in his hand, was a white card.

"Is that your-"I began to say, leaping forward but he interrupted me and said, "Driver's license."

"When did you get it?"

"Today morning."

I tried to snatch it away, but he kept it secured in his hand.

"You can't see it!" he shouted.

"Why?" I asked, pouting.

He blushed pink and I immediately, knew the reason.

He was my brother, after all. Sixteen years I have lived with him.

"Show me your sexy photograph," I said, grinning.

"It's not because of that-" he began to say and his grip on the card loosened.

Noticing that, I snatched it away and before he could leap at me, I looked at his photo and started laughing.

Like hell.

You know that laughter, where you are bent over and you can't breath and you are holding your stomach with one hand and with the other, you are just hitting your thigh and no sound is coming from your mouth. Well, I was having one of those laughs.

Rohit snatched the card away and scowled at me.

"Hahaha! Very funny!" he said.

But again, I was laughing so much that I had turned deaf, literally.

"You...you...look like a... frog... pressing his face... against a window...with his nose turned up!" I said through deep breaths and giggles.

"Don't you have to go?" he asked me, scowling.

"You stopped me!" I retorted, wiping tears from my eyes.

"Get out!" he ordered.

I sighed and breathed another laugh before heading to the door.

"Good thing is that your license will never be cancelled, nor will you be fined for rash-driving or anything like that," I said, grinning widely.

"Why?!"

"The police will be laughing so hard when they see your license that they will just forget to fine you," I replied, through another round of laughter, walking out through the door.

I shut the door quickly when I saw a pillow charging towards me.

***

"Kohli took the game completely this afternoon," Soham commented.