Egbert

Prodigal Son returneth

Aaditiya's home. His metallic blue car is parked in the drive way. And I can also tell from the amount of yelling coming from inside the house. It's half the reason I haven't knocked yet. The other half is the fact that I'm still eating my breakfast and would rather eat it out here because it's not at all vegetarian. The maid decided not to be cheery this morning, making no small talk and if I wanted to be in a quiet soulless house then I would've stayed there. As it is, I prefer the screaming match happening on the other side of this door to the silent horror I came from. Okay I'm ready now. Before I even knock the door is flying open in front of me and I'm nearly impaled by the gangly form of Vikram's older brother. 

"Oomph!" The wind's been knocked right out of me."Sorry Eg" he stumbles back over the threshold from the impact of our collision. I get a better look at him now as he adjusts his glasses. The bags under his eyes are much lighter than the last time I saw him, but given that the last time I saw him he was a poor student who spent most of his nights studying that's not all that shocking. He's got this half beard thing going on around his chin."What happened?"

"Mom's yammering on about wedding details." And on cue she comes out from the living room, her face red, ready to talk his ear off when she spots me."Come in putaar." She waves me in half-heartedly. I do so and shut the door before Aaditiya can bolt. "I'll go wake Vikram up." There's a chance he might be awake already from all the shouting but with the way he sleeps I doubt it. A quick glance into the living room before I head up the stairs show Hans isn't there. I dare to hope he won't be joining us today but the hope is dashed when I barge into Vikram's room and there he is. Vikram is adjusting his school tie while he's does Vikram's shirt buttons. I face the wall immediately. "Can you please lock the door when you're doing that?"

"What? Dressing?"

 "You know what I mean. Anyway come downstairs Aaditiya and your mom are having a screaming match."

"I swear this wedding is nothing but trouble."

"Yes it is and we've got to help Aaditiya realise that."

"Is that really wise Egbert?" Hans resets his tie and turns to me while Vikram finishes buttoning his shirt, "Aaditiya's a grown man. He's made his own choice and I think you should respect that." God I want to throw something at his smug, logical face. He's not part of this family. He doesn't know what Aaditiya's feeling. Has he known every member of this family for over a decade? No. So he should shut his little mouth. He doesn't know a damn thing. I don't know why he feels the need to comment on this. But if I say something Vikram will get upset so I settle for a passive aggressive "maybe" and pull the door open to stomp out. 

Preeti's not changed yet she's in her pyjamas, leaning against the railing and listening to the conversation going on downstairs. "Eg you have good hearing what are they saying?"She doesn't actually know the extent of my good hearing, but well enough that I've gained the reputation of being able to hear like a hawk. I focus."I don't care if it's buffet or not mum and for the love of god get any flowers."

"Aaditiya you need to tell me so I have something to bring back to Myra's family. If we have no opinions on this they'll walk all over us, now choose!" His mother replies back in Hindi."Wedding drama" I reply simply then elaborate "your mum wants to know about the buffet and flowers."

"We'll have a buffet serving air and flowers made up of nothing because this wedding isn't happening." She huffs back into her room and slams the door shut. She's got a point. A tad dramatic. But she has a point. The next time we get a chance to hash out the details is during morning break at school. Preeti actually leaves her clique to come over and talk to her brother and his dorky friend, sitting against the school building getting aged brick dust on our blazers. Hans is here too but he's not cool enough to be mentioned in my description, he's got his nose buried in some history book on vampire lore and it's definitely not one that I've given him. Meaning he's been doing his own research. Sneaky bastard. I was given that particular book for my seventh birthday by my parents. It seemed like a nice gesture at the time but then I read it. It turned out to be a glowing homage to vampires who've shaped the known world, aka my parents. So essentially it was a gift to remind me who the hell I was dealing with. "The Dosla's are coming over today" is the first thing she says to me when she comes up. I have to squint upwards to see her face in the unusual sunlight. "I say we talk to Aaditiya beforehand, corner him in the kitchen. All three of us" she looks pointedly at Vikram who is playing some game on his phone and ignoring her.