The Convention (Ab)Use

That One Moment

Wes shook his head as he finished showering. His hair moved in obedience to his head movements. He pushed off some water which was coming down his face. The sharp painful cuts around his eyes were all gone. He had returned home from The Cholai. As he walked out of the bathroom into his bedroom, he could still hear the TV loud and clear.

Tess was shuttling between the kitchen and the living room. She increased the volume of the TV to make sure she could hear everything that was happening in the TV soap she was watching.

Wes walked in to the living room and realised she wasn't there. He decided to check the other stations. He made his way to the couch where Tess had placed the TV remote control. As he bent to pick it up, he noticed a picture of himself on Tess' phone which was beside the remote control.

It was the picture from the Halloween night which was placed on the Facebook group. He closed his eyes and looked again at the phone screen. Still there. He did not want this to happen. He was shocked. He checked carefully and realised that Tess had been looking through the Facebook page. "It's out now," he thought to himself. "She's gonna start asking questions and sayi..."

"Dude! don't change the station." His thoughts were interrupted by Tess' voice. She walked back in to the living room and made her way to the couch.

They both sat down and continued watching the TV. Wes was expecting her to ask a question. Inaudibly, he began mouthing what he would say.

"We were involved in an accident but I'm okay, don't worry," he mouthed to himself.

Twenty minutes passed and still nothing about the picture from Tess. She just kept on talking about the TV soap.

"Can't you see! Can't you see he did it on purpose." If only the person on the screen could hear her through the TV. "This police man is dull. He's got the killer next to him and he's still looking elsewhere. Seriously, I will stop watching this show." Tess sighed frustratingly at the TV. She turned to Wes. "Don't mention that you've heard me say that before."

"What, that you'd stop watching this show?" Wes sighed. He couldn't hold his thoughts any more. He wondered whether she had seen the picture, whether someone sent her the link asking if her brother was okay. He thought of a smart way to figure all this out just in case she had not noticed.

"Have you heard of the immunity abuse hashtag?" After asking this, he thought it was a stupid question. He was expecting a no anyway. He then thought he would go on to ask about whether she had heard anything lately about diplomats and accidents. Before he could add to his question, Tess spoke.

"That–was discussed on the radio yesterday afternoon. That little girl's story was talked about." Tess spoke without looking at Wes. She had her eyes still on the TV. "That's sad. I also figured you didn't want to tell me about... some things." She cleared her throat.

"Some things," echoed Wes in a questioning tone.

"Don't worry, I didn't freak out. You're not going anywhere just yet and I am sure of that." Tess sounded very composed as she spoke. She knew Wes would understand what she meant by anywhere. "That said, I wish you had told me."

Wes looked surprised or one could even argue he looked confused. "What are you on about?"

"Nothing much, just saying you are still rubbish at keeping things from me. But I know you can take care of yourself."

"Okay, what have you done with my sister? I don't know you."

"I'd give you some time to deal with this realisation." Tess got up and began to make her way back to the kitchen. There was a break on the TV soap. "I knew that dream meant something," she said as she walked away.

Even though he was surprised, Wes felt relief at Tess' reaction. He had been expecting her to worry and then complain. The kind of complaints that he had gotten tired of. That he never tells her about things concerning him. That he should stop making decisions like he had no family. That he should never have stayed out so late. That Sarpari was not very safe at night. That he should have called her immediately. Basically, all of the motherly complaints she sometimes made.

Even though they were still very close, he realised that there was much he didn't know about his sister. With his relief, his initial desires to keep everything under a cover began to dissipate.

"Well, what's there to hide?" he said to himself.

He picked up his phone, went through his contacts and began to type.

"Hey Raj, that interview you mentioned, I'm so in."