One Cuppa Chai

°20°

My mother eyed me sadly while I took another noisy sip of juice from my glass, legs dangling from the armchair.

"All alone, my little bidda," She sighed.

"Ma, I'm alright. I watched some tv, I read... It's fine!" I explained to allay her trepidation.

"Entire day?"

"Entire day," I confirmed.

"Tomorrow we'll leave you in Suganya's house, I'll pick you up while returning. There she'll take care of you." She said it quite resolutely as if it was the safest haven for any 18-year-old during her vacation.

"Maaa!" I protested, clutching at the end of her dupatta as she got up to head towards the kitchen. "I'm okay here na? The maid cooks food, I eat and just hang around. You return by then. Done!" I concluded brightly. I was always approachable to offer a clean solution. I hope my mother was aware of this skill of mine.

She peered from the kitchen with narrowed eyes, "You go hang there, upside down also."

I slumped back, defeated. My mom made up her mind. It was done. Tomorrow was dedicated to sitting jobless in my second cousin's house.

And I thought I could practice riding the bike for sometime tomorrow as well. I was becoming a pro at it. A pro at driving in an abandoned alley with no more vehicles to challenge my redirecting skill.

"Chinnu?" Her voice called out after some time.

"What?" I hollered back.

"There's no turmeric and pudina powder. Will you get it for me now?"

That was not an open-ended question. I pinched a few notes from the cracked china jar in the almirah, pocketing it in my sweats.

"Anything else?" I hollered, strapping my sandals.

She returned, hands grimed with white flour and sized me up in my faded Batman shirt and grey sweats.
"Where do you get these improper clothes?"

I stifled a smile, "You buy them for me."

She mumbled something incoherently for that.

So I proudly took the stairs to get these imperative ingredients. It was late in the evening and the trees cast a dark shadow over the building, giving it a slightly spooky aura. Well, my block did have a reputation of living up to it's rumoured expectations.

But what caught me off guard as I ventured further into the path was that the place seemed kind of ominous, none of the aunties was sitting on the benches, discussing in hushed whispers and giggles while watching their children play. No impromptu cricket matches as well.
Girls my age usually gave guest appearances on a blue moon day for a game of squash, but otherwise, I wasn't surprised about their lack of presence. Only one uncle was fast walking around the building, puffing his chest up
and sweating so profusely that his grey vest was becomingly increasingly wet. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Sweaty uncle paused to smile at me and I nodded, hoping he wouldn't stop for a chit chat.
But to my relief, he rounded the corner, now breaking into a jog.

As I approached the gate, I noticed a few male creatures in the parking. Judging by the lean physique and the dark mousse-like hair, I knew it was Kabir who was nodding silently to his companion.

Facing away from me.

Ugh, I felt like a lump was adamantly stuck in my throat in dread of confronting him. My words weren't exactly poetry and I thought he knew this. Instead, he goes ahead and messages Siya as if I had embezzled him or something.