The Indian Girl (Editing)

Chapter 13

"Hello?" I answered my phone. I took a sip of water and wiped the sweat from doing yoga off of my face.

"Hey Dee! You're awake! Omg, hi! It's been so long." Lekha replied. I could hear the fake enthusiasm, and clearly she wasn't happy.

"Lee, we spoke a day ago. What's wrong?" I asked, panicked.

You see, while Lekha was super beautiful, she was also overweight. Her father was had a weird OCD problem, and her mother was just a lamb. But not the type of lamb that's only sweet and cute, but also the one that's innocent and is not very knowledgeable. She would put on a facade every day, fooling even me at her toughest times.

Her father, while he loved her very much, used her to tease about her weight, sometimes to the extent of making her cry.

She would blame herself for her parents fights, and she blamed herself so bad that she was once considering suicide.

She told me that it was his ignorance and her idiocy that lead them there. How he was never there for important things like birthdays and how she didn't know how.

Both her parents were from villages, neither well accustomed to the city life. And there she was, struggling with her parents' old ways.

"He's being so bipolar, Dee. One minute, I'm 16 I should know things, the next I'm too young to understand what he's saying. He keeps going on and on, not once thinking maybe I do understand. He keeps underestimating me, always putting me down." She said, sighing sadly into the phone.

"Just 6 more years Lee, you'll be able to leave." I assured.

"But that's not the thing. He realised now his mistakes as a father, and is just giving up on me. He said that I'm aimless, useless, and will become just like my mother. Does he even understand how much be hurts me with his words?" She questioned.

"Baby, you'll survive. You've survived for so long." I reassured.

"But I had you before. Now, I don't know what I'm going to do. He isn't eating anymore Dee. He stopped breakfast and lunch. My mother looks at him like a curse and I'm just stuck in the middle." She contradicted.

"I'm telling you, just go to boarding school. Get away from the frustration. They'll sort it out amongst themselves. They love you, Lekha. Don't worry everything will work out." I said, wishing I could give her a hug right now.

"How I wish that were true. Right now, I'm just thankful for you, and that I'm able to always talk to you. Just promise me you'll be happy?" She asked, her voice filled with a little hope.

She was broken, pieces lost to time. Her heart shattered, grown old too fast, and she was just coping. It was always a war with her adolescent mind and her old heart.

"I promise Lee. Just, promise me you'll hang on?" I asked in return.

"I'll try, babe. Bye Dee." She said and hung up.

"Bye." I said to the disconnected call. Through my toughest times, she was my sun. She fought me so hard just to help.

I'd rather die a thousand deaths than see her suffer.

We were each other's escapes. Ever since we knew each other, anytime one of us was in a dilemma of emotions, the other would be this constant ray of sunshine clearing every small problem away.

Sighing, I kept my phone away, took a shower and went to have breakfast. My aunt was in a hurry, scrubbing dishes as if it was a race against time.

"Oh good! You're awake." She said as she saw me. She put a plate of dosas in front of me and dumped the coconut chutney on it.

"Meera had a baby girl! We, as in Radhav, fua and I, are going to visit, and we'll be back Tuesday. I don't trust Raghav, and that's why you're in charge. No party-varty allowed. If he does something tell me, understand? And be careful. I've already warned Raghu also." She said quickly. She was leaving so soon? Meera aunty was pregnant? And when did she move to the USA? Well, regardless, I wanted to see my newborn baby sister.