Vows of Misfortune

5.

"Yes, mum. I'll marry whoever you want me to."

***

Two weeks went by pretty quickly because we had landed in humid, sunny India before I could even blink. As we made our way into the rickshaw, the spluttering of its engine and the rumbling of its tiny wheels across uneven, gravelly roads, I let myself soak in the rays that shone down on me from the open side. I noted some flowers growing on the grassy areas that looked a lot like calendulas; I beamed. If only I could stop the rickshaw to pick some—I love them.

The main road was loud and there was honking on every side. When we got out at our supposed neighbourhood where mum's sister was living, however, it was quiet. Like a dead man's house.

Actually dead man's strip. There were people outside chatting, but as soon as they turned to see us, they headed back inside.

"My sister's neighbours," my mum whispered to me as she adjusted her top. The bleak frown on her face told me she wasn't too thrilled to be unwelcomed either. I knew exactly why we were getting the cold treatment from everyone, though.

Once upon a time, as soon as they saw my mum, dad, Anjali and I, they'd rush over and talk about how London is and why we weren't visiting sooner. After news of what Anjali did spread around to the whole neighbourhood, no one wanted to be associated with us anymore.

Fun times.

My uncle and aunty—my mum's sister and her husband—rushed out though as we dragged our suitcases along the sandy area at the front. My uncle grabbed my suitcase and ruffled my hair and I forced a smile. I wondered if they knew what I was doing here. I shook my head.

My aunty scooped me into a bone crushing hug and I took a deep breath in; she smelt like coconut oil and it reminded me of home so much. I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and hug back. She pulled away and held me at arms length so she could look me up and down.

"My, how big you've grown! God, I remember you were bracing those metal braces on your mouth the last time you were here."

I laughed. It had been a while. "I'm a big girl, now."

"Well, of course. You wouldn't be here looking for a man to marry if you weren't, now, right?"

So they had heard. I turned to look at my mum who shot a tight-lipped smile at me that said 'don't worry, I didn't tell'. I knew what that meant and my shoulders slumped. They didn't know I'd been cheated on and left at the altar. If they knew that then word would be spread around the neighbourhood and the whole small town would know and I'd probably never be able to show up here ever again.

Everyone was all up in everyone else's business, but when it was a bad thing you didn't want to be anywhere in it.

"She's got a few matches all lined up and ready to go," my uncle drawled, rolling his eyes as he lifted the suitcases up the stairs of his house. Aunty grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the house, waving at my mum and dad to follow.

"Wow, thanks for forgetting the both of us," I heard my dad joke from behind.

"Shut up, Prem," mum hissed. I couldn't help the tickle in my throat that wanted to escape as a laugh; a part of me had always wanted a love like my parents did. They were so comfortable with each other, so affectionate without even trying. It came naturally. I wanted that so bad. I had to accept that I was never going to get it.

"So," my aunty said, pushing me down onto their sofa in front of the Dell laptop that was already open on the coffee table, "I got your profile all set and ready with all the photos that you wanted. Now we just have to wait."

"I thought you said matches were all ready?" I asked, looking from her to uncle who was busy speaking with dad.

"Well, he meant profiles that are already up on the site waiting for likes and invitations. We could do that or wait for the profiles to like us."

"So basically we haven't matched with anyone?"

My aunt shifted on her seat, scratching at her forearm. "Yes, exactly. But it's only been a week. Uh, let's wait a few more days. Usually they come in very quickly."

Right. At the way my mum gave my aunt a look and at how my uncle cleared his throat and went to get some 'water' I knew that the reason was related to Anjali. So I asked it. "Is it because of Anjali?"

"Arshia," mum hissed.

"No, I want to know." I turned to my aunt who swallowed visibly. "Does everyone in this vicinity know about what my sister did? Is that why?"

"Word managed to spread around. And the rumours got worse until unrelated videos claiming your sister..." she trailed off. Anjali made a horrible mistake but it had gotten so bad that people were photoshopping her into sexual videos? What was wrong with society?

I leaned back into the seat with a thud but she rushed to explain, "But that doesn't mean anything. We could look for matches in Bangalore and Chennai or—or Delhi even. They won't know about what happened."

I looked to mum who didn't seem pleased at the suggestion. "No. If we're doing an arranged marriage, he has to be on the same status as us and from the same place."

I rolled my eyes. At this rate that was never gonna happen. Looked like my plan was going to fail.

"Trust me, Manisha. Patience will help us plenty."