The Workaholic Wife ✅

Bittersweet

"You know how to do this?" Aniket asks, standing beside me in his ripped jeans and white t-shirt. I don't respond to him, working on elevating the car.

He touches my shoulder, and I jerk, not expecting his touch. He doesn't remove his ice cold hands from my shoulder, and uses my support to lean towards the tire for a closer look. I can tell that my mother and my in-laws are staring holes into head by now, but I ignore it, focusing on the job at hand.

I remove the tire, and sit on the concrete floor in Indian style, crossing both my legs, and placing the tire on my lap. My mother almost shrieks when I ruin my cotton saree. I smile in satisfaction, rubbing the tire on my saree further. My mother covers her mouth with her hands to stop from yelling in despair.

My mother had her love for sarees, I had my love for mechanisms. With the toolkit beside me, I insert the tire plug with a screw driver, while Aniket gasps dramatically as I pull the plug through. He's worried for the baby, I'm guessing. When I pull the screw driver out, smirking at accomplishing my task, he sighs in relief, looking above as if he was thanking god. I glued the plug into place and checked to see if any air was escaping, placing my ear near the now plugged hole.

I then sit on my hind legs, and crank the lug nuts back into place along with the tire. The lug wrench cranks as I twist it, creaking in protest when I turn it too tight. Aniket is now standing above me, looking rejected, after I pushed him away when he tried to help me. Papi stayed far away, knowing well that I liked to do this alone. He had a proud smile on his face as he watched me fix the tire back into place, leaning on a shocked Pops' shoulder.

That'll show them. I dust my hands on my saree, effectively getting more grease on my blue cotton saree. My mother sobs into her hands, unable to cope with my mischief. Papi hands me the keys, but Aniket stops him while taking hold of my elbow. "You're not driving." I wrench my hands out of his grasp, defying him with all my strength. I place my hands on the handle when he grasps my hand again. I sigh and shoot a death glare at him, which makes him take a few steps back cautiously. I open the car and slam the door loudly, expressing all my pent up anger in the most dramatic way possible.

I drive the car back and forth to let the sealant on the tire distribute evenly. When my Papi gives me thumbs up from the outside, I get out of the car and look at my handiwork.

"How long did I take?" I ask my Papi.

"Forty minutes. Better than before." Papi says, give me a fist-bump.

I laugh at him, hugging him sideways while the my in-laws and husband look as if I just killed an dinosaur by shooting lasers out of my eyes. My mother has her hands on her hips, and walks towards me as if she wants to slap me. I glare back at her, and she halts in her step, yanking me towards the house by my elbow. Presumably, She doesn't want to make a scene in front of the nosy neighbors. I wave at one middle aged woman, who was looking at me with wide eyes. All she needed was binoculars. She would be your typical Indian nosy lady who goes around gossiping in a housewife club. I sigh as I take the stairs toward my doom.

Everyone in the family rushes back in to stop my mother from doing anything rash. Once the door closes, my mother slaps me with her cunning words. "How dare you! Do you know how many people are waiting for a child? You are irresponsible, going around doing a man's work. I should've raised you better; I should've kept you closer to me instead of letting you spend your teenage years with your father. I gave too much freedom and look where it led you! One mistake, and you could have lost your child. My grandchild! That's it. Your staying at home from now. No working, no helping, and absolutely no more freedom!"

"Ma! Don't you think that's a bit rash? I knew what I was doing. I did that thousands of times before and—

"That does not mean there weren't any risks to my child!" Aniket hollers, taking me by shoulders and placing me on the soft grey couch.