Bombay Mixx

Bombay Mixx - Chapter One - Part Three

Chapter One – New Pastures?

(Part Three)

My younger sister, Gabrielle and I have never got on.

I think this might have come from when we were younger and some of my father’s family who we were in contact with at the time gave me more attention than Gabrielle due to the fact that they believed that as I was lighter skinned and, therefore, prettier. This must have given her a complex which is why my mother and father spoiled her more to compensate for the cruel remarks she would get from them.

Gabrielle got used to being spoilt and although throughout the years my parents spoilt her less and less, she still got priority over where we went to eat, what clothes she would like, her curfew being extended and how long her friends could stay over.

This used to annoy me and we would have constant fights, which my calmer brother, Renesh, would always find funny and break up. My parents just had enough of our bickering and stated that if we wanted to kill each other then go for it, just don’t make a mess otherwise my mother would find us in the afterlife, beat us herself and bring us back to clean it up…nice, huh?

Gabrielle was never satisfied just being spoilt though. She built up such resentment of me; she would then pick on my insecurities, mainly my weight.

Through my teenage years, I was a normal, happy teenager, who cared more about getting out of the house than what I looked like.

I was a UK size 8, I was and still am 5’6 but I had a curvy figure which I knew meant that in the next few years the rest of my body would fill out to catch up to the curves and they did.

My mother always told us we were beautiful and tried to instil confidence in us and our bodies, but whilst you have Satan at your side throwing many jibes, you start to wonder.

I went on a few diets when I saw my weight increase but none of them worked because as soon as I smelt my father’s fantastic curries and my mother’s buttermilk scones, I knew I was fighting a loosing battle and quite often waved the white flag before I’d even started!