Sunny looked out the window at the gravel driveway, willing his mother and father to pull up. He was tired of being looked after by his grandparents, and he wanted to see his new sister. They'd called from the hospital and told him he had a sister. They'd gone to Royal Columbian Hospital, which was supposed to be far away, but to five-year old Sunny, even the next block over was far away, so he didn't have a concept of how far away the hospital was. Was this why they hadn't brought him along? Was it because he would have been gone long after his bedtime? Yes, that had to be it; they'd been gone a couple of days, and Sunny wouldn't have wanted to be away from his bed even one night, away from his street, where his new friends were.
Speaking of his new friends, there they were, emerging from their respective houses, having just finished breakfast on this cold Saturday morning. He saw Rachel first, of course, since his house was almost right across the street from hers. She was escorted by Mrs. Anderson, who looked after her while her dad was at work, which was a lot, because her mom wasn't around.
He saw Joe next, coming from further up the street to his right. Rachel brightened when she saw him, and the two started chasing each other, with Mrs. Anderson admonishing them to be careful; Sunny could hear her even through the window.
Al came from the end of the street to his left, accompanied by his mother. When his mother saw Mrs. Anderson, and the two exchanged a few words, she left Al in the older woman's supervision. It looked like Mrs. Anderson was the child minder today.
"Grandma!" he called to his father's mother in Punjabi. She and his grandfather didn't live with them because his father wasn't their first born son, but had come to stay to look after him and help with the new baby for a while. Their English wasn't as good as their Punjabi, so he used the latter to converse with them. "Can I go play with my friends?"
"Did you have breakfast yet?" she called back from the kitchen.
"I'm not hungry! I'm too excited about my sister! Can I eat later, when they come?"
"All right, but put your coat on before you go outside. It's cold today."
He hurriedly put on his sneakers, grabbed his coat from the coat closet and raced outside to meet the others. They called out greetings when they saw him.
"Sunil," Mrs. Anderson said, "have you heard anything more about the baby?"
"It's a girl!" he said. "I have a sister! They should be coming home soon."
She clapped her hands together in delight and said, "Wonderful! Another girl on this street! Maybe poor Rachel will finally have someone to partner with. Won't you like that, Rachel?"
Rachel shrugged, seeming happy enough playing tag with Al and Joe.
"Have they come up with a name, yet?" Mrs. Anderson asked.
"They haven't told me."
"Are you going to be a good big brother?"
Sunny shrugged. "I guess. Why?"
"It will be hard for a while. Your mother and father will be paying a lot of attention to your sister in the first few months. She's going to cry a lot, and that's just natural, so you'll need to be ready for that. She'll need to be fed often, and unless your mother and father have decided to bottle feed her, then only your mother will be able to do it, so you'll need to be patient with her."
Sunny had no idea what she was talking about. "My grandmother makes the best Aloo Parota. Why can't she just have that?"
Mrs. Anderson hooted laughter and patted Sunny tenderly on the shoulder. "Oh, dear, because your sister won't have teeth! At least not until she's a year old. How are your grandparents, by the way?"
"They're fine. Can I play with the others, now?"
"Of course, Sunil."
He joined the others in tag, and was "It" for only a short time. Joe was the biggest and slowest of the group, so he was able to get him fast.
A car turned right from Ewen Avenue into Lawrence Street. Sunny stopped and peered at it as it came closer. "It's them!" he shrieked. "It's them!"
The others gathered around him as he watched his parents pulling into their driveway. The driver's side door opened, and his father, looking tired but resplendent in his red turban and full beard, wearing a coat over his kurta, walked around the passenger side door and opened it, taking his mother's hand and helping her up. Mother also wore a coat over her sari, and held a small bundle in her arms (thirty years later, Sunny, a father himself, would marvel at how unsafe it would have been for parents to hold babies with them in the front seat, but it was perfectly normal back then,) and when she turned and saw Sunny, she smiled tiredly and said, "Sunil, meet your new sister, Bishan."
Suddenly scared, Sunny inched forward, his legs feeling like jelly. It had all been well and good to be excited for the arrival of his sister when she'd just been an idea, a nebulous concept, but now that she was here, and very real, he was overwhelmed by her significance. Another person in the house. Another mouth to feed. A person to compete with for his parents' attention. It hadn't occurred to him until Mrs. Anderson had said it, but now that she was here, his mother and father wouldn't have as much time for him.
"Go on, Sunil," Mrs. Anderson said, stepping forward with him, hand pressing gently on his shoulder to get him going. He didn't like that pressure. He felt like he was being forced into something he didn't want to do.
Mother crouched down and unwrapped the bundle just a little, because it was cold out. He saw a tiny head, a sprinkling of black hair, brown skin. Closed eyes, and impossibly long lashes.
Bishan. In the language of his parents, it meant "God who is immaculate." Looking down at his sister, Sunny felt as awed as if he were standing in the presence of the creator.
"Oh, she's so cute!" Rachel squealed, and Sunny blinked and looked around in confusion, as if he were suddenly woken from a dream. When did his friends gather around him to look at his sister? He'd been so hypnotized by her that he hadn't even noticed their approach. Al and Joe stared down at her too, mouths slightly open in wonder, and Sunny suddenly felt possessive. She was his, and the others couldn't have her, and he felt the need to claim her.
He bent down, and gave her the gentlest kiss on her downy forehead. Then he turned to the others and said, "This is my sister, Bishan. I am her brother, and I will protect her until my dying day."
They all took a step back as if the force of his words had literally pushed them.
Sunny felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see his father smiling down at him, tears in his eyes. "Good boy, Sunil," he said. "When you earn your kirpan, you'll protect her with it, won't you."
Sunny knew that his father wore his kirpan discretely from a belt under his kurta, since most people who weren't Sikh looked at the small ceremonial dagger and assumed it was a weapon, and it was, but only in a symbolic sense, one of the five accoutrements Sikhs wore to embody them as warriors for their faith and defenders of their people. Sunny nodded dumbly and gazed down again at his sister, whose face screwed up in irritation, mouth opening in a squeak so heart-wrenchingly pitiful that it made him yearn to hold her himself, but he knew he was too young, and he wouldn't know what to do with her anyway.
"She's beautiful, Mrs. Parhar," Mrs. Anderson said. "You must be so proud. Please, call on me if you need anything, anything at all."
Sunny saw Rachel out of the corner of his eye, scowling up at Mrs. Anderson, as if suddenly the older woman wasn't going to pay attention to her anymore, just as Sunny feared his parents wouldn't pay attention to him now.
"Thank you, Mrs. Anderson," his mother said, covering Bishan again and rising. "Come in, Sunil, I bet you haven't had breakfast yet."
His mother knew him too well, but he couldn't grumble about being pulled away from his friends, because at least she was still paying attention to him. He sighed and said, "No, I haven't." He turned to his friends and said, "See you later?"
"We'll be here," Al said. "We're always here."
His words were oddly reassuring. Sunny nodded and followed his parents inside, turning back and waving to his friends.
He didn't see what followed after him. Nobody did, because it was invisible, but it had weight. Oh, but it had weight.
It was his promise to protect his sister, and thirty-three years later, when he failed to keep it, it finally caught up to him and settled heavily on his shoulders.
Thanks for reading this far! In previous novels of this series I only briefly mentioned Sunny's sister, since they were through the other friends' points of view. This novel is going to focus heavily on Sunny's relationship with his sister and the tragic circumstances that took her from him, and how it informed his career focus and his decision to run for Council. Again, if you liked what you read so far, hit the "Vote" button to send this title up the ranks. If something doesn't ring true about Sikh family relationships, please leave a comment. I strive for authenticity.
To return to the present day, with Lauren and her new friend Regan, and their meeting Sunny's old acquaintance to hear what he has to say, click on "Continue reading."