ARU
"Why would my mom go to a law firm in Texas to finalize her divorce? It doesn't make sense." Aru relieved her feelings by punching her pillow, before flopping back into her chair.
Mini and Rudy were both on speaker-phone, and Rudy sighed, "It's not a law firm confined to Texas; Texas just has one of their branches. And, yes, dada-ji is the head of family law,"
He didn't sound too happy about it.
Aru cracked one eye open, and said, "Wait... do you live with him?"
"Unfortunately,"
"Can you... can you ask him about my mom's divorce? Like, if attorneys handling the case knew exactly why she was divorcing him?"
"I would, but then he'd give me a long lecture about how 'I'm a disgrace to the family name' and how I should've 'become a lawyer'."
He adopted a high-pitched, silly voice, like he had inhaled helium.
Aru raised her eyebrows. "I take it you don't like him too much?"
"Oh, I don't like him, but believe me, the feeling's mutual."
"C'mon, he's your grandfather," Aru wheedled, lacing her fingers together. "He can't be that bad, can he?"
"Oh, he can," This time, Rudy wasn't the one who spoke, but Mini.
"He's just a terrible person," Mini said, and there was a clear note of disdain in her voice.
Silence, until... "But, I did say I'd help you..." Mini trailed off.
"I'll help too," Rudy said, his voice shifting from begrudging to being unsure.
Hope flared through her.
"You will?"
"Yeah!" Both of them said, simultaneously.
On the other end of the line, she heard a faint voice.
"Whoop—we gotta go, Mini's dad's calling us down for dinner."
Aru took a deep breath. "Thank you both—so much. And good luck—"
"Bye, Aru," Mini said, before the beep indicated that their call had ended.
She leaned back into her chair, squeezing her eyes shut, before whispering to the silence, "Please stay safe, you two."
She wished she could have said it to them.
————
RUDY
"Do you think asking your grandfather will really work?" Mini asked, twisting a strand of her hair.
The leaves in the tree above them rustled in a sudden wind, as one leaf fluttered into her hair.
Rudy shrugged. "I don't know, honestly... but we gotta try, shouldn't we?"
Mini sighed, before leaning back into her seat, her gaze roving across the chipped green metal painting on the bench, as if she was preparing herself to say something.
Silence fell between the two of them, and Mini's phone pinged, with a text from her mother.
"I need to go, a family member's coming over, and my mom wants me there," she sighed.
Mini scratched the back of her neck, before beginning with, "I'm sorry, I won't be able to help you,"
"It's fine," he began, before his gaze shifted to her crutch, leaning against the side of the bench.
"We've got you into enough trouble, already," he said, sadly, lowering his voice, which was thick with guilt.
She must have noticed the change in his tone, since she said, sharply, "What happened to me wasn't your fault,"
"It was my own stupidity," she said, with a tone of finality in her voice.
"B-but I could've helped, I could've—"
"Done what? Dove in front of the bullet?" her voice was unsteady, now, as he met her gaze.
"You would've died, Rudy— and then what? I could've lived with the guilt that somebody I cared about was gone?"
He sniffed. She slid her hand through his, her hand warm in his. He felt like dozens of ants were crawling up his body, maybe out of embarrassment, or something else.
"What's happened has happened, Rudy. You blaming yourself about things that were out of your control won't help. However," her voice changed into being forcefully upbeat, like she was trying to lift both of their spirits.
"You asking your cranky old grandfather about our friend's parents' divorce definitely will help, so, off you go,"
"Didn't realize I was so unwanted, my dark benevolent queen," he said, with a weak laugh.
He hadn't used that nickname for her in ages. He didn't know whether it was to cling to the happier past, or to make her laugh. Probably both.
He succeeded in the latter, however, as she gave a wet hiccup-laugh, before saying, "You're not unwanted, it's more like I'm trying to make you do something productive, Baby Snekky Snake."
Horror seeped inside him. "I thought we agreed to never, ever, ever, reuse that nickname?"
She smiled, and said, "Too bad,"
They both elapsed into a comfortable silence again, as she gently rested her head on his shoulder.
He squeezed her hand, as the sky above them darkened steadily, and a few stars shone above them, the wind whispering through the trees.
He just wanted to stay like that forever, but he knew that eventually they'd have to go.
That 'eventually' came too soon, as Mini's phone rang.
She sighed. "I gotta go," she said, getting up, and leaning against her crutches for support.
"Same," he said.
She looked up at him, and smiled at him, with—if he wasn't mistaken—rosy cheeks.
"Good luck," she said, encouragingly, before rising on the tips of her toes and kissing him on the cheek.
His cheeks grew warm, as he said, in a low voice, "Thank you," and tried to digest the butterflies fluttering in his stomach.
————
Rudy slid his key into the door, and opened it, stomping in, before slamming it shut.
"Where's dada-ji?" he asked, to his older brother, shoving the keys into his pocket.
"Bhai, stop ignoring me," he grumbled, upon receiving no answer.
"Huh? I wasn't listening,"
"Dada-ji. Where is he?"
"He's in his study, and he isn't in a good mood," his brother said, focusing his attention on his phone.
Great.
"Okay, bye," he sighed, before climbing the staircase to the top floor, where his grandfather's study was located, and where he was presumably sulking.
He reached the top floor, and knocked on the door, a pit opening in his stomach.
"Come in," the familiar dry and reedy voice said.
He opened the door, and slowly walked in, gently shutting the door behind him.
"Um, dada-ji, I have a question," he began, twisting his fingers in anticipation.
"What is it, Rudra?" He asked, in a bored, unconcerned voice.
Rudy forced himself to meet his grandfather's blind gaze—he had lost his eyesight and most of his voice in a fire that had taken the lives of his grandmother and uncle. Only his father and grandfather had managed to escape.
"Did you— did you ever handle the divorce case of Krithika Shah? The wife of that businessman, Suyodhana Shah?" He mustered the courage to say those words.
The confidence he had built up was extinguished when his grandfather's lips curled into a snarl, and his reedy voice turned threatening.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I—" he swallowed, before resuming, "I just—"
"Speak properly," Dada-ji commanded. "Or have you turned mute as well as colour-blind?"
His heart sank. He wiped the tears forming at the edges of his eyes, and said, in a more steady voice, "I'm asking for a friend."
"A friend?" He scoffed. "You don't have friends. More like you're spying on me for my enemies."
The anger inside him rose like a snake.
"I have friends," he snapped. "More than you anyway,"
His grandfather took a deep breath, a slow smile coming on his scarred face, looking particularly evil.
His heart thumped.
"Sure you do, you have one friend," he said, cruelly.
"That friend is that pathetic Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez girl, the one you pine after,"
"SHE'S NOT PATHETIC," he shouted, clenching his fists.
He snapped, "Don't you dare disrespect me, grandson,"
He said the last word with as much venom as he could.
"Do not forget, I'm a powerful man," he said, his voice poisonous. Dangerous.
"I could ruin your girlfriend's life with a snap of my fingers."
Horror inched up his spine, as he whispered, "You wouldn't."
"I can. And I may. She's got herself shot, hasn't she? It sure would be a pity if something worse happened."
His heart began to beat faster and faster.
"Do not test me, Rudra, because I'm sure you will not like what happens after."
He slammed a hand on the desk, and Rudy flinched, backing away.
"Now, if you aren't going to continue trying to extract information to give to my enemies, get. Out."
"Gladly," he snapped, slamming the door behind him.
As soon as he left, his bravado faded and condensed into fear.
He threatened Mini. He threatened Mini.
The same thought echoed in his head.
I can't let her get hurt. I can't... lose her.
He wanted to retreat into a shell, and though he knew Mini could protect herself, he wanted to help her. Keep her safe.
However, the jarring realization hit him, like someone had swung a sack of bricks into his face.
How would he know Mini had been shot?
The police hadn't made this information public, due to the sensitive matter of the investigation, and he hadn't told anybody at home that Mini had been shot.
Dada-ji himself hadn't even met Mini recently, the last they'd met was an awkward encounter at the award ceremony at the end of senior year.
The only people who did know about Mini being shot were him, Mini, their friends... and the people of Supermundus.
The pieces connected in his head like a nightmarish jigsaw puzzle, as he casted his memories back to the shady meetings his grandfather had had, the suspiciously large amounts of money he would rake in, how defensive and secretive he would get when his brother would ask about which case he was working on.
And how defensive he'd just got, when he'd asked him about Krithika Shah.
Shit. Shitshitshitshit—
He dug his nails into his palm, crescent moon shaped scars bleeding against his skin, as, with trembling, sweaty hands, he grasped the doorknob, and stumbled into his room, slamming the door behind him.
The same thought echoed in his head.
Neither of us are safe here.
————
a/n: man. plot twist.
an early update because i have school tomorrow, (yes. on a saturday. i hate it.)
anyway, as always, leave positive comments, because i need something to be happy about!