Khushi
I sat down on the broken swing chair on the ground dressed in a celadon anarkali with a Laado container sitting on my lap as Hari Kaka and another Kaka worked on the pillars. They're working so hard. I want to help them, but I don't know how to do whatever they're doing.
I leaned back on the rusty iron swing chair and took out a Laado before pushing the whole thing on my mouth and sighed slowly while chewing into it. Oh, it's really good. But how long will I be able to hide here?
"Didi!" Manoj came shouting from around the house, halted in front of me while huffing loudly, and looked at me with accusing eyes.
"Why are you huffing like that?" I asked with a full mouth as my brows rose in question.
"The guests..." he huffed. "They... have arrived, and Bua Ji asked for me... to find you and bring you to her." He replied and motioned for me to get up. They are already here? Hai, Devi Maiya, why so early?
I pressed my lips thin and turned to Hari Kaka, who was fixing the light fixtures on the pillars with the other Kaka.
"Didi?... Chalo!" Manoj said it impatiently.
"I can't go. Kaka needs me here." I lied before I turned to look at him.
"But Bua Ji will have my head if I don't bring..."
"Arre, nothing will happen." I waved him off with a hand. "Come, sit." And motioned for him to sit down. Which he did after looking over his shoulder like Bua Ji would come running for him. Which was true... When he settled down on the ground opposite me, I held out the Laado container for him to take. After a moment of hesitation, he took one and finally started to get comfortable.
"Why don't you want to go in front of them?" He asked as he leaned his back against the newly painted wall and stretched his legs out while I took another Laado from the container that now sat down on the ground within our arms reach. Because I don't want to face him. Because I'm still at some point scared of him. I am scared of what he can do to make me listen to whatever he wants. And I'm scared... that this time I'll agree to do anything to save and protect the happiness of the ones I love because I have already failed to do so once.
"I told you, Hari Kaka wants me here." I answered as I licked my fingers clean and leaned my head back on the iron before closing my eyes.
Manoj didn't say anything after that, and we sat quietly for sometimes while the chilly wind pushed its way through my open hair.
"Didi... What are we going to say to Bua Ji when she asks about the Laados?" Manoj asked while breaking the ringing silence around us.
"Bua Ji doesn't keep a record of how many Laado she made. But don't worry; I have experience hiding these containers." I said as I waved him off with a hand and grabbed the container before peeking inside to check how many Laados were left. Three!! We ate 21 laados?... What are we? Laado ki dukan?...
"But still, they were for Holi na." He replied, sounding regretful. Holi ke Laado...
"What did you say?" I asked with wide eyes as I slowly turned my head to look at him with my mouth open.
"This was for Holi." He repeated as he continued to look straight ahead, but soon his eyes widened at the sudden realization that I wasn't really expecting an answer. "I thought you knew!" He snapped his head at me and looked at me with a look of complete horror in his face. "Bua Ji will definitely have my head after this." Not just yours, she'll have mine, too.
I felt my eyebrows scrunch as I started biting on my nails, and...
A loud sound, almost like a blast, came from where Hari Kaka and the other Kaka were working. I pushed the container to the side in a hurry before getting on my feet and running to them barefoot, with Manoj following behind.
Hari Kaka stood on a step ladder, coughing, while smoke was coming out from somewhere.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I covered my nose with the end of my dupatta. "What happened?"
"I'm fine. But I think one of the light bulbs burned out." He answered as he stepped down from the ladder and looked around before talking to the other Kaka, "Rajesh, go and check what happened. I'll manage the rest here."
"Manoj, go with him." I said that and motioned for him to go with Rajesh Kaka.
It was almost dinner by the time they finished because they had to change one of the main fuses in the house, and Hari Kaka refused to leave before fixing all the lights and making sure that every one of them was working. And thanks to him, I also found a reason not to meet them. So, I sat on the steps of the house with my dupatta wrapped around me.
"Bitiya, you don't have to keep me company. You'll catch a cold; it's windy today." Hari Kaka said as he screwed the last iron light holder on the pillar near the house and screwed a bulb on it before covering it with a glass cover.
"I'm fine, Kaka." I said as I leaned the side of my head against the wooden pillar of the house to my right, and suddenly the entire place started to light up one by one.
I blinked around the whole area as all the lights were completely turned on and looked back at Hari Kaka with wide eyes.
"Kaka..." I stopped as I stood and looked at the pond, the pillars and the whole place.
He just smiled at me while nodding and bid me goodnight before he left me alone. After some time, Jiji came out from inside the house.
"Where have you been all evening? Everyone is looking fo..." She started as she wrapped a thin shawl around her shoulders but stopped as soon as she looked around the whole place with parted lips.
I wrapped my arms around her from her left, excitedly, before asking, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"It is." She replied softly as she wrapped a hand over mine and turned her head to look at me. "We'll show this to Amma, Babu Ji, and Bua Ji after dinner. Now, let's go inside." I let go of her as soon as she finished and went to sit on the left side of the broken swing chair.
"I don't want to meet them." I said as I looked up at her with pleading eyes. Especially him.
She stared at me for a moment before she slowly sat down next to me on the swing and spoke without looking at me.
"You know, I have been planning to lock myself in my room ever since I heard they were coming." I looked at her with my mouth slightly open. I didn't know she was feeling that way. I thought she was better after coming here. That's why I was trying so hard to fix the house as soon as possible to arrange a place for a garden so that she could be more comfortable and at least forget about Akash Ji for the time being.
She pulled her legs to her chest, wrapped her arms around her knees, and rested her cheek on her arms before finally looking at me in the eyes and giving me a small smile that didn't reach her eyes like it always used to. I tiled my head a little to my side as I felt the back of my eyes burn. Why am I getting so emotional?
I sniffed through my nose and swallowed dryly as I turned my body to fully face her, sat with my legs crossed under me, and rewrapped my dupatta around myself.
"And how did dressing up prettily sound better than being locked inside your room?" I tried to lighten the mood as I dabbed the corners of my eyes because the air around us suddenly felt very heavy, like my eyes.
She glared at me for a split second before saying, "Amma said, Why will I show them that my whole life literally stopped just because my wedding broke again."
I bit the inside of my cheek wall and looked away from her at the long outside hallway where we currently sat.
"She said... that I shouldn't be afraid of something like that. I should face my fears. Fight them." She added quietly. "So, I'm doing that."
"By dressing up?" I joked before I could stop myself, then looked at her.
She gave me another small smile before slightly shaking her head and saying, "This was Bua Ji's idea. She asked me to dress up pretty so that... Akash could regret his decision for not choosing me over his family that day." My mouth fell open at Bua Ji's plan, and I leaned back against the cold iron armrest of the swing chair.
"I know it is absurd, but I couldn't say no to her. She sounded so sure and excited that her plan was going to work." Jiji laughed slowly as I started laughing while shaking my head. "Arre, there's more. She was even planning to..." I raised my hand to push my hand through my hair when I heard, "Payal.."
Both Jiji and I stopped laughing, stared at each other with wide eyes, and stilled in our seats with Jiji's cheek resting on her arm and my hand on my hair as soon as we heard Akash Ji's voice.
I slowly turned my head on my left to the door that led inside the house where Akash Ji, Anjali Ji, and Arnav Ji stood, looking at us.
I dropped my hands on my lap and turned to Jiji, who still sat with her cheeks on her arm, her eyes wide, and her open hair blowing in the air. She slowly lifted her head and turned to the door where they stood. Then she slowly stood up and awkwardly answered, "Ji?"
I again turned to look at them and found Arnav Ji looking at me. I hurriedly looked at Jiji before standing up and going to stand a step behind her.
"I wanted to talk to you." Akash Ji said as he stared at her, looking utterly foolish. Was Bua Ji right after all? Is he really regretting his decision right now just because she's looking beautiful?
"I..." Jiji stammered and suddenly looked at me with pleading eyes. I tiled my head a little on her side and pressed my lips together, trying to tell her what can I do. But she motioned at them with her eyes while her lips moved. Is she trying to say something? I focused on her lips and tried to understand what she was saying, but Jiji must have had enough of my stupidity because she looped her arm through mine and pulled me to stand beside her and look at Akash Ji, who patiently waited for her answer while looking hopeful.
"Actually..." I started and glanced to my right at Jiji while very slowly nodding my head, then again turned them and wet my lips as I continued, "Jiji... is needed in the... um..." I rubbed my finger on the side of my forehead as I thought of an excuse. "..Kitchen. She's needed in the kitchen to help Amma and Bua Ji with the dinner preparations." I nodded because I could hear how convincing I sounded right now and tried my best to avoid a certain him, who stood quietly behind Anjali Ji while looking at me like he'd put a hole in my skull with his stare.
"Yes, I am needed in the kitchen." Jiji repeated my words while trying to sound sorry as her voice shook a little, but thankfully no one noticed. But I could feel how much she wanted to run from here because the arm she had looped through mine grew tighter with each passing second. I pressed my lips tightly as I felt her nails digging into the skin. Devi Maiya...
"Five minutes?... Please?" Akash Ji tried again while looking at her with pleading eyes.
"Don't say no, Payal. Please?" Anjali Ji requested as she stepped towards us.
I felt Jiji's elbow slowly poking me into my ribs, and I turned my head at her and found her already looking at me and begging me to do something. Hai re Nandkishore!
I turned to them again, and I opened my mouth, but Akash Ji interrupted, saying, "I know you are angry with me, Payal. But can you please give me a chance to at least explain? I..."
"Payal Didi, Bua Ji is calling you. And..." Manoj stopped abruptly as he looked at the crowd around us and came to stand on my left before turning to me and continuing, "...and Bua Ji found out about the Laado."
"What, Laado, Khushi?" Jiji asked before I turned to look at her with a look to ask her to stop talking. "Don't tell me he's..."
"Arre, let's go; Bua Ji is calling." I interrupted, then turned to them. "She has to go." And I tugged Jiji with me while I pushed Manoj with my other hand towards the door and followed behind in a hurry.
"What were you saying back there—that you've become confident?.. You are not afraid anymore. Where did all your bravery go? Ha?..." I whisper-shouted as I almost ran down the hallway that led to the living room, with Jiji on my right and Manoj on my left. "You couldn't even say no to him."
"I... I got nervous." She said it with a nervous smile on her face, but soon that smile fell. "Do you think they heard what we were talking about?" Her brows scrunched up as she stared at me with slightly parted lips.
"Arre, no, no. I'm sure they didn't hear anything." I assured her and stopped a few steps back from the door on our left that led to the kitchen, then turned to Manoj, who had also stopped.
"What did you tell Bua Ji about the Laado?" I asked as I turned at him, leaving Jiji's hand, and narrowed my eyes at him. "And I swear to Devi Maiya, Manoj, if you try to lie to me then, I'll..."
"I... I didn't tell her anything. She found the container missing and asked me to find you from wherever I could and bring you to her." He replied as he backed up to the wall behind him until he had nowhere to go.
I looked at him for another few seconds with furrowed brows before I nodded and looked at the kitchen door ahead.
"Let's go then."
Khushi
Payal
The reason behind the clothing photos:
Because even though the story takes place in 2011, we, the readers, are in the year 2023, and we would definitely like to know what caused Akash to look at Payal in such a foolish way. And Khushi's outfit because she's the behen. Ek ke sathe ek bikul muft... muft... muft.