“So, you are going to marry Arjun?” Liza asked
“Why?”
“Why? You are asking me why? You should know why!”
“No Seriously Liza, Why do you think I am going to marry Arjun?”
“Come on, even a blind man can see you are in love with him”
“No, I am not”
I thought of asking her how can a blind man see?. But that wasn’t the point.
“You are living in denial!” She replied
“No I am not. Arjun is my classmate and he is also my friend”
“And the sun rises from the west”
“May be” I replied.
“You know Nina, I Can’t wait to see you wearing a tudong (head scarf)”
“I am not going to wear a tudong“
“Yeah Right. You always loved wearing tudong. Remember wearing Amma`s brown underskirt over your head and tying the string under your chin? Remember? 4th grade? Remember ‘Mother Nina’?
I looked at my sister and we both started to laugh.
Of all the things on planet earth, I dreamed of joining a convent and becoming a nun!! How could I even think like that?
“What made you even think of wanting to join the convent?”My sister asked the same question I was asking myself.
“Don’t know. I thought the nuns were happy and I wanted to be happy like them, I guess”
“Happy? Nuns? More like frustrated, you idiot!”
“Shut up”
“hang up”
“Give up”
“Get up”
“Keep up”
“Throw up”
I couldn’t think of any more words ending with up. We used to play this game when we were little.
“You lost” Liza spoke
“Yeah” It no longer felt awful when I lost a game to my sister.
Perhaps I really grew up.
It was fun thinking of all the weird things we used to do as children. Playing passing the secret,(which I always lost because no one knew I was deaf that time), L-O-N-D-O-N game, Jumping jacks. Snake and ladder, Lexicon cards.
“Have you seen the lexicon cards?” I asked Liza
“I think Amma kept it in her cupboard so she could give it to her first grand child”
“You want to play?”
“Sure”
“Go, get the cards” I ordered
“You want to play, you go get the cards”
“Why can’t you get the cards?”
“Why can’t you?” Liza asked
“Because you are sitting down and I am laying down. it is easier for you to get the cards”
Liza lay down next to me on my bed.
“Get off my bed” I yelled. Mostly because I was annoyed with her for not getting the cards.
“I don’t have to”
“Yes, you have to. This is my bed”
“No it isn’t. It is every one’s bed. Appa got these mattress for all of us, so it is ours”
“No it is mine. Amma gave it to me”
“No she didn’t. You just use it because there is no other mattress for you and you don’t want to sleep in Amma’s room on Sally’s bed.”
“Get out” I kicked my sister.
I was really angry with her, not because she lied, but because she spoke the truth and I didn’t like it.
It hurt when I am told that I own nothing. Everything I have belongs to others. Even my stupid bed.
“You kicked me. How dare you?” Liza kicked me twice on my feet.( we strictly followed 1:2 ratio) Her toenails scratched my ankle and it was painful.
I wanted to kick her hard and hurt her for hurting me.
But I knew that wasn’t the solution.
I got up from my bed and walked towards the toilet
“Loser” Liza yelled
I didn’t reply.
What would I say to something that I knew was the truth.