Chapter 34

Thanks for the comments guys! Ok, here's part 35. Hope you like it!

 

Part 35 – Silent Sobs

 

             Nisha cried silently on her bed. She couldn't tell her sister the trouble they were in. Every time she replayed the conversation she had with the landlord, she felt like crying more and more. Suddenly, she heard Isha coming into the bedroom, ready for college. She quickly wiped away all her tears and washed her face in a jiffy. She couldn't let her sister go through the same ordeal as her. She locked herself in the washroom so Isha couldn't see how bad her sister looked. Isha nevertheless spoke to Nisha from the bedroom.

 

I: G' morning, di!

N: (fake happy voice) Morning Isha!

I: Di? You sound really odd today. Kuch hua kya?

N: No…

I: Di, are you lying to me? Kya hua?

N: Arre, kuch nahin! Woh actually I have a little stomach ache so I'm going to stay home today, ok?

I: Di –

             The twins heard a car honk outside. Eklavya had arrived to take Isha to school.

N: Isha, Eklavya's here to pick you up. Go! You're going to be late. Go!

I: Par, di –

             Nisha had to literally yell at Isha to get her to go. Once she was gone she went back inside and looked at their rent bills, electricity bills, water bills and every other bill. She silently cried to herself. How could she have not seen the steady rise of her rents? How could she have made an error in calculation? She did her taxes again and realized how deep in trouble she and her sister were really in. She got her phone and called every parent she knew. She asked them all if they needed a tutor. Most replied no but she got two new kids for tutoring. A little better, she redid the calculations but found that even with her new students, their money wasn't going to be enough. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

             Manthan rushed out of his shower as quickly as he could and put on his clothes. Oh, God, he was late! He had never been this late before! Nisha would be so mad at him for this, he thought to himself. She always liked being early everywhere she went. And Manthan was about 20 minutes late. Stupid alarm clock, he cursed. He raced down the stairs and made his way towards his bike. He started his bike and zoomed his way into the main road.

             Meanwhile, Isha was in the car with Eklavya on her way to college.

E: You were a little late today, Isha. Was there some problem?

I: hmm

E: Isha?

I: Yea?

E: I asked if there's any problem.

I: Oh, no – actually yes there is. It's di; she's acting very strange. I woke up today and she told me that she's feeling sick, has a stomach ache. Too sick to go to college!

E: Aur?

I: You don't get it, Eklavya! Nisha never misses class! She only missed class twice in her life. First she missed it because she had a fever of 104 and another time because the school was closed because of a storm.

 E: Oh…Maybe she's having a really bad stomach ache?

I: No…

E: But you just said that Nisha wouldn't miss school if it wasn't serious.

I: Yeah, that's the thing! She's hiding something from me!

E: (astonished) How on earth do you know that?

I: I just do – it's a twin thing. I can tell immediately if she's lying to me or not. And I can also tell when there's something wrong with her - and clearly there's something wrong with her right now.

E: Tell you what – we'll go back and check on your sister, alright?

I: I'm so sorry, Eklavya.  I made you drive all the way here and now you have to –

E: It's fine, Isha…just don't worry too much ok? Everything will be alright.

I: Ok…

             Manthan finally reached Nisha's apartment. After disobeying two traffic signals, he had to accelerate his bike to 100km/h. The only reason he didn't get a fine by the police was only because the police couldn't catch up to his speed. He walked up Nisha's stairs. He was about to knock on the door when he realized it was open. Isha must have left it opened when she left for college, he thought. He was about to push it open, when he realized somebody was sobbing silently inside. Nisha…?

M: Nisha?

N: Manthan?–(sob)–Aap yahaan? Oh I'm–(sob)–so sorry! I forgot to call you–(sob)–Actually I have a–(sob)–bad stomach ache, so–(sob)–I'm not coming to college today.

M: Nisha!?! Yeh –

             Manthan was distraught seeing Nisha in this condition. Her hair was messy, she hadn't changed from her night dress, her eyes were blood shot red, clearly from crying and her kajal was all smudged. She was sitting by her fridge on the cold marble floor with bills and used up tissue papers all around her. Manthan was so shocked that he couldn't find words for a few seconds.

 

 

Finally I got a new idea!! Yaah!! I kinda left off with a cliff hanger to keep the suspense. Sorry if you guys didn't like it...

                              

                                         -Pooja

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