Smothered AK (Chapter 12, Page 17) Posted Aug 7th - Page 2

Chapter 3

It was summer break and everything was beautiful. It was raining hard and this seemed to energize Kripa. For some inexplicable reason, she would get hyper and run to get soaked in the rain when nobody was watching. A dance in the rain never harmed anybody, she claimed.

She went to her cousin's place and they watched movies till late night. This was her's and Ruchi's ritual every break. She felt extremely close to Ruchi but she did not reveal her feelings to her cousin.

August came and Kripa just had two more weeks at home. Although she dreaded going back, she felt excited about returning to her university at the same time. This always happened to her. She always saddened by the thought of leaving her family but hyper to see her friends.

Her phone rang once, twice but she did not pick it up. It was not that she did not want to pick it up, she simply couldn't hear it. She was too busy sleeping. The ringing stopped. After a few minutes, it started again and she opened her eyes wondering where the hell she was. She picked up the phone sleepily. Calling her early in the morning was close to a sin since she just blabbered anything without thinking, and not remembering anything later.

'Lo,' she yawned. 'What do you want?'

'Hey Kripa! It's me, Kajal. How are you? What you doing?' This was Kajal, Kripa;s very close friend from university. They fought a lot but still did not let go of each other. Kajal was a Pharmacy student. Although born in Mumbai, her family had shifted to Boston when she was nine. She needed an 'Indian' influence and got a lot of it from Kripa as Kripa loved Indian movies, clothes, food and everything Indian.

'Lo, huh? Yeah, hi Kajal. I'm sleeping. What else will I do at this hour? You know better to call me early in the morning. You're such a piece of crap. Go to sleep and let me sleep. Don't be a retard and call me later. Goodnight.' With that, she hung up and rolled over. On the other hand, Kajal was cracking up. This girl will never change. I definitely should have known.

After a few hours, Kripa woke up. She felt like she had talked to someone but could not quite remember who. She sighed and thought, whatever. She had a long shower and went downstairs.

'Good morning,' Kripa said.

'Good morning, Kajal called.' Why didn't her mother ever smile at her in the morning? When people greeted in the morning, weren't they all supposed to be smiles?

The last time Kripa had hung up on Kajal like that, she had gotten a lecture for a week. What was she going to do this time? She called Kajal, 'Hey, what's up?'

'Hey, you idiot! You hung up again! You are so dead! How could you do that, Kripa?'

So this time it was emotional blackmail. 'Kajal, you know how I am in the morning. OK, OK, I'm sorry. Forget about this. How's everyone at home? Why did you call?'

'Apology accepted. Everyone's great at home. Aniket is being crazy as always. This time he's jumping up and down because I told him that he could have my car for a week. He's such a sweety. And Suraj is busy with his research. Dad's watching TV and Mom's trying to stop Ani's and Sur's fight right now.'

Kripa laughed. This was normal. Kajal's family was very involved with each other. At times she wished her family was that close to each other but as she always reminded herself 'life goes on'. 'Ya Kajal, that is very normal. If I ever find out that they are not fighting, I'll definitely know that there's something wrong!'

Kajal giggled. 'I know what you mean. They just never stop! I wanted to call you before you arrived over here. I am so excited! This is going to be so cool! One last year together! It's a bit sad but that's OK, we do have a year!'

'Yeah, I'm very excited. I can't wait to be back! But I'm going to miss home. It's OK Kajal, as you said, we do have a year! We'll definitely have a blast! Will have to work my ass off though! But I'm willing to do it. Yo, I'll talk to you later OK. I'm starving and I so need to eat. Alright sweetums, see ya later! Take care!'

I take a look at other families sometimes and wonder why ours couldn't be so. They're so happy, so in tune with one another. In this case, all we do is wonder what the other is thinking. Why couldn't I share everything with my mother? Why can't I joke around with my brothers? Why don't I tease my father?

Is it my fault? What's wrong with our family? Why are loving hugs so rare? Why are they given only when somebody's leaving? Why not whenever we feel like?

Sometimes I think that marriages are just for convenience. What happened to the girl who had so many dreams? Why has she turned so skeptic? She used to think that God has sent somebody for everybody. Where has that girl disappeared?

I look at other parents and see how they hug one another when they think nobody's watching. They peck one another and look so in love! As a kid, I used to hide and spy on my parents sometimes when they were alone in the living room. But nothing ever happened. Weren't they supposed to leap at each other?

Kripa once again managed to convince herself that her life was perfect. She was seeking acceptance and approval. She would do anything to get that. Even if it meant crushing her own dreams.

Really gud ff! Luved how u described Kripa's feelings. It sounds like shes traped in her life and needs sum1 to love her dearly.

I hope Angad cums soon in the story.

Plz cont soon and PM me wen u update.

Harji

Chapter 4

Two weeks passed by so quickly that it left her family jolted. Kripa and her mother packed her bags silently. She hated such moments because she could feel her mother's sorrow at her departure. Her mother always cried when the time to leave came closer. She felt sad but never had a tear. She had an inability to cry. She had not shed a single tear for three years. She always found it difficult to cry for real life but she cried for movies. Now, she couldn't do that either. Tears would just not come.

Kripa thought this to be sad because she could not cry out her frustrations like other people did. Her anger got the better of mer. She had a major temper. Only her close friends were aware of it. So whenever she got mad, she was either left extremely irritated or she simply had to scream. It helped relieve her frustrations and anger. She sighed and decided to push these things off her mind.

It didn't take very long for packing since her mother was doing most of it. Her father and brothers came to her room. 'Is her packing done? Her flight leaves in a few hours.'

'Yeah. It's done.' Kripa replied.

'I wanted to talk to you about something important. Come out in the garden. Let's go for a walk.' With that, both father and daughter walked out in the garden silently. The duo were lost in their own thoughts.

Their garden was a spectacular sight. There was a crosswalk of stone fillings leading to the green grass, the garden itself was large. Most of it was green grass on either side of the crosswalk. There were two rectangular plots of the grass trimmed short. Around the grass were flowers. In the center of the flowerbed contained roses; roses of all colors including red, pink, white and yellow. They all grew in a frenzy in the middle with nothing but nature to contain it. On the edges were lilies. These were neat and organized and made perfect straight lines. The combination of the roses trapped in the white lilies was a spectacular sight. Simple, elegant yet wild. Kripa loved the garden like none other. It gave her the peace of mind she thought she would never possess. She found the beauty painstakingly exhilarating. She felt good knowing she was responsible for this.

The pair walked silently, thinking and observing. Kripa was lost in her thoughts of another wild yet exciting adventure whereas Surya was thinking of how to break his thoughts to his daughter. He knew one thing for sure, she would not be pleased. Pushing that thought away, he plunged into the dark. 'Kripa, you're turning twenty-one in a week now. Now that you're growing, it's time we started thinking about your marriage. I do want you to complete your studies and find a job. Then I want you to start a family. You'll be twenty-two by then and old and secure enough. The way you'll understand a man when you're young is way better than if you start late.'

No Dad, you cannot be thinking like this. Me and married? In a year? Please Dad, ask anything but this, Kripa begged silently.

'You know your mom was just eighteen when we got married and see how happy we are together.'

Yes Dad, but with me, it's different. I want different things, I think differently and that was ages ago!

'I know that was a long time ago but some things do not change. You do know we're not going to pressurize you or anything of that sort.' So what is it you're doing right now? 'We just want you to meet a guy when you come back and the decision will be ultimately yours.'

No Dad, you cannot do this to me. Why Dad? Don't you love me at all?

Surya stood there watching his daughter. He heard laughter coming from upstairs. She was silent. Too silent for his liking. She never shared her feelings with him and he was hoping for something different this time. He knew it was their fault. Gayatri and him had never been open to their children in the beginning and now was their time to suffer; to not know what their children were thinking. He sighed.

His sigh brought her back and she felt he wanted to hear something from her. Anything. But, she didn't know what to say. She never disobeyed, but she did not want to marry either. Not now, not a year later and not two years later.

'Dad, can we talk about this later? After I come back? Please?'

Her father frowned. He had already thought of the perfect suitor for her. His friend's son would be perfect for her. He couldn't refuse her request though. It was sincerely the first time she had ever asked him for anything. He'd wait. Sahil had agreed for Kripa's and his son's wedding. His son was a very respectful, yet a fun loving lad. He'd fall for his daughter. But for now, he would listen to her.

With a smile, he nodded, 'OK, I'll let you decide when you are ready.' He was just about to say something when he heard Ruchi scream Kripa's name. he saw her running towards them and he grinned.

'Namaste Uncle, hey Kripa! Uncle, I'm going to steal Kripa for now OK?' she pulled her cousin and they walked back to Kripa's room.

Both the girls hurried back to the house. It was almost time for her to go to the airport. All of them were going to drop her off. They lugged the things downstairs and towed them in the car. Kripa gave a muffled scream and ran back to her room. She had forgotten her dog! She went to him and apologized. She grabbed him, hugged him tight and put him in her handbag.