I pour a glass of water and lean against the counter. My gaze drifts back to Shilpi. She looks up and smiles at me. A tired smile.
‘Do you want to discuss the menu?’ Aditi asks, her eyes finally lifting from her laptop to meet mine.
‘It’s Tejal and Sumrit, what’s there to discuss?’ I say, deliberately looking away from her and towards the window. ‘We can order once they are here.’
‘No, Raghav,’ she says with an exasperated sigh, as I knew she would. ‘Let’s do it properly.’
Properly.Look who’s trying to be a grown-up. Poser. If Shilpi wasn’t here, I would have said this, but I can’t. So instead, I say, ‘Sumrit eats Maggi and momos and chicken breast,’ I tell her. ‘So he’s pretty much okay with anything. I can eat anything. So that just leaves Tejal and... you.’
‘Me?’ says Shilpi with a small, tentative smile. ‘I can literally eat anything,waise. Aditi Di, please don’t stress.’
Aditi turns to look at Shilpi, her expression softening for a moment. ‘Are you sure, baby?’ and when Shilpi nods, she nods, and goes back to work.
When Tejal and Sumrit get here in the afternoon, there’s a whole lot of fake smiling—or maybe real, I can’t really tell the difference any more—before we get down to ordering food. The debate takes a full fifteen minutes, a stupid back-and-forth that ends exactly where I knew it would. We order the clichéd but perfect option: biryani with extra leg pieces because Sumrit’s on a never-ending permabulk that has seemingly given him no discernible muscle but stark love handles. We all settle on the sofa, making sure there’s plenty of space between Aditi and me, and start eating. I catch Sumrit and Tejal giving each other a look.
‘So will you change schools now?’ Tejal asks, directing her question to Shilpi.
Shilpi’s eyes dart to me, looking for a lifeline. ‘I mean, Bhaiya is telling me to wait, ’cause to change schools, we’ll need an NOC from Papa.’
‘They will come around, Shilpi,’ I tell her, trying to sound reassuring. ‘They called me again this morning.’
‘You picked up?’ she asks, her eyes wide.
‘No,’ I say.
‘Are they texting you?’ she asks.
‘The usual... that I will regret it... I will drag you down... But I’m sure they will come around. I don’t think it’s a big deal.’
Shilpi fights to avoid tears. ‘Nope. Not happening.’
‘Even if they do,’ I say. ‘You have to decide whether you want to go back or not. But if they do, you can go back to your school, change your stream, whatever. Things will be much simpler.’
For a moment, her eyes dart to the wall and rest there. We wait until she gets back to the present. Then, she turns to me and says, her voice barely a whisper, ‘But what if I just don’twanna go back? Maybe this is the move. Do what you did. Leave that toxic set-up.’
‘They are not toxic.’
‘Of course they are toxic. What are you saying?’
‘I mean, of course they are toxic, but who isn’t?’ I say. ‘But why leave the house? Why make it so tough? They are parents, let them provide for you. Wring them for every last drop. Make them pay for your shit.’
‘I’m not gonna be a freeloader if that’s what you mean,’ she says, her voice small. ‘I’ll figure out scholarships or whatever forcollege.’
‘Oh, come on,’ I say. ‘You can never be a burden. You’re underestimating how much I earn.’
Sumrit butts in. ‘How much do you earn? Like in hand?’
Tejal hits him.
‘You’re making the right decision,’ Aditi says suddenly, putting her plate down on the coffee table. Her eyes are fixed on Shilpi, but I know her words are for me. ‘Stay here. Things like these... they keep getting worse.’
Aditi’s involvement makes me bristle. ‘Please, Aditi,’ I say, my voice low. ‘You don’t have to get into this. Did we ask you anything?’
‘But why not ask Didi?’ says Shilpi, looking from me to Aditi. ‘She gets it! She’s a girl.’
‘It’s not a girl–boy thing,’ I insist. ‘It’s tough to be without family. And if there’s a way that it can still be managed, why not manage it?’
Aditi butts in again like the oversmart girl she is. ‘This will only get worse. Today it’s her subject, tomorrow it will be which college, which city, who she’s talking to. When does it stop?’
