Not Him

Part 7

"Mom, can I have your credit card?" I asked the other Rahul's Mother on Sunday morning. It was for the first time that I called her 'mom'. I usually refused to refer the mother and father as 'mom' and 'dad', because they are not exactly my mom and dad. But I had settled in now. I was even getting used to other Rahul's body.

"Credit Card?" She asked.

"I can't...?" I asked.

"Of course you can, baby." She said. She took out her purse and held the card out to me. I smiled and took it from her and even gave her a hug. I was prepared to keep the Other Rahul's parents happy. They deserved it.

Mother looked pretty happy when I pulled back from the hug. I guess her real son was never that expressive about his love for her.

"What are you going to buy with it?" Mom asked.

"Well, there are a lot of possibilities in this world," I said. "I promise I won't get you broke."

She laughed. She combed my hair. "I am glad that you are a lot happier lately."

"I am?" I asked.

"Yeah. I was getting worried for you." She said. "But you seem back to normal now. Like you were when you were a kid." Her voice trailed away. "When things were whole, and Rhea was alive...."

I nodded. I guess the family did not have a big wound in their heart back then. Things were more perfect. But life does not always stay perfect.

"But we have Aarohi now." Mom said as if telling that to herself. I raised an eyebrow at that. But she went off to wash the dishes.

"I will go out for the day then, mom," I told her.

"Okay."She said, not looking back at me. I wondered if she was crying. I thought it was polite to let her have some alone time to remember her dead daughter. I turned around and walked away.

So well, the thing is, if I am to live I will live like me. I won't be living according to the guidelines put forward by Aarohi. I don't mean to get ruled by her.

So first of all, the other Rahul's hairstyle sucks. It's dorky. The kid is good looking. I admit that. But his hairstyle is just boring. I need to get a haircut. Wax it up and bit to stand up, or maybe colour it. Black is too plain on his face. If we add a bit of dark brown, it will be cooler.

Also, I need new clothes. His old clothes are plain jeans and t-shirts that are slightly boring. I dress according to my style.

So the first thing was the haircut. After cutting and colouring it up, I looked pretty good.

Then I bought all the clothes that I would need. Some shoes. Watches. And other accessories. I was careful not to overuse the card. Because well it was other Rahul's mother's money. I had to keep decency.

But by the end of that day, I was satisfied with the way I looked. I looked good.

In the evening, I went to the hospital my body was and stayed and watched while my body was shifted from the ICU to an ambulance. I watched as my body was wheeled out in a stretcher. I did not look anything like myself. I looked sick and dying.

My mother thanked me for coming over. I told her to take care and watched her and dad get in the ambulance and leave. They had asked me not to follow till the airport. But I did anyway, secretly.

I waited out there, till the plane took off. I watched it soar up into the sky. Taking my body miles away from her.

I breathed heavily. There I was... finally alone, there in someone else's body.