The Forgotten Four

6: Dove

Mr Arora took me outside the house, of course, with the permission of my father. It was weird. I almost felt like my father was ... giving up. And I felt like he should stand strong against my brothers like he has always been. In my eyes, my father was moderately indestructible. In fact, I believe that he customised this façade of himself In-front of me. Although, I wouldn't say it was a poor idea. Because in the past more half a year, it was my father's wisdom that has been the spine for me and my mother. So, seeing him sigh and letting me go outside for a legal talk regarding the idea of separating him and I made me feel ... sad.

I think the glim was evident on my face, as I saw a look of sympathy wash over on the lawyer's face. I stiffened when his hand touched my back. But his touch wasn't awkward, or unfriendly. And it absolutely not in a non-consensual way. It was just so innocent, as if giving me support.

''trust me, your brother don't plan on separating you from your parents.'' He sounded reassuring, ducking his head to catch my eyes but I wouldn't unglue my gaze from the ground.

''looks like it,'' I mumbled and pointed towards a marble seat. It was a quiet space behind our house but also not completely away from the public eye. The kitchen's window faced this side of the space. Having a conversation with my brothers' lawyer needed me to be calm and the house was starting to suffocate me. which is why I asked dad if we could talk outside in the backyard since it needed to be a private conversation between I and the lawyer anyway.

''the only reason why your brothers are back in the area is because they want to save you the great tension of deportation. And Ishan told me that you don't like socialisation so starting a new life could potentially be disturbing for your mental health,''

''he's right but...'' I sighed. ''what about my parents?'' my eyebrows frowned as I looked down.

''what about them?'' I think he wanted to learn my side of the story, so, I told him. My eyes must have radiated distress because he started becoming uncomfortable.

''my older brothers... they left us. It has caused a lot of distress to my parents, at some greater extent, to me too. And... and if I leave them too, God, it'll break them,'' I shook my head at the thought. I waited for the lawyer's response, but he stayed quiet. That made me want to look at his face for the first time since we started this conversation. His face was frowned, eyes staring into space before us. His posture was poised but stiff. I started to wonder if he had forgotten that he was in the middle of a legal conversation and I looked around, searching for a way to snap him out. I cleared my throat and that seemed to work. He didn't flinch. His face turned to me and softened immediately.

''I understand,'' he assured me and shifted in his seat to face me properly. ''I do.'' His voice was verificatory. ''have your parents told you why they left? Your siblings,''

His question made me fall silent for a while as he gave me time to think. I found his eyes again. ''I know that... that Ishan grew tired of the regular fights with my father, so he left. And the twins... well, I don't know for sure but- but it was something about Rayan. His temper.'' I thought hard, frowning. Despite the fact that my father and Rayan had similar personalities, they could never stand each other. Maybe that it why they couldn't stand each other. ''Ishan told me they went to start a new life with... with Venkat, and dad told me Venkat manipulated the twins to abandon us.'' I sighed irritably. ''It's so fucked up. I never get a straight answer to anything. And the fact that I don't even know why my oldest sibling left,'' I scoffed, realising I was oversharing. At the end, it was my brother's lawyers and I should know better than to spill words that would be in the advantage of them. So, I fell silent, waiting for him to react.

''have you tried asking why Venky left?''

Venky. I've only ever heard a couple of times my eldest brother being called that.