I Am Guilty

2. The Phone Call

Naren had been occupied on a phone call when he saw Bansi rush to her room trying to control her sobs.
He sighed. He had an idea of what the girl had been crying for. She was too young to understand the cruel ways of the world. He had an instinct that she would cry herself to sleep.
He hurried with the call and walked to Bansi's room.

"Bansi?" He called our gently when the knocks were not responded.

"Bansi, please open the door. I need to show you something." He said a bit louder.

That did the trick and the naive girl opened the door and looked at him with red eyes and blotched nose. Naren could not see her so stressed and pulled her in his embrace.
He turned her around to walk her to the bed. Making her sit on the bed, he wiped her eyes. The sadness was clearly visible on her beautiful young face.

"Stop crying for something that you won't ever get. Not all things are worth crying for. You are a big girl now. Going to become the first doctor in our family. And here you are... Crying like a five year old toddler." He reprimanded her gently.

She wiped her eyes harshly and looked away.
"What do you want to show?"

Naren blinked at her speechless.
She got even more angry.
"You tricked me?"

Naren chuckled.
"See, anyone can fool you easily."

She huffed and looked away. He gently turned her to look at him.
"You are very naive, Bansi. You don't even know what you want from your life. Elders know what is better for you. Let them decide."

"I am not a kid, Bhaiyya. I am twenty now." She immediately protested.

"Right. And that makes you wise, overnight?" He asked playfully.

She did not liked to be treated like a child anymore. She so wanted to protest but found herself at loss of words. She could not insult her elder cousin. Naren wrapped an arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm to sooth her.

"How about a hot chocolate?"

She shook her head. Why was it so difficult for him to understand that she was not a child anymore. She was grown up, a consenting adult. But the family, including Veena was hellbent on proving that she was still a naive little girl. She was furious but could not find the reason for her fury. She gently pushed away his hand and looked at him.
"I will study for sometime and then sleep. Don't worry. I am fine."

Naren wanted to say that it was already late and she should probably get rest. But he knew, she liked to study and that might help her distract. Nodding, he left her room.
Bansi really tried studying, but her mind was occupied by her elder brother that was no more a part of her life. The fact that he would have treated her like a friend and not as a child was the only hope her tender heart had. She vaguely remembered her twelve year self that went seeking his help in studies. He had always told her how intelligent she was and that she just missed on a certain dimension. The subject would be so easy to understand. He never treated her as a child. He always took her to rides on the cycles and made sure she had an equal competition with him. He never let her win without a fight. When her mother complained that the youngest child was a picky eater, he had explained that she was a big girl and needed all the nutrition to grow up well.
Everything changed after the fateful night.

She was back to being a kid of the family and she loathed it.

She sometimes envied Veena. It was not Veena's fault that she was elder to her by a few years. But it was definitely Veena's fault to capture Samrat's mind and heart and be the sister that Bansi could never be. Veena was the one Samrat confided in. Bansi was too young for talking out his emotions.