Edge of the Abyss (Part VI)
To read the previous parts,
Two days
later...
Aman had
registered a missing complaint for Amar and Esha. Swastik and Elsa were living
with Aman's family for now. He shared a room with his cousin, Alisha. She was
cool about having him there. He found compassion in his aunt and his cousin but
lived in a constant void. Though the others had hope that his parents would
return, he didn't.
One day,
Alisha happened to stumble into an old notebook while cleaning the room. On
turning the first page, she saw that it was Swastik's diary. She didn't want to
invade his privacy but she wanted to know her cousin better. So, she turned
over to the latest entry.
"30th
December 2018
Hey, Elsa.
Remember that video we saw? No one believes us. Ma and Papa are not coming
back. Aman mama registered a complaint but I wish the police doesn't find them.
They don't want me. Maybe I have been a bad kid. That's why I don't have
friends at school. Funny how Alisha di thinks I'm a sociable person. She is so
nice to me...at times, unrealistically so. Also, Meghna blocked me. She's a
really nice person, you know? I just wasn't a good friend. Guess I will not
have any friends. Anyways, Reshita mami is now calling for dinner. Until next
time!"
A tear
trickled down Alisha's face when she finished reading the entry. She stood at
the doorway of the living room and watched Swastik playing with Elsa. That
evening, she was studying when Swastik came to her.
"Di,
what are you studying?"
"Oh,
Laplace transforms. These conversions are way too hard. Question says I need to
get a 2x here and I'm getting just x."
She looked
at Swastik's face and knew that he could understand nothing. She tried to turn
the conversation.
"So,
Swastik, what's up?"
"Nothing.
I was just ordering some pizza and wanted to know if you want any."
She gave
him a hug.
"You're
a lifesaver, my boy! Gimme the phone."
When the
pizza was delivered, they sat together on the bed and dug into the pizza. While
biting into her slice, Alisha threw a question at Swastik.
"So...Meghna,
huh?"
He choked a
little and coughed.
"Who?"
"You
don't need to lie to me, boy. Alisha knows everything", she said with a
smirk.
"So,
why did she block you?"
"I
didn't reply to her for days. I couldn't, you know with Ma and-"
Alisha
scooted over to his side and gave him a hug.
"It's
okay, Swastik. So...you like this girl?"
"No,
what? Why should I?"
Alisha
rolled her eyes and patted him on the shoulder.
"I'm
your Di. Did you try to contact her?"
"No,
she has blocked me. How can I?"
"You
tried calling her?"
Swastik was
silent for a moment, gave an awkward smile and nodded in negation.
"Oh,
you fool! Call her right now!"
"No...I
can't. She won't forgive me."
"You're
calling her. End of story."
Alisha took
his phone and searched for Meghna in the contacts. Swastik didn't do much to
stop her. Somewhere, he wanted to talk to her too. Alisha called the number and
put it on speaker.
"Hello?"
"Deep
breaths", Alisha mouthed to Swastik.
"Hi,
this is Swastik."
"And?"
"And?"
Alisha
grunted in frustration at Swastik who was now clueless.
"I'm
sorry, Meghna."
"And?"
"And I
shouldn't have ignored you like that."
"And?"
"And…stop
saying and! It's making me nervous!"
"Well,
you have commendable nerves to call me up."
Alisha whispered
to Swastik, "My job here is done", and tiptoed out of the room.
"It
took me a lot to call you today."
"I can
tell. So, before you explain yourself, how're you?"
Meghna
could hear Swastik sobbing.
"Swastik?
You okay?"
"Yeah,
totally", he said still sniffling.
"Wow...my
scary voice is really scary. Hey, you up for a video call?"
"No,
with my face, not at all"
"Okay,
bye."
"No,
wait. Call me in five minutes."
"You'll
put on makeup, buddy?", she said as she laughed.
Over the
call, Swastik told Meghna all about what had happened, crying all the while.
New Year's
Eve
Swastik was
sitting in a corner of his room reading a novel when Alisha happened to walk
in.
"Hey,
kiddo! Got nothing to do today?"
"No,
Di. Just gonna finish this novel and probably forward some New Year messages.
It's not like Mom will cook me something special."
"Aww,
my boy. Let's see. Sneak out with me at the stroke of midnight. I've got
something for you."
"But,
what if-"
"They
won't. And be ready. Wear something nice."
Swastik was
dumbfounded but he was ready by midnight. Alisha made sure her parents were
asleep and signaled Swastik to come out.
"How
come I have dressed well and you're in sweatpants?", Swastik whispered.
"This
is about you. Now, hush!"
It was
around 1 o' clock when the two tiptoed down the dark flight of stairs and got
on the pavement in front of their house.
"Walk
with me", Alisha said.
Soon, they
were at a park. The sky was lit up with the New Year celebrations.
"Happy
New Year, Swastik", Swastik heard a voice. As he turned around, he saw a
girl dressed in a royal blue denim jacket and a black mermaid skirt with golden
outlines.
"Meghna?"
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