Chapter 8: Hangover
“That’s a good question. You've been asking a lot of good questions today, so how about we take a break and
come back tomorrow to answer them?”
“Karan!”
“Ok ok. Well Payal’s married.”
“You've said that already. What
about me? Am I married?”
Karan didn’t know how to respond.
He couldn’t tell her she has a daughter but no husband. On one hand there were
his daughter’s feelings. On the other there was a freaked out Khushi. He
couldn’t say he was married to her, that would bring up complications. He
couldn’t say she was married to someone else because that would also bring up
complications.
Oh God! Why does marriage always bring up complication? Do
I really even have to answer Khushi’s questions?
One look at Khushi told him he
didn’t have much of a choice. “You never got married Khushi.” Her face fell.
“Why? What’s wrong with me?”
He tried to pacify her. “Nothings
wrong with you Khushi. It’s um just umm that er
umm, your parents! Yes umm who would look after them if both their
daughters are married off? A gaur jami looks bad and no one wanted to be one.
You had hundreds, no thousands of proposals but you turned them down because
they asked for high dowry and they wouldn’t help you look after your parents.”
“Well if that’s the reason, I’m
glad I didn’t get married.” She smiled at him but it didn’t quite reach her
eyes. Karan felt bad for Khushi. He’d known her since she was a baby and she
had always wanted to find her prince to sweep her off her feet but he didn’t
want to lie to her unnecessarily. “Enough about that, how’s Priya?”
Karan’s face fell and he looked at
the ground. “She died 23 years ago.”
Khushi’s mouth fell open and she
embraced him in a tight hug. “I’m so sorry Karan. I didn’t know her health fell
again she was doing so much better. Was it the cancer?”
“Yeah she was doing better but the
cancer got to her in the end. Don’t worry you were there for me.” He took a
deep breath and came out of her embrace.
“How’s Nikil and who was that girl
that was in her before?”
“Nik’s fine. You actually came for
his wedding. He’s currently on his honeymoon. That girl is my daughter. Her
name is Amba.”
“She looks quite old Karan.”
“She is.”
“Is that why Priya’s condition
fell so much?” She asked hesitantly.
“I guess. She really wanted to
keep the baby. No one could convince her otherwise. You knew how she was.”
“Yeah I do. She was a great
woman.” She squeezed his hand offering comfort and Karan took it. “What else
have I missed?”
“Not much really.”
“How long will I be here for?”
“You need two weeks
rehabilitation, to make sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with you and
then you get to go back home.”
“Karan have you told my family?”
“Of course I have. They are very
concerned and want to talk to you but can’t because of the time difference.”
The lying was becoming easier but that didn’t take the guilt away.
“I can’t wait to go back to India .”
“Oh God!” Karan hadn’t thought
that Khushi might actually want to go back to India . He began to hyperventilate. If she went back a lot of
things will get very complicated.
“What? Is my visa expiring?”
“No it’s nothing like that.” Karan
said in a strained voice. “Do you really want to go back home Khushi?”
“Of course I do. If I don’t who
will look after my family?”
“Yeah you’re right. Umm Khushi
I’ll be back tomorrow or tonight.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll bring you an iPad to watch
Hindi stuff.”
“iPad?”
“Computer.”
“You don’t need to trouble
yourself Karan.”
“Shut up Khushi, of course I do.
Besides, you’ve always troubled me, why stop now?” He tease and she elbowed
him. He kissed her forehead. “Take care of yourself Titaliya, I’ll be back
later.”
“Bye Karan.”
Karan exited the room with a heavy
heart. As soon as he was out he came faced to face with Amba.
“Have you told the Lawson’s?” He
asked.
“Yep.”
“Are you ok?”
“Yep.”
“Are you going to answer all my
questions with a yep?”
“Yep.”
“Amba.” He said sternly.
She sighed. “What do you want me
to say dad?”
“Anything. React. I don’t know.
Just stop staring at me with empty eyes and no emotions.” He begged. But she
wouldn’t budge. “Fine, be like that. We have a lot of work to do Amba. We need
to rearrange the house, get rid off pictures where she’s in them, get rid of
all your mum’s western cloths and oh get rid of any alcohol and meat in the
house. Basically desify as much as possible.”
“I know a good way of getting rid
of the meat and alcohol.”
“Great. We’ll eat and drink after
I get your mum settled here. Don’t start without me!”
“I make no promises.”
Gupta
Residence London
Karan
came back from teaching Khushi how to use the iPad to find Amba’s shoes on the
landing, her blazer on the coat rack, her bag in the kitchen and a finished
bottle of wine on the floor of the living room. He looked at Amba perched on
the sofa watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and a glass of wine in her hand.
“Amba
did you finish a whole bottle wine by yourself?!”
“Yes!”
She grinned at him and that’s when he noticed another half filled bottle of
wine. His jaws dropped open but before he could question her further his phone
rang.
“Karan
Sighn Malik.”
“Dad,
it’s Nik, I’m just calling to tell you I should be landing later tonight.”
“Ok.”
“How is
Khushi auntie?” Karan explained what was happening. “How is Amba?”
“She’s
fine apparently.”
“That
bad huh, don’t worry me and Nat will help.”
“You’ll
do no such thing. You two are married now and so you need to get used to living
with each other in your own house and leave the problems to me.”
“Amba’s
like a sister to me and Khushi auntie’s like a second mum so don’t you dare say
this isn’t my problem.”
“I’m
glad you said that because I really don’t know how to handle this.” He glanced
back into the living room to see Amba drowning the glass of wine as if it was
water, he sighed. “I’ll need all the reinforcements I can get.”
“Hang in
there. Bye dad.”
“Bye
Nik.”
Karan
walked back into the living room and stared pointedly at his daughter.
“Don’t
worry dad, we have a bottle of vodka, 2 packs of beer, a bottle of wine and a
very nice bottle of brandy the Lawson’s gave us for Christmas, so there’s still
plenty for you.”
He just
stared at her. “I wasn’t worrying about that I was worrying about you. Have you
had anything to eat yet? Why are you watching this film?”
“I’m
actually really hungry now that you mention it. And don’t I’m watching old
Hindi films to learn Hindi since the only way I can communicate to my mother is
through Hindi, I thought I’d brush up on mine.”
Karan
was too tired to say anything to his daughter so he decided to grab a glass and
join her. Amba’s phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Amba is
it true. Your mum can’t remember anything. Tell me it’s not-”
Amba cut
the call and turned her phone off. She was in no mood to pacify Logan . She just wanted to drink her problems away.
At 7 am two figures entered the house. They made their way to the
living room and found 12 cans of beer and 3 bottles of wine littered all over
the floor. The bottle of brandy sat empty on the table. Amba was on the sofa, cuddling
the bottle of vodka to her chest looking extremely content. Karan was half on
the other sofa and half on the floor snoring away. One of the figures grabbed
hold of the curtains and pulled it open. Blinding light fell on Amba’s face and
she woke up immediately and fell on the floor. She groaned and crawled out of
the room with the figures following behind her.
“Nik you
twat! Why did you do that for?”
“I love
you too Amba. Yes our honeymoon was nice. How have you been?”
She
squinted at him and then stuck her tongue out before swearing at him some more
under her breath. She slowly got up and made her way to the kitchen. She turned
on the coffee maker and turned to face the two figures.
“What’s
wrong Nat? You seem awfully quiet. Regretting marrying my brother already?” She
joked.
“Amba
shut up.” Said Nik.
“Make
me.”
“Will
you ever grow up?”
“I don’t
have a choice Nik, if you paid attention in class you’d know that.”
“Amba-”
“Nik,
please.” Begged Nat.
“Ooh you
got told.” Laughed Amba. They both looked at her weirdly.
“How are
you Amba?” Asked Nat.
“Well
Natalie my dear, I am absolutely spiffing. Apart from the pounding headache,
I’m fine.”
“I meant
about your mother.”
“I’m
fine.”
“Am-”
Nik started.
“I’m
always fine Nik and I always will be fine. I was fine when we had no money and
dad had to work two jobs and longer hours. I was fine when we were bullied at
school. I was fine when you bullied me at home, when you blamed mum and me for
everything wrong in your life-”
“And I
sincerely apologised for that-”
“And I
forgave you Nik but that doesn’t mean it’s not still fresh in my memory. I was
fine when your grandparents looked down on my mother and me even though your
father did the exact same thing. I was fine when dad had his operation. When
mum had hers. I was fine when I heard mum got into an accident. When I realised
she didn’t remember who I was. Do you know what she wants to do Nik? Do you?
She wants to go back to India . She hates India ! You haven’t seen her she’s a completely different person.
Maybe it’s for the best. She can go back and get married like she’s always
wanted. She can have legitimate kids like she’s always wanted. And she’ll be
happy and I’ll maybe get to see her once a year. But at least she won’t have me
as a constant reminder of the one mistake she’s ever made-”
But
before Amba could continue her rant she was slapped hard across the face. Amba
gaped at Nik and he stared back at her equally surprised before they both
turned to stare at Natalie who had administered the slap.
“I’m
sure if Khushi was in her senses she would have given you that slap herself.
How dare you say you were a mistake Amba?!” yelled Nat.
“Because
I am!” she shrieked.
Natalie
grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Snap out of it Amba. I know you still
aren’t in your senses after last night but never say that. Khushi has never
treated you like a mistake. You are the biggest blessing in her life. Now you
need to get yourself together for her sake.”
She
rubbed her cheek, took a deep breath and brushed away her tears. “Thanks Nat, I needed that.”
“Am I
really am sorry-” began Nik.
“Nik I
already forgave you so it’s cool.”
“Speaking
of cool, I have a great way to wake dad up.” Smirked Nik and he wiggled his
eyebrows mischievously which made the girls laugh.
“Whatever
it is I don’t want to know.” Amba grabbed her coffee and headed upstairs to
take a cold shower and change her clothes. After a few minutes in the shower
she heard a loud yelp, lots of swearing and laughing. She smiled. She wore an
over sized t-shirt and short and came down. She saw a very wet Karan had
gathered everyone in the kitchen so she headed that way.
“Alright
gang, now that I’m awake thanks to Nik, there are certain things we have to
stop doing, stop speaking about and keep Khushi away from. Is that clear?” A
murmer of yeses went around the room. “First off no sex.” Nik and Natalie
exchanged a look. Karan turned to them and said, “You two can have sex in the
house but keep it quite.” Then he turned to Amba. “You and I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because
your mother, 24 years ago, frowned at sex before marriage. Can you resist
temptation? If you can’t, don’t do it in the house.”
“If it’s
for mum I can resist anything.”
“Good.
Secondly, no meat, no alcohol.”
“What!”
Both Amba and Karan shouted.
“Your
mum was a vegetarian and she didn’t drink. And I was a vegetarian before so we
have to pretend I still am to keep your mum happy and if I’m vegetarian so is
everyone else. So please if you must eat meat or drink do it outside. Thirdly
and this is the most important thing, it should’ve actually gone first, don’t
tell her anything about her life in the last 24 years. I already fabricated a
story, stick to it! Oh yeah and keep her away from anyone that knows her here,
I don’t want them mucking this up.”
He
paused and waited for everyone to digest what he had just said.
“Now
assignments. Isn’t this kind of exciting guys? I’m assigning you stuff like a
spy or something.”
“Dad,
get to the point.” Amba said.
“Sorry
I’m still not totally sober yet. Right, Nik you need to move my stuff, your stuff and
Natalie’s stuff into this house. I don’t want Khushi to not be in her natural
environment and being in her own home might help her memories come back.”
“What
has that got to do with me moving all our stuff into her house?”
“She
thinks that she’s here on holiday, so we’re converting her house into mine.
Don’t question me, it’s giving me a headache.”
“But dad
this is only a 3 bedroom house.”
“We’ll
convert the attic or living into a bedroom. I don’t know figure something out.
Amba get rid off any picture of her with any of us. Unless they are recent
ones. And when you’re done with that help Nik. Natalie darling you are in
charge of making sure there is not a piece or meat or a drop of alcohol in
site. And stock up the kitchen with vegetables and stuff like that. I’m going
cloths shopping after work. One more thing, Khushi’s going to be released from
hospital in 2 days so get all this done by then. I’m sure there’s more thing I
need to tell you but I’m still hungover and I need to get ready for work.
Alright go go go go go!”
Karan
grabbed his coffee and left the house. Nik and Natalie turned to Amba who was
searching for the asprin.
“Don’t
you have work?” Nik asked.
“No, Logan gave me a leave until mum gets better.”
“He’s
too sweet on you.”
“I know.”
