Under the stairs

 

“…was so boring yaar, .Anita and Sameer actually left in the middle of the movie. But if you ask me I would say it did not matter whether the movie was a drag or not to them. They were necking all evening and they left at the first chance they got…… no! no! Me and Ashish were there for the entire movie. He insisted on seeing the credits too.  He is such a sweet sensitive guy, you know. Anyway tonight I am going to a party at his friend’s place… we are meeting up at the mall first. So catch you later.” 

Riya placed the phone back on its cradle.

         
She looked at the full length mirror and liked what she saw. A low-hip, jean-clad teenage girl with light brown streaks in her otherwise naturally black hair. She remembered the huge row with her mother on the day she came home from the salon. But now she was happy that she had done it. After all it had indeed transformed her from being a first year nothing into being the girlfriend of the college hunk. She gave an inward blush when she thought of Ashish. How many girls had dreamed and fantasized about him!  But he was all hers and the jealousy of the girls made her want to preen.

“RIYAA! !”  She came out of her daydream, awakened by that shout which was characteristic of her mother. She let out a long sigh and waited in vain hoping that her mother would leave her alone. “RIYAAA!” came the second shout, louder than the first.  Riya knew that she was in for some ear biting and some unpleasant household chore, as she slowly ambled down the stairs.

“RIYAAA, RIYAAA. Where did this girl disappear to?” wondered Sheila. That girl was never to be found when there was a chore to do. All day long she would either be holed up in her room talking on the phone or away at some friend’s place for a party or ‘group study’. “Huh” sneered Sheila -- as though a group of teenage girls could ever study in a group. They probably spend all night talking about the latest movie or fashion trends. That’s where she probably got the idea for coloring her hair, making her look like a tramp who has not applied oil since birth. She worried about her the entire waking moments of her life and sometimes in her dreams too. She had grand plans for her and would do anything to achieve them.  But first things first. “RIYAA” she shouted once more.

“COMINGGGG” came the reply from the top of the stairs. Riya came down the stairs at her own unhurried pace. “What is it this time?” she asked her mother. They had both been very close in her childhood, but once she entered her mid-teens she had sort of drifted of away from her mother. She now considered her mother as an aging degenerate and her conversations were invariably filled with either advice or commands for household chores.

“What do you want me to do now?” Riya asked. 

 Sheila looked at her wondering what her excuse was going to be when she told her the chore she had in mind.

“I just want you to throw these leftovers to Ramu. I just can’t find him. Last time I saw him he was under the stairs.”

Riya stared at her mother in exasperation and shouted out, “Why can’t you do that? He is as much your responsibility as he is mine. Remember what father said.”

“But I am already worked out to the maximum. I give him his weekly baths. I took him to the doctor for his injections last week which you said you would do.”

“That is so not true. I help out too.”

“Oh, really.  When was the last time you took him out walking?”

“Oh mom, how many times will we have this conversation!. I am no longer a school girl. I am in college now. I’ve got a life (of my own). I got my semester grades to think about, my social life. Always, its Riya do this for Ramu , Riya do that for Ramu. I don’t even go to parties any  more.”

“Are parties more important than this?”

          
 “It’s not like that mom, but I got to go with the flow or be dubbed a nerd.”

“Ok. Ok. Can you throw these leftovers to him or are you going to spend the rest of the night bickering about how your life is all chaotic? “

“Ok, where is that little runt ?”

“Last I saw him he was lying down under the stairs “

“Give me the plate.”

Riya grabbed the plate and went in search of Ramu. She found him, curled up under the stairs. She almost threw the plate in front of him.

For a few seconds she felt guilty that she was not able to spend more time with him. After all he was her responsibility too. But then she remembered she had to be in the mall by six, to meet Ashish. She walked away without a second glance at her mentally retarded younger brother who was lying under the stairs ,staring into nowhere.