All You Need is a Little Faith

by Vaanya Singh

  ‘Oh, she said that she didn’t have any proper attire for dinner, so she went shopping. She’ll join us a little later,’ Malhaar spoke sheepishly.

  Aditya, Vaibhav and I rolled our eyes.

  ‘Well, if everyone else is here, let’s go then,’ Anusuya declared, ushering us out of the house.

  Malhaar, Aditya, Vaibhav and I drove in one car and the parents in the other. Malhaar was driving, Aditya was playing on his PSP and Vaibhav was on his phone.

  God, these three brothers are really boring! How I was missing Alex! ‘We are not boring,’ all of them defended themselves in sync. Oops! Did I say that out loud?

  ‘Yes,’ they chorused again.

  I gave them all a meek smile before bolting out of the car when we reached the restaurant.

  We took a table for ten. Beth, Anusuya, Kabir and dad sat on one side and the rest of us on the other. Lively chatter was in the air when Vaibhav and I put our plan into action.

  ‘So ... dad, how’s Priya? Haven’t seen her for a long time?’ Vaibhav casually commented.

  This statement was true. We hadn’t seen Priya since the past three weeks.

  ‘Priyanka’s been busy. That girl does too much of work. But lately she’s been really ill. Even though she refuses to take a sick leave, I ended up sending her home in the morning. Of course, she called me a few colourful names and declared that I won’t survive a day without her,’ he concluded jokingly.

  ‘True,’ Anusuya muttered. ‘What do you mean by she’s sick?’ I asked, bringing the topic back to Priya.

  ‘She’s been looking paler and she keeps puking. I think she’s got the flu or something.’

  ‘Why don’t you invite her home? She’ll feel much better if she’s around people,’ Vaibhav suggested.

  ‘Why do you care all of a sudden?’ Malhaar spoke out of the blue. No! No! No! The plan couldn’t backfire!

  ‘I don’t, really. Faith just wanted some “girl company” since Cory is in Pune, Vanessa at her grandma’s and Vidya is with Damon. Right, Faith?’ Vaibhav asked, turning towards me.

  ‘Sure,’ I said nodding along. ‘That is a good idea; I’ll call her tomorrow,’ Kabir agreed.

  I did a little happy dance in my head. Vaibhav put his hand on my thigh and I swatted it away, scowling.

  ‘Woah! Slow down, tiger. I’m just joking,’ he said, picking up his hands in defense.

  ‘You have to get rid of Malhaar for tomorrow,’ I whispered. ‘I’ll convince dad to take us for an all-boys day out,’ he whispered back.

  ‘Good. I’ll try and squeeze out as much information as I can out of her then,’ I said.

  ‘Okay, but we have to do something else before that,’ he whispered.

  I looked at him in confusion.

  ‘Everyone, we’ll be leaving early and will meet you back at home,’ Vaibhav announced getting up and pulling me along.

  I gave him a ‘what the hell is going on’ look, especially since I had not yet had my dessert. He looked at me and whispered two simple words: ‘Trust me.’ And for some reason, I did.

  CHAPTER 24

  We came, we saw, we loved.

  FAITH

  ‘I can’t imagine the nerve of that girl!’ Vaibhav exclaimed, driving to wherever he was taking us.

  Earlier in the evening, Malvika had entered the restaurant just as we were about to leave. She was wearing a rather revealing, bright orange dress that made her look like a pumpkin. Seeing us she had exclaimed, ‘Oh, you people are already leaving?’

  ‘Yes, we are; you are two hours late,’ Vaibhav had replied, sounding annoyed.

  ‘Well, I like to enter in style. Oh, and Faith, we should go shopping sometime. I’m sure I can find something ... suitable for you to wear,’ she had said eyeing me up and down.

  I was two minutes away from clawing her eyes out. If it wasn’t for Malhaar, that woman would be lying dead in a ditch somewhere.

  Coming back to the present, I realised that this secret drive was taking too long.

  ‘Vaibhav! How much more time?’ I whined. ‘Another twenty minutes,’ he replied.

  ‘How will I survive till then? You dragged me before I could even eat my dessert!’

  ‘Oh, ya, that reminds me, there’s a box for you in the backseat.’

  I quickly turned around and sure enough there was a container. As soon as I opened the lid, the aroma of macaroons hit me! I greedily stuffed a few in my mouth. Vaibhav barked out a laugh.

  ‘What? Can’t you see I’m on a diet?’ I exclaimed with my mouth full.

  Vaibhav simply laughed while I rolled my eyes, which had become our ritual of sorts.

  ‘We’re here,’ Vaibhav finally announced.

  I looked up to see a bright sign which read ‘Build-a-Bear’.

  ‘Oh! You’ve brought me to bloody Build-a-Bear!’ I exclaimed.

  ‘Don’t you like it? We can go back if you want!’ he said with a panic-stricken face.

  ‘No, no, I really like Build-a-Bear. It’s just that this was the last place I came to with my mum,’ I explained. It was my favourite game in the whole world where I chose a bear in the shop, picked up whatever clothes and accessories I liked for it, and dressed it up in whichever manner I wanted.

  His expression softened. He quickly got out of the car, came to my side and opened the door for me.

  ‘Let’s go,’ he said pulling me out. I trailed behind him till the entrance of the shop. Vaibhav and I looked older and over-dressed in formal attire amongst all the children. A sudden burst of energy pulled me out of my bubble of sadness.

  I dragged Vaibhav to choose my teddy bear and we got a Nutella-coloured one. While I went and stood in the queue to fill up basket with teddy bear accessories, Vaibhav went across the lollipop stand to get us one each of those.

  As I was waiting, a lady in her mid-thirties spotted me and gave me a sympathetic look. I gave her a confused one in return.

  ‘It’s okay, child. With time you will learn to handle all your problems,’ she said, shaking her head.

  ‘Huh?’ I exclaimed in confusion. ‘The first few years will be tough but as they grow, it becomes easier,’ she tried to explain.

  Holy shit! She thought I was one of those teen mothers.

  ‘Oh, no! You...’ But before I could tell her the truth, Vaibhav called out my name holding the damn lollipops.

  ‘Faith,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, yes, child. Have faith in God and He’ll help you through this situation,’ she said, clutching the cross around her neck. Vaibhav quickly caught up with what was happening and decided to play along.

  ‘Thank you, ma’am. It’s true that little Julian gives us a little trouble but we hope that the next one will be easier to take care of,’ he said, putting one of his hands around my waist and the other on my stomach.

  ‘Next one?’ the lady asked with wide eyes, flabbergasted. ‘Yes, ma’am. We are two months along. I hope it’s a girl this time,’ Vaibhav said, rubbing my tummy.

  The lady looked pale. Clutching her cross, she muttered an ‘excuse me’ and literally ran away. As soon as she was out of earshot, we both burst out laughing.

  ‘Her reaction was hilarious!’ I exclaimed once we sobered. ‘True! Let’s get your bear ready,’ he said, pulling me along.

  I put extra filling in my teddy for it to be extra cuddly. I chose a cute military jacket for him along with a cap and adorable little boots.

  ‘What are you going to name him?’ Vaibhav asked once I was done.

  ‘Umm ... I don’t know,’ I replied, heading to the car. ‘How about Poppy?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Bobo?’

  ‘Nope!’

  ‘What about Cheeseball?’

  ‘Not happening!’

  ‘You suck,’ he said, pouting. ‘Your name sense sucks,’ I retorted.

  ‘Okay, how about Sergeant?’ ‘Sergeant, I like,’ I replied, hugging the bear.

  ‘Finally,’ he yelled, fist pumping the air and I laughed at h
is behaviour.

  Two days. It’s been two bloody days since the dinner and Priya still hasn’t come home to visit us. Dad and Beth are going out for a late-night event today so I’m spending the night at Vaibhav’s place, which I’m not comfortable with because the forecast said it’s going to thunder tonight. It still scares me and brings back memories of the horrible news about mum.

  Damon being the sweet person he is, called up earlier, asking if I wanted to spend the night at his place, on hearing about the thunder, but I declined.

  It was after dinner, when all of us were sitting, that I asked Kabir about Priya. I interrupted Malvika who was talking about her new something.

  ‘Hey, Kabir, where’s Priya? I was hoping to talk to her.’

  ‘You don’t know?’ he asked, shocked.

  I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. ‘She resigned.’

  ‘She what?’ It was Malhaar who asked this.

  ‘Just yesterday she came to my office with a resignation letter and a suggestion for another PA. I couldn’t do anything to stop her,’ he said sadly.

  ‘I’m leaving. I have some work to finish,’ Malhaar declared before getting up.

  ‘But Malhaar! You promised we would spend some alone -time tonight,’ Malvika whined in her shrill voice.

  ‘Slut,’ Vaibhav said loud enough for me to hear. I muffled my laughter.

  ‘Not tonight, Malvika. I need to go,’ he said, pulling away and walking off.

  I smirked. After finishing talking about things in general, all of us went to our respective rooms. I face-timed with Alex for a while. He told me to go to sleep early as the storm was approaching. Vaibhav came to my room twice, asking if I needed anything at all. I politely refused.

  I was in for a long night, that was for sure. I quickly changed into my pajamas, praying to God for a dreamless night.

  But my wishes didn’t come true. Tears rolled down my cheeks as the dreams began.

  ‘Mommy! Wait up,’ I yelled, following her into the Build-a-Bear shop.

  ‘Hurry up, sweetheart!’ she yelled back, waiting for me.

  And the stupid dream kept playing over and over again. I saw as we went into the workshop, I saw as we made a bear, I saw as my mother met with an accident and I helplessly saw as she died on the spot while holding my hand.

  I woke up screaming as thunder boomed outside and lightning struck. I whimpered and brought my knees to my chest as more tears rolled down.

  Just then, Vaibhav came bursting into the room. He shut the door behind him and taking a few quick strides, he was next to me, pulling me to him.

  ‘Shh ... It’s just thunder, okay? It won’t hurt you...’ he said, trying to coax me to sleep.

  As the thunder boomed louder, I cried harder. Vaibhav stayed with me and tried his best to distract me.

  ‘Wanna hear some pick-up lines,’ he asked and took my silence as a ‘yes’.

  ‘Are you a 90-degree angle, because you are looking right.’ ‘Did you get sacrificed to the God of fire, because you’re smoking.’

  ‘Bet you play soccer because you are a keeper.’

  ‘Hey, my name’s Microsoft; can I crash at your place tonight?’

  ‘Do you have a map, because I keep getting lost in your eyes.’

  ‘They’re pathetic,’ I managed to croak out at the last one.

  A large smile came over his face as he finally managed to get a reaction out of me. I was beginning to yawn.

  ‘You should sleep,’ he said in a commanding voice which made him sound worried at the same time. I was too tired to fight with him on this so I simply lay down.

  Vaibhav started to get up to leave the room but I stopped him and whispered a soft ‘stay’.

  ‘Okay,’ he nodded before lying down next to me and pulling me to his chest. That was the first time, after a very long time, that I slept peacefully on a very stormy night.

  CHAPTER 25

  You say you love me.

  Yet you leave me alone to cry.

  FAITH

  When I woke up the following morning, Vaibhav was still asleep. He looked so peaceful that I tip-toed out of bed, not wanting to wake him up. But I must have made some noise because he opened his eyes.

  ‘What time is it?’ he asked, rubbing his eyes. ‘Eight in the morning,’ I replied stifling a laugh. ‘That’s too early to function!’ he whined, crawling back under the covers.

  This time I didn’t stop my laughter and let it out freely. Vaibhav peeked from under the covers.

  ‘What are you laughing at?’ he asked.

  ‘You.’

  ‘Oh, you’re going to regret this, Faith,’ he said in a posh accent, jumping out of bed.

  ‘Oh, please do forgive a poor maiden like me, monsieur,’ I replied, running out of the room as he began to chase me.

  I laughed as I dodged objects and I almost collided into Anusuya. ‘What...’ but I didn’t even hear her finish her sentence as I dashed past her; so did Vaibhav.

  We would have kept chasing each other around if it would not have been for Malvika trying to do something in the kitchen.

  I looked at her pink silk robe, pajamas and matching slippers. Her brown hair was curled to perfection and was she actually wearing make-up? Did she not just wake up?

  I looked down at my shorts and an extra large T-shirt. My hair seemed like a bird’s nest. Suddenly, I felt a little conscious.

  ‘Hey, Malvika, what are you trying to do?’ Vaibhav asked, taking a seat at the counter.

  ‘Oh, I was trying to work the coffee machine,’ she said, pointing towards the toaster.

  I stifled a laugh before speaking with a neutral face.

  ‘That’s easy. Haven’t you ever made coffee before?’ I asked, taking a seat myself.

  ‘As a matter of fact, I haven’t,’ she replied. Vaibhav spat out the juice he was drinking, in shock.

  ‘You’ve never ever, in your entire life, made coffee?’ he wanted to reconfirm.

  ‘I never had to. We always had someone do it or us. It’s the first time I’m even entering a kitchen,’ she said, hitting the toaster out of frustration.

  At the same time, a very worried looking Kabir entered the kitchen with Malhaar trailing behind him.

  ‘Hey, dad, what’s wrong?’ Vaibhav asked, turning towards him.

  ‘It’s Priya; that girl is really worrying me.’

  ‘Why, what happened?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know. The last time I talked to her, she sounded different. Not like her usual self,’ Kabir replied.

  ‘How about I go talk to her today?’ I suggested, hopping off my stool.

  ‘That is a good idea,’ he said, his face suddenly lighting up. ‘Maybe I should come along with you,’ Vaibhav said.

  ‘I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Let this be a girl-talk thing,’ I insisted.

  Vaibhav hesitated before muttering an ‘okay’. I grabbed my stuff and went back home.

  I took a long shower and washed my hair. After wrapping a fluffy towel around myself, I walked into my closet to choose an outfit. Deciding on a black crop top and a pair of floral shorts, I slipped into my black Vans and grabbing my black sunglasses, I was ready to go.

  I decided to take my bike today instead of the car. Grabbing a helmet, I rode off to Priya’s place.

  I felt that Priya’s neighborhood was pretty shady. It literally yelled: Feel free to mug my home! I checked the address twice before parking my bike below the apartment. The stairs creaked as I climbed up; the elevator wasn’t working.

  Once I reached her apartment, I knocked twice, waiting for her to open up. She did after two minutes. She looked young and carefree in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.

  ‘Faith! What are you doing here?’ she asked, surprised. ‘We really need to talk,’ I replied. But that’s when I noticed all the boxes in her already empty apartment. ‘You’re moving?’ I yelled.

  ‘Shh...’ she whispered before pulling me inside and locking the door behind her.<
br />
  ‘What did you want to talk about?’ she asked, cutting straight to the point.

  ‘You resigned?’

  ‘I’d rather not talk about that,’ she muttered, sitting on the sofa.

  I, too, took a seat.

  ‘I know this has something to do with Malhaar, so spill,’ I spoke in a slightly commanding voice.

  She looked up and I saw the fear in her eyes.

  ‘You can trust me,’ I whispered, putting my hand on top of hers.

  ‘I guess you already know that Malhaar and I dated in college,’ Priya said meekly. ‘Yes,’ I answered automatically.

  ‘Malhaar thought I cheated on him during our pre-graduation party, so he left; that too, without saying a word. I was so confused at that time. I used to ask myself what I had done wrong. But now when I had finally moved on, he decided to show up with a bitch of a fiancée,’ she said in a sad tone.

  ‘So why can’t both of you just get back together once you tell him that you didn’t cheat on him?’ was my question to her.

  ‘It’s not that easy and he already knows that I didn’t cheat on him,’ she replied.

  ‘Then what’s the problem. Malhaar will ditch Malvika for you in a heartbeat,’ I was so sure.

  ‘That’s the problem. He didn’t,’ she whispered, almost on the verge of tears.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I was working late at the office and so was Malhaar. He offered me a ride or rather ordered me to let him drive me home. Since the weather was bad, I asked if he wanted to come inside and shockingly, he did.’

  ‘Go on,’ I urged her to keep talking.

  ‘One thing led to another and we slept together. And now I’m pregnant!’

  My eyes widened at her last statement. Oh, my Lord!

  Priya is pregnant with Malhaar’s child! ‘Have you told him?’ was the most natural question.

  ‘No and I don’t intend to. I don’t want to spoil my baby’s life. Moreover, he made it clear that very night that he’s still going to get married to that bitch,’ she ranted, hugging her stomach.

  ‘He has a right to know,’ I tried to convince her.

  ‘It’s not like him knowing will make any difference. It’s better if he doesn’t know,’ was her logic.