After eating, Alisha dragged her mother to her room to show her all the clothes that she had received. She was just too happy to have received them and wanted to show them to her mother.
Even though Alisha had received so many clothes, Rekha was not really happy with the idea of her helping strangers this way. So as soon as she reached her room, she couldn't help giving her daughter a piece of mind. "In future don't stop to help people like this. You know how much the crime rate has increased. these days. I recently heard Mrs. Sharma telling about robberies on the road. These people act to be injured and when you go to them they would threaten you to give them all your valuables. What if something like that would have happened with you?"
"Mom chillax[1], Sharma aunty has damaged her brain by watching all those crime flicks, and now she is hell-bent on damaging those of other's around her," Alisha said as she picked up one of the bags and turned it upside down on her bed to let all the clothes come out of it.
She picked up a blue top and placed it on her body. While checking herself out in the mirror, she asked Rekha whose reflection she could see in the mirror, "How is it?"
"Hmm, it's nice." She said without much interest.
After Alisha tried more than ten clothes, Rekha finally got bored and got up from the bed. "I am really tired so I am going to sleep. Just keep whatever you like."
"Alright, I will give these two to Nancy." Alisha chose two of the best tops to give it to her best friend. She had received a lot and it wouldn't hurt giving her friend a few who had always helped her in times of need by lending her best clothes to her.
"Do whatever you like, just sleep on time," Rekha said covering her mouth as she yawned. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight mom," Alisha replied without diverting her attention from the huge pile of clothes in front of her.
-----
Alisha woke up at six like her usual schedule to leave for college. She came out to make herself a cup of coffee when her younger sister Karishma came out from her mother's room, rubbing her eyes.
"Krishu, why are you still not dressed? Skipping school today?"
"Yes, I don't want to go today," Karishma said yawning. She was just twelve, but her height made her look much older. She had taken after her mother when it came to looks, due to which the two half-sisters looked very different. The only similarity between them was their eyes that they had taken after from their father.
"Dad will scold you if he finds out," she said adding a spoonful of sugar to her coffee. She liked it sweet.
"He isn't home. He has been going out a lot these days due to some business-related work. He left early in the morning, so I convinced Mom to allow me to not go." Karishma was ecstatic about bunking school.
Alisha chuckled hearing it. She still remembered how her mother never allowed her to miss even a day of school until she was seriously ill. Memories of those days flashed in front of her eyes and disappeared as soon as they struck her thoughts. Ever since Rekha came to this house, she had always taken good care of her, never letting her feel she was a motherless child.
"Alright. Enjoy your day off then." Alisha picked up the coffee that she had just transferred to her favorite coffee mug and went back to her room.
She opened her closet to look for a suitable dress to wear. Previously when she didn't have many clothes, she kept whining about how she didn't have anything to wear. Now that she had so many, she didn't know what to wear because she had a lot to choose from.
It was Monday and she was going to meet Nancy at the college again. She picked up the two blouses that she had chosen to give her and placed them in her bag. While she did so, it reminded her of the two men she had encountered on Friday evening. She wondered if the boss guy was okay now. However, she brushed off that thought immediately thinking that it was not any of her concern and went to the bathroom to take shower. Little did she know how much this incident would matter to her in the future.