I lay on the bed, thinking about the picture Monika showed me, suddenly I looked at her and saw that she was peacefully asleep. Soon my eyes also began to feel heavy, and I drifted off to deep slumber.
After a while about half an hour later, I half opened my eyes, and rubbed my eyes with my hand, and saw Geeta sitting on the chair, laying her head on the table looking at us and smiling.
I got off the bed making sure Monika is not disturbed, stood in-front of Geeta and whispered to her, "Where is Aunty and the girls?"
Geeta looked at me and replied, "Aunty is in her room sleeping, and Aamaya, Darika, and Garima didi is sleeping in their room."
I looked at her and said "ok. What about you. Why don't you take some rest too? You must be exhausted. I want my team members well rested before the game."
Geeta replied, "It's ok Joe Bhaiya, I can manage."
I told her "No, you need rest. Get on the bed and try to sleep. I will wake you up after half an hour".
She hesitated at first, but seeing the determined look on my face she removed her shoes and laid on the bed.
I sat on the chair lying next to her study table. There was a bottle of pills on the table which I didn't recall seeing in the morning. I picked it up, checked the label and saw the name - TESTOPEL. Strange name for medicine and kept the bottle back to where it was. So maybe she is suffering from some disease and this is helping her get better. I looked around the table and started to stare at the photo frame of the couple whom I guessed to be Geeta's parents.
Suddenly there was a noise on the bed and I found that Monika turned around and put her left Arm around Geeta. Geeta opened her eyes with a soft yelp, saw that Monika had hugged her, and drowsily went back to sleep. I smiled at the situation, took the blanket lying on the bed, and pulled it over my sister and Geeta.
I picked up a diary lying on the table and started to read it. On the first page of the diary was written "A Life with no existence". I opened the first page of the diary and started reading it. It was dated the 4th of June 1999. There were details about someone called Abhinu, I flipped through the pages. I stopped to read another page at random. What I just read on that page was kind of disturbing and saddening.
I wanted to continue through the diary, but then I remembered what Papa once told me about it not being good manners to go through the personal stuff of others. So I decided not to read further. When the time is right, I will come to Geeta and seek her permission to read her diary.
After about an hour, the time was showing 3:30 so I got off the chair and went to wake up Monika, I shook her up and said "Wake up sweetheart. It's 3:30. We should get ready for the match."
She suddenly opened her eyes and when she saw that she had her hands around Geeta, she pulled them back and looked at the door. Geeta also woke up and looked at Monika and seeing her awake got off from the bed hastily and stepped on the floor. Monika got out of the bed too. Geeta stepped forward to fold the blanket. I decided to help Geeta tidy up the bed.
A few minutes later, we came out of the room and found that the sisters were already dressed and ready to play.
I told them, "Give us 15 minutes, we will go to our home and change into something more comfortable for playing. I will also call up my friend Vikash to be the match referee."
The girls didn't throw any tantrums as they have been doing since morning. Strange! I looked at Geeta and said, "Get ready, change into something more comfortable like a top, shorts, and sneakers. See you soon" and rushed to our home to get changed.
Once I reached home, I called up my friend Vikash and asked him to be the match referee. He instantly agreed to it. He has a crush on Aamaya but he becomes extremely nervous around beautiful girls and ends up blowing up any opportunity of fraternizing with them with his awkward behavior.
I was ready in 5 minutes as I just had to change my jeans and the t-shirt and put on my favorite shorts with the number 9 written on it. My favorite basketball player Tony Parker wears the number 9.
I had to wait for my sister to come and after about 10 minutes she came out. To my surprise, we both were wearing an Identical T-shirt and Top. I saw that Monika had another Top and probably a short too in her hand with the same color.
I asked her "Is that for Geeta?" and she replied "Of course bro. our team should be wearing identical color."
I thought in my mind I am really lucky to have a smart sister. We left the house and met Vikash standing outside the Banerjee residence. We came in.
To our surprise, I found that the Banerjee girls were wearing all red. I looked at them and taunted them saying "Are you girls planning to join Houston Rockets."
Suddenly Vikash got an idea and said: "Why don't you 2 name your respective teams before the match?"
Aamaya thought it was a good idea and said: "We will call ourselves Houston Rockets just as you suggested."
I thought 'whatever', and then I replied: "We will call our-self Atlanta Hawks".
Monika looked around and asked Darika "Where is Geeta?"
She replied "I don't know. I think she is inside".
Monika went inside the house to get Geeta. After a few minutes both the girls came out. Geeta was wearing the Blue Top and the shorts that Monika bought for her. I saw the top and on it was printed the face of Lauren Jackson. She is one of the best basketball players to have ever lived.
As Geeta stepped out of her house, she stretched her arms wide open and started to look at the sky, and suddenly in that same stance, she started to run towards the basketball field. As she reached the center of the field she stopped, bent down on her knees, touched the center-line with her hands and touched her forehead to the field.
I remembered seeing this same gesture a couple of years back but could not recall where I saw it.
Geeta stood up and came to me and said: "I am ready to rock."
I found that Geeta was wearing her black school shoes to come and play. It felt strange, so I asked Geeta, "Don't you have any sport shoes? You will not be able to play with these."
Geeta looked down at the shoes she was wearing, and replied: "These are pump shoes, see I could run very well with these."
Garima who was standing nearby let out a derisive taunt "Nice Outfit, princess. Sport Tees, Hot pants and Black Pumps. You should be doing a fashion show not playing basketball. Go back, this is not for you".
Geeta was nearly on the brink of crying, she covered her face with her hands and ran inside the house.
I was not sure what to say, I found Monika was running behind Geeta, and I followed them too. Once we reached the room, I saw Geeta was crying and Monika was trying to comfort her.
Geeta suddenly said "Why do they hate me so much? I have never done anything bad to them. I always listen to whatever they say. I can never get them to like me. Do you know what they did after you guys went home to change."
"They took away my shorts and my sneakers and Aamaya didi told me that if I wanted to play I should wear a skirt and I can wear any of the shoes that uncle gave me but not the sneakers."
It felt like the girls wanted us to lose the match by sabotaging one of my players. That was mean and for the first time in a long time, I felt mad.
Monika looked at me and understood that I was angry, but I managed to calm myself for the sake of my team.
I got hold of Geeta's shoulder and said "So this is bothering you, why don't you show me where your shoes are kept, let's see what could be done."
Geeta and Monika were looking at one another trying to figure out what I had in mind and what did I know about girls and their fashion sense. But just to humor me Geeta opened one of her almirah. What I saw was shocking. I found that that particular almirah was only used for keeping shoes.
I asked her "Do all these shoes belong to you or the whole family keeps their shoes here."
Geeta replied "All of them are mine. whenever uncle goes on tour, he always makes sure to get lots of dolls, dresses, shoes, and jewelry for me."
Looking at the rack, I felt like I was inside some celebrity's wardrobe. Even Monika was shocked to see at the huge collection.
Monika said to Geeta, "The next time I come here I would like to browse your Dress and Jewellery locker. I would want to try them on and click lots of selfies."
Geeta hugged her and said "You can try any dress you want Sweety. Don't hesitate to ask me. I am sure you will look like a beautiful princess in them".
I was going through the shoes and found a knee-length boot with flat heels. I took it out and found that the sole was big. That would be the perfect shoe for her. So I took it out and asked her to try it.
Geeta asked me "Are you sure?"
I replied "Trust me. Your sisters are gonna regret hurting you. But there is another thing I want you to do first. Do you have any white or black thigh-length socks or stockings?"
She replied "Yes".
I told her "Get that too" and then I said "One last thing, Can you show me the skirt that Aamaya wants you to wear?"
She brought me the skirt and I took it from her and checked the length of the skirt and found that if she wore the skirt on her waist, it would reach till the thighs and it would be helpful for her to run around.
Then I said to her "Go and wear your shocks and pull the skirt up to your waist. no need to wear shorts." she went to the washroom and got herself changed.
Monika looked at me and asked her "Would you mind telling me what are you up to Bhai?"
I said to Monika, "It is for Geeta's safety. If she wears the skirt that Aamaya gave her, at least I know that they will be happy and trust me, whatever she is wearing will come to our advantage. I am going to play psychological warfare with them. Jealousy and rage will be our weapon in this match. In school, I was taught that if you are feeling rage while playing any game, there is a 90% chance that you end up losing the match." Monika understood what my plan was.
After about 5 minutes Geeta was ready. By then I was ready with the white boots and told her to put it on. I asked Monika to tie her hair at the back just like Fergie does, and when that was done, I told Geeta "My dear friend, you are ready to play basketball. Let's go and win the battle."
Now when Geeta stepped out of the house it felt like a cheerleader was coming out of the house. She was looking great and happy. Now, it was time for Garima to fume with envy.
Monika could not resist herself and lashed out a retort to Garima "You were saying something".
Garima looked at Geeta and gave a devious smile and said "Don't be too happy. I will make you regret playing this game. Just wait and watch." and then went to where her sisters were stretching themselves.
Geeta looked at my eyes and said "Thank-you brother Joe."
I looked at her and said "Trust me, today we are going to teach these sisters a lesson in basketball. They think they know too much."
Vikash had some interest in photography so he wanted to take a video of the basketball match. I went to Aunty to get permission.
At first, she was a bit hesitant, so I convinced her by saying "If we can get some video of your daughters in action, it may help make them famous. Vikash is a professional basketball referee and he I acquainted with a few agents from Kolkata who might appreciate good talent."
I saw a sudden gleam of greed in aunty's face as she agreed. I went to Vikash and told him to take the video. Vikash called up a friend of his to start the video, and then the match started.
Aunty called up the girls and discussed something with them. They were in the other corner so I was unable to hear anything. All I could understand from their gestures was that aunty was blessing the girls to perform well in front of the camera.
I indicated to Vikash that we were ready for the game, and he blew the whistle, signaling everyone to assemble at the center of the field.
Vikash started to describe the rules of the game. "Today each team will be playing with 3 members. No extras. Your objective would be to shoot the ball through the basket hoop. A team can score a single point by shooting the ball through the basket while being defended by the opposition team during play. A field goal scores three points for the shooting team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line, and two points if shot from in front of the line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point after the other team is assessed with certain fouls. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. The ball can be advanced on the court by throwing it to a teammate, or by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling). It is a violation to lift, or drag, one's foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. You are allowed to shoot, pass, dribble, and rebound. No pushing or hurting players from the other team."
"Everyone got the rules correctly," asked Vikash, and they all nodded their heads.
Vikash shouted "Players to their positions" and each team moved to their respective positions.
The match started, Me and Aamaya were looking at one another with eye contact, and Vikash flings the ball into the air.
As the ball came down, I jumped and pushed the ball towards Monika. Monika got hold of the ball.
As she got the ball and tried to move forward, suddenly Garima charged at Monika to get the ball from her,
Monika stopped and to my surprise shouted, "Geeta catch".
Geeta suddenly rushed towards the ball, got the ball in her right hand, took a step to the left and Garima was there again charging at Geeta, as Garima saw that Geeta took a left.
She too bowed towards the left, and then out of no-where, Geeta took a step back and threw the ball towards the basket from the centerline.
It hit the square box first, then the ball rolled off the rod into the basket. Vikash raised his hand in the air and pointed 3 fingers saying it a 3 pointer. I was shocked to see such a solid maneuver by a rookie, someone who apparently has never played basketball in their life.
The match continued and I started to take the ball forward, and all of a sudden, Darika bounced the ball away from me. She was swift-footed and reached the midcourt in no time. As she flung the ball into the air to score a point, Geeta caught the ball in the air and passed it to Monika, who without missing a beat threw the ball at me, as Aamaya was trying to snatch the ball away from her from behind.
As soon as I got the ball, I flung it directly into the air and it made the basket again.
Vikash again pointed 3 fingers indicating a 3 pointer score. We were leading by 6 points to none. Monika came running towards me and wanted to give me a high 5 and I obliged. I looked at Geeta and saw her beaming with happiness.
Suddenly Aamaya asked for 1 minute time out to talk to her team members, which Vikash agreed.
They were making their strategy, and I could not resist taunting them, "Devise as many plans as you want, but I am gonna make sure you won't score any baskets today.".
I called Geeta and Monika and asked them if they have any strategy. Monika replied, "Let's do what Leeds United did to Manchester City in 1969."
I understood what she meant, but I had to explain the same to Geeta.
I told her, "In the first half of the match we will only score. Second half Monika and I will make sure they won't get a chance to touch the ball."
Geeta smiled and said, "All the best, if you do that they are going to play rough".
I replied "I have already considered that, as a matter of fact, they are going to do that now. I want you guys to do something, I want you 2 to score, I will be the wingman now. Since they are going to play rough I will have to protect both of you from foul play".
Vikash blew the whistle and the match started again. Aamaya had the ball and the 2 sisters were rushing in front of Aamaya, making sure that we were unable to touch the ball and all of a sudden it felt like they wanted to target Geeta. Aamaya instead of throwing the ball at the basket, threw the ball at Geeta's face.
The force was good but my little sister came from the left and punched the ball towards me saving Geeta. I could see Aamayas face turning red in rage.
I started dribbling the ball towards the basket, and Monika followed me from the extreme left. As I reached the pillar, I passed the ball directly to Monika and she threw the ball in the air into the basket and we had another point. It was a 2 pointer.
I was impressed by my sister. we were leading 8 goals to none. The game continued and by the end of the first half, our team had already scored 20 points and they were none.
Geeta had scored two 3 pointers and one 2 pointer which had helped us lead by such a huge margin. After my single basket score, I decided not to score any and made sure my sister and Geeta had the ball and could score the rest of the points. We gave a big target to the girls to score in the second half.
I could see the girls' faces getting flushed with rage or pressure. Aunty was trying to guide them. She was pointing her fingers towards the field and instructing something to her daughters.
Vikash was impressed at the performance of our cheerleader and wanted to flirt with her. He went to her with a bottle of water and introduced himself.
Extending his hand, he said, "Hi, Geeta ma'am, I am Vikash," pointing his finger towards me he said "I am Joe's best friend. You know you were playing like Michael Jordan. More like a female version of him."
Geeta looked at Vikash and replied "I don't know who that is Vikash Bhaiya? Is he some great basket ballplayer. And please don't call me ma'am, I am like your younger sister."
Vikash could not utter another word after that. It seemed Geeta broke his heart by calling him bhaiya.
After about 15 minutes, Vikash blew the whistle and the second half of the match started. Now it was my turn to be the one-man army and block the opposite team. I had already informed Geeta to be on the defense.
Monika as usual was following me parallelly on the field. I stopped and kept dribbling the ball.
Garima approached and tried getting the ball from me and while dribbling I took a step back and transferred the ball to my left hand and started to dribble. She was not able to understand and keep up with my moves.
Suddenly, I saw Aamaya rushing towards me to cover her sister, I knew controlling the two of them would be difficult, so I passed the ball to my sister. She rushed back to our side of the field giving them the impression that she was not sure as to where she was going. Darika rushed to her side to take the ball and suddenly my sister, with ease shifted the ball to the other hand, causing Darika to fall on the ground. Seeing this, Aamaya cried for foul but Vikash rejected the call, saying nobody pushed, she fell on her own. The match continued and by the end of the match, the girls were not able to score a single basket. Their arrogance and pride were fully shattered.
Monika, very excited with the outcome of the match, looked at the 3 sisters and said "Garima do you know why you lost the match? It was not because of me or Geeta. It was your overconfidence that took you down. By the way, for your information, my brother got admitted to Sainik School with a basketball scholarship. He plays in the nationals."
It felt like Monika was going to rant some more, so I went to her and covered her mouth with my left hand and said to Aamaya "I am sorry about my sister" and shook hands with all the participants of the opposing team.
Vikash took me to a corner and we started discussing the match, "Bro, I have been a referee in many matches, but for the first time in my life, I have seen such a one-sided match. I never had any doubts about your skills, but I can see that your sister is natural too and that friend of yours Geeta, is awesome.
Even a pro basketball player faces difficulty scoring a 3 pointer from the center field. She should be playing for the nationals."
I replied to Vikash, "You are right. She has the talent equipped to play for the nationals. But unfortunately, she cannot."
He asked me the reason why and I pulled him to a corner and pointed my finger towards Geeta and replied "Do you remember, before the match when Geeta was running into the field and the manner in which she touched the ground with her forehead, and also the way she scored the first basket for the 3 pointer from the centerline. Doesn't it remind you of an interstate sub-junior basketball tournament match we witnessed in Kolkata, There were 2 kids from the Bengal team who did a similar maneuver."
Vikash looked at Geeta closely and then said. "I remember the match and the kids you are talking about, but how can this be possible. I don't think so. Naah that cannot be. That's impossible."
TO BE CONTINUED....