Aunt Sayani is fuming when she gets off the call with mother. Kaitlyn and I look at her, concerned. She is generally a very mild woman. I have spent most of my younger days at their house, playing with Kaitlyn and sipping my favourite rice bowl with tender lamb stew, with Aunt Sayani prepares with her exotic spices mix. Sayani would never hurt Kaitlyn, I know. I've spent so many lazy days at this house trying to ignore the envy I used to feel for Kaitlyn, but at times like these, I couldn't help it. I have often looked out of the window and prayed to the stars to get a mother like Sayani. But of course, all I ever heard was mother, shrieking from downstairs to do some work or the other.
Now I see Aunt Sayani coming out of her room, the phone clutched in her hand and red in the face. She comes straight at me and almost shout at me, "Why the hell did you never tell me you were being bullied? Not just by your classmates or peers, but by your mother!"
Kaitlyn is on her feet, trying to calm her down. Sayani shoves her away, and Kaitlyn looks at her, horrified. It's quite a scenario to look at Aunt Sayani so angry, she looks like an angry cat. But my face is blank with confusion.
"I'm not being... bullied," I stammer. "She is my mother, she can't bully me. She is perhaps a little, um, strict, and..."
"And she calls you an ugly bastard, good-for-nothing and tells me that you're used to hearing this? What sort of mother does that, Az?"
I'm still reeling over the absurdity of the situation. Mother has always been like this, so why is Aunt Sayani treating the matter like it was something big? Of course, she doesn't mean any of this? She is my mother, she couldn't mean all these, right? She's strict, that's all.
I take a deep breathe and proceed to explain this to her. But before I can utter a single word, she cuts me off.
"Az, I need to go out of the town. Soon. Right now, in fact. I need some of your documents if you've brought them with you." WIth that, she spins on her heels and stalk out of the room.