After praying, Rajani rested her head and slept.
ꕤ⊹ . ݁˖❀˚₊˚✧ ☁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁✧.☂˚.𖤓 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓷 ꕤ⊹ . ݁˖❀˚₊˚✧ ☁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁✧.☂˚.𖤓
Chirp! Chirp!
The loud but pleasing chirps of a few blue jays perching in the branches of the tall, leafy tree outside Rajani's room woke her up to yet another beautiful morning.
She rolled out of her bed and got ready for the day ahead of her by changing into a baggy shirt and shorts, brushing her teeth, doing her skincare routine, and checking up on her father.
As soon as Rajani opened the door to her father's room, she was shocked to see that he was shocked to see her enter his room.
"Dad?" Rajani whispered. "Why're you not sleeping?"
Mr. Archarya turned around to face his daughter. "I- I just woke up. Can you leave me alone now?"
"No, Dad; I need to make breakfast for you, remember? Brush your teeth, wash your face, and change now so that when you finish, I will have already finished making breakfast."
"Ugh," Mr. Archarya muttered as he turned away from his daughter. He made himself comfortable by wrapping himself in his fluffy blue blanket like a burrito.
"Just make breakfast, I'll get ready when you finish," he said.
Rajani frowned. "But the food will get cold when you—"
She suddenly stopped talking because of a pillow being thrown at her head.
"Leave me alone!"
Rajani stared at her father, perplexed, and then decided to follow his orders. She opened the door and made sure not to shut it behind her.
Serves him right, Rajani thought. How dare he throw a pillow at me? Ugh, and this whole interaction was so weird. Dad usually never stays in his bed for that long, and since when did he throw pillows at me just because I'm waking him up to get ready for breakfast? Maybe he quit smoking and is having withdrawals? I hope so, that would be better than him continuing to smoke.
She walked to the kitchen and decided to make eggs, bacon, and pancakes. They were her favorite breakfast to make, not only because they were delicious, but also because they were easy to make. Rajani could make a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and pancakes for her and her father in less than thirty minutes.
She also loved to make them because they were her father's favorite breakfast. Rajani preferred to eat crepes, but she made her father's favorite breakfast because she loved to see him happy, especially if his happiness was because of something she did.
After making breakfast, Rajani ran upstairs to tell her father that breakfast was ready. She was about to open the door to her father's room but stopped when she suddenly had the urge to use the bathroom, a very uncomfortable urge. Fulfilling her urge, Rajani decided to rush to the bathroom before informing her father about the newly made breakfast.
After emptying her bladder and finishing up, Rajani finally felt at ease and turned on the sink faucet to wash her hands. To her surprise, there was no water running from the faucet.
Oh my gosh, Rajani thought as she rolled her eyes. Either the pipes aren't working or Dad didn't pay the water bill, again!
She smacked her teeth and crouched down to the sink cabinet to try to see if something was wrong with the sink pipes, perhaps they had broken somehow or something inside the pipes was clogging them. Rajani opened the cabinet but did not expect to see what she saw.
Inside the cabinet sat a plastic water bottle with a purple-colored drink contained in it.
What's this water bottle doing here? she thought. I've never seen this water bottle in my life. I'll go ask Dad what's in this water bottle.
Rajani took the odd-looking bottle from the cabinet and walked to her father's room.
"Dad," she said.
Mr. Archarya's back faced Rajani. "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" he snapped. "What do you—"
"Did you pay the water bill?"
There was silence for a few seconds before Mr. Archarya decided to speak.
"Yes, I did."
Rajani crossed her arms. "Then why is there no water coming out of the sink?"
"There... there's not?"
"No. Maybe something's wrong with the pipes."
"Okay, go take a look at it."
"Before I do that, what's this drink?" Rajani asked. "Is it grape-flavored? Can I have some?"
Without even looking at the drink Rajani was holding, Mr. Archarya knew what it was.
"W-where did you get that from?" he stammered, trying to contain the shakiness in his voice.
Mr. Archarya slowly turned around and frowned at the sight he saw. His normally snappy attitude had been snapped in half with that sight, now he was a nervous wreck. His breathing was shallow and rapid, each exhale shaky and uneven. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, glistening in the soft light as he wiped his clammy palms on his blue blanket.
"The bathroom cabinet," Rajani replied. "Why?"
"Put that drink back! It's not for you!" Mr. Archarya roared like a lion.
Rajani jumped like a small mouse and was taken aback by her father's sudden outburst. She sighed deeply and decided not to lash out at her father for shouting at her.
"Okay, but you didn't have to yell," she muttered as she returned to the bathroom to put the mysterious liquid where she found it.
Rajani went to the kitchen, and there, she started making breakfast. She was confused about the interaction she had with her father. The fact that his heart almost leaped out of his chest just because he saw her holding a water bottle with a purple liquid inside was suspicious.
What was that liquid? Rajani thought. I just know that there's something odd about that liquid, else, why would Dad act like I was holding a gun when he saw me?
She turned the sink faucet to drink some water, however, no water came out.
Ugh! So Dad really didn't pay the water bill! How dare he lie to me about something like this?!
Rajani angrily raced up the stairs to her father's room and burst the door open as the FBI would the door of a pedophile.
At the sight of his daughter, Mr. Archarya sighed like a deflating balloon.
"What do you want?"
"Why would you lie to me about paying the water bill?" Rajani roared like a lion. "Do you really have to lie about everything?"
"You're one to speak about lying," Mr. Archarya replied. "I don't want to go back and forth with you. Please leave me alone."
"Um, hello?! We don't have water! When are you going to pay the bill?"
Mr. Archarya exhaled deeply. "Soon. For now, you can just buy a pack of water bottles."
"So am I going to use that same water bottle to wash my hands and shower? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?"
Mr. Archarya banged his fist on a nearby desk before turning bitterly at his daughter. He looked extremely annoyed, one could practically see the smoke coming from his ears.
"Get out! I don't want to speak to you!"
Rajani recoiled at his rude outburst.
How dare he speak to me like that? Isn't he the one blatantly lying about paying the water bill? she thought.
"Who gave you the audacity to speak to me that way after you just lied about paying the water bill?" Rajani bellowed. "Ravon literally gave me one thousand dollars for our bills and I gave the money to you! How can you be so forgetful with something so important?!"
Mr. Archarya dramatically looked around the room as if he were looking for something. He even looked under his fluffy blue blanket.
"Is there someone else in this room? 'Cause I know you're not talking to me with that attitude!"
"Actually, I am! 'Cause what type of person would be handed money for the bills and forget to pay them?"
"I already told you that I'll pay the bills soon! Just get out of my room!"
Rajani rolled her eyes and decided it was better to leave the room than continue arguing with her father.
Even though she and her father frequently got into these little arguments, Rajani still loved and cared about her father more than words could express. She was still determined to do anything to honestly or dishonestly earn twenty thousand dollars for her father's treatment, and nothing could stop that determination.