Forgotten [Raakshyan Series Book 1]

Chapter 7

It was about three o’clock when my brothers’ friends arrived. They continued to ring the doorbell until I opened the door for them. The two already good looking boys seemed to look even better looking today. Jack had light skin and dark brown hair, which was neatly gelled back. He was tall and very muscular. He was never very serious though and always knew how to make people laugh. Kiran, my brothers’ friend since grade two, had dark brown skin and black hair, which was also gelled back. He wasn’t very muscular, but he wasn’t too scrawny either. He was always smart and really nice.

These two were only two of my brothers’ big group of friends. My brother told me that he invited all of his best buddies, a total of nine people, but only three of them would make it because the others had family parties to go to.

“Hey!” Jack said, in his booming, man filled voice.

I smiled. “Hey Jack! Hey Kiran!”

Kiran waved. “What happened to the van?” He asked.

I sighed. “Don’t remind me.” I said as I stepped aside.

They both laughed as they walked in. “Merry Christmas!” They both said at the same time. They handed me some gifts.

“Merry Christmas to you too and thanks!” I said.

They looked around my house after they had taken off their shoes and jackets. “Where’s Aathu?” Kiran asked.

Aathu was my brothers nick name. “He went to go buy drinks.” I said.

Jacks eyes widened. “Are you serious? You mean he left you here alone? Knowing we would come?”

I nodded.

Jack grinned. “Nice. Did I tell you that you look beautiful?”

I smiled. “And, he said to tell you that if he finds out that you were flirting with me, he’ll kill you.”

Jack frowned. “Damn.”

Kiran laughed as he sat on the couch.

Jack thought for a second and then looked at me. “Your friends are coming, right?” he asked.

I laughed as I put the presents under the tree. I walked up to the TV and turned it on for them and then, lifting Kero into my arms, I walked up the stairs to try calling everyone again.

And again, no one picked up. I began to go nuts. “Ohmygosh! Kero! What’s going on? What if no one shows? What am I going to do? After all this work!”

Kero shrugged. ‘I don’t think you should worry.’

“Not worry!” I yelled. “How can I not worry?”

Kero sighed.

It was then that I noticed something strange. I lifted Kero up and held him close to my face. I looked into his blue eyes. “You look very tired…” I said.

He seemed to stiffen. ‘Yes. I’m tired.’

I continued to look at him. He seemed more than very tired. He looked weak. “Really Kero, are you ok?” I asked.

He nodded. ‘I am.’

I began to worry. “Are you getting sick or something?” I asked. If he was I wouldn’t be able to take him to a vet, since he’s not a normal cat.

‘No, I’m fine. Don’t worry. Please.’

Right then, I heard the doorbell ring. I placed Kero on my bed. “Maybe you should rest a bit.” I said, as I kissed his forehead.

‘I really am okay.’ He said.

I sighed but pulled him into my arms, walked out of my room and down the stairs to get the door. When I was walking towards the door, I began to hear the loud commotion outside. I then ran to the door, recognizing the loud, familiar voices. I flung the door open.

“Merry Christmas!!”

I stared at all my cousins as they jumped up and down with presents in their hands. I smiled a wild smile that probably looked stupid. “Hey guys! Merry Christmas!”

All of them ran past me and towards the Christmas tree.

I stared at them, shocked.

“Merry Christmas, darling.”

I flung myself around and saw my Aunty Seretha smiling at me. “Hi!”

She smiled, “You look tensed.”

I sighed. “I am. I called you all so many times, and no one picked up! I thought the party was going to be a total fail!”

My aunty looked at Kero and smiled. “Well, I didn’t want to scare you, but it was all his idea.”

I looked down at Kero, who was smiling. I then looked back at my aunty, remembering that she could hear him too.

It had always been confusing, but my aunty could hear Kero, just like me. The only difference was that she could respond to him without being heard by others, telepathically. Unlike me who has to speak out loud, and that normally made me look like a fool.

“Wait, so scaring me was Kero’s idea?” I asked, looking down at Kero.

My aunty hesitated. “Well, it was actually supposed to be surprising you, not scaring you.” She laughed.

I stared at my gorgeous aunty. Her long black hair was braided back and her smile was perfect. She had bronze skin and a perfect body, for a 36 year old woman. The things that I thought made her look absolutely beautiful were her golden eyes. She told me that she was born with them and I believe her. She had a gentle soft voice too, to match her motherly look.

‘Yes. That’s exactly what it was.’ Kero said.

I bent down to pick him up. “So you knew all along that they wouldn’t pick up?”

Kero nodded.

“Jerk!” I frowned.

My aunty and Kero laughed. “Sweetie, he really did do it to surprise you though. He knew how much you loved Christmas and didn’t want you to spend it alone.” My aunt said.

I smiled and hugged Kero tightly. “I’m kidding. You are amazing!” I kissed his forehead.

One by one people started to show up. My uncle Aaron, Aunty Seretha’s husband and my father’s brother was a tall man, like my dad. He had black, shiny hair, like my dad and brown eyes, like my dad.

My dad’s two other brothers, Uncle Ayan and Uncle Aaru looked like my dad too. The only differences were that Uncle Ayan looked way younger than my dad and uncle Aaru wore glasses.

Aunty Seretha and Uncle Aaron had four girls, fourteen year old Veenaray, twelve year old Lakshmiray and the ten year old twins, Saumiray and Vishniray. Veenaray was cute, tall and had very curly hair, she had light brown skin and brown eyes and she wore glasses. Lakshmiray, also cute, was short and also had curly hair, light brown skin and brown eyes. Vishniray and Saumiray were twins, but they hardly looked alike, the only similarities were their big, round eyes, noses and ears. Vishniray was short and had light brown skin and Saumiray was tall, with light brown skin, but it was darker than Vishnirays’. Yes, they were all named after me! I always get excited when I introduce them to people.

Uncle Aaru and his wife Seetha had two kids, fourteen year old Harishan and nine year old Thareniray. Harishan was a tall boy that loved to play video games. He had black, short hair and nice light brown eyes. He also loved to hang with my brother. Thareniray, who was also named after me, was a cute little girl who you can never get mad at. She was small, with fair skin, brown eyes and short silky black hair that was always tied in two ponytails. Aunty Seetha was an awesome lady. She had the most beautiful voice in the world, fair skin, long, black hair and brown eyes.

Uncle Ayan and his wife Dilna had no kids but Aunty Dilna is pregnant! Aunty Dilna, the youngest aunt that I was close to, was a cool person. She was the aunt that you could talk to about things that you can’t tell older people. She had black hair with brown streaks, brown eyes and brown skin.

“So, when are we opening presents?” Harishan asked me. “And where’s Aathavan?”

I looked at the time, it was four. “We’ll open presents as soon as all the guests arrive, and Aathavan should be here soon.”

“Oh, what time will all the guests be here?” He asked.

I smiled. “Soon.”

Veena (short for Veenaray) walked up to us. “Can we eat?”

I looked at her. “Not yet. As soon as all the guests arrive.”

“Oh, what time will all the guests be here?” She asked.

“Soon!” I laughed. “Wow, hosting a party is hard work.” I said as I turned around and looked at my aunty.

She was busy putting some food she brought on the table.

Then, the doorbell rang. I opened the door and saw Lila, Tiana, Ivana, Chanu and Nivea standing there, grinning. “Merry Christmas!” They said together.

“Oh. My. Gosh. You all were in on this too?”

They laughed. “Yup!” Lila said.

“We did a good job, eh?” Chanu asked.

“But Tiana almost blew it.” Ivana said, nudging Tiana.

Tiana frowned. “I forgot, geez.” She said.

I laughed.

“Your bro’s home right?” Ivana asked.

I grinned. “Sorry ladies, he’s out.”

All their smiled faded. “No. Way.” Nivea said. “He’s always gone!”

“Well, don’t worry, he’ll be back soon, but then he’s going to leave. And then he’ll come back with his girlfriend.” I smiled.

“Damn.” My friends all said.

Kero snorted. ‘How immature.’

My friends all looked at him. “What did he say?” Tiana asked. They knew about Kero’s secret too.

I looked down at Kero, smiling evilly. “He said you guys are immature.”

My friends looked at him.

Kero took a step back, after watching them carefully, he turned around and started running up the stairs.

My friends threw their gifts at me and chased after him.

I laughed loudly. “That’s what you get for scaring the crap out of me!” I yelled.

‘You are pure evil!’ I heard Kero shout.

I continued to laugh as I walked to the Christmas tree and put the presents underneath it. About five minutes later, Aathu got home.

“Man, I forgot all the stores were closed.” He said, holding two heavy bags filled with pop.

“Where did you get these from?” I asked.

“I had to drive thirty minutes to the Megaton Center.”

I frowned. “Sorry for the trouble.”

He smiled and bent down to kiss my forehead. “Anything for my baby sis.”

Right then, my friends walked into the kitchen, abusing Kero. Well, kissing, hugging, and petting from my friends was what Kero called abuse. They froze when they saw Aathavan, who was smiling at them.

Suddenly, they all greeted him in high pitched voices.

He saluted them. “Hey girls.”

Kero took this time to jump out of their arms and run towards me. ‘I hate you.’ He said.

I smiled. “Well, I love you.” I picked him up and kissed him.

He smiled.

I left the awkwardness of my kitchen as my friends flirted with my brother and walked into the living room. All the aunties were sitting together, talking. All the uncles were staring at the TV, watching hockey. Something made Aunty Seretha laugh, her amazingly musical laugh and I saw Uncle Aaron turn his head and look at her. His look was filled with total love and passion. The two were the cutest couple in the world, I always dreamed to have a guy that looked at me the way that Uncle Aaron looked at Aunty Seretha.

A long time ago, my father told me that my aunty and my uncle fell in love, but my grandparents didn’t accept. Apparently, my aunty came from a family that was, my father always struggled to find the right word, different. My dad was the one that convinced my grandparents to let them get married because he was the eldest and his words were most respected. All my uncles have always respected my father, but after that, my uncle Aaron thought of him as more than a brother. Whenever I get mad at my dad, my uncle reminds me of how much my father loves me, and how he only does things for my good. He says he has always believed in my father, and he did something for him that made him think of my dad as his god.

I always laugh at that, because you seriously have to respect someone to call them your god. But I see the relationship between my dad and his brother. I have never heard my uncle call my dad by his name. He would always call him Anna (pronounced Ah-In-Na, not Anna) which is a respectful way of referring to your big brother in Tamil. Not to mention the fact that my uncle would do anything for my dad. Let it be picking up something, or leaving his job and driving four hours to help my dad because his van broke down in the middle of the road. That’s what I call brotherly love.

My Aunty Seretha looked over at my uncle and smiled lovingly at him.

I smiled and looked down.

Kero smiled too. True love was the only type of love that made Kero smile.