Sky
Today was weekend. I asked Aliyah to go out tonight but she said her dad had come to visit and he wanted to take her out for dinner. It was nice having a father who loved taking their child out. Unlike mine who refused to talk to me since I've taken the job of a singer.
Mom called last night, asking if I had quit or not. She wanted to resume sending pocket money but when she heard that I was still doing it, she started screaming on the phone as usual.
"Why are you still acting like your brother? He didn't listen to us and ended up dropping out."
Again comparing me to him.
"But you still love him more than me, don't you? You say, he's a disappointment but you're still giving him more pocket money than me. Oh right, I forgot you cut off my pocket money a few months ago. So, you're giving money to your UnEmPlOyEd son but you're not supporting the one who has always tried their best to please you?" I argued back.
Though I normally just handled it calmly, I felt the need to remind her of the reality sometimes. Mom never asked of my well-being like if I was okay or if I had eaten. She only ever called to ask about my studies or just scold me.
"You're just like your brother, Nilima. You're being rude to me just like him."
"But he still leads a much more luxurious life than me, doesn't he? I clearly see the favouritism here."
My mom stayed silent when I countered back.
If I had been really like him, I'd have slept around, smoked weed, wasted money, called my mum a slut when refused money, called my dad an asshole when criticized about my behaviour and most of all, I'd have stopped studying all together. But I never did any of those.
So, was following my passion really the same as trying to be like my brother, especially when it didn't interfere with my studies?
"We're just helping him survive you know...." My mom mumbled, her voice almost close to a whisper.
I laughed at my mom's statement. I felt bad for my parents sometimes. No matter how messed up their favourite child may be, they wouldn't just leave them to suffer, would they?
"Then can you please give me peace and scold me when I actually threaten your so-called well planned future of mine? Just so, I can survive too. Or else I might just take my own life if you kept going like this." I sarcastically said but what came from my mother after that surprised me.
"Please don't say that, dear." Her voice had this subtle tremble to it.
"I'm hanging up, mom. Take care of yourself and dad."
I hung up not being able to handle my mom's tone anymore. Once she acted like she didn't care but at the next moment, she acted like she did. I just can't figure out my parents.
After fighting with her that night, just an hour later, a good amount of money was transferred to my bank account. I guess mom really felt bad about it. Even though I wanted to return it and tell her, I've been doing fine this past few months living off of my own money but I didn't.
I just texted a little thank you and accepted the money. I already gave them enough headache and also considering their work pressure and responsibility of feeding a grown adult unemployed person (my brother), they were surely really stressed out. But I did mention not to further send any money.
At present, I couldn't concentrate on reviewing my lecture anymore. I had my job tomorrow so, I made a cup of tea, the one a certain green eyed senior gave me, took my guitar and went to sit by the window but I was met with a cute little fluff ball waiting for me.
"Hey there, Silvy. How long have you been waiting here for? Why didn't you meow?" I cheerfully asked while sliding opening the window.
The elegant looking cat meowed before jumping inside my room. She was Silvy, one of my other besties. I didn't know her real name so, I called her Silvy since she had silky silver fur with black stripes.
I took Silvy into my arms and hugged her. She smelled really good as usual. Whoever her owner was, they definitely took a good care of her.
"Why didn't you visit me last two days? Did your owner finally catch you sneaking out and lock you up?" I babied her before placing her on my green bean bag.
She meowed as a reply and I acted as if I understood what she said.
"Oh, is that so?" I smiled at her.
This cat has been my emotional support for almost 2 years. At first, she only approached my window at night and watched me. But when I'd approach her, she'd run away. I couldn't even lure her with cat food and ended up giving up.
Then one night, I was cooking dinner which contained a special fish recipe from my grandma back in our hometown. I literally saw Silvy droll while looking at me eating. That's when I understood, maybe she preferred home cooked fish more than cat foods or canned raw fish. She ended up joining me for dinner often and became my best friend.
I know, it sounds funny but that's what unsocial people like me does.
I gave Silvy my leftover fish for dinner before going back to take my guitar. She would also often be my audience when I practiced singing. I sang the songs I'll be performing tomorrow at the bar.
Silvy's lime eyes were always on me, intently watching. It was nice having someone listening to me even though it was a cat.
One other reason, I loved Silvy was because she was really well-behaved and well-trained. Once, I literally saw her soak her paws in the running water of my sink before coming to eat with me.
Sounds unhinged and unbelievable, right? But it's true.
She was a clean freak. I remember having a flying cockroach in my studio. I freaked out and told Silvy to chase the cockroach away but the elegant looking cat, itself looked visibly disgusted which I didn't know was even possible.
We then ran around my studio like a madwoman and mad-cat while the flying cockroach chased us both. I've never seen a cat scared of cockroach in my life. Very memorable moment of my life.
After I was done with my practice, Silvy was also done devouring her food. She instantly came to me and took over my warm lap, a thing she did when she was feeling sleepy.
"You should go back, babe. Your owner might worry."
The cat lifted her neck like a giraffe before letting out a meow. She nudged her head against my belly before settling back down, as though reassuring me not to worry. I let out a sigh.
"Only a small nap, okay?"
I took my phone to search up a few recipes while I sipped my almost cold tea. I had to admit, the aroma was perfect that it made me help relax. However, I still had another thing to worry about which was my dinner appointment with my hot next-door neighbour.
Gosh, I didn't even know what she prefered or if she was allergic to something. I had to be careful, no? It wasn't everyday that someone invited themselves to eat my cooking.
I had to say, I've been a little excited since that encounter with her. It was hard believing some like her would even talk to me in the first place, or even eat with me.
I let out a loud sigh, which made the elegant cat on my lap lift her head to look at me.
"What should I do, Silvy?"
The lime eyed cat tilted her head, as though looking confused. Aww she was so cute!
"My hot neighbour who has a great taste in tea just asked to have dinner with me...I don't even know what she'd like to have."
I continued to babble my concerns to the cat while sipping the tae. Silvy was again intently watching me and licked my hand at some point in comfort.
Then I decided something that my unsocial and overthinking ass wouldn't ever do....approach someone first to strike up a conversation.....
TO BE CONTINUED....