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Eva walked out of her bedroom closing the door. She decided to arrange the clean stack of dishes back into the cupboards before she went to bed, hence arriving home from her fun filled day with Janet and Michael two hours ago.

Hopping off the last stack of stairs she walked in the direction of the kitchen but stopped by the thrilled voice of daadi inside the living room.

“Eva! Come to the living room. I have someone special on the phone to talk to you!” Daadi said in an eager tone.

I wonder who it could be. It can’t be vikram he is always too busy to call. It should be mama and papa it’s been awhile since I last spoke to them. Eva mused.

 

Eva obeyed stepping aside to open the living room door to see Daadi holding the landline to her ear with a beaming smile.

 

“Your husband to be is on the phone! He wants to hear your sweet voice Eva. Since he is tired of talking to mine” Daadi said in response hearing the chuckle from the other end.

 

Eva stared in doe eyed disbelief at the words that had just come out of daadi’s mouth. She didn’t want to talk to Vikram.

 

She answered in a soft tone “daadi it’s late can’t I talk to him tomorrow. I have to sleep”

 

“It is never too late for your husband child! Come talk to him now! I don’t want to run his phone bill to call us. Don’t mind her my son in law.” Daadi barked at poor Eva before handing the phone over to her.

 

Holding the phone to her ear under the watchful of Grandma Riya Eva spoke into the phone meekly.

 

“Hello Vikram”

 

“hello my patnee honi ki liye. Indeed it has been a long time we last spoke. I hear from daadi your studying a subject? Why didn’t you confide in me?” He replied in a smooth loving voice that sounded false in Eva’s ears knowing what he truly meant underneath his words.

 

Why didn’t you ask for my permission to study in a collage! You are under my control and don’t think I can’t break you.

 

I- I thought it would keep me occupied till you return prem.” Eva replied softly.

“well next time please do inform me of your activities of any kind that doesn’t involve me hm? It is getting late I’ll leave you be for the night. I will call you again for next few days so you can enlighten me about your studies so far” He replied.

“Yes. Goodnight” Eva answered and Vikram hung up the call. It felt like an eternity talking to Vikram on the phone and she wasn’t looking forward to spending more time on the phone with her husband to be.

“Wonderful child. I am so glad to hear you and Vikram talk again. When did he say he will call again?” Daadi asked curiously.

 

“He said he will be calling for the next few days.” She replied with a grimace.

“now that is excellent child. Now you can go back and do what you wanted to do before I called you in. drop the phone down for me” Daadi told her before looking away to continue watching the TV show on the television.

Eva obeyed her commands and left her in the living room. She went to the kitchen bending down with her head in her hands breathing in and out to calm her frizzled emotions from the conversation with Vikram reminding her again of destined doom.

.

.

 

Sunday the 9th of May 1997

Over the last few days Eva tossed and turned losing sleep over the threats Vikram always seemed to say in their nightly conversations since Wednesday’s night call. She feared for his return in several months’ time. She didn’t want to lose the small portion of happiness she had found in Michael, his family and Paul because of him.

She knew once she was married off to Vikram there would be no chance for her to see them ever again. He wouldn’t allow no one else but her family come near her when he decides to leave her back in India and do what he pleases.

 

It was midafternoon as Eva cuddled up in her duvets trying to catch up on lost sleep. But it looked like it wasn’t going happen, when the door creaked open revealing Adil. He quietly tip toped into the room to see his cousin cocooned in multi coloured duvet snoozing away.

Adil felt shame slither in his chest at what his older cousin was going to face with such a vicious and cold hearted man. He wished he could find a way to help get her get out of this mess she was sent here for.

But for now he would allow for her to get the small piece of happiness she received from Michael and his family alongside Paul. After thinking about what would eventually happen. He admitted inwardly the afro dude wasn’t a bad guy. Now all that was left to do was convince his stubborn twin that he wasn’t bad news. He hoped one day he would change his mind and think about his cousin’s happiness instead of being such a hypocrite.

Shaking his head to clear his mind off his thoughts Adil quietly walked up to her bed ripping the duvet of her ignoring the drowsy glare she threw at him giving back a mischievous grin.

“Get up cousin. You have a guest waiting for you down the road” Adil said in a cheerful voice.

“Who?” Eva replied rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Oh he has a afro and seems to be in love with you. Does he ring any bells?” Adil described with a sly smirk.

Michael is here?! Please tell him I’ll be ready in thirty minutes!” Eva blurted out pushing Adil back to get herself off the bed to get ready.

“Don’t worry I will. Eva I am on your side now. I know before I wasn’t happy about your friendship

But now I see Michael Jackson is a good guy” Adil admitted to the astonishment of his cousin.

Adil mentioned where he was parked before leaving her to get dressed. Popping his head in the room to check on his twin and found him snoring for all his worth. Not wasting any time he left the house closing the front door behind him. He strolled out of the small parking space passing by three houses down the side walk to where Michael parked.

“Hi afro dude she is just getting dressed she will be arriving shortly” Adil said to the waiting Michael behind the wheel.

“Thanks Adil” Michael responded politely to the younger teen.

“So I sense you might have accepted me in your lives. Is that a good thing or should I be worried?” Michael said to break the awkward silence.

“Well I admit you’re not a bad guy doesn’t mean that I’ve accepted you like aaddesh will. You’ll have to convince him better than me” Adil replied shrugging his shoulders.

“I’m glad to be in your good graces at least. So how about spending time with Paul? Eva told me you both admire him for some odd reason” Michael replied with a smirk.

 

“What really? You’d get a session for my bro and I to spend time with him?—that’s eh fine” Adil gushed then realized he was acting like a fan coughed inside into his hand.

 

“Sure Paul has told me he doesn’t mind continuing the lessons he was teaching you during the cook out” Michael replied with a grin.

 

The pair shared a light hearted chuckle before the presence of Eva rushing into the scene interrupted the conversation.

 

“I’m here! Oh you both are getting along.” Eva said. She was surprised to see Adil and Michael laughing together for the first time.

 

=“Of course we get along silly sheesh. Don’t worry Eva I’ll inform daadi that you went out to spend a day with some classmate or some other excuse. Nice talking to you afro head. Bring her back by 5.30 she needs to be home in time for a phone call” Adil replied before walking away with a wave behind his back.

Eva gazed at the back of her younger cousin sighing till she turned around to open the door of Michael’s car to bend down and seat inside the car seat.

“I know it’s slightly unexpected for me to suddenly appear like this Eva. But I really did want to spend more time with you today. We need to talk” Michael said in a serious tone.

“Oh about what?” Eva replied curious and on guard for the first time hearing Michael using such a serious tone towards her.

“We can discuss that when we get home. My uncle and aunt havebeen asking about you since the cookout. Well more of Aunt Jay than Uncle Roy” Michael replied with a roll of his eyes breaking the serious atmosphere. He started the engine and began to drive out of the car space.

“Oh no your aunt jay loves to tease me about our eh relationship” Eva replied red-faced.

“She means well. She likes to tease you” Michael replied with a bark of laughter.

The pair continued to chat during the drive to the Jackson family home. They arrived in the nick of time as Michael parked in his usual spot.

The duo walked away from the car to step into back garden to see Janet, Aunt Jay and Uncle Roy sitting on wooden chairs and small table in the middle carrying the half-eaten cheesecake and cool beverages.

“Well damn the fucking famous Eva is back! Back to see us kid?” Uncle Roy yelled greeting with a beer in his hand.

“Roy! How many times have I told you about swearing in front of the kids?” Aunt Jay said giving her husband a pointed glare while she tucked into her slice of cheesecake.

“I clearly don’t care hun. I will swear in front of them they aren’t fucking children.” Uncle Roy replied with a snort.

“so when we have our own kids you will swear freely in front of them?” She retorted back.

“okay you two let’s not frighten our guest. Hiya Eva. I’m happy to see you again!” Janet injected into the squabbling older adults knowing how silly their arguments can be.

“Hello everyone. How is everyone?” Eva responded shyly to the trio of eyes watching her.

After the greetings Michael and Eva spent some time with the rest of the family till they left going to his bedroom where they both sat on his bed facing each other.

“The reason I came over to see you Eva. On Wednesday when you saw those men leaving. They threatened me to stay away from you and that made me curious. Why would these men I don’t know tell me to stay away from you? It also bought back the memory in my mind during the day we went to the supermarket and the elderly lady you spoke to eyed me in disgust and you never explained what it all meant. Now is there a chance you could explain what is going on to me??” Michael explained in a firm tone.

“Well the old lady was a friend of my grandma at home. She disapproved that I was spending time with you. You see Michael my family aren’t exactly warm to meeting new people who are not Indian.

I am not even fully Indian but my grandma loves to throw jabs at my mixed heritage she isn’t the only one who doesn’t love my mixed heritage that my mother married into. Most of the time its looks of disgust or cold glares my family receive from the community or my mother’s side”

 Eve sighed in response.

 

“I did notice you weren’t fully Indian Eve. Your eye colour gave it away” Michael replied jokingly.

“I’m glad you finally notice but apart from that the men you mentioned I have no clue who they are. I have never spoken to them before” she replied truthfully.

“It’s sad your family do this to you Eve.  If you need a place to stay away from your family. My family and I have your back. It’s obvious everyone loves you and I believe you” Michael replied while he bravely wrapped an arm around her shoulder pulling her to his side.

Eva felt the flutter of butterflies her stomach as she breathed in his natural scent mixed with a hint of mint. She didn’t want to let the hug end if not she would continue to allow the unknown feelings spring to mind.

“Would you like to learn about what my life was back home?” Eva coughed scratching her nose.

“Am I going to learn that you were a rebellious child?” Michael gasped in mock horror.

“I wasn’t that bad!” she retorted slapping his shoulder while Michael chuckled from her reaction.

Sure you weren’t Eva. Now I want to hear what you did as a child” Michael replied sarcastically.

“I was around seven or six around the time when this story came about. I was at home with my cousins at their house. You see my family lived in a semi large village where everyone was safe enough to let the children to walk around the village as long someone else was there to watch over us. I had gone to my cousins’ place on my own where my ten year old cousin Kiran was bored and wanted to have fun. So she suggested with my cousins and I grab the buckets to fill them up with water to start a water fight. It didn’t take long for us to be throwing water at each other until I noticed my bucket was empty. I decided   to seize some mud from the ground and threw it at the back of one of my cousins closest to me. Sadly we all ended up in trouble for ruining our clothes” she explained with a smirk.

“You were a rebel. Look out world here comes Eva” Michael replied with a smirk.

“Don’t you mean famous Eva?” Eva replied with a cheeky wink.

“Well I – uh” Michael stuttered speechless. He hadn’t expected her to wink at him.

He coughed looking away as Eva snickered behind her hand.

“How about a game of shooter soaker?” Michael suggested.

“What is this game?” Eva questioned confused.

“The aim of the game is use the guns filled with water to get the person or group of people soaked from head to toe. It’s a fun lighted game and I thought you might like it or we can do something else” Michael explained to her.

“That sounds wonderful! I haven’t played water fights in a long.” Eva exclaimed excited by the game.

 

“Well there is a catch… It’s usually a family game and I was wondering if my family could join us besides the loser who is completely soaked has to buy the whole family Chinese” Michael asked with puppy dog eyes.

 

“Don’t throw those eyes at me Michael. I have enough cousins to be immune to it. I love your family and it would be fun. Who won the last time this game was played?” she replied with a roll of her eyes.

 

“Paul won but he chose to buy Chinese for Janet’s lost” Michael sighed.

 

“He truly is a gentleman” Eva replied with a laugh.

 

“He would be so pleased to hear you say it” Michael said laughing along with her.

 

Not wasting anymore time the pair rose from Michael’s bed not allowing the serious conversation they shared previously overshadow their minds momentarily. The duo walked out of the house where the rest of the Jackson family were still sat relaxing.

 

The rest of the Jackson clan were happy to hear about the return of their favorite game they hadn’t played in a long time. So Michael and Janet left Eva with their uncle and aunt to find the box of water shooters inside the house.

 

 

Now inside the storage room (next to the kitchen) Michael dragged the cardboard box underneath a stack of old boxes. He opened the lid to see the nerf super soaker alaphafire blasters staring back at him.

 

“It’s been awhile since we last played Michael. Why the sudden time to play it now? You want to impress Eva?” Janet said in a teasing tone.

“eh no. It’s just a friendly game dunk!” Michael protested before lifting the box off the ground.

 

sure you don’t bro” Janet mocked in a sing song tone stepping aside to let Michael walk ahead.

 

Michael didn’t bother with a reply as he focused his attention walking to the back of the house. Janet followed closely behind him. The pair of siblings arrived outside the home to see Aunt Jay squeezing poor Eva’s cheeks while Uncle Roy was snickering behind his hand watching his wife embarrass his nephew’s girlfriend.

 

Noticing the siblings had returned Uncle Roy stood up from his seat to gently pull his wife away from Eva’s reddening cheeks.

 

“Shit love leave the girl’s cheeks alone. Don’t embarrass her any further. The kids are fucking back now” Uncle Roy chided.

 

“Good your both back! Now I can explain the game to Eva. We usually would spilt into teams of three and two. But since Paul isn’t here we can still spilt into the same number. Now who wants to pair up with---?” Aunt Jay explained before she was cut off by Janet’s yell.

 

“I’ll team up with Eva and Michael can team up with you!”

 

“Aww baby you want to spilt the couple up?” Aunt Jay said in a teasing tone.

 

“Aunt Jay! It’s nothing like that! But I did want to pair up with you Eva. Perhaps next time” Michael sighed rolling his eyes at the smirk on his aunt’s face.

 

“Well um it’s fine with me.” Eva replied locking eyes with Janet who gave her a cheeky grin.

 

“Teams sorted. Let’s get fucking started!” Uncle Roy hollered.

 

Aunt Jay sighed at his language knowing how much she nagged he wouldn’t stop. Without any delay the water guns were filled with water from the garden hose and passed around to each person. Almost immediately the game began as Uncle Roy sprayed the first shot at Janet who dodged his aim. The game continued good heartedly with yells of protest and cheer as everyone ended up becoming partially soaked apart from Michael who ended up soaked from head to toe.

 

“Well that was a fun game. It’s my turn to get Chinese.” Michael sighed shaking his empty gun as everyone else laughed at his drenched appearance.

 

“Indeed son. I can’t wait to eat my share of the food” Uncle Roy boasted rubbing his tummy.

 

“Aren’t you cold Michael?” Eva asked in concern eyeing Michael’s trimmed body though his drenched shirt.

 

“oh? You don’t like what you see from my brother Eva? We can have a sleepover some time if you want to see his body more” Janet blurted out to the shock of her guardians and Eva.

“JANET!” the trio hollered at the young woman.

“What? I wasn’t saying she should see him naked sheesh” Janet replied innocently shrugging her shoulders.

“I’ll get dressed and when I come back I’ll drop you off home Eva. Please ignore what my family try to rope you into” Michael replied to Eva grinning sheepishly then turned around to dress into a fresh set of clothes.

Luckily Michael didn’t stay up in his room for too long after ten minutes he was outside yet again to see his family engaging in a civilized conversation with Eva.

Eva looked up from her chat with Aunt Jay to see Michael in a fresh set of clothes wearing a cherry t-shirt and navy coloured jeans with white sneakers on his feet. Eva wished farewell to the family and left with Michael to get home in time.

Chapter End Notes:

been awhile since my last update!. like always I'll update when I can :)

Enjoy!

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