Fist Bump

Chapter 10

"Good morning," Sam didi greeted me the next morning with a wide beam. She was popped on the kitchen chair, drinking something that looked like black coffee. I jumped onto the table to face her and took a banana to eat. My mom seemed to have left for work and dad never even came home.

"Where is your friend?" Sam didi asked.

"Still sleeping," I said nodding towards the bedroom. It hurt to wake up against her. It felt like something strong is straining against my heart, urging for a release.

"She seems like a nice kid," Didi said. "That girl."

"Yeah. She is..." I said absentmindedly. Wait, what? "Huh?" I looked at Sam didi.

"I would really like to know why a girl is pretending to be a boy though," Didi said.

"How in the world do you know?" I asked, shocked, and flabbergasted.

Sam didi smiled. "I hugged her last night."

"So? Her chest is flat when it's bounded."

"I work in theatre, Veer. I have played male roles. I know how a bounded chest feels. And I know a girl when I see one. She has fake sideburns and only a fool will mistake that face for a boy's."

I looked at her still not able to recover from the shock.

"You-You won't tell anybody will you?" I asked nervously. "You can't..."

"Well, it's your business. So why would I ever tell?" She asked. Well, Sam didi is the freest thinking person in the world. She is bizarre and cool. So I think I can trust her on that. She won't tell.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone," I asked her. "Don't even tell Jai that you know. She will freak out. Promise me."

She noticed the seriousness in my voice. So she put her coffee cup and looked at me seriously. "Of course," She said. "I promise."

I smiled. I could trust Sam didi. She was a really good and nice person. "So...what's the story?" She asked me.

I explained the situation to her. How Jai's dad got murdered and how her uncle is trying to kill her and how she has to stay hidden till she turns 18 years old. How Jai was my best friend since we were 15 and how I had no idea that she was a girl until very recently.

"You actually thought she was a boy for two years?" Sam didi asked laughing. "How could you?"

"She was that good in acting," I said. "She turned herself completely into a boy for two years."

"Must have been tough for her." didi said.

"Yeah..." I agreed. "I feel so bad for her. Wish if I could do something..."

"Maybe you can..." didi said.

I looked at didi. Then I had an idea. 

The second day in Veer's house went really fine. Veer and I pretended like last night's dangerous closeness did not happen. Sameera didi stayed in the house till it was afternoon. She even made us lunch.

Veer and I played some basketball on the court of the apartment complex. Veer taught me to shoot baskets. I was kind of getting improved on that. I even managed to shoot a couple of baskets.  

At night, both the parents were not home. And Sameera didi was bound to come home late. So we got to bed. I climbed onto the bed early and pretended to be asleep. That was easier. I could feel Veer's presence beside me. But I just closed my eyes tight and tried to go to sleep.