065 The mirror family

The following day was Palm Sunday.

The easter and summer holidays always coincided. So we spent almost all our easter with chachan in my previous life too. Chachan's biological kids also joined us. So it would get really crowded and noisy by easter.

In the morning, we went to church. Anuchi sat with mom in the church. Pichu and Piya were my responsibility. But it was only a sham. In truth, Appa was keeping a strict watch on all of us.

On Palm Sunday, in our place, we use tender leaves of coconut. At first, the priest blessed it. Then it was distributed to the worshipers. Seeing the little fellows holding the white coconut leaves seriously was a cute sight.

After distributing the leaves, the priest started his speech. Pichu, Piya and I were sitting in the first row in the church.

Halfway through the speech, the priest started looking at us.

I didn't know what was the issue.

I looked around to see what was wrong.

My search stopped at Pichu. He was gnawing on the leaf!

"What are you doing?" I smacked him on the back of his head.

"Eating." He replied and took another bite of the leaf. Half the leaf was already eaten by the senseless fellow.

"Why are you eating it?" I asked while rescuing the rest of the poor leaf from him.

"Piya told Pichu."

I looked at Piya. She was covering her mouth with both her hands and struggling not to laugh. She's only three years old and she's already making troubles just like her elder sister. I wanted to punch some sense into her. But didn't have the courage. She's a bit scary.

"Pichu, it is not for eating. Just hold it." I returned the leaf to him.

"But... Appa - amma always eat."

"That's 'bread and wine'. Not coconut leaf. Stop eating it." I didn't know what to do with this dumb guy.

"Mmm." He agreed and started picking his tooth.

"Hmm? What happened?" After the mass, mom asked after seeing the half-eaten leaf.

"Pichu ate it," Pichu answered.

"Why?"

"Because Piya said..." He continued answering mom in his own broken words. Mom understood his language. So I didn't have to explain.

There were many people who were curious about the leaf with half of it gone.

Mom had an extra headache explaining to all of them. Other than that, it was a fine day till the evening.

In the evening, more people joined our family.

It was chachan's youngest son, Peter and his family.

I checked them out.

Peter uncle was someone of the same age as Appa. His face was neatly shaved. There wasn't even a single crease on his shirt. There was an impeccable smile on his face. He was polite and handsome. His wife was also perfect. She was wearing a black saree. As for their kids, they had four. They also brought an elegant looking cat.

The eldest one was a girl named Anita who was the same age as Anuchi. The second one was a boy of my age. His name was Aloshi and the last two were twins the same age as Pichu and Piya.

It was as if they were a mirror family of ours. I met them last year also. But I didn't notice this similarity.

"Kariacha... Would you please help me with the bags?" Peter uncle asked dad politely.

"I will. Just talk normally." Dad was visibly irritated.

I knew the reason.

"Elder sister... You look even younger now." He greeted Jeemma happily.

"Really? It must be because of the cream you sent." Jeemma was also happy to see him.

This was the reason dad hated him. His name was Peter. When he was a child, he had a crush on Jeemma. Because of this, Jeemma always had a special liking for him.

In simpler words, he was a competition to appa.

"That's great. I have brought more for you." Peter uncle pointed to his bag.

"You shouldn't have. Isn't that too costly?"

"Not at all... It cannot be bought with money. I got it through my contacts. So I didn't have to pay anything."

"Why can't you buy it with money?" Appa intertjected. He didn't like that he was being ignored.

"Because it is made from the feces of tiger after feeding it with fried chicken made from a secret recipe." Peter uncle explained with a proud face.

"So you put poop-cream on face?" I simplified the situation.

Appa looked at me and gave me a secret thumps up. I just nodded. It was natural for me to help him as we were in the same team this time.

"No no no. An extract from the poop is used to make the cream." He explained.

"Ohh... So it's refined poop. Why do you want a tiger for that? You can just ask Pichu. He is a poop factory." I pointed at Pichu.

Pichu stood there with a proud smile. Sometimes his innocense makes me jealous.

"Well... you see, in the tiger's stomach, there are special..." Peter uncle started explaining. I immediately regretted asking him. It turned out that he had studied the entire science behind the tiger poop.

"Just ignore him. He is makeing trouble for you." In the end Jeemma intervened to rescue me.

I decided not to ask him any more questions. But I was succeful in plating the idea of poop-cream in Jeemma's mind. So it was a partial victory for me. Now I have to take care of others.

I looked at Doodu.

He was curiously checking out the elegant cat. The cat sat with its head raised high and eyes closed. She was slender and beautiful. Her fur was pure white. There was a bright red collar on her neck. Compared to her, Doodu was huge and scary. Still, it didn't look like the cat was scared of Doodu.

I turned my eyes to my counterpart.

A boy of about four years old. He was wearing a full sleeve shirt. It was tucked in properly and even the collar button was buttoned. He looked like a better version of me. I wanted to punch him in the face for no reason. It was hate at first sight.

"Hello, Mr Alex. It's nice to meet you again." He said politely.

"Who is Alex?" I asked confusedly.

"... You?" he was also confused.

I was confused for a few seconds.

Then I realised it. My actual name is Alex! But nobody calls me that. I almost forgot my own name.

"Ahhh... For a long time, I wondered what your actual name was." Anuchi looked at me with a surprised face.

"..." I was speechless.

She wasn't the only one. Almost everyone around me were nodding in realization.

"So, no one remembers my name?" I was heartbroken.

"Achu, baby, don't worry about that. Who cares about that name when you have the cute name 'achu'?" Anita consoled me.

"Who are you?" I asked. I didn't want to be too friendly with Anuchi's mirror image. That might make Anuchi jealous. Nothing good will come from angering her.

"Stop pretending that you don't know me. Even the last time we talked you called me 'Aani'." Since she and Aani had the same name, I called her Aani just to see her reaction. Our parents talk on the phone regularly. But us kids rarely talk with each other.

Anita was wearing a black frock. Her hair was neatly tied and she had a pair of elegant spectacles. She had cute dimples. Anuchi and she were of almost the same height. Unlike Anuchi, she never caused any trouble for her parents. In every way, she was a better version of Anuchi.

I looked at Anuchi.

She had an angry look. Clearly, she wasn't happy with her mirror image.

I turned towards the little ones.

Pichu and Piya were curiously checking out their mirror images. Their mirrors were cute too. Unlike us, it didn't look like they hated their mirrors.

I knew that using violence against these people was not a good idea. Because they are truly good people. They were genuinely elegant and polite. If they were some two-faced fakes, I could have handled them easily. Since they are good people, I have to be careful. I should plan properly and make sure that I won't be in trouble for putting them in misery.

Wait. Why does it sound like I am the villain in this story?

If someone has to be a villain, then it is Anuchi. I looked at her again.

She was looking at Anita with a smile.

I couldn't be any more familiar with that smile. That's the smile she makes when she is going to cause some tragedy. I suddenly felt sad for Anita.

She had no idea that she was being targeted by a vicious animal. I felt sorry for her.

"Chacha... why are you not talking?" Jeemma suddenly noticed that chachan was oddly silent.

"I... I'm just watching." chachan was stammering. He was emotional.

I knew why.

His count of children had gone up. Now, with the newcomers, there were 12 grandkids who came to spend the holidays with him.

After calming down a bit, he chatted with Peter-uncle and his wife Liya. They had a lot to talk about. They talk regularly on video calls. But still talking to each other face to face was a precious feeling.

There were more people at the dinner table at night.

Since the number of kids was getting high, we were fed first. Moms and dads made sure that we were fed properly.

After feeding us, they sent us to sleep. The youngest four and Jeemma's boys were put in Jeemma's room. The remaining six of us were put in a store room which was cleared earlier today.

After sending us to sleep, the adults went to eat. They had a lot to talk about.

I fell asleep soon as I hadn't slept during the day. However, my sleep was disturbed at midnight.

"Don't make any noise. Come with me." I heard a hushed voice.

It was Anuchi. She was not talking to me. She was talking to Anita.

I realized what was happening.

Anuchi was going to take care of our high and mighty cousin. She really should have kept a low profile in front of Anuchi. Showing of in front of Anuchi was like begging for trouble.

I decided to follow them. I couldn't miss the fun.

But what happened later was far beyond all my expectations.

[Will continue in the next chapter]

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