Anika had spent nearly a day on the plane, without much sleep. Surprisingly, she was not tired. She was rather thrilled and excited to be in India.

She wanted to know more about the place where her father grew up and also wanted to see the house he spoke about all the time. As a little girl, she had loved to hear her father’s childhood adventures at his ancestral home.

Gathering the last of her three large suitcases from the baggage claim, she headed towards the exit. She scanned the crowd that stood waiting for the arriving passengers, wondering who was going to meet her. Her aunt had told her that the person receiving her at the airport would recognize her.

She had no clue who that would be, since she didn’t know anyone in India. She scanned the crowd in a futile effort before pushing her luggage cart to the side.

Just as she was about to reach for her phone to call her aunt, she caught a movement at the corner of her eye. She turned and saw a woman close to her age, approaching her. The woman was dressed in simple, comfortable-looking cotton trousers. She had long thick beautifully plaited hair that contrasted with the brisk manly strides she took.

Anika smiled as she looked into a pair of familiar-looking eyes. It had to be one of her relatives, considering they both had the same light brown eyes.

“Anika?” The woman’s voice was brisk, definitely not a tone meant for a friend, let alone a long lost relative.

“Yes,” Anika answered with a smile, determined to make an effort to thaw the cold vibes.

The woman did not return her smile. “Let’s go.”

The woman signaled to the two large burly men who stood behind her like bodyguards. One of the men stepped forward and silently took the luggage cart.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary—” Anika’s words fell on deaf ears as the man carried her heavy bags quite easily. Clutching her travel purse, she followed the woman who was yet to introduce herself.

She broke into a run to keep up with them as they strode towards the exit. They stopped near an SUV parked right outside the door. It was clearly marked as a no parking zone, but none of the airport security seemed to object. Two more burly men came forward and took the suitcases to another SUV parked behind. The doors of the SUV were held open by the men for Anika and the woman to get in.

“Thank you—” Before even Anika could complete, the burly muscled man on her side, shut the door, and slid into the driver’s seat.

The woman next to her sat still, without uttering a word while the SUV drove away from the airport

Unable to bear the eerie silence, Anika cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself properly. I’m Anika Patel. And you are… ?”

The woman turned towards her with a clenched jaw. Anika was almost sure she wouldn’t get a reply, but the woman surprised her by answering.

“Sabitha.”

“Nice to meet you, Sabitha. How are we related?”

Sabitha looked at her with mild surprise as though Anika was supposed to know about her already. “Cousins. Our fathers were brothers.” Sabitha had a slight accent, and her voice held no emotion as she spoke about their fathers.

Sabitha had said ‘were’ brothers, meaning, Sabitha had lost her father, too. Maybe in the same accident as her father did.

Anika took a moment to suppress the sadness of their loss. “I’m glad to meet you, Sabitha. Hope we become friends while I’m here,” she said softly, meaning every word.

She only got a cool nod, making her wonder if she had inadvertently done something to offend her cousin. But another voice inside her head kept questioning why Sabitha wasn’t thrilled to see her when their aunt obviously made it seem like her presence was badly needed and wanted.

“How old were you when the… accident happened?”

“Five,” came in a curt reply.

Anika wondered if Sabitha ever had a conversation that was more than a monosyllabic response.

“I was almost six when my mom told me that I would never get to see my dad again.” Anika’s eyes welled up with unexpected tears. Embarrassed, she looked out the window.

There was another stretch of silence. Anika then decided it was best to remain silent until they reached home.

With the SUV powering smoothly through the roads, Anika’s eyes drooped as sleep threatened to overtake her. But she didn’t want to fall asleep until she had met her father’s family. Her family.

She continued looking out the window as doubts overtook her again about the impromptu trip. The restlessness that had been hounding her for a while was still there. Then she reminded herself that the place she was going to was a part of her life…her roots.

They spent over an hour in silence before she attempted to start a conversation again. “How much longer to get home?”

“One hour.”

“Thanks for coming to the airport this early in the morning. You didn’t have to. I could have taken a taxi to the house.”

“Neela wanted me to.” Sabitha had a strange tone when she said that.

“How is our grandfather doing?”

“Better.”

“That’s quite good. I’m really looking forward to meet Aunt Neela and our grandfather.”

Sabitha turned and looked at her for a couple of seconds with an odd look. “You won’t see them until later today. Catch some sleep before you meet them.”

“Oh, I’m not too tired to meet them right away—”

“Neela said she would see you in the afternoon.” Sabitha said like it was an order from her aunt.

“Oh. Okay.” Anika started to feel tired. Maybe it was a good thing that she’d meet everyone after she was well rested.

Settling into the comfortable leather seat, Anika let sleep overcome her. Just as her eyes drooped, she stared at the large tattoo on the driver’s neck. Even in her dazed state, the tattoo looked familiar. Before she could analyze further, her brain began to check out.

Her weeklong double shifts were beginning to catch up with her.

 

*****

 

She woke up to the pleasant sounds of birds chirping. She sat up and stared groggily outside.

The SUV had stopped, and she could see the men unloading her luggage. It was still almost dark, and she could only see the vague details of a large majestic house. Before she could look around and take in her surroundings, Sabita’s firm voice interrupted her.

“Follow me.”

They passed through two large white marble columns that rose up to the three-story house. The men pushed open a heavily carved, tall wooden door at the main entrance, and took her luggage inside.

She could not register much on the inside. Her cousin strode across a huge open living room, and climbed a flight of stairs, and then walked along a hallway, until she stopped outside a door.

The men followed behind with the luggage, and placed her bags neatly against a wall.

“You’ll be staying here until—” Sabitha stop abruptly and cleared her throat. “Until you choose to remain here,” she finished.

Anika nodded taking in the surreal surroundings.

“Anything else you need before I leave?” Sabitha asked.

“No.”

“I’ll get going then. Someone will be here to inform you, and prepare you to meet with our grandfather and Neela.”

Anika nodded. “Thank you.”

Sabitha and the men left, closing the doors quietly behind them.

Even though she wanted to explore her surroundings right away, she decided to catch a quick nap, and freshen up before her meeting with her family.