My sister is the most shameless creature in the world.
Many things happened in the past week.
The first thing is that our Mum kicked out our cat.
Our cat scratched Anu.
She was frightened and cried for an hour.
This made Mum furious.
So before Mum did anything extreme, Dad caught the cat and gave it to a friend of his.
Unfortunately, only I knew the truth about the incident.
Anu was pulling the tail of the cat and bullying it.
In the end, it got angry and scratched her.
But she conveniently hid that part.
Once the cat was gone, Dad got us a puppy.
A Golden Retriever.
It came from the same friend who got our cat.
He had a variety of animals, and he was slowly building a career in that field.
Mum was initially angry at Dad.
She already had three babies to take care of, and now Dad had added one more.
Mum used to count Dad as a baby because, according to Mum, sometimes his maturity is less than mine.
I totally agree with her.
Out of all the babies, the dog and I pooped everywhere.
This angered Mum even more.
Dad promised Mum that he would clean the dog poop until it is potty trained.
So our family got a new member.
A hyperactive, curious puppy named ‘Doodu’.
Anu named him ‘Doodu’.
Originally, she wanted to name him ‘Dog’.
But in the end, we named him Doodu.
Anu was the happiest.
Unlike the grumpy cat, the puppy was happy about all the attention it received.
Doodu was happy to play with Anu.
Even when he bit her, it was all playful, soft bites that didn’t even leave a mark.
Anyway, that’s not the reason I called her shameless.
Something else happened today.
Today was a Sunday.
So everyone was at home.
After lunch, everyone was waiting for the Sunday movie in the afternoon.
It also coincided with my feeding time.
It is my favourite part of the day.
When Mum is feeding me in the afternoon, she is usually very relaxed and talks a lot.
She tells a lot of stories.
Interestingly, all the stories have an elephant that flies through the air by flapping its big ears.
It doesn’t matter whether the story is about mermaids or the prince trying to save the princess.
The flying elephant will be there.
Sometimes even the angry rock makes a cameo appearance.
Strangely, I kind of like her stories now.
I simply lay in her arms, slowly drinking and staring at her happily telling the story.
Now I know why a lot of kids look at the face of their Mum when they are being breastfed.
I also know why kids always cry for their Mum.
Whenever Anu was around, she would listen to the stories curiously and ask questions.
I didn’t like it.
Seriously…
When she was a baby, I didn’t come to take a share of Mum from her.
So, why can’t she give us some personal time?
Today it got worse.
Since it was a Sunday, Dad was also home.
Whenever Dad was around, Mum acted differently.
She wouldn’t tell the usual stories and would act a bit more elegant.
She was like a teenage girl trying to act cool in front of her secret crush.
Except that she was doing a good job at it and was already married to him.
So, Mum fed me while humming something.
Anu and Dad just sat and watched.
“What are you looking at so much?” Dad asked Anu.
“See how he is looking at us while drinking.
It is as if he thinks we are here to steal his milk.” Anu replied.
No.
I am thinking about how you two are stealing our time.
“Hahaha…
Do you want to?” Dad asked again.
Wait!
What?
“Hmm…
What will I do after stealing?”
Yaa…
What will you do?
“You can drink it.” Dad slowly started giving her ideas.
“Can I?”
“Ask Mum.”
“Mum?”
“Do you want to drink?” Mum asked her.
No way…
I cursed in my mind.
As if stealing our time together wasn’t enough, she wanted the milk as well.
Anu nodded like a woodpecker.
Over my dead body, you slimy girl…
“Come here.” Before I could do anything, Dad grabbed me from Mum with a stupid smile.
He was enjoying it.
I tried pooping, as it was my usual weapon.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to poop or pee.
Anu shyly approached Mum.
After every step, she looked at Dad as she asked whether it was okay.
Dad gestured with his chin.
I watched, dumbfounded.
She sat on Mum’s lap and tried to drink.
But she was too tall for that.
I felt betrayed.
I never thought that Mum would let someone else drink the milk that’s meant for me.
I looked at Mum in disappointment.
She was blinking rapidly.
I knew what was happening.
She was doing it to hide her tears.
Her hand was on Anu’s hair.
The blinking wasn’t enough to control the tears.
You should have seen the look in her eyes.
That’s when I realised the truth.
It doesn’t matter how well-behaved I am or how cute I act.
It doesn’t matter that I am her only son.
I would never be her firstborn.
Anu was born when Mum was four years younger.
She was probably scared of becoming a mother.
Probably it wasn’t anything easy for her.
So, her feelings when she held Anu for the first time in her hands, knowing that the baby in her arms was born from her, is not something that could be expressed with words.
And that feeling would far surpass anything she felt with me.
Don’t misunderstand me.
I am jealous.
But I am fine being a runner-up in this game.
Also, I don’t plan to give up that easily.
Anu didn’t drink a lot.
She just tasted it and then kept on grinning from ear to ear.
“I am going to tell this to everyone.” She happily declared, forming a fist in the air.
Mum got me back from Dad and tried to make me drink from the other one.
I decided not to drink as a protest.
“I think he is full already.”
No one even realised that I was protesting.
This is an issue with being a baby.
Anu was jumping up and down happily.
Doodu also joined her.
I have no idea what he’s happy about.
“Dad, don’t you want to drink?” Anu asked once she calmed down.
“Ahem…
I will drink later.”
Keep your filthy hands off my mother, you pervert.
I screamed in my mind.
The good thing is that I no longer feel guilty about drinking from the aunt.
The bad thing is the stupid smile on the face of my slimy, shameless sister.
The movie started.
Mum kept on peeking at Anu.
Mum stopped feeding her before she turned three.
I can somewhat understand how she feels about getting one more chance to feed her firstborn.
So I decided not to ruin it and behave.
But that doesn’t mean I will forgive my shameless sister.
I will take revenge for this.
For our cat and for me.