Ben

 It was crowded in the banquet hall foyer. I was among friends and family – especially my cousins who I hadn't met in almost nine years. It was a warm day and I was happy. This wedding was probably the last of my father’s generation in my grandmother's family and it was a bitter-sweet moment or moments, I must say. I looked at my little sister – Jojo. She was smiling ear to ear as she greeted our relative one by one. This was one of those moments where we just hugged and hugged and hugged our people. My brothers were speaking animatedly over something they saw and the youngest pulled my sister aside saying, "Is that Ben Achachan (transl.: elder brother in Malayalam)?" My sister's eyes widened.

"Where?" she asked.

"There," he gestured towards the parking lot. He didn't look so sure anymore.

"Jose! That wasn't nice," Jojo said. "Was that a prank?" she dug his ribs.

"Ow!" he flinched and made a face.

"Who's Ben?" I asked. The three of them, including my elder brother Ashi, frowned at me. "What?" I was surprised.

"Honestly Chechi (transl.: elder sister)? You've never met him?" Jojo asked.

"Uhm. No." I said, after briefly scanning my memory.

"Wait. I'll show you a picture of all of us. The last time we went to his place, we had a blast! Benchan (transl.: short form of Achachan) is the best guy ever!!" Jojo sounded excited all of a sudden and I felt her energy rub off on me. "Here. This is him. I think this is 3 or 4 years ago." Jojo pointed to a face on her phone. He looked shy, was my first impression.

 Twenty minutes later, my cousins pointed to an off-white Chevy that pulled up in the parking lot. "He's here!" Jojo screeched. I looked at a few guys stepping out of the car and waited patiently for the driver. A rather gracefully lanky, dusky young man wearing a dark purple shirt and blue jeans closed the Chevys door. I watched his expressions become one of wonder when he looked up at my siblings. After the initial greetings were over, Jojo bought Ben over to me. "Achacha, this is Cheryl Chechi and Abu," Jojo said, "Georgechan's kids." He shook my hand and I smiled up at him. He seemed nice and I already loved his crooked teeth smile.

"Have you seen them before?" Ashi asked Ben.

"Illa. Chechiye njan kandittilla (transl: No, I haven’t seen this elder sister)," he said looking at me, "but I think I have seen this guy" and smiled at my younger brother. This guy is younger than me? I thought, No way. I have to clarify.

"What year were you born in?" I asked him.

"1994" he replied. I smirked. I had another elder brother.

"Appo njan chechiyalla (transl.: then I’m not an elder sister). Cheryl. Just Cheryl."

"Oh, okay," he smiled.

 In the next few hours, our cameras went insane, our laughter filled the aisles and our moves lit the dance floor. It seemed as if we all were one, big lost-and-found family and before we knew it, the celebrations were near-over. Ben must have sensed our despair, because he asked us whether we'd like a small ‘cousins-only’ outing after the wedding; and none of us had second-thoughts while saying yes.

 It was a crazy drive – with beat-boxing, karaoke, guffaws and an insight into a decade of lost time. It was nearly 4pm when we got to the waterfall. The crowd was thin and it was the perfect setting to simply be. The first thing I saw was definitely the most difficult to miss; the majestic water was swirling all over the strong rocks, toned with the former’s perseverance over time. Breathing in that smell of wet soil, fresh water and even fresher moss was worth it. It must have been the heavy responsibility of taking care of his younger cousins, Ben was visibly stressed, his shoulders squared and his eyes alert, scanning the area to keep the rest of us ‘happy and safe’. We had already told him that ‘strict’ instructions from home weren't going to stop us from getting our feet wet. He had only smiled. I realized he was probably a ‘been-there-and-done-that’ kind of guy. 

Amidst all the profile-picture-worthy clicks, slow-motion recordings and selfies, I had walked away from the rest of us and become happy and light-weighted for a second, without a care in the world, feeling the cool water graze the soles of my feet and splash across my ankles. This was much needed, I was thinking. Suddenly, I felt the world spin. It spun fast and all I did was blink. I felt the ground beneath me and I knew I had come down hard on those big strong rocks I had admired earlier. I sat up amidst snickering and gasps, dazed. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and I looked into a pair of eyes that were filled with concern; and fear. My new brother was saying nothing. I decided to remain strong and told everyone that I was okay. He only kept looking at me. Only when I went to wash the damp dirt off my jeans did he speak.

"I don't think you're okay," he began.

I decided not to lie to him and said "Oh, I'll be fine." He came over and undid a button on my arm. He used his thumb to feel if anything was amiss and concluded that I had a minor sprain when I winced. I could see his eyes cloud over as he told me that I may have this on me for a few days.

All I said was, “Okay.” He stayed by my side for the rest of the time we spent there, checking repeatedly for any sign of worsening. An hour later, on the way back, my cousins’ faces were still gloomy and I felt guilty of having a knack for making happy encounters end terribly.

"Pooochaa (transl.: cat)," Jojo's scream broke my reverie as I felt Ben steer the vehicle off the left side of the road. I watched as his knuckles grasped the steering wheel and his eyes darted to the rear-view mirror. The cat had narrowly missed losing one of its nine lives. There was another second of silence before all of us burst out laughing. I looked at Ben and he was finally wearing that crooked teeth smile again. Jojo always had a weakness for the cat family and I couldn’t have been more grateful to her at that moment. I looked to the sky. Thank you!

A few glasses of warm tea and a plate of banana chips later, it was time for Ben to leave and I watched all my cousins hug him. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed; I hugged him too, accidentally wiping a tear that escaped from my eye on his sleeve. I was thankful he didn't notice. As he waved goodbye from the Chevy, I promised myself that I would not be that cousin who saw the rest of her family hardly once in a decade. I not only felt proud, but I felt happy; really happy. The 'all-warm-and-fuzzy’ feeling that I had only previously read in books, was real after all.