And her evil mind was gone for stealing money… she was afraid to do this, but her mind was playing games with her. She did make that decision to steal money from her brother's wallet because she didn't have any guts to ask for money again from her mother, so she made her decision to steal money from her brother's wallet…
And she got $200 in her brother's wallet. Without hesitation, she stole all $200 without telling anyone.
Then she showed her new dress to her mom. So mom asked, "How did you buy this?" She said, "My friend gifted me this." First time she lied.
Mom was happy, with a big smile. She said, "Wow, you really got good friends that they gave you this expensive dress as a gift." Only Namrata knew the truth.
So now it was time for dinner. They were sitting at the table and then a shouting voice came from her brother's room.
"Where the hell has my money gone???"
Her mom rushed to his room and asked him, "What happened?" He said, "I had put $200 in my wallet. Where's it all gone?"
Namrata also rushed to his room like she didn't know anything and played with him like, "Maybe you dropped it somewhere." Her mom also told him, "Search carefully, maybe you kept it somewhere and forgot. Search carefully." His brother was already in anger. He shouted so loud. Mom said, "Please calm down, lower your voice. We will search together."
Only Namrata knew where the money was. She was scared but not enough to tell the truth. She didn't want to spoil her birthday without money, so she kept her mouth closed.
Her brother searched everywhere but got nothing. So he said, "I want to check everyone's room." Her mom said, "Go on, check." But at that time, his dad came and asked, "What happened? Why are you guys shouting so loud?"
Brother told everything. Dad was like, "Maybe you dropped it somewhere. Calm down and stop doubting your own family. I will give $200 tomorrow. Don't make a scene."
Hussshhhhh… the relief Namrata got after hearing this. But only her dad and mother knew how hard it was for them to earn money. Her dad traveled 5 hours every day to earn some pennies, and because of dad's struggle, her mom also did a part-time job to fulfill their children's dreams.
But Namrata?? She was so into a different world, to impress others rather than her own family.
After everything settled, all family sat at the table for dinner. Her dad asked her, "Tomorrow is your birthday, so do you need money?" Her eyes were shining, but she didn't ask because she already stole money from her brother's wallet. So she said, "No, mom already gave me."
Her dad, shocked, asked her mother, "Where did you get this much money?"
Her brother gazed at her mom and asked, "Did you steal my money, mom??" Hearing this, mom burst on her son. "What the hell are you talking about?? Are you even in your senses??"
Mom was in a sad mood after hearing this from her own son. Then mom replied to Namrata's father that, "I gave her money by getting it from aunt. I asked aunt to give me $100. I will return it next month." Hearing this, her dad got angry and told her, "Why did you borrow money from her?? Are you telling everyone that your husband is not earning enough??"
But in reality, only Namrata knew how forcefully she asked for this money. That's why her mom did this…
After hearing all this, still, there was no shame on Namrata's face. She was dreaming about tomorrow's club party…
Her mom and dad were fighting, but Namrata was dreaming.
So finally, her mom and dad were done with the fight. Everyone went to their room to sleep and boom, at 12 a.m., Namrata was waiting for her friends to wish her, but no text from anyone. Only her Facebook notification was popping continuously—strangers wished her because they didn't see her in real life. Then her room knocked, and it was her mother.
She came to wish her, and her dad was also there. Brother also came. They wished her happy birthday with a small cake and gave her blessings. Even her brother had kept that $200 to give her as a birthday gift—which she had already stolen. After her brother told her this, she didn't feel anything. She felt pride that she already stole what was all hers. How shameful she was thinking…
So her brother gave her a chocolate box because the money was already gone. Her father gave her one good book to read, and her mother gave her a handmade jacket, which she made by herself.
Her mother, every birthday, gifted her handmade clothes to wear. But this time Namrata already purchased expensive clothes to wear, so her mom didn't force. She told her, "You can wear this whenever you want."
After giving all gifts and blessings, her family left, and here Namrata was still waiting for her friends' messages. No one texted her.
So she said to herself, "Maybe they all are busy with a long day, so maybe they slept…"
So she went to sleep.
Morning alarm buzzed. Happily, she awoke. "It's my birthday," she said, and rushed to check her mobile. Any pop-up from friends' messages? But no single message. "After all, today is Sunday, so maybe they are all sleeping," she muttered to herself.
So finally, she got a call from her friend Jyoti, but it was not for a birthday wish, but for, "When are we going to the club?" She felt sad, but she said, "At 5 p.m." and Jyoti hung up the call.
Namrata was giving hope to herself that they were planning something big, that's why they didn't wish her, and smiled like a clown.
Again her phone rang, and this time it was her old school friend Harshada, and she wished her happy birthday. Namrata said, "Thank you so much."
So Harshada asked her, "Are we going to meet today?" Namrata said, "No, sorry, I'm busy with my college friends," and hung up the call.
After taking a bath and having lunch, she went to her room to dress up. As usual, she didn't know how to do makeup, so she did makeup like a joker and wore that black dress with high heels.
And left for the club. After reaching the location, she called everyone, so they met at the place. And what she saw was her friends brought boys with them. She was a little bit nervous and asked them, "Aren't we going alone with girls only???"
They laughed at her. "Are you serious?? We are going to a club. We need boys for this."
"Call your boyfriends and ask them to come."
Namrata was mute, and after 5 seconds, she said, "I don't have anyone." They laughed again, and this time louder. They said, "Did you bring money?"
She said, "Yes."
"Give it to us. We will enjoy your party, and you go home, kiddo."
Namrata was broken from the outside. "But… but this is my birthday… You guys didn't even wish me…"
"LOL, are you a kid or what? Who wishes on birthdays in teenage? Grow up and go home. Give us money, we will enjoy your birthday."
Namrata was so blind in show-off and handling connections that she didn't realize these people were worse than the previous friends. She kept her mouth shut, gave money to them, and left the place.
She went to her house crying so hard. Luckily, her mother was not there, so she didn't see her crying. She stayed at her home the whole day crying so hard. She was really broken from the inside.
Again asking God, "Why God?? Why always doing this to me? Why??
"Why can't you give me one person who I can call my best friend? Why don't you give me one boyfriend, so if I feel sad, I go and hug him? Why did you make me so ugly that no one wants to stay with me? Everyone uses me. Why, God??"
She was crying and crying so hard. She wanted someone to hold her and guide her what is right and what is wrong, but there was no one. She didn't want to tell this to her mother because her mother would panic.
Her pillow was all wet from her tears. Then her phone rang. One call from an unknown number. First she ignored it. Again the phone rang. Wiping her tears, she answered the call.
"Hello, who's there?"
A boy's voice came, and he said, "Happy birthday."
She was confused. She didn't recognize his voice because she hardly talked to boys. There were no male friends she had. She asked again, "Yes, who is this??"
And… and he said, "Namo…???" She was like, "Namo?? No, my name is Namrata."
He laughed. He said, "Yes, I know. This is me, Vipin, your Facebook friend and, as usual, your classmate too…"
And he said, "Namo," because Namrata is too long. "Namo is my given name for you."
Her memory flashed, and then she recognized him. "Ohhh yeah, we were in the same class. But I never knew you were my Facebook friend." He laughed, "Oh come on, we never chatted before…"
"But… but where did you get my number?" Namrata asked him.
"Well," he said, "We were in the college group, so I took your number from the group."
"Ohhhh, I see. By the way, thank you for your wish."
Vipin said, "My pleasure. Enjoy your day. We'll meet tomorrow," and he hung up.
First time, she got a 4-minute talk with a boy. She felt so good again.
For her, those 4 minutes were precious, and she was excited to see him tomorrow.