Troublemakers

“Give it back this instant”. She snapped at her sibling in annoyance. 

“Come and get it yourself”. He gave her a challenging look and sprinted away. Instead of following him, she frustratedly ran her hand through her hair. Just then a devilish blackmail plan crossed her mind. “Oh, you’re gonna pay for this”. She muttered and dashed towards their parents’ bedroom. 

“Mom, you in there?” she knocked on the door twice before entering with a fake sniffle. “Hey honey, how’s the planning going on?” “It’s good, I just need some help”. She sniffled thrice in between her words as her mother immediately left the clothes she was folding; and turned to face her daughter who was ‘apparently’ crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she inquired while caressing her hair. “He keeps troubling me all the time. He snatched my phone again and ran away.” And with that, she acted to sob hard and hugged her mother. “Shh, it’s okay, I’ll talk to him, calm down”. She nodded and pulled out from the hug, now staring at her mom with teary eyes.

 “Now let me find that brat who made my precious girl cry”. Saying so her mother angrily strode down to the hall. She followed her mother while grinning.

Meanwhile, the troublemaker was sitting in the garden, sipping his cold coffee. Just when he was about to take another sip, a dirty cloth landed on him, spilling the cold coffee all over him. “Hey you rascal, come here right now”. Hearing his mom’s threatening voice, he quickly got up and gulped nervously. “Hey mom!” he spoke in an attempt to sound casual.

He got startled when she suddenly charged towards him with a stick in her hand. “I’m sorry, please leave me. I won’t repeat it, aaaaa”. Before he could finish his sentence, the stick landed on his butt with a loud thump, making him lose his balance. 

The one who was contently watching his misery, widened her eyes as she saw that he was about to land on the sharp rake kept near the fence. Without thinking twice, she raced in and pulled him away just before his body could touch the rake. Because of the impact, both of them fell to the ground. Looking at him with fury she muttered something under her breath. “Thanks, sis, I knew you’d save me anyway” he spoke with an annoyingly teasing smile. She just rolled her eyes and got up, stomping her way inside the house. He shook his head with a smile, knowing that no matter how mad she is at him, she’ll never let him get hurt. “Decorate the garden in the next two hours if you don’t want me to give away your game console”, screamed his mother from behind.

“Can you at least help me with the tape, both of my hands are occupied?”, he requested his sister with pleading eyes. She just scoffed “I would if you had been a tad bit nicer to me. Now, make it quick before mom yells at you again!” He furiously threw the decorations aside and crossed his arms on his chest. “I’m older than you. Show some respect”. “You know there is a thin line of difference between clever and stupid. It fascinates me how you easily cross it so often”. She muttered entirely changing the topic and distracting him. “So you do admit I’m clever sometimes?” “Of course, you are. The only times you are clever is when you carve out brilliant sadistic plans to annoy me”. He huffed, as he was rendered speechless yet again by his sassy baby sister.

“By the way, why’d you fake cry and involve mom in our fight?” he questioned. “It’s called emotional blackmail, you idiot. As long as I get my revenge, I’m happy”, she smiled cheekily. 

“Yeah sure. Of all the beatings I’ve gotten to date, this one takes the cake. Mom hit my butt so hard with that wooden stick”. She burst out laughing while he looked at her in disbelief. “I always knew mom was a secret gilli-danda champion”. “Yeah right”, saying so he suddenly started tickling her. “Aaa ha ha haahaha stop haha hahaha ahaha”. “That’s what you get for the drama you caused”. As much as they both fought and argued, in the end, they always ended up laughing together.

Two hours later…

“Hi Sam, thanks for coming. Here, take this cup, we’ll be playing games.” She enthusiastically welcomed her crush with sparkling eyes. “Yo, sis, where’s my jacket?” Her brother appeared out of nowhere, spoiling her moment. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, signaling him with her eyes to go away. He understood the whole situation in the blink of an eye upon seeing Sam. A mischievous smile flashed on his face as he came closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Hey Sam, I guess you already met my sister. You can go into the garden and enjoy the party” he pointed his finger towards it, as Sam smiled and walked ahead. “You know I hardly get to see him, let alone talk to him. Why’d you ruin it for me?” she whined making him chuckle. “As your older, protective, and responsible brother, it is my duty to save you from dorks like him. You’d better stay away from him”. She just rolled her eyes and shook off his arm. “Older yes, but definitely not responsible.” Saying so she walked towards the garden, with her brother following her.

As the party ended, the guests began leaving one by one. Feeling exhausted, she too made her way to her bedroom, when she heard her brother doing “Psst….. Pssst!” “What!!” she exclaimed angrily. “I’m hungry. Could you make a sandwich for me?” Silence followed. “Please!” he said with all sincerity he could muster. “You literally gobbled down one large pizza all by yourself, not to mention 3 glasses of coke and a big slice of cake. How in the world are you still hungry?!” He put on a pout and looked at her with puppy eyes. She continued, “If anyone would see us right now, they’d definitely assume that I’m older than you and babysitting you”. He grinned sheepishly and ruffled her hair before following her to the kitchen.

Sitting atop the counter, he yawned and clicked his tongue, exhausted from waiting for his food. She, on the other hand, was purposely taking things extra slow and teasing him; it didn’t go unnoticed by him. While she was too engrossed in making the sandwich, he sneakily dipped his finger in the ketchup bowl. The next thing she knew, she had the ketchup spread on her nose and cheeks. Before she could even react, he ran away at the speed of light leaving her an angry mess. 

She grabbed the bowl of ketchup and charged towards him with flared nostrils. He sensed her from afar and ran like there was no tomorrow. As soon as he felt her catching up to him, he instinctively ducked in order to dodge her attack. Hearing nothing from her, he carefully raised his head, only to widen his pupils twice their original size.

There stood their father, in his classy pearl white suit he wore for the party, which now had the red ketchup splattered all over it. He took a long deep breath. It’s not like he was the typical strict father, he was, in fact, very loving and warm to everyone around him. However, one thing he thoroughly despised was mess and filth. And currently, he was an absolute mess, thanks to his troublemaking kids.

She didn’t dare to look up at her father, sensing the tension in the air. Her face turned bright red, as a combination of guilt, fear, and embarrassment overcame her. Her brother, who was now standing next to her with his head hung low, feared more for her rather than himself. Before their father could utter a word, he quickly admitted, “I... I…it was my fault dad, sorry!” His father raised an eyebrow in response, demanding an explanation. He sighed and soon began elaborating on the situation. After he finished, he took a quick glance at his father to read his expression and looked down again. Their father let out a tired sigh, not wanting to scold them for merely having fun. He knew it wasn’t that big of a deal. Seeing their heads hung low, his anger started dissipating. “Don’t act scared now, you guys know I can’t stay mad at you for long.” Their heads shot up in unison upon hearing the sweet words. They expected to be given at least a small punishment but were left surprised instead.

“Will you both keep staring or do you plan to help me clean up before your mother sees all this and gets mad at us?” He asked with a warm smile as they both immediately jumped into their father’s arms for a tight hug. He laughed and patted their heads. Pulling away, they giggled together before heading back to clean the mess.

Next day…

As both the siblings were getting ready for their day, they were as excited as could be. It was the first day of summer vacation and both of them had their individual plans. Now that they had shifted into their new spacious home, there was a lot of fun they could have at home itself. 

She planned to have a tea party with her friends in the garden and later go out on a shopping spree online. On the other hand, he had organized a gaming party with his buddies, since he had his own gaming room now.

Happily walking along the corridor, she bumped into him and both of them fell down. “Can’t you look where you are going, you idiot?” she barked. “I can ask you the same thing, chipmunk!” he snickered and raised his eyebrows. She scoffed and replied, “Well, you just proved you are dumb by giving me an absolutely not relatable nickname. Do I look like a tiny animal with a little nose and big eyes dawdling around?” she asked. He had an amused expression and broke into hearty laughter. “You know you’re quite the clown.” He spoke genuinely. “Glad to be of help”, she muttered and sassily flicked her hair.

 “By the way, Pratik’s coming today” he announced. “Really?”, she asked almost yelling. “What’s with the excitement?” he asked suspiciously. “Well, he’s just a talented designer, and I like to learn things from him. Besides, he’s your only friend who does not make me wanna vomit on behalf of all humankind” she replied. He shrugged his shoulders, “Not like you have some classy friends…” He mocked. “Don’t you dare say a word about my friends! They’re the best, alright.” She fumed. “Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that.” “What’s with the passive-aggressive comments? Look at your nonsensical friends first”, she spoke and attempted to leave. “Still better than yours”, he said with a wicked smile as she just sighed and left. 

This wasn’t even close to their everyday bickering, but since they were both expecting guests, they called off the probable fight.

A few hours later, both the siblings were having a blast. The sound of racing cars and loud voices echoed through the house. On the other hand, the girls were as quiet as could be. Not that they were always this calm, but the current activity of online shopping required a lot of concentration. And the girls were becoming pro at it. They were very elegantly seated on the bed, peacefully scrolling through different websites, and exchanging frequent glances for each other’s approval. Not a word was spoken, but still, lots of shopping was done within two hours. 

The girls later went to the garden to play musical chairs. Meanwhile, the boys planned an outing to the mall and reached the door. As they were about to step out, they heard the girls giggling. Getting curious, they peeked into the garden and found them playing merrily. A sudden wish to have some fun rose into his heart as he watched his sister with a playful smile. He convinced his friends to join the plan of scaring them out of their wits.

None of them noticed his mother walking in their direction; holding a basket full of dried leaves and debris from the garden. “Booo!!”, the boys shouted in unison. “Aaaaa!” His mother’s scream echoed loud as the basket of leaves dropped from her hands. All of them were taken aback by this sudden twist of destiny. The boys had their mouths agape, while the girls also arrived hearing the scream. His mother was taking deep breaths, trying to calm her startled self. The girls helped her stand as she glared at the culprits. 

A series of apologies later, the siblings stood in front of their mother. Their friends already left, not wanting to cause any more mischief. He was looking down in embarrassment, while she was enjoying her brother’s miserable state. However, her smile faded away upon their mother’s words. “Clear up this mess and mow the grass in the garden. Both of you”. “But mom, why me?! I am not at fault”, she uttered in disbelief. “Not a word more! Finish the work before I come back for a stroll”, their mother said with a firm voice and walked away. 

As was expected, the siblings started arguing and blaming each other while walking to the garden. Their mother heard it and muttered to herself, “Double the trouble”.