You try to calm yourself down while packing up the shop. Maybe he just decided to stay somewhere else tonight. Maybe a girl crow caught his attention and he got distracted or maybe he just doesn't want to hang out with you anymore. But, you keep imagining Samar with his lion like gaze pouncing on the poor, defenseless crow. What could Chiku even do to defend himself? Scratch Samar feebly with his talons? Throw a cheesy dialogue from some old film at him?
Ever since your parents died two years ago you didn't realize it but you had been becoming increasingly more alone. Your childhood friends were all grown up now and busy helping their parents with their respective occupations. Your Mausi(maternal aunt) and Mausaji(her husband) who send you some money live in a different place and you only meet them a few times a year. You don't even know if they will continue to send you money after you turn 18 next year. Will the income from just the tea stall be enough for you to survive?
Among such worries that crow dropped into your life and showed no signs of leaving. He displayed filial concern by chiding you whenever you missed meals. He joked with you like a brother. Whatever future lays ahead of you now, you couldn't bear it without Chiku. So, you have to save him, just like he saved you. You have to fight Samar and you can only do that with information. To gain more knowledge you have to brew your nani's fourth tea recipe.
You gather the ingredients that night. As the milk simmers, you add some twigs of lemongrass and watch them disappear beneath the roiling surface. Then, you put your hands on your face and think of all the regrets you've had in your 17 years on this earth. You regret not studying harder and instead, playing around in school. You regret not getting good grades and making your parents proud. You regret not having said more to them. You regret not telling them just how much you loved them. You ponder on these regrets until they make you sigh. You gather this shaky sigh laden with sorrow into your palms, bring your fingers together over the boiling milk and sprinkle imaginary powder gently into it.
Moonlight filters through the rainclouds onto this mixture as you add one scoop of tea leaves and turn off the stove. After two minutes of anxious waiting you strain the milky tea into a glass.
You stir sugar into it with a trembling hand and say out loud, "I'm scared to lose Chiku."
That is the truth you're too afraid to face. When you blow on the tea you become aware that this time, you don't sip alone. Samar steps from the mist, smiling like he knows you in another life.
"You always were nani's favorite," he murmurs.
"And you always hated that," you reply.
Just as time begins to twist, Chiku screeches overhead: "You're not done steeping your truth, girl!"