Sometimes you think you know a person. You've talked to them enough about deep and meaningful things, you've trusted them with you biggest secrets, you're even willing to sacrifice major things - just for them. Especially when they're close to you. Especially when they're..... your cousin.
Then you find a part of their life. Buried deep, safe and away from the prying eyes of strangers. And it takes you off your feet. Everything you know about them changes, and it's like the person you'd knew all along wasn't really then after all.
Sometimes I wish I'd never sneaked near her room that night after all. But as she said later, it was just destiny. Two dull and boring lives were going to embark on a very dangerous game. A game of excitement, fear, pleasure - and sacrifice.
Being in a conservative Indian family is quite a challenging thing. Especially if you're in a state like California. You're always repressed, especially sexually. It's quite ironic, since India had a heritage like Kama Sutra. Although this didn't stop all of us, I didn't have much of luck.
Meet me, Sahil. A scrawny, curly haired, 5'6" tall, 20 year old mess. I was born and bred in Santa Cruz CA, but my family emigrated here from Punjab, India. I always wanted to be a wild and free boy, but my traditional Hindu family never let me be. This meant that I could barely go to any parties, have any cool friends, and barely had any sex life. It was extremely frustrating, especially since it led to my porn addiction. My pathetic idea of a good beach day was looking at girls in bikinis and running off to my room to jerk off. It was a dark, dark place.
And in that dark place is a ray of light called Riya. My Riya. She is my cousin, the only one in the states. But she was not closely related, at least by blood. Or maybe that's how I deluded myself. She is sight to behold. Her grey eyes sparkle like stars, always expressive. Her hair is curly like me, but always well maintained and fresh. Her tender lips are full and always smiling.
Her body is a testament to her health and vitality. She is neither too thin nor too curvy, but her curves are in all the right places. She has a long, slender neck, delicate shoulders, and a graceful waist, and her legs are long and toned.
Such a girl did not deserve to be single and unloved. Her parents were a more liberal then mine, and she had more friends than there were students in my class. She knew people from my school too, and it wasn't surprising. Boys were willing to die just to talk to her for five minutes.
I always wished we weren't cousins. Not that I would have a chance with her otherwise. But I always had wet dreams after visiting their place. She always behaved like the ideal girl in front of the family, but when in front of me she was more of herself.
We have grown more close over the years, mostly because we are of the same age, and slowly our talks started to get more personal. We ranted about how old fashioned our families were, our desire to party and get drunk, and crushes. Sometimes it got more spicy. She had a long list of crushes and sexual fantasies, some of which were too wild even for a perv like me. I was a little taken aback, but then she reassured me she wasn't a slut like those 'white girls', and that all of these were just... hormones talking. And stupid me believed her.
Then that night came. I remember it like it happened yesterday. I had drove down to her place on a cold winter night. Her parents, my uncle and aunt were going to be out of town for the week
"Hey Ma, don't we have the backup key to their place?" I asked. "Maybe I'll surprise Riya, she doesn't expect me! "
As I arrived to their home, I saw another car parked up front. A little feeling of excitement crept up my body
Her girl friends? Cool! I'll have a lot better night than expected!
I went to the front door as quietly as possible. "Weird," I thought. There were no girls' footwear on the porch. There was a pair of much larger sneakers though. Unlocking the door, I found the living room empty. Riya's room was on the ground floor itself, and I crept nearer to it.
And that's when I heard it.
A soft muffled moan.
I had expected some chatter and giggles of the girl group, but this was uncalled for. I went closer to the locked door of her room, and there it was again. I stopped dead in my tracks and listened, my heart pounding. What was going on? Who was in the room?
I pressed my ear to the door. The moans continued, and it definitely felt like Riya's voice.
