Jasmine’s POV
The past two weeks have been some of the most exhausting I’ve had in a while. Tutoring classes, finalising assignments and work dealings all scheduled close together had consumed almost all my time. I think the only time I got to enjoy the sun was walking from one lecture to another.
I’m just thankful that on top of everything, I was able to make time for the kids and gym, although the time was shortened. Since I’ve hardly had the opportunity to spend time with the others, we planned a paintballing outing followed by dinner.
“Damsel is calling.” My phone alerts, just as I get out of the shower. My feet dart across the floor, quick and uneven as I dry my braids with the towel.
“Well, hello there ma chère,” I greet, walking to the mirror with my phone in hand.
“Helloooo! Are you ready for today? Should I fetch you or are we driving on our own?” she rambles out all at once.
I chuckle, “Well, you seem excited. I’m actually getting ready as we speak. I think if you want to share a ride, I should come fetch you, since it’s on the way.”
“Yeah, that’s better. Oooo, have you decided what to wear?”
“Yep—green cargo pants and a black fitted tee with sneakers,” I say, changing into my outfit. “And you?”
“Black leggings and a half-tucked-in oversized t-shirt, with sneakers. By the way, Nick mentioned that he knows a good place to eat that could possibly be an opportunity for you to experiment.”
I laugh. “Whoa, you guys took it seriously.” My mind goes back to our conversation at the cafeteria a few weeks ago.
Arya laughs, “Justin brought it up, and Nick said he knew a couple of places you probably would like.”
“Justin is bent on me changing my ways; I’m not even that bad.” I pout.
“No comment. But says the girl who barely ventures beyond the same variety when we eat out.”
“What was the point of saying no comment?”
“Had to prove my point.”
I snort, which she chuckles at. “I’m requesting a FaceTime.”
“Okie dokes,” I say, accepting her request.
“Heyy, ooo look at you looking gorgeous!” She gasps, placing a hand over her mouth.
“Ugh, the hotness is too much. Need some water.” I fan my face, reaching out for my water bottle. Arya topples over, clutching her stomach—her laugh going silent a few times. I can’t help but laugh at her laugh.
In all seriousness, Arya is gorgeous. She has always been since we were kids. The only difference now is that she has grown into more of her womanly features, although the softness still remains. Her brunette curly hair is currently in a high bun with a few strands out, and she has light smoky eye makeup on.
A knock on Arya’s door quiets us down. “Yes, come in.” She turns her head back to see who’s there.
“I was wondering why your ugly laugh could be heard all the way from my room.”
“Now, that’s a terrible thing to say, Laurent!” I exclaim.
“Oh, it’s you.” A lighter-skinned version of Arya with sharper features appears in the frame.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“For an older brother, you sure don’t act mature,” Arya snipes at him, pushing him away, only for him to retaliate by pushing her back.
“Heyy, I just want to say hi to Jasmine,” he complains.
Laurent is Arya’s older brother by ten years. She would always say that God blessed her with a sister through me, knowing how lonely she was, considering that by the time she was barely a teen, Laurent had already moved out to study abroad.
“Hi Laurent, how are you and the kids?” I give a small wave.
“I’m great and so are the kids, although I think it’s about time their aunt calls them.”
I chuckle. “About that… I will call them soon.” It has been a while since I’ve checked up on them, and I’ll most probably receive an earful from them.
“Okay then, I will leave you guys to it.”
“Thank you!” Arya shouts as he exits the room.
I shake my head at her theatrics. “I’m surprised you’re going out, considering Grand Laurent is around?” I raise a brow.
“He’s around for a week; he flew in for the holidays.” Since they hardly get time together, they usually have activities planned out when he’s around.
“He brought the kids?” I straighten up, getting excited.
“Yep, I missed those little champions.” She lets out a heavy sigh, placing her chin on her knee.
“Already giving you a heads up, you’ll be seeing a lot of me this week.”
She lets out a soft laugh. “Already prepared, I was planning on notifying you either way.”
“By the way, how are Justin and Nick getting there?”
“Eh, not sure. I think they’re sharing a ride too.” She says as she does her nails. “What do you think?” She asks, showing me her gel nails.
“It’s good, a neutral colour that could go with any outfit.” I pause to take a look before bobbing my head.
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I drive into the gas station, fill up the tank, then park the car in one of the available spaces before heading into the store.
“Hi, excuse me…” A voice grabs my attention. Looking up from the samoosas behind the glass display, I’m met with a woman; she seems to be in her late thirties. “I just wanted to tell you that you are so beautiful.”
“Hi, thank you.” I offer an awkward smile back before we go our separate ways. I fight the urge to compliment her back. Ever since learning that returning a compliment immediately can sometimes come across as insincere, I’ve learnt to hold my tongue.
“Thank you,” I say to the cashier as I collect my items.
“Okay then, off to see my babies!” I fist pump the air, then turn on the engine.
After a twelve-minute drive spent singing at the top of my lungs, I pull into Arya’s driveway. I wave at her dad, who is outside on a call. He waves back with a beaming smile. I chuckle at how excited he is to see me. I grab the small treats I brought for the kids before exiting the car. I glance over to see if Papa Nivin is still on the call—which he is—before ringing the doorbell.
“I’ll get it,” I hear Arya shout before opening the door and jumping in for a bear hug.
“Aww, you got me treats?” She jerks her head to the shopping bag.
“Haha, you wish,” I playfully nudge her away. “It’s for my babies; where are they?” I scan the area for them.
Arya suppresses a laugh, glancing behind me.
“We are here, Aunty Jas.” Lily’s soft but high-pitched voice cuts in.
I jump before swiftly turning around. “But—wait, I didn’t see you guys outside, only grandpa…” I mumble, the corners of my mouth dipping downwards, earning a giggle.
“We saw your car, so we quickly hid behind the bush,” Jennifer explains, then throws me a big grin, displaying the lost tooth.
“Did we get you good?” Lily cheeses at me.
“You guys definitely did.” I place a hand over my heart. Arya laughs at me, shaking her head.
“Your aunty bought you guys treats; you guys already know to include me in your shares.” She grins at them, her smile overly sweet.
“Girlll, stop your antics.” I roll my eyes at her, gaining a pout from her.
“Thank you, Aunty,” they chorus, their little bodies hugging my legs.
I bend over a bit to meet their embrace. Gosh, it’s been a long time since I last saw them.
“Group hug!” Arya hollers, joining in.
“We’re hugging? Don’t leave me out.” Papa Nivin voices, our heads snap up upon his entry. His large form pulls us all into a hug.
“Umm, I don’t think we are part of the hug…” Jennifer’s voice muffles out against my legs.
“Oops!”
“Grandpa!” Lily shouts as he lifts her in his arms and then sweeps Jennifer off the floor with the other arm, earning a squeal from her after breaking up from the hug.
Their giggles fill the room, which has Arya and me laughing.
“Where’s your mom and Laurent?” I ask, following closely behind her.
“They stepped out for a bit, but should be back in a few minutes…” She glimpses at her watch.
“When are you ladies leaving again?” Papa Nivin walks into the kitchen, leaning against the wall with folded arms.
“In about twenty minutes,” Arya responds, before getting back to preparing lunch for the girls. “Ooo, you got so many,” she mumbles, opening the packet of samosas.
“Pops, would you like some?”
“You came with treats?” He glances at me before looking at the plates. I nod in response. “Thank you, darling. Put mine aside for now; make sure to hide it. Don’t want to hear any stories of someone ‘accidentally’ eating my food.” A ghosted laugh slips out at his last statement.
“Ah, I’m going to assume that wasn’t aimed at me.”
“If you’re not guilty, then you can gladly ignore it.”
We knew he was joking around since he had already caught the culprits red-handed. The number one culprit, according to him, was his wife, then Laurent and lastly Arya. Although, to be fair, the only reason she made it onto the list was that twice or thrice she had accidentally eaten the food, thinking it wasn’t claimed by anyone. But even so, knowing Arya’s character, she usually avoids doing what can be done back to her.
“Before you leave, don’t forget to come for a quick prayer.” Papa Nivin reminds, pushing himself off the wall then leaving.
“How long has it been since I last went out with you? Almost forgot about the prayers.”
She lets out a soft laugh. “Yeah, it has been a while. Guess life has been keeping us busy.” She glances at me before finishing up with the lunch.
“Guess so—let me help you with that.” She throws in a thank you. I take one of the trays in hand, then follow after her.
“I think they are in the backyard,” she mutters as we place everything on the dining table.
“Let me go call them.” She bobs her head in acknowledgement.
“Jenny! Lily! It’s time to eat!” I shout out to them as they push themselves on the swings. I can’t help but reminisce on the old times—rushing here with Justin to play on the swings and spend time in the tree house. Arya had practically begged her dad to build us one.
At some point Mom had stopped allowing me to go, because I had started to forget I had my own home to get to.
“Aunty, look how high I can go!” Jenny shouts, and my heart drops for a second seeing how far up in the air she is. I can’t help but rush over.
“Jenny, that was—certainly high.” I high-five her before crouching down to their level. “But please promise me, you guys won’t ever do that again.”
“But Aunty—”
“Promise me,” I gently repeat, bringing out my pinky finger.
“I promise you.” Lily enthusiastically agrees. I fight the urge to smile. Lily isn’t the one I would have to worry about trying such tricks.
“Fine.” She huffs out, her pinky crossing mine.
“Thank you. Come, time to eat,” I extend my hands for them to hold. They swing them around as we head in, telling me stories about how their first year at school has been so far.
“Little Jas, how have you been?” My head snaps up from looking down at the kids upon hearing Laurent’s greeting.
“Laurent, how have you been?” A soft smile graces my lips.
“What can I say? The vacation has been doing me good. And you? How have you been?”
“Hi sweetie,” Arya’s mom gives me a quick side hug, entering the dining room.
“Bonjour, Maman Zola.” I return the hug before she grabs what she came for and leaves. “I’ve been good, can’t complain.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“The kids are becoming fluent in Malayalam.” I bring it up, watching as they interact with one another.
“Yes, they are.” He says with pride. “We’ve been trying very hard to teach them all three languages.”
“Well done to you guys. It seems to be working well.”
“At this point, they will be much more fluent in it than I am,” Arya jokes.
“And whose fault is that?” Laurent pokes.
“But, you know it’s hard.” She huffs, crossing her arms.
Ever since Arya was a kid, she had easily adopted French and English, but Malayalam had been difficult for her to grasp, which was a bit of a problem in the beginning since most of her dad’s side of the family only conversed in it. Luckily, she managed to get just above the basics.
I feel my phone vibrate in my pants side pocket. “Excuse me, let me take this. It’s Justin,” I explain.
“Oh, he’s probably calling to let us know,” she mumbles, glancing at the time on Laurent’s phone.
“Hello, what’s up?”
“Hey, we’re about to leave.”
“Okay, we should be leaving…” I look at Arya for confirmation, which she does by giving a thumbs up. “We should be leaving soon too.”
“How soon?”
“Like in five to ten minutes max.”
“Okay then, we’ll head out now since we’re further away.”
“Alright,” I say before he hangs up. “He says they’ll be leaving already.”
“Let me just touch up my makeup and grab my jacket.” I nod as she makes her way upstairs.
“So who are you guys going with exactly?”
“Justin and Nick.” He stares blankly. “Nick is Justin’s friend—we attend the same campus.”
“Oh okay.” He goes silent for a moment. “Have the parents met him?”
“Now why would the parents have to meet him?” Arya retorts, slipping on her jacket.
“How sure are you that he can be trusted?”
“Huh? Since when does every person we befriend need to be introduced?” she mumbles, annoyed by his overprotectiveness. Despite this not being the first time, my expression flickers uncertainly. I briefly press my lips together. “Anyway, he’s close with Justin; that should count for something.”
He lets out a low breath. “Yeah…”
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© 2026 Emmanuelle Ngoie. All rights reserved. The Crying Girl is an original work. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, or distributed without permission.
