My Friend's Parents

          "hmm...I wonder why he said so " thought Lily staring at his friend's mom ,having a fried fish ,it was a sardine ,small, long with a long thorn in the middle ,it was salty and spicy ,it was delicious ,she changed her perplexed reaction with a uncomfortable smile when she saw Mrs.Carlos smiling at her . she had Nick beside her ,who was also having the fish  .



          "Nah...my parents don't like my friends ,you know ...they would probably treat you bad , I don't want my friends to be treated bad " ..this was what Ray had told them ,when they had planned to come and visit him before they hang out everyday ,after that they had to wait in the bus stop for him to come .



          Ray had come to their house ,he enjoyed being there ,he would play charades with them ,used their toys and has had lunch with them ,their mother would even prepare some extra cookies for Ray . But there was a feeling that he had something which was like jealousy ,they thought that it was because his parents weren't as friendly as theirs ...Lily kept wondering ,when she had another fish...



          "Eat well ,Lily ...I am very glad you all came ,Ray doesn't bring his friends home and I wonder even if he had even any " said Mrs.Carlos ,chuckling..Mrs.Carlos looked very friendly... "May be Ray lied to us , he did act weird when we ask him about coming to his house ...in fact none of our class mates had come to his house before...nor have they met his parents" thought Lily,who was now sure that her friend had avoided them coming and looked at Ray ,who was in the other room searching for his fifth grade English text ,which he had borrowed from Lily...Lily and Nick had come to get it ,while they met Mrs.Carlos ,who asked them to come in and have some snack...



          "Hey ,We came to get my text and your mom invited us inside" Lily told Ray when they were walking with Nick, towards the park ,"your parents were very friendly ,they treated us really well ,they asked us to come over later " Lily told Ray ,who was looking upset when he heard that ,and Lily had known that would be his reaction...



          "why did you lie to us ,Ray? ..you don't like us coming to your house?...what happened ?...you shouldn't have lied to us about your parents .." Lily advised ...but Ray still looked worried .. "why?..what happened?..if you don't like it ,we are not coming to your house anymore ,okay?" Lily said ,she felt irritated .But ,Ray suddenly looked at her ,with a shock ,then he looked down ,fiddling the tip his trouser ...

 

          "How many fish did you eat ?" Ray asked innocently ..." I don't remember" lied Lily ,frustrated than before ...she exactly knew how much ..."why ?..did we eat your share ?..we'll get you some ...even more ...,we don't need your share "said Nick ,who was equally frustrated as Lily .



            "Lily...you ate five and Nick ...you ate seven " calmly said Ray . "how did you know?" asked Lily ,with her eyes wide open ,as she knew he was in the other room the whole time and it was impossible for him to tell how much they ate by counting  the missing pieces in the bowl,as there were many pieces and his mother had even cleared the plates much before he came to the dining room .



          Ray looked calm but gave a sympathetic look ,and his voice broke when he started talking again ... "you know...I really like you guys coming to my house...but ...there is one thing....my parents...they don't count the fish...they count the thorns,,," and then he ran away...controlling his sobs...



          Lily and Nick stood there like statues ..looked at each other with their mouths open...and looked back at their friend running ...."what have I done?!!" thought Lily ,,,,