Undo by Shifani Reffai

Mr Popper’s Penguins. That’s what we were watching when she got the phone call. Jim Carey was just going to save his bevy of adorable penguins from the evil zoo, when she got a call from the clinic.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes”, she said.

“I have to go to the clinic for a check-up,” she explained, when she hung up. “My period hasn’t been regular.”

“Oh okay, don’t worry, that’s normal,” I said, grabbing a biscuit off the assortment on the table. I’d had loads of friends with irregular periods – hormonal imbalance or something.

“No, you don’t get it,” she replied, “I’ll tell you when we leave.” She was putting on her shoes. Her father, a retired boxing champ, passed us by on his way to the kitchen. “Aren’t you going to tell him about the check-up?” I asked. She shook her head, no.
She left the room to get her bag.

If she was any other girl I’d think she was pregnant. But Mallu? Nah, she was a sweetheart, just a kid – she couldn’t have had sex yet. Hell, I hadn’t had sex yet and I was older than her.

“Bayar and I had sex,” she told me as we walked out the gate.

“And you didn’t use anything?” I asked, without missing a beat.

“No.”

“Well, that was really stupid.”

Summer was beginning. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of my neck. I pulled my dupatta over my eyes.

“I know,” she finally responded. “I took a pill afterwards.”

“You’re supposed to take it before.”