“Are you ready?” she asked me.

My first lesson in meditation. “Yes. I’m ready.”

“Okay,” she told me. “First, sit on your mat, legs crossed.” I did as she asked. “Okay, now you need to calm yourself and focus. Breath in through your nose, slowly, and out through your mouth. In. Out.”

I felt so relaxed. I could already feel all the tension leaving my body. “Excellent. You’re a quick learner. Now, then, we’re going to close our eyes and use a rhythmic chant to get our minds ready to slip into a meditative trance. Repeat after me.

“Soka. Tapin. Yu. L’tal. Gural.”

“Soka. Tapin. Yu. L’tal. Gural,” I repeated. We chanted like this for five or ten minutes. Suddenly, something occurred to me.

”’So caught up in you, little girl.’ Do you always use 80’s rock to meditate?”

“What?” she asked. “Don’t like .38 Special? We could try some Anthrax if you prefer.”

I stared at her for a moment, saw she was serious, got up, and left. That’s the last time I go to my sister’s friends for anything.