I Am Guilty

13. His Princess

"Bansi, enough." Arjun warned, forcing his eyes to her for a mere second and then back to his father, who had his unwavering gaze at his daughter.

"Why? I want my answers, Bhai. Do you even understand what I went through all these days? And now you want me to not question you?" She was agitated.

She did not understand why he stealthily moved and pushed her behind him. She turned around to see and a cold shiver ran down her spine as she saw her father watching them.
She blinked rapidly to keep her fear in check.
She wanted to snap out of it to let it be just a dream, but she knew better.

"Move." His father's cold voice chilled his blood.

Arjun took a step back, holding Bansi behind him and pushed her gently forcing her to step back along with him.

His father's cold domineering aura loosened the grip on the gift box that he was holding, but he could not care about it anymore. When his father turned his heated gaze to him, his throat ran dry. His father unbuckled the belt and pulled it out in one swift move.
The cold eyes and the dangerous glint in them compelled obedience. But the timid girl standing behind him shell shocked could not make him think anything.
His brain clogged and his nerves numbed as his own eighteen-year-old self, ragged and brutally battered, flared in front of his eyes.

"Dad, it's not what you think. She is just a kid." He gathered courage and spoke. But his heart betrayed him as he tightened his hold on his sister behind him, with his outstretched hands at the back.

Bansi looked at him with hurt filling her eyes when he too, like others called her a kid.

"I said move." His father's menacing voice cut deep.

"She doesn't know what she was saying. She was just angry. Please, Dad... "

His helpless words were lost on his father when he was harshly pulled by his lapels and slapped hard.
Arjun closed his eyes and clenched his fist, but did not let go of the girl in his arms that were stretched behind. Bansi could feel the intensity of the slap as his body shuddered with sound that resonated.  Veena clamped her palms on her mouth in shock.

Everything happen in a flash as he was not even out of the shock that he got pushed away from the girl who stood in front of her father, unprepared and unprotected. His father raised his belt to hit her. But Arjun, who knew what would happen was prepared for the worst. He turned around to gather Bansi in his arms just to get the whip landed on his back. He hugged his sister tighter, trying to hide her face in his chest to stop her from watching anything.

A sharp shaky pain-filled whimper was audible only to Bansi who was too close to him to miss that.

Next moment, his mother and Naren intervened and Naren was struggling to calm his uncle down. Everything happened so fast that he could not stop the damage.
Veena was initially startled when Arjun was slapped. She was not prepared to see what was to come next.

Arjun came to his senses and realized that his mother and cousin had intervened and probably the worst was postponed. He gently pulled away from Bansi and found her looking at him with wide eyes and parted lips. She was too scared to react. She was stunned by the turn of events.

He gently shook her.
"Bansi?" His voice was mere whisper, as he tried to ignore the fact that his father was still furious and was being held by Naren.

"Breathe, baby." He whispered helplessly.

A lone tear finally escaped her eyes and he was relieved that she was reacting. She was too young to witness whatever happened.

"Ask him to leave." His father's loud angry voice caught his attention.

He looked at his father. There was no hurt in Arjun's eyes, but his heart was filled with concern for his little innocent sister. He did not have the heart to leave her unprotected with his father. He was not sure if his father was done punishing or the girl was yet to face the wrath.

He looked at his cousin and did not know what to do.
Naren could understand his plight. The way he had protected Bansi told him that Arjun would not be at ease thinking about her safety.

Naren nodded discreetly as to promise Arjun that he would take care of Bansi and at the same time, keeping it a secret from his angry uncle.

Arjun did not look at anyone and left towards the outhouse to pick his bag and leave.

Bansi looked at his retreating back and saw the diagonal strip on his cream coloured shirt that had slightly blotched crimson.

She could hear a numb buzz that fogged her senses. Her vision blurred and her body was suddenly too cold to bear. She found her throat blocked and she collapsed. A soft thud caught the attention of the family.
Everyone gathered around her in panic as Bansi lay lifeless on the cold floor. Her head had hit the wall and a stream of warm blood slowly made its way down on her cheek. Veena was the one to compose herself and call for an ambulance.

Arjun did not know what happened at the main house. He trusted his cousin to take care of the girl. He stepped in the outhouse and poured himself a glass of water.
He groaned in disapproval and peeled his T-shirt from his body. He closed his eyes in disbelief when he saw the crimson diagonal strip. He hoped no one back in the family noticed it. He did not appreciate pity.
He looked around and folded the T-shirt and stuffed it in the empty cupboard. He knew no one would come there, since the outhouse was not in use.
The naked wound on his back was killing him. It was not a deep wound but his skin was brutally scraped. It was burning.
He decided to get a cold soothing shower to find some relief.

He stripped and stood under the shower but had to make up his mind to let the cold water down. He knew it would hurt to the hell and back. Closing his eyes tight, he opened the faucet and clenched his fist around a tap to bare the pain.

It was the overwhelming struggle with his pain and the sound of the water running that he missed on the siren of the ambulance to the main house and the fact that Bansi was being carried in that ambulance, accompanied by her whole family in another car.

While Veena sat on a bench in the hospital, she did not know if she should be glad that finally Arjun decided to show up, or she should blame him for what Bansi was going through.
She did not know how many more were going to suffer for his deeds.

She also did not know if after whatever happened that day, and the way he was humiliated, would he ever decide to come back again.
If she was in his place, she would have never come back. She did not know what Arjun thought of all this.

Bansi's words that he thought of having her to himself, the moment he knew about her, haunted her thoughts. She could not conclude why he would behave the way he did.

She could see nothing but as self centered and manipulative man in him.

Arjun stepped out of the shower and dressed himself in a black button down shirt. He picked up his bag and left the outhouse, oblivious to whatever happened to his sister.

Just as he took a cab, a school bus stopped by the Mathur Residence. Geet stepped down and ran to the main house.
The house was empty, except for the house help. She looked around to find her mother or her grandmother, but no one was in the vicinity.
A small gift box lying on the floor, unattended and unopened caught her eye. Her curiosity took over. She walked to it and crouched down to pick it up.

'For My Princess'

Read the messy scribbling.

Geet smiled. She knew who the Princess was. Without wasting any moment, she tore opened the packet and looked at the pretty watch. Her eyes glinted.

But she pursed her lips. She did not know how to read the clock and the straps were a little too big for her tiny wrist.

But she was happy that she finally had a watch for herself, a pretty one at that.

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Another chapter up.

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