The Girl Who Joined Infantry

CHAPTER - 3

I spun around hearing my nickname as a tall, wavy haired, kurti clad woman burst through the office door, followed by a small woman in a TTE uniform. Our parents rushed in to give us a hug.

I sank into my mom's arms, soaking up the familiar feeling of safety. I know I should now leave the feeling of safety with my mum since technically I am an adult. But call me anything, coward or childish, I always will be mom's little girl.

Oli had broken down again, but this time it was tears of joy and relief. I can tell without the need to look that Damini aunty, who is straight from duty, is also shedding a few tears.

Mom's arms wrapped around me more tightly, and I winced. Her hands have had brushed at the spot on my back where Bear Man hit me with the chain. Mom pulled away, her brows scrunched with concerned.

" I am ok" I said to assure her.

Mom eyed me from head to foot, examining my every scratch, every cut, every bruise, her eyes lingering longest on the bandage of my arm.

-" You are not okay " she decided. And I wasn't. But I can't show it, not in front of so many people. I'm not a weakling. I took down five armed rapist all by myself, and I have to keep up to that no shedding tears personality Himadi commented me on. No I'll not cry. I decided.

I smiled and said " Make me okay then"

But mom didn't return my smile. Instead she turned on her Serious-Professional-Advocate mode and turned to Inspector Dhar.

-" Inspector, I guess tommorow the rapists will be held on to court"

-" No" Inspector Dhar said.

-" When then?" Damini aunty spoke for the first time. Her demanding tone was scary. Now I understood how the small, soft woman manages to be a successful T.T.E.

-" Monday, maybe" Inspector Dhar's voice cut off my train of thought.

-" Why? Today is thursday, court is open tommorow" mom said in a puzzled voice. I was confused too.

-" Well, the way your daughters beat them, I will not be surprized if they are not up for court even on monday" Inspector Dhar said " the doctor said three of them have broken ribs"

-" My doings" I said. It felt good to know they were suffering. It was pretty hard to hide the smile tugging at my face. Though Himadi looked satisfied by my work. I like this lady!

-" And the one she whipped" Himadi directed at Oli " Is in no condition to be on his feet ".

Oli looked kind of scared " Hey, no need to worry, you're just saving yourself " Himadi assured.

But Inspector Dhar said in a much darker tone " Maybe there's one reason to worry".

-" What ?" we all asked in unison.

-" The stabbed one has lost a lot of blood, and currently is in a risk of life".

-" Hey" I protested " I didn't stab him that hard, only enough for him to see the blood and pass out."

-" You thought he passed out seeing blood?"

-" Well it was just a guess, most people are scared of blood, especially their own"

Inspector Dhar shook his head " The stab hit a nerve"

-" Will he die?" I asked in an indifferent tone. I was again feeling a mix of emotions.

-" wish he doesn't, or the case will turn complicated" Inspector Dhar warned.

-" Complicated or not it may be" mom started. I was not sure where she is going with this " I would like to help the criminals get proper punishment. If you don't mind, ofcourse " she handed out her card.

Inspector Dhar took the card, saw that my mom's an advocate, and nodded in agreement.

I nearly squealed in delight. If my mom was taking the case, those punies were bound to get the worst of punishment. Leave it to senior lawyer Sudakshina Saha to make criminals look like monsters, which, in a way they are. Mom's reputed to shut off the mouths of criminal lawyers with a glare that says if you are helping those, you are as bad as they are, and you too deserve punishment.

-" By any chance if he dies, we will need something to prove your daughters were just saving themselves" Himadi's voice brought me back to present.

-" Leave the proves to us" mom said, exchanging a meaningful look with me.

-" I will expect you to show me the proves before presenting them to the court" Inspector Dhar said, and after we nodded our agreements he added, "Should I send a jeep to take you home?"

-" No, thanks" mom said and we, along with Oli and Damini aunty got out of the police station, hailed a cab and set off for home.

No one said a word in the whole cab ride, except Oli shivering occasionally as she got flashbacks of the horrors she had just been through.

We reached our home in next fifteen minutes, payed the cab and it then took off for Oli's house.

Slowly, with a little help of mom, I ascended the stairs. My exhaustion was slowly showing. Soon we reached our 2nd floor flat. And I soaked in the familiar sight of home. Those yellow walls of our drawing room decorated with my paintings ( Yes, I paint, I like to paint and draw), and photographs clicked by dad. On the left side of the drawing room, is the passage which leads to the kitchen, then comes the sight of the door of my room, decorated with stickers, small doodles and inspirational quotes by APJ Abdul Kalam, I like the best. Like " If you stand for a reason, be prepared to stand alone, like a tree. If you fall on the ground, fall as a seed that grows back to fight again", " Dreams are not what you see while sleeping, but it is something that does not lets you sleep" ," If you want to shine like the sun, first burn like the sun." etc. I soaked in all of that. And as in my familiar surroundings a single sob errupted from my throat, and I broke down crying.

In front of everyone, sometimes even my dad, I don't show my feelings. I know, I know you will say, oh Nyssa that's so very wrong. You should not shut your feelings up. Thanks for advise but no, I can't. It just doesn't feel right. I don't know why, just don't like to show that I can be weak in times. Better as I'm strong both physically and mentally. Yes, that is the image I like to give people about myself. But infront of mom, I'm an open book. I can't hide stuff from her, so why try?

I cried for about half an hour. Yes that much time. Hey, c'mon, when you press your feelings, they come stronger when finally released, isn't that what they say. I was feeling the tears building inside me from the time the police arrested them and I finally felt safe. When all of my desperation and adrenalin faded. I didn't show it then, unlike Oli, like I said, I can't make myself do it.

So anyway, when my sobs finally faded, mom again rubbed ointment on my wounds. I forcefully stuffed in a single roti, didn't feel much of an appetite you know, then went off to bed.