Chirping crickets' sound were the only thing that one's ear could hear. However, that sound wasn't as creepy as the gloomy lane onto which Nehali was walking, heading towards her home. Except the barking of street dogs, practically there was no one else on this lonely street. There were several emotions sprinting through Nehali's mind. Insecurity. Fright. Worry. Panic. Under this gamut of emotions, all that mattered to her was to reach her home as soon as possible.
As she came closer to her building compound, there were some sleazeballs gathered near the main gate. Nehali heaved a sigh laced with fear, she made up her mind that if any of these guys tried to eve-tease her. She would slap the shit out of their faces and break their jaw. Or she would spray pepper gun in their eyes—which she always carries in her purse—that'd have them blind for an hour or so.
A guy looked at her with the sight that screamed eye sex. Nehali walked past him and did her best to overlook him. But as she walked past all of them, somebody wolf whistled. Now, this got on her wick. The grip on her purse tightened.
Nehali let out a gasp of relief, she thought she passed through those scumbags but the sound of soft steps following sent a spasm of fear to her spin. She turned around and eyed those jerks.
For a split second, they acted casual. One scrawny guy decided to take initiative and took hasty steps ahead. Their dirty comments were now audible to Nehali. Her ears couldn't believe the lewd words their mouths uttered. Wearing a nasty smile on his face, he tried to get closer but Nehali charged at him; before he could make another move and banged his temple with her iron quilted purse. He squealed and collapsed on the ground.
In next move, Nehali groped her hand into her purse and took off pepper spray gun. Certainly, never in the million years, they would have envisaged this move by a girl. She sprayed it in all of their eyes, they fell on the ground, shrieking to death. Because she executed this attack with such agility, none of them were prepared to safeguard their eyes.
They'd eve-teased a lot of women before, some even fought back to them but no one ever taught them a lesson like this; surely it was such that they would always remember. Pride filled Nehali's heart as a victorious smile graced her lips. But the show was not over. For a happy ending, she called the cops and had them arrested.
******
Walking back and forth, frequent bouts of agita stretched across the face of Nehali's mother. Her mind was restless because of those ill-boding thoughts popping up in her head every now and then. Certainly, it has to be because her twenty one year old daughter was still not home. It was 12:36 AM already and what worst was: Nehali's cellphone were switched off. Usually, she comes by 11:15 PM or so, but now it was too late. There were no limbs in her body that didn't quiver like a leaf. Because of bad thoughts, she felt a worrying shudder in her chest as if her heart wanted to escape.
Nehali's mother ran out of patience; she grabbed her purse and decided to leave her house. But just then someone rang the doorbell. Pulling the door open, finally, she saw her daughter. "I'm sick of this place. We should get the heck out of here as soon as possible," Nehali burst out and trudged in.
This puts to an end for all those struggles Nehali does on a daily basis. She was tired of all. But yet she was helpless and there was no escape so far. She's been working a bit more than usual working hours to get extra income so that they could get a new house in a safer place. Since they were falling short of the rental deposit, that's why Nehali and her mother have been working their finger to the bone.
*****
The morning rays cascaded through the slit of a curtain. Nehali's brow furrowed because of the intensity of heat, and it eventually got her up from the bed. Before any other thing, she checked her cellphone's notifications, which took her twenty minutes to go through all of them. Unlike many girls, she didn't take hours in the bathroom. Half an hour was enough for her to get over with her bathroom business. She wore a tank top and pajamas. While doing her hair, what mattered her most was to make sure her hair neatly tie with a topknot; and then she came into the hall room with a cup of coffee.
YOU ARE READING
The Krishna Love (Wattpad India Awards Winner)
心灵"Let's explore the world, man. First, we should go to the Himalayas," Ravi said as he was searching best spiritual places of India on his cell phone. "We're not going anywhere," Sid said sharply, his eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Isn't that what you...
