The chapter is not so detailed but just a basic understanding of what happened to him. You will get to know about him as the story continues.
R A K S H I T' S S I D E
The sound of heavy footsteps at this late hour of the night alerted Romi's senses, and he knew his brother was back home. Fearing that their mother might get awoken at the sound of the fracked door creaking due to Rakshit's untimely arrival, he opened his window for Rakshit, a thing which had become more common in the past few days.
From the window jumped in a bruised Rakshit, not caring what would happen if his mother woke up to the scenario.
"Rakshit you know it's too risky for you to be outside, why do you always have to do this? What if she saw you?" Romi tried explaining his younger brother but Rakshit was not much of a person who cared about the one manipulating and controlling their lives for far more time they could remember.
"What would've she done? I don't really understand, we are above 18 and still we're stuck with this woman and then you'll say reason is that she is our mom? When did she ever act like one?" Throwing a disgusted look at Romi, Rakshit threw himself at his bed in the room the three brothers shared.
The three of them, Arjun, Romi and Rakshit always considered family above all, so they shared a single room in order to further strengthen the bond they shared.
'Family' was a term which held the top most importance in their lives, the sole reason why their mother, despite her deeds was still being tolerated by the brothers. The three were family and could mever stand a word against each their. Their mom was,
Just their mom.
They loved their father. The man who taught them that in a family 'no one is left behind' no matter what.
Their mother was a lady who was despised and denounced by nearly every person in that neighborhood or who knew her closely. She wasn't abusive, but she had played the major role in the tearing apart of the family they once was.
She mentally tortured her husband into thinking that he was never enough and could mever support his family, pressurized him and broke him to the extent that he decided to take a forever leave from the sufferings of life and the constant pain given by the world.
She forced the brothers to work when they should have been spending the time like other normal kids with normal happy families. They had to follow rules, her rules which were not less a nightmare for the kids.
Out of the trio, Rakshit was the one whom she hated for absolutely no reason.
Every now and then she would pass him tantrums, give him an earful of her thoughts which consisted of ideas 'how great it would be if he had the fate like his father'. Tormenting him with her words wasn't enough when she started drugging her own son, drowning him into the addiction which he couldn't handle, leading to an overdose once.
Bound by their father's last wish on the will they thought their mother wouldn't be much of a problem but she started provoking her own children against each other, something they couldn't tolerate. Little did they know that the will was altered by their mother only. It said that every part of their father's money would be siezed if their mother was left behind.
The brothers needed money at that time, for their college expenses and other things, so they were stuck with her.
It had been a rough couple of days for Rakshit after returning from rehab. After returning anger and disgust filled his heart when he saw that lady sitting in front of him with a smile plastered on his face.
"Did you get into a fight again?" Sighed Romi, looking at the fresh blueish tint running down his cheek.
"Couldn't help it" Rakshit sighed. "I wish she leaves us, and goes wherever she wants to. It will be just you, me and Arjun"
"Ah, Arjun, what do you think? He'll be so proud of you when he would come to know that you got yourself into trouble again? You know how mad he gets at the sight of your scars and bruises. Why do you always have to do this?" Romi kept his voice low, so that it would not reach Arjun's ears.
Arjun, the eldest of them all was that person who would do anything for his brothers, even give his own life. But he hated it,
Hated when Rakshit got into a fight every time he would lose his sanity after coming back from the rehab. He hated it whenever Rakshit would not listen to him and get himself hurt. He hated the sight of his baby brother bruised over and over again just because he couldn't earn enough money.
Rakshir would go underground fighting to earn some money. They lost most of their money due to their mom's gambling addiction and the drugs she gave Rakshit. Arjun hated it.
As for Rakshit, he would welcome the pain, the hurt, the everything that came along but not his brother's anger. But he couldn't help finding another way to let out his frustration which made him go underground fighting.
Their mom however was busy manipulating which was her basic talent by the way, this time manipulating Arjun that Rakshit thought his eldest brother wasn't capable enough to feed them, to take care if them and so he was doing it all just to show him how useless he was in the name of a brother.
"Don't tell him. And here" Rakshit pulled out some money from his pocket and handed it over to Romi "get the phone you wanted. How long would you adjust with that half broken phone and your meds" Rakshit sighed, pointing at Romi's old buttoned phone. "And don't try giving me the money back"
"Just nothing, don't ever do this again" Romi whispered. He needed medicine for his fever that kept increasing due to some infection but all the medicines were taken away by their mother, so he couldn't have any.
"Yeah yeah, will see" Rakshit chuckled at his brother's reactions and laid back to rest for sometime.
It wasn't even a full fifteen minutes when the door to the room opens all of a sudden revealing a hyperventilating Arjun standing in front of it with a pale and sweat bleared visage. "She's gone" he murmured
"What happened Arjun? Who is gone?" Asked Romi.
"Mother. She is dead" Arjun said in a low monotone before turning around to lead them into the room where the woman peacefully laid in her bed.
"How did it happen?" Rakshit gulped in shock, looking at her lifeless form.
"Heart attack or something I guess" Arjun replied plainly. His voice lacked the essence, lacked the emotions any other person would have experienced at that time. "She's just gone"
"Away from everyone" mumbled Romi.
*.*.*.*
At the graveyard
T
he boys stood for the burial while she laid in her deathbed. Arjun looked at the dead body for the last time before looking over to his brothers and turning to go. Even if she was not the ideal mother, he could see the dead state of anyone, even if it was hers.
When their father died, he was the one who take care of his brothers when they needed someone. And there he was, always taking care of them like a mother should've.
"Hope life goes on well. Without her" he mumbled under his breath and looked at Rakshit whose hand rested on his shoulder.
"It will" Rakshit said, turning his face to him when Arjun noticed that something he hated the most, another bruise, indicating that he went underground fighting once again.
"Did you fight? Again?" Shrugging Rakshit's hand off his shoulder, Arjun grabbed his face and turning it, he examined the mark carefully. "You know how much I hate it"
"Arjun, let me explain. He just wanted me to have the medicine. I was lying in fever so he just-"
"And you thought that your elder brother was such a douche that he would not care? Or such a loser that he could not earn enough to get his brother meds? What reason was it? Rakshit?" Arjun asked Rakshit, coldly yet gently, hurtfully but without any hate.
"No Arjun. I didn't, how could you even think like that?" Replied Rakshit while looking at the ground. The words of his brother felt like someone just gave a tight squeeze to his heart. He could never think of his brother like that.
"Oh yeah, then what's it?" Arjun pushed back Rakshit in his growing anger mixed with his mother's words. "Are you this much grown that you'll get yourself beaten for your brothers? Am I dead to you?" He held Rakshit's collar and raised his hand to punch his baby brother with a few tear drops trickling down his eyes.
"Arjun" gasped Rakshit.
"Arjun stop!" Romi pulled Arjun away and looked at Rakshit who was rooted to his place. "Rakshit?"
"I'm done" was all he said when he saw the look on his brother's face. He knew that
His mother won
And
He lost
He lost his brother somewhere in the hate seeds her mother was sowing in their minds. He never cared before, thinking no one could ever come between them but now he saw what stuck him hard.
"Rakshit?" Romi whispered, trying to reach out to Rakshit who was in tears by now.
"She won, she tore us and he just proved it" Rakshit exclaimed. Hurt audible in his tone.
"No Rakshit, Rakshit plz. It's all over now. She's gone. It's all okay" Romi tried explaining him.
"No, it's all over. I'm leaving that house where we were meant to me one but here we stand, torn apart by mere words. She just said and he believed" Fake smiled Rakshit.
"Rakshit don't! Arjun say something" Arjun stood quietly, looking at his youngest brother.
With each step that Rakshit took backwards, Romi's heart kept sinking but as he tried approaching him, he stopped.
Stopped seeing Rakshit's hand lifted in the air asking him to do so. "It's over Romi, it is"
"Arjun please, stop him!" Romi requested Arjun with tears running down his face.
"Let me do whatever he wants to. He makes it all about him" was all he had to say.
"As if you cared" replied Rakshit.
"Neither did you" said Arjun.
And it was the time when Rakshit ran away from the place with Romi running after him. But after a short while Romi lost the track of him. The three brothers were in tears at three different places, cursing their fate, broken too much without each other, incomplete without each other.
Since that day, Rakshit left the city after sneaking into the house and taking away some of his belongings long with a few of his brothers' to remember them.
Separated but still untied, they never stopped thinking about each other, always in each other's heart they lived, thrived and at the end of the every passing day each of them died of the hollowness they experienced.
The real story starts with their povs from next part. I couldn't explain both of them in short so had to make two different parts for that.