There was a kind of hope in their hearts. A beginning had started for them, and they knew only discipline needed to be put at every path of their struggle. Arshia was accepted into the college of her choice, and the mother-daughter duo came home, fluttering through the streets like butterflies. Tasha gave her a delightful treat at a side vendor, including many of her favourite spicy snacks and cans of carbonated drinks. After they had crushed the beverage-cans and thrown away the paper plates, they embarked on a rickshaw back to home. As the house came in their line of sight, their smiling faces slowly started to fade away.
They alighted right in front of the main door, where Pragati was standing with her arms folded and face dead serious. Tasha asked Arshia to spend her day somewhere else, even though she had promised to play chess with her. Arshia clasped her mother's hands tightly and looked worriedly into her eyes. Tasha caressed her cheek and embraced her tightly to her bosom.
"Don't be ever afraid of anything. You always have to move forward. You are Tasha Aithwal's daughter, and you will have a grand name some day! Go beta, play with your friends. I will be waiting for you", she said to her and bid her away. Arshia kept turning her head to see if Pragati would try treating her mother harshly again. She did not want to see all that anyway, but her mother getting harmed was unbearable for her. Even if she had gotten used to it.
Tasha thought Pragati would move aside and continue her ugly stare at her, but she did not give her way into the house.
Astonished, Tasha looked up at her questioningly. As Pragati moved aside, Tasha faced Ghanendra's large stature standing out in the darkness of their hall, like a dreadful demon. Tasha was pulled into the house with utter force and the door was slammed hard, cutting her helplessness from the world outside.
She had a few rupees left with her as her mother's purse stayed in her hands. Her college form went away with Tasha to home, and she was present all alone at their usual rendezvous, that dingy basement. And Nuthvik was nowhere to be seen. The more she stared at the blank dust-laden walls, the faster her life film ran in front of her eyes. What must be happening with her mother at home? She couldn't contact her mother because her phone was at home, but she was told to enjoy her day. So she looked out for him at the company where he worked, and there she spotted him. A slender boy whose every muscle definition was visible with the grease smeared all over his body. His white Amul vest had almost blackened away, and he was continuously wiping the sweat off his forehead while fixing some parts of a car with a large wrench. Arshia admired his hard work from a distance and wished if only he had listened to her once, and tried to find a better job which did not make him work like a donkey day and night. Nuthvik spotted her staring at him, and Arshia gave him a smile. His countenance turned grumpy, probably to shoo her away from being seen by the other men working along with him. Not because he wanted to keep her safe, but because he thought that every man had a mind like him. He signalled her to have patience, and passed his incomplete task to his buddy. All his mate thought looking at him quickly cleaning his body and running towards Arshia that, some day, he will surely lose his life in this so-called love.
"You belong to that very place from where your husband picked you up!", Ghanendra spat all his disrespectful words at her. Tasha kept weeping on the floor, lying in a poor state of despair. Her tear stained face and wrinkled clothes spoke ten times the voice that she kept hidden in her little heart. Not a word of her prayer struck their eardrums.
"We gave you enough means to live sufficiently, but you seem to have stabbed us in the back very nicely", Pragati grabbed her wrist hardly, in an attempt to make her speak. When she nodded her head in no, Tasha had to get her cheeks stung one more time by the burtal slaps. She wondered if her daughter was to come home and see all that going on, would she also blame her the same way like Rafeen had witnessed something similar years ago? And that was why she had to be married away quickly to zip her mouth up completely.
"Why would I steal money from your bank? I don't even have the details!", Tasha said, trying to get up but Pragati shouted at her to stay motionless.
"That is why you took so long to clean my room, no? All that 'I am cleaning it thoroughly' was an excuse!", Pragati's hair bun came off as she banged her feet on the floor with anger. None of them heard Tasha's pleadings that she had not stolen money to pay Arshia's fees.
"Then where did the sum come from to pay your bastard daughter's fees?", Pragati asked dramatically, to which Ghanendra replied,
"Let me show where it came from..", and then he slapped a slip on her face, that read that twenty thousand rupees had been extracted from his account.
And the withdrawing account was of Wasim Aithwal, that only Tasha had access to.
They hugged for a minute more, until finally facing each other. Arshia smiled first, followed by Nuthvik not imitating her. She removed her arms from his shoulders, but he kept holding on to her waist.
"What's bothering you now?", She slithered her fingers on his temples.
"Whatever it was, your beauty is making me forget everything", Nuthvik pulled her close to his chest, almost squeezing her breasts against him. Arshia could feel the heat from her cheeks and a dubiousity whirl in her gut. She changed the topic to her form submission, so as to calm down her boyfriend's rising hormones. Nuthvik acted as if he was merely listening to her and not registering anything she said about her mother's sacrifice for her. He suddenly had an idea when she said that she wanted to celebrate her small yet significant achievement. He made her wait for a few minutes, and was back within a short time. She saw in his hands a bag full of beer cans, an alcohol bottle and a packet of chips, and of course his favourite forever, cigarettes. They sat at his usual smoking corner. The fizz of soda overpoured their glasses. Nuthvik sipped his drink quietly. His eyes lined every curve of her body as the alcohol started kicking in his system. Then, Nuthvik started rubbing the tip of the alcohol bottle on Arshia's shoulders and all the way down her spine, that gave her immense goose flesh. Arshia had a confused look and he replied her with a smirk,
"Ms. Arshia Aithwal, you are going to drink with me today!".
His dilated pupils were absorbing her into their void, while her body suddenly became loose with fear.
Her knees felt weak seeing the slip lying beside her. Ghanendra was moving forward to slap her when she shielded herself with her arms crossed over her face, a picture of a trembling frail woman. Tasha's head started pounding, listening to all the accusations about her. In front of her eyes dashed a train of memories of her life, from her falling in love with Wasim, to holding the newborn Rafeen in their arms, and till Arshia's smile on her selection in her college. She even smiled on all the negative memories on loop in her mind, as it was not the first time they were beating her with a belt. Pragati revelled in the scene, while Ghanendra took out all his frustrations on Tasha. Their minds were in a state of delusion, and anger pushed the buttons of action in them, but every action has a consequence, that they never knew. They paused for a moment when Tasha gave out an ear splitting scream that she had not stolen money from them. Ghanendra's tobacco-stained teeth seemed like they would pull apart her flesh anytime, with the way they were gnashing. Her groaning voice shrank Pragati's heart too. Then they decided on a deliberate end before Ghanendra could cross the limit, and dragged a wounded Tasha to the door. Pragati carefully made her stand up, and said,
"Now never show your face again!", kicking her out of the house. Forever, with a shattered dignity.
A while later, it struck them that Tasha could also run to the police station and file against them. This hovered the clouds of doom upon them. Pragati's apprehension was condensed by Ghanendra telling her that he would definitely do something about Tasha, before it was too late.
Four sips down her throat, and she started seeing the surroundings blurred. As if all the dust had settled inside her eyes, but she could very much differentiate Nuthvik sitting in front of her. He was not lowering his eyes from her. The dark clouds raided the sky, ready to shed their violence. There was a slight tornado of dust created inside the basement as the winds blew furiously. Arshia held her throbbing head and slowly lied down on the floor. Nuthvik crept closer to her, such that her hair caressed his face as the cool winds hit them. In no time, they were on top of each other. This time, Arshia was not at all cautious about anything. Nuthvik put her hands above her head, rolled her top under her breasts, and started kissing on the soft skin of her abdomen. She kept laughing, feeling ticklish with his beard rubbing against her skin. Soon, their lips met and he started grabbing her at various places. She felt like she was one of his cars that he was scrubbing thoroughly with his skin. Excitement took over them as they explored each other's bodies. Nuthvik would try to reach her private parts but Arshia was conscious enough to not let anything happen in ignorance. Their lips met, their tongues fought and he kept thrusting her in the air as if he was desperate to rip apart her clothes and get into her pants. Arshia had never experienced such a proximity with Nuthvik. She recognised the smell of laundry detergents and gasoline from his body. The fact that Nuthvik was not much hygienic repulsed her more but she tried not to turn his mood off. They smooched wildly for minutes, and then he wanted more of her. So, he grabbed her pants and tried to pull them down. Arshia kept giggling that he was becoming naughtier, but Nuthvik was determined to conquer her virginity. Her body became stiff as she realised what was ahead - two men were standing and oggling at their act.
Their salivas touched the ground and their eyeballs could pop out any minute. Nuthvik and Arshia quickly dressed while the men were inquiring them, and then excused themselves from them. They were let off with a mild scold, and they knew that they had to forget that place from then on. Fortunately, what Arshia feared did not happen. Those men looked more drunk than her boyfriend and could possibly attack them. They stopped by a place and gasped largely. Arshia laughed while lust leaked from Nuthvik's eyes.
"We are not done yet, I guess? I know a place...",
"It's enough. We need to control ourselves",
"I don't like this at all. You gave me nothing but a turn off", his words kind of hurt her somewhere. She gave her nothing, her body meant nothing to him. Arshia was happy that those men came at the time when Nuthvik could have forced himself upon her. He was visibly pissed, and she knew except physical intimacy, their relationship had no true foundation. She simply walked away from him, enjoying the dusky weather before sunset. As she wended her way home, the street lights lit up one by one with her every step. Only to lead her to absolute darkness.
There was a crowd collected by her door, and people were whispering into each other's ears. Some looked at Arshia and the discussions increased, while some did not care at all. She couldn't understand what was happening. Where was her aunt, her uncle, her mother? A few men came up with an empty stretcher, as if they had just carried a body, and left as soon as they were paid by her uncle. She ran towards her uncle to know about the matter, when suddenly she spotted someone who brought her heartbeat to a standstill. A woman in a white kurti and disheveled hair stood in front of her, that very much resembled her mother from behind. Why was Tasha standing like that in the crowd? She stood behind that woman and the latter sensed it, turning towards Arshia. She was none other than her elder sister, Rafeen Aithwal Rahmaan. It was the first time that she was entering their house, and that was a big reason of merry for Arshia. Her sister's flushed face and crumpled expression said otherwise..... something was not right.
"Didi....", Arshia took a moment to denote her with the correct title. It felt awkward, as if addressing a stranger, but was relieving beyond anything. Suddenly, Rafeen broke down in tears, her cheeks getting full of blood as she said the words that were to ruin Arshia's life forever...
"Arshia....our mother is dead. Tasha Aithwal is no more".
Her ears did not believe it, but her body gave up. She could not even fall down to her knees, any lower than her heart had fallen.