Taboo: Part 3
The breeze hit her face like a much-needed refreshment. Chiru was furiously driving through the heavy traffic. He already hated Alik for being the arsehole that he was, and now that he did this, to his girfriend-Chiru couldn’t think straight. They still had their exams waiting for them.
When they reached their college, the Dean was waiting for them, irritated, but let out a sigh on seeing Sushnita. No one in college got to know what had happened. She gave her exam, and was waiting for Chiru. He was the only one who could help now. When Chiru came out, they went to the nearby police station to lodge a complaint. Alik was arrested near his boarding house.
All Sushnita wanted now was to be alone. But much to her displeasure, she wasn’t. She had to be tested for sexual assault, her statement to be taken, she was to be counselled for the trauma she was supposed to be in. “She wasn’t traumatised?!” Not much it seems. She was strong, is. And also because she partly believed she deserved what she got. Her body was desecrated now. How she wished she could leave this filth, this curse of being pretty.
It took a month or so for Alik to be proven guilty and punished by the court of law. 15 years. Non-bailable. The rest got life sentences. Chiru was at peace. But he didn’t know about Sushnita. He always had a soft spot for her, but he had a hard time understanding her now. It was as if she had closed herself to the world, hiding her scar. Maybe it was because of this that he didn’t quite get why Sushnita wasn’t at least satisfied about this.
Chiru: “But Alik and the rest got what they deserved. Why aren’t you happy about it?”
Sushi: “There is nothing to be happy about when someone is punished.”
“But he…. he did that to you, his own girlfriend!!”
“I don’t care!! I didn’t want this to happen!! Please stop talking to me, EVER!!”
Chiru was as puzzled (as the readers are right now. Yeah, I know you’re thinking what the hell is happening, but trust the writer. I know what I’m writing…. I guess). She stomped off. Why was she acting this weird?
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she dragged herself home, or whatever it was. She had no one to comfort her now. Her parents cared less about her, and now that she got herself raped, they would now shun to call her their daughter. After all, she had disgraced herself. But something struck her. Why did Alik confide in Chiru about what happened to her? Why not anyone else? Was Chiru in it? But then why would he go to such lengths to have Alik prosecuted? Maybe he wanted to be a hero to her. Men are the same everywhere. All they do is to get a girl to fuck.
She had other things to worry about too. She wasn’t having her periods. Maybe it was the medicines. But so many of them ejaculated inside her. She needed to be sure. That medicine shop is open. She had an objective now.
Two pink lines. Shit.
She was devastated. Not now. Not when she needed to put herself together. Not when she is helpless. She didn’t even have enough money to go for an abortion. The foetus hadn’t developed yet. Chiru.
But I can’t trust him.
Because of your foolish hunch?
Because I don’t trust guys anymore.
You should keep the baby. It wasn’t his fault.
Are you crazy?! It still ain’t a baby. Just a cluster of cells, originating from God-knows-whose sperm from among those curs. I don’t want it. Its a part of my scar.
…..
What?! Am I saying something wrong? If you want the baby, why don’t you have it? Oh right, you are me. And I decide to not have it. If only I had some money…
She had been running for a while now, her legs giving away under her “weight” (she hardly had any). But she must go on. She had to. There was no way she could look back, not with the baby in her. A dark past had been left behind, with a darker future ahead - or maybe not. Behind her, heavy footsteps were catching up fast. Alik and his accomplices are almost upon her. She trips and falls on her tummy. A blood-curling cry ensues from her mouth. Alik kicks her over. A gleaming knife in his hands tell her of the inevitable. The accomplices hold her up. “The baby is ours, love. You can’t have it. It’s ours to have. And we shall have it.” No, this is mine to keep. My body, my rules. “I am sorry my love.” He cuts open her womb. A mutilated, bloody body rolls out, hardly breathing.
Her body shoots up from the warm bed she so longed to be in. She was sweating. Chiru was sitting by her side. How did he get in?! She gets away from him.
Sushi: “How did you get in?”
Chiru: “You didn’t lock the door.”
“The hell I did not! What are you doing here? Preying on an already broken girl? Because she won’t feel anything anymore?!”
“What are you talking about?”
She swiftly took up the closest object she could use as a weapon against him. It was the trauma speaking now- she didn’t realize that. He backed off.
“What are you doing? Why are you doing this? I’m here to help!!”
“Help yourself to me is more like it. Tell me, why did Alik tell you what happened? Or was it your brainchild to make Alik do this?”
“Sushi, what are you saying?! Look, calm down please. I’ll tell you everything. Just put that thing away and let’s sit and talk.”
“Don’t you dare come near me. If you don’t start speaking, I’ll call the cops.”
“Okay, okay, chill. I came to know of it because I saw Alik enter the college gates dishevelled, and without you by his side. I didn’t think much of it, but when you didn’t turn up for the exam, I knew something was wrong. I…”
“Lies!! Utter lies!! You knew what had happened because you made him do it!!”
“NO!!I confronted him about you, and that’s when he told me about you. I kept calm on the phone so that I can console you. And after all this time you had known me, you really think I would do that to you?!”
Her legs felt weak. Her body shook as tears welled up in her eyes. She collapsed on the floor, crying. She hadn’t cried. She hadn’t let her body heal, emotionally. She was in such a fix. Chiru ran to her to hold her up.
“I’m pregnant Chiru.”
“What??!!”
“I wanna keep this child. Even though he was born of an illicit and forced consummation, it wasn’t its fault.”
“Umm, ok. But how are you going to keep it? You can’t stay here with the child and take care of it. You haven’t even graduated!”
“I will in a few months. I will have to move away after that. Do you have some money? I promise to return it to you after I get a job.”
“Okay, we shall see. Now rest.”
“Chiru…”
“Yes?”
“I am sorry for what I did.”
“It’s ok. You were traumatised. I know you are strong. You still are.”
“Chiru, there’s something else.”
“What is it?”
(The Epilogue is to come)