The Price You Pay

The Price You Pay: Chapter 10

Expressing anger without causing emotional or physical damage is a powerful skill ~ Maya Malhotra

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Vedant and Maya signed the contract before I took it with me, assuring me that if I wanted to change the terms, they would agree. But they wanted to show me that they would sign first. They wanted to keep their part of the bargain, unconditionally.

The terms were explicit, but clear. They promised no violence, no beatings, no mental games or abuse. No sexual acts in whatever conceivable way.

It was bleak, and confronting. It was very clear. I had nothing to add.

Maya notices how red my eyes are from crying when I give her the paper on Tuesday morning, after the others have gone to school. My own copy is up in my room, in my suitcase. I have not signed my part of the deal. Too much has happened yesterday. I need some time to recuperate. I hope they will understand this.

"I am so proud of you," Maya says. "You are doing so well, do you know that?"

I don't believe her. Her words sound alien in my ears.

"I'll put this upstairs in the safe. Come with me, we can do it together."

It's almost like a ceremony as we walk up the stairs and into Vedant's office. Maya removes a painting and opens the safe that is hidden behind it. She turns and smiles at me. "It has been a rough start. Let this signal the real beginning of your stay here."

I nod, and she smiles. "I don't think you were expecting this when you arrived last Saturday."

At this, I laugh, for real. I can't help it. She's so right. I didn't know what to expect and there was a lot I was prepared for, but it certainly wasn't this.

It feels strange to laugh like this. I haven't done it for so long, it feels peculiar indeed.

Maya laughs with me and seems to understand why I am laughing myself. "I hope we will live up to your expectations."

Again, she baffles me with her words. Shouldn't it be the other way round?

I follow her to the kitchen again, where she starts to make coffee. "So, what do you want to do today?" she asks without looking up.

I don't know, really. I'm dreadfully tired still, and my head and throat hurt. I haven't slept all that well last night. It was horrifying to lie in the bed and I couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. When I finally slept, I kept waking up from disturbing, chaotic dreams, not knowing where I was. I went out of bed a couple of times to check if the door was still locked, and my body woke me a few times more because I was terribly nauseous.

"You will have to keep calm, of course," Maya says as she pours the steaming black liquid into two cups. "Black, I take it?"

She never asked me this before, I think now and nod. Black and strong. Please.

Maya sits at the kitchen table and gestures for me to follow her. I do, albeit hesitantly, and sit diagonally from her. I still don't understand how everything works here. It's just so... at ease. When I arrived at Rajeev, it was clear from the first day which household chores would be my responsibility. Both Rajeev and Sonia were very clear in what they expected of me. Both Rajeev and Sonia were very clear when I did something they didn't like. They were relatively nice at first. No constant threats, just clear rules. Before the end of the second day, they hit my head the first time. Funny, I don't even remember why that was.

Returning to the present, I look at the worn wood of the table before me. It really is a pretty table. I hold my hands in my lap and only realize I'm wringing them when the tiny wounds I made on Sunday start to hurt.