Five Weeks

Chapter 6

"D-D-Dad!" Her voice came out, stuttering and ripped the doleful silence in the house. Her father stood tall and forbidding on her way. Over his shoulder, Anahita saw her mother standing from the couch. She eyed Anahita in disbelief, "Anu!"

Anahita didn't want to but she felt herself crying. A fear of never seeing her parents gripped her heart in an excruciating grip and she hugged her mother tightly once in her reach. Mrs. Maurya kissed Anahita's face desperately, sobbing and praying for her safety.

"Where have you been? Oh God, we're so worried. Where had you gone, Anu?" Her mother asked in a broken voice. Anahita opened her mouth but no words came out. She gulped thickly and stiffened when her father narrowed his eyes at her, reading her expressions. "Answer your mother!"

"I..." Anahita licked her lips, nervously. She saw everyone gathering behind her father and found it hard to speak. Mr. Maurya stepped closer, her mother moving back on her own. "Where were you, Anahita? And, what do you have in these bags?" He eyed her trolley bags.

A collective gasp surged in the people over there. She literally shrunk under their judging glares. Her confidence had left her when she crossed the threshold but she'd started to feel powerless. Cheap comments were flung at her from everywhere.

'Oh my God, was she running away with her boyfriend?'

'Chhii! Sushant Bhau has a lousy daughter.'

'She's tarnished the prestige of the entire clan.'

'Huh! It's supposed to happen, they've given their daughter too much freedom.'

Her relatives whispered but they were loud enough for her to listen. If she weren't in this situation, she would answer them very acutely but it was not her time. She had her plate full and adding one more thing in it, would just make everything difficult.

"ANSWER ME!" Mr. Maurya growled and she flinched. All the courage seeped out of her and dissipated, leaving her quivering.

She broke into sobs and hugged her father tightly, "I'm so sorry, daddy. I'm sorry to not listen to you. Please don't be angry. I... I was a fool. Please, please forgive me." It wasn't scripted anymore. She was begging him to forgive her for breaking his trust, for humiliating him and for giving into the embrace.

"Were you... going to elope with Mukund?" Mr. Maurya asked, his gravelly voice thick with emotions. Anahita closed her eyes in shame, not able to even nod her answer. If she could go back and undo her action, she would do it just to avoid this moment.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, refusing to let him go. Mr. Maurya caught her shoulders and tore her away, "That's not my answer. Were you going to run away with him?"

She looked down at her feet. It was a one word answer, 'Yes!' but she couldn't speak. Her excuses, her explanations and her very poignant replies; all turned into mud in her mouth. Her silence gave the answers. Mr. Maurya stumbled back in disappointment. 

"Dad!" As she reached for him, her mother slapped her, furiously. The force made her disoriented for a moment and she huddled on the floor. Blood rushed to her face as she shakily touched her cheek, not able to believe what just happened.

"Why didn't you just die the day you were born?" Mrs. Maurya screamed and slapped her once again. Anahita choked with tears and looked at her father, who was staring at the distance.

"Mom! What are you...." Anahita screamed as her mother tried to drag her down the steps. "Don't call me, mom! You can't stay here anymore. Get out of my house. Go die somewhere with that boy."

Anahita was shocked to say the least. She rubbed her wrist, crying softly as she saw her mother being held back by her aunts. She was shouting and thrashing, "Go away and never show me your face. I will think I never had a daughter."