CHAPTER 14
"Excuse me this is a private function... and you can't just barge in here!" one of the men said to Divakar after he entered the temple.
"Excuse me for disturbing, sir but all I want is that girl there and I will be on my way..." he said pointing to Sugni who was standing in the corner next to an elderly woman. Vickram was standing with the men a few feet away.
"She is a guest , and obviously she does not want to go with you...so I will ask you to please leave...otherwise we will have to call the police!" he said staring him down.
"Go ahead... what will you tell them? Listen this is a private matter that does not concern you all" He said , dismissing the man by walking over to where Sugni was standing "Chulbuli , give up dear you can run lets go...Amma is waiting for you and so am I." he reached for her but she stepped back.
"I said leave!" the man said tapping him on the shoulder, next to him was two other guys, back up he guessed.
Divakar laughed, "really? You people are defending her...hiding her. Wah very good...its nice to know that you would take the side of a common street wh**e!' he said .
The men blinked as they looked at Sugni and Vickram again. Sugni closed her eyes in embarrassment at being addressed in such a way.
"Ahh so you did not know!" Divakar said looking at the shock on the faces. "Yes ... she is from Brasso Nagar..." there was an audible gasp that came with that revelation, "This is Amma and we have been trying to get her back after she ran off owing us! " he said...
"That is a lie..I don't owe you!!!"
"Yes you do $1400 to be exact...now come on and stop wasting my time..." he said.
"WAIT wait wait... Just one minute here!..." Said the woman next to her... "you are from Brasso nagar?...Oh My God...chi chi chi...Get out ...all of you...Get out I don't want you all defiling my daughter's wedding...Hey Raam..!" She said as she pushed her towards Divakar.
Sugni looked at Divakar who was looking at her slyly. "you can't run..." he said softly to her.
"What has this place come to...a wh**e in a mandir...chi chi chi..." The woman continued behind them
"I am not..." Sugni said softly looking around at the people , the accusing eyes and disgusted faces of the people around. She felt like a specimen under a microscope. She shook her head , tears falling from her eyes, she felt dirty ." I am not ..." She mumbled.
"Chulbuli...lets go..." Amma said. Coming over to them. She shook her head. No.
"Enough of this...these peoples patience have run out , there is nowhere to run darling!"
Divakar said as he reached for her. Side stepping him she went to Vickram she clung to him , hiding her face in his chest, she was trembling with fare and embarrassment.
" Take me out of here please..." She whispered.
"Shhh...I will..." He said putting his arm around her., admits the mumbling of the small gathering.
"Listen mister ..." Said the man from before. "We gave you refuge here because we thought you were decent people... this is no place for this and I will not have it... now ALL of you please leave..." He said to Vickram sternly... "Deal with your drama elsewhere not in my function!" He said .
"I am sorry for this..." Vickram said to him. Releasing her so she was standing by his side, looking at the floor. "But this is not true , she is not one of them. She never was..."
"Excuse me..." Amma said interrupting him "Stop it with the lies...Mr. Vickram you came into my place and saw her paid for her and filled her head with all sort of crap! Now I want my girl back...you hear me"
"Oh Lord woman... you can't come in here and act like this!" One of the ladies said. "You are destroying the purity of this temple..."
"I am destroying the purity of this temple... ME... HAHAHA" Amma said turning to look at the lady giving them all a cutting look. "You hear this Chulbuli?...This is what they think of us. Wha you all stand there in your fancy clothes, and respectable " houses...and blame us...but we are where we are because of men like these." She said pointing at Vickram and Divakar. "But do they get the blame, Nooo, do people say they defiling the temple ...Nooo. They have all the fun..and we carry the bad name. They walk through out doors and look for us ...but we are the home breakers... They use us and discard us, and once we demand something for it we are bad...but it dose not stop some of these decent men from coming to US dose it??" She looked around some of the woman had the decency to look embarrassed at her words. " Come on beti...instead of facing this ... this hypocrisy every day...come back to where you belong" She said convincingly.
That is enough Amma!?" Vickram said.
"What enough Vickram Babu..." She stopped him. "What is the difference between you and Divakar here...at least with him she knows where she stands...with you what? You fill her head with sweet words...at the end of the day she is the same thing to you, a wh**e from Brasso Naggar...until someone else comes along that you fancy where does that leave her?" She laughed condescendingly, "we're like the mat you wipe your foot on and leave, then discard when it suites you. No one wants us for keeps Vicram babu...no one." She said
"I do!" He said looking at her.
"What?" She said frowning. What did he mean?
He looked at Sugni , who was still staring at the floor blinking back the tears she could not quite stop from falling. He took her hand in his.
" Sugni is not some whim for me...nor is she a doormat., you want to know the difference between me and him...I'll show you." He said. As he began leading her towards the alter. Suddenly the entire place got quite all eyes on them . Amma opened her eyes wide as realization of what he meant hit her, her mouth opened in shock. He would not...
Her expression was mirrored by Sugni, she looked back at the crowd, then back at him..."What are you doing?" She asked softly.
"Shutting them up..." he said as they got to the front. "I know you have nothing to be ashamed of Sugni...and I really don't care what any one says. I also know your character means to you, and no one could dear lift a finger at you if you say yes. I won't let them.!" He said looking at her.
She looked at him, the determination on his face. She looked back at the crowd...Amma was shaking her head, Divakar looked wide eyed and everyone else was just enjoying the show. He was going through great lengths not just to get her out , but to shield her from bad name and the stain that came from being a resident of Brasso Nagar.
She may not remember him, she may not know what connection they had or their story, but in this moment she was sure of one thing, this man owned her heart. She felt overwhelmed with emotion , her voice felt choked as all she could managed was a nod.
"Pundit ji..." Vickram said "Please do the honors, as quickly as possible !" he said.
"But this is..."
"There is no time to waist." He said looking at him.
It had to be one of the fastest and shortest ceremonies in history as the pundit said the required mantras as they did a small puja and going around the fire the required 7 times, ending with the placing of the sindoor on her head .
After it was finished he turned to the people present. "Ladies and Gentelmen as you all can see she is now my wife, Mrs Thakur Vickram Singh. Like any other married woman in this room, she has the protection, rest\pect and standing of a wife. And I dear any one to contradict that!" He said . Taking her hand he turned to the Pundit thanking him for his assistance.
As they moved down they stopped in front of the man, clasping his hand he said..."please accept my apology again, for ruining your function and for all of this...but it was the only way. She is not one of them and she never was..."
The man looked at them as he nodded. Still in shock at all that had unfolded in what was supposed to be a small family function.
"Ahh its ok..." he said
Turning to the rest he apologized to them as well, he turned then and walked out of the temple only to stop short when he saw Divakar and gang standing there waiting.
Nice... touching ...but you know what I don't buy it...!" He said to Vickram.
"Well I really don't care if you do or not...now get out of my way..."
"not so fast...She is..."
"Divakar Babu!!!" Amma said coming down the steps of the temple, making her way to them.
Sugni looked at her, she let go of Vickram's hand and went up to her.
"Amma please...please just let me go." She said . "remember you said we all have our destiny...well this is mine" She held her hand. "just let us go please..." Amma looked at her for a long time , then she let out a heavy sigh. Silently she touched her face in that motherly way she had and smiled a bit. She closed her eyes and nodded. Letting go of her , she moved forward to stand in front of Divakar.
"Divakar Babu...I guess once you lost to him...I am sorry I'll return your check..."
"But Amma this means nothing... you know that...he.."
"Divakar Babu he did something that no one else I know would do. No one marries one of us. And even I would not disrespect that. I am not going to stand in their way and I am not going to let you...there are plenty of others"
"You brought me here..." he reminded her..
"Yes..I did but I have changed my mind...you'll get your money when we get back home...now please...lets go back.."
"You bitch!!!" Divakar said looking at her in anger. "you think you can play me... For months you been dangling her infront of me like bait and now you tell me to forget it... You listen hear you old bat..." he said grabbing hold of her hand and twisting it until she cried out ..."no one plays me for a fool!"
"Get your hands off of her!" Vickram said pulling him off and twisting his thumb until he heard a crack. "Ahhh"
"Listen to me , rich boy I am about fed up with you. You lost accept it she said you will get your money. You will get it. Now leave before you end up behind bars and have to explain to your wife how you got there. Understand !"
He let go of his hand , leaving him to nurse it.
"Come on boys..." he said to his men. "Amma I ll be coming for my money."
" yeah yeah ..." She said. Shooting him a disgusted look.
"Amma are you alright?" Sugni asked after Divakar left. Going towards her.
"Yeah I am fine " She said shaking of her hand. She turned to Vickram . "Thank you for stepping in"
"its Ok..." She said. Turning to Sugni she said. "I know that I don't deserve it...but can I ask you one favor please. It would mean a lot to me..." She asked
"What is it?"...Sugni asked. Amma smiled sweetly as she made her request.
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"Is she asleep?" Amma asked as she came to the room carrying two cups of tea and some snacks.
"Yeah she was tired..." Vickram answered looking at Sugni fast asleep on her bed. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
"Ohh I brought you some tea..." She said, looking at her a bit sadly. Well let it not go to waste...come we can have it in the other room. Let her rest."
Vickram followed her out to the next room where they sat in silence for a few moments. "Thank you for agreeing to come back here. For trusting me. I know I have not given you reason to." She told him.
"Well you were right , it was late . She did seem like she wanted to say good bye to the girls. As for reason , you seemed sincere. " he said looking at her. he was never one to judge people on their lifestyle , and obviously this was not something they choose to do . Thankfully, she gave up on her quest to make Sugni one of them and accepted that she was out of bounds.
"I am grateful to you for taking care of her. " He said to her.
"Yeah.." She said looking down . It was not such a nice feeling she was getting now, thinking about her actions with Chulbuli. "she is sweet. In the short time she has been here she has managed to win our hearts." She said . It was the truth. Despite all the tension and everything she was facing Chulbuli managed to somehow keep that upbeat spirit in her intact.
"You really do love her don't you? But why do I get the feeling you are holding back with her?" She asked he looked at her surprised that she picked up on that. She smiled
" I have been around this block along time Vickram babu... I have seen all types. The way you look at her, almost reverently...yet fearfully...what is the story with you two...would you share it?" She asked.
After all these months of keeping in all bottled inside, Vickram looked at Amma , she was looking at him patiently. Waiting.. He took a deep breath and then he said.
"Sugni...Sugni was best thing that happened to me. She brought me to life when I did not know what I was missing. Her smile, her innocents, her bubbliness. Her zest for life. Her determination to live with dignitiy. She was just so pure ...and then I came along...and took it away..." he said shaking his head ruefully.
"You...how?" She asked confused.
"She fell in love with me...she believed in me...and everything I told her..." He continued, letting out the entire story of his being married , his lie, his stalking of her. Amma listened to his story in disbelief and shock. "...And now here we are, what happened today was not supposed to happen, this marriage..."
"This marriage...gave her something she has been longing , that dignity, that respect. Have you seen her? this is the first time I have seen her genuinely happy, she could not stop smiling on the way here. And one thing I am absolutely positive about Vickram Babu, she loves you...and it runs so deep that even if the brain forgot the heart remembers..."
"And what happens when she remembers, she'll be hurt all over again, she'll feel betrayed all over again...and she'll..."
"Hate you all over again?" she finished. He nodded. She shook her head.
"That might not happen...she might not even remember her past...and if she does , she would see that you rectified your mistakes, that you went to the ends of the earth for her...Yes, I know what you did before was wrong ...but every one dose crazy things sometime in life..."
"Yes and my actions almost took her life, because of me is in this condition...she went off that cliff so she would not have to be with me and what am I doing here..."
"Did you do what you did today for selfish reasons? You did it because you wanted to take away the humiliation you saw in her face. And you know very well what to expect if her memory comes back. Living in the past and living in the fare of what if...will not change the present. The present is...that right now she needs your love and protection...she needs you, because their lots of places like this willing to swallow her whole...let me ask you something...if her memory comes back tomorrow...and she decides to leave you, will you let her go?"
"Yes..yes I would..." He said.
"Well this is your test by fire , Vickram babu, and I know you can do it because you love her that much. And a love that strong has to be rewarded. And I will pray that you do get that!" She said.
"Thanks for that.!" He said
"You are a rear find , she is lucky." She said to him.
Vickram left Amma short while later and returned to the room, she was still sound asleep. She was wrong...She was not the lucky one , he was.
"Oh Sugni , Please forgive me again!"
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