Chapter 8: Safe
Madhu watched with amusement as both Rohan and Ria camped next to their Dad all evening on the couch. They had been excited all day - on seeing their new car, on being taken out to lunch in a nice restaurant Madhu had never been able to afford, and on the afternoon of shopping and frolicking that followed. She had never seen the kids so happy. Indeed, she couldn't remember ever being this happy herself. The day of their wedding came close. She was scared then, but also incredibly excited. Scared because she was stepping in to a new phase in her life, and she was leaving everything she knew until that point behind. Her parents hated RK, they always had. They had their reasons - he wasn't wealthy enough, he wasn't in a profession that was "secure" enough, but basically, to them, he was never good enough for their daughter. She had fought them, and then, when that didn't work, she eloped with RK, knowing fully well that her parents would disown her, as they did. RK's love and Radha's acceptance though had gone a long way towards compensating for that loss though, and she was really happy in her marriage.
Somewhere within her, however, she still felt the sadness that her parents hadn't still accepted their relationship and her, even after everything that had happened. And that's why she always wanted to be a better parent to her children than her parents had been to her. She wanted them to get everything they wanted and deserved, and she wanted them to always have the support of their parents, no matter what. Raising them alone the last seven years, she had constantly feared she was falling short. She had been stubborn about not accepting pension money from Air Force, and remarriage was out of the question. She did the best she could, but having never paid much attention to her education in college, her skills were limited and her job didn't pay a lot. There was so much Rohan and Ria to have - nothing more than their father's love - but she had always been falling short in her own estimation.
But seeing them today with Rishabh, whose eyes were lit up with their love, she felt a sense of peace that was hard to describe in words. She felt complete. Her family felt complete.
"Thank you God. Thank you for giving us back our Rishabh" she murmured as her eyes watered.
"Why don't we ask your mother to tell us that story?" she suddenly heard RK say and snapped out of her chain of thoughts. RK was looking at her and had apparently noticed her moist eyes.
"Yes. Yes mommy." Rohan said, excited.
"Oh really, now you remember me? All day you have been huddled with Daddy, I was thinking nobody needs Mommy any more." Madhu walked closer, making a pouty face.
"No. Rohan loves you mommy. Rohan loves you the most." Rohan ran towards Madhu, afraid that he had hurt her.
"Oh really?" Madhu grabbed him in her arms. "Well, I love Rohan the most too." She said, kissing him on the cheek as she sat down next to RK on the couch.
"I love you too mommy." Ria, who was sitting on the other side of RK, leapt over him and kissed Madhu on the other cheek, who bent a little so Ria could reach her.
Madhu felt RK's arm behind her shoulder. She looked at him and smiled, but to her surprise, he suddenly turned and kissed her on the cheek as well, following the kids.
"And I love you too Mommy." he said.
Madhu blushed and the kids broke into giggles. Life couldn't be better.
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"So..umm...I was thinking..." Rishabh said to Madhu who was cleaning up after dinner while the kids were getting ready for bed, "I will give a call to Sikander tomorrow, maybe even go see him."
The plate in Madhu's hand slipped and broke.
"Oh God, Madhu. Are you ok? Did you hurt yourself? Step aside, let me clean it" Rishabh walked up to her, and saw that Madhu's face had turned pale. "Madhu, are you okay?"
"Daddy!!!!"
Before Madhu could say anything, the kids bellowed from their room, demanding their bedtime stories.
"You...you go put the kids to bed." Madhu answered.
"But Madhu..."
"Daddyyy..."
"You go, I will clean this up. They will not sleep without you." Madhu said, braving a faint smile.
Half an hour later, RK walked into his bedroom and found Madhu sitting pensively on the bed. Something about her silence troubled him.
"Hey Madhu, what's wrong? You look..." RK asked.
"Rishu...maybe you shouldn't talk to Sikander. I mean...I know he's your brother and you want to see him..."
"He was hardly ever my brother, Madhu. You know that. I mean, I cared for him, but he always resented me as a step-brother. And because Dad treated me like his son. But the real reason I want to go talk to him is because it is not fair...what he did to you. That house we lived in, was mine. He had no business throwing my wife and kids on the street. I can't even imagine what you guys suffered all these years. "
RK's voice had equal parts anger and guilt as he walked to the window, thinking about how Madhu and his children were deprived of their rights because he hadn't kept Madhu in the loop on the paperwork, and made sure their lives wouldn't fall apart if something happened to him. It was such an elementary mistake. Earlier in the day, his heart broke when he saw Rohan's eyes light up in excitement at buying a new bag. He craved for it, but he never told Madhu how much because he knew asking for it would mean Madhu would have to work even harder and he had to use his old bag for at least another year. When RK said he could have it, he was so overwhelmed that it broke his father's heart. How many little things had they been deprived of because he wasn't there. Why did a seven year old kid have to worry about his mother and about household finances. RK felt ashamed that his children had to give up their desires for even the simplest things. He felt ashamed that his wife had to struggle so hard for their kids and raise them all alone, while he contributed nothing at all. It was bad enough he wasn't there to love them and nurture them, but it was horrible that there was money that was rightfully his - rightfully theirs - that could have made their lives just a little bit easier, but they had been cheated off that money.
"And so," he continued, "I want to go see him and ask him for our house back, as well as my rightful share of Dad's property. I have the papers, so it's not like he can refuse, but I will goddamn make sure he apologizes to you for trying to cheat you before he gives me back my fair share. Or I will take him to the police! That's why, I was going to say, you should come with me. I want him to fall at your feet and..."
RK turned around to see Madhu breaking into tears. He immediately rushed to her and knelt down next to her, holding her face in his palms.
"Madhu...Madhu...what happened baby?"
"I...I can't" Madhu was shivering and struggling to breathe."I can't...see that man again"
RK was perplexed as well as worried, seeing Madhu break down into hysteria like that. He sat next to her, held her in his arms and patted her back trying to calm her down. What was going on?
"Shhh...ok..Madhu...Madhu baby, quiet...stop crying please. You don't have to do anything jaan. Shh.."
After a few minutes, he felt Madhu calming down a little. He broke the hug and held her hand. With his other hand, he lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. She was scared and in pain, he could see, but he couldn't understand what had caused that.
"Madhu...you have to tell me what's going on? Did I say something..." he softly asked.
"Rishu...I...I need to tell you something." she tried to muster courage. She had to tell him the truth at some point, but she was scared about how he'd react. Would he believe her?
Unable to look into his eyes, she averted her gaze in another direction.
"When I opened my eyes in the hospital, seven years ago, Sikander was there. Rohan was in the NICU because he was born at 29 weeks. Ma couldn't get back to the city for another two days. I was so broken at the time...I didn't want to live. That phone call that said..."she tried to breathe "I nearly collapsed. Anyway the conversation wasn't completed, so Air Force had called Sikander and given him the same news. That's how he came there. He took care of Ria while I was unconscious in the hospital. I was so alone...you were gone, Ma wasn't there...my parents refused to come...there was nobody. And they were telling me Rohan would likely not make it. I..." she choked. RK's heart broke listening to her, and he tried to stroke her back to calm her down. He couldn't imagine Madhu's trauma, finding herself alone and abandoned like that. "Anyway...so finally when we came back from the hospital two weeks later, Sikander stuck around. We were grateful, Ma and I, to have the support. Frankly, I was so consumed in my grief - Ma was too, plus she was helping me take care of Rohan who was very fragilile - I wouldn't have been able to do anything. Two weeks passed by like that. Then Ma went to Haridwar to pray for your soul and to finish some religious rites. I didn't have the courage to do that, but somebody had to, so she did. I stayed behind with the kids, and Sikander stayed back as well. But suddenly he started acting weirdly. A few times, he deliberately walked in while I was feeding Rohan. He started calling me Madhu instead of bhabhi. I felt uncomfortable, but didn't say anything at that time. Then, one night, the kids had just slept when he walked into my room. He...he asked me to marry him, and said he would provide for me and my children if I became his wife. I was shocked, and I said no. But he wouldn't take no for an answer. He started threatening me, and saying dirty words."
Madhu whimpered, and closed her eyes as the horrors came back to her.
"You bitch...how dare you say no to me" he was yelling. His eyes burnt with mad rage and he advanced towards her. Madhu felt so cornered, so utterly helpless.
"Sikander...don't forget I am your brother's wife."
"What brother! He was a loser who blackmailed my Dad to get his money. But don't forget...this house...everything you have, is all mine. Rishabh was a pauper. His mother was a pauper when my father took sympathy on her and married her. But now he's dead. So everything he had is mine. Including you." he said and put his hand on Madhu's shoulder.
Boiling with anger, she jerked his hand away and slapped him. And then...
"He tried to force himself on me..he tore my clothes. He put his dirty hands on my body. I tried to push him off, but he was too big, too powerful. I screamed..I.."Madhu whimpered, living through the trauma one more time. She was shivering. Suddenly, she felt RK withdraw his hand from her hand and she felt just as lonely, just as helpless, just as cold and abandoned as she had felt that night. She felt dirty, and all her fears that RK would think she had led him on came true. But then, just a couple seconds later, she felt RK envelope her in his arms and she clung to him and to the feeling of being protected that his arms provided. She buried her face in his chest, afraid of what he was going to say.
"Madhu...I am so so sorry Madhu. I should have been there to protect you. I...I am so sorry. I.."
Madhu could feel RK's tears falling over her neck, and his choked words gave her some strength to finish the story.
She broke the embrace and looked at him. "My screams woke the children up, and they started crying. That startled Sikander, and I used the moment to push him off and ran out of the room. I locked myself in the kids' room. I had narrowly escaped being raped by that man, but I was still very scared because he was in the same house and cursing me from outside the room. I was scared he would break the door and come in. I was scared he would harm my children. That was the worst night of my life. I hugged Ria and Rohan tight as I cried all night, feeling disgusted and scared. I finally came out of the room in the morning, when I heard Ma's voice outside. I told her what had happened, but when she confronted Sikander, he said I had seduced him and lured him. He made me sound so...cheap. Thankfully, Ma did not believe him. But when she asked him to leave, he threw all of us out instead, claiming that he was the legal owner of the house and all the property. He said very hurtful things to Ma, and he said such horrible things about both me and Ma to other people in the society. Neither of us had the strength or any means to fight him. So, we left. Fortunately Vikram had come home only a few days back when he returned from abroad and heard the news about you. We didn't know where to go with the children, so I called him and asked him for help in finding a place. That's how we came here."
"I am sorry Rishu. Please believe me. I never betrayed you. I never did what he said. When he attacked me, all I could think of was you...I wanted you to come back and save me. Somehow, I escaped that night, but that terror never left me. For years, I would wake up in the night worried that Sikander would come here and try to hurt us again. I can't...I can't face him again...I am sorry" Madhu broke down as RK tightened his embrace around her. His eyes were red with anger and pain. How dare Sikander put his hands on his Madhu. How dare he hurt her. He wanted to get up this instant and kill him, but he willed himself to be patient and console Madhu first. She was his first priority right now and watching her so broken in his arms made him feel more anguished and helpless than he had ever felt in five years of being held captive and tortured. Watching the trauma in her eyes as she narrated the story pierced his heart.
"Don't be sorry Madhu. It's not your fault. You never did anything wrong. You're my Madhu, my biwi. Stop crying, please. It's over. You're safe. I am back. I am sorry I wasn't here. I am sorry I left you so vulnerable. You never deserved any of that. I should have protected you. I should have never left. I promise you'd never feel so vulnerable again. I will kill Sikander for what he did to you. Please Madhu...please, look at me."
Slowly Madhu looked up to him. Their eyes met, and they both saw immense pain in each other's eyes.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
She faintly nodded. "Then believe me. It wasn't your fault. None of it. And I will never let him, or anyone, hurt you again. You will always be safe"
"You trust me, right?" she asked, still not fully believing "I didn't...I didn't seduce him. He tried to rape me. I escaped but..."
"Shh...Madhu. I trust you more than my life. You're mine. You always were, and you always will be." RK said and kissed Madhu on her head.
"I love you Madhu. I love you more right now than I have ever loved you."
"I love you too Rishu." she said, hugging him tight, still sobbing.
Eventually, Madhu slept off in Rishabh's arms. But sleep was far away from RK's eyes. He felt immensely guilty for the destruction his disappearance had caused. His mother, his wife and his children had to suffer so much needlessly. He was fuming with anger for Sikander, but at the same time, he was also angry at himself for the helpless, unsafe, humiliating situation his loved ones had found themselves in. If he was there, none of this would have happened. For once, he asked himself the question Madhu and his kids had been asking for years.
Why did he have to rip his family apart? Why did he have to break his promise to Madhu in the first place? Why did he have to leave?
Edited by teekay - 11 years ago
Real Estate
Anupamaa
