Chapter 8-The Fragile Soul
It was a dinner at her fatherās bossā house. The host was a beautiful woman, who was struggling to manage everything with her 5-month baby bump showing itself grandly. Her elder son was on a vacation trip and the hostess couldnāt shut up about him. Her fatherās boss looked at her as if she was the most beautiful thing in the world and called her a doll, a perfect doll.
Then he visited her home when her parents were home, on weekends, and one day, when they werenāt home.
Maya found the blade stashed away in the cupboard and she used it on her wrist. Her mind was haphazard and she just scratched it across herself, without realizing what she was doing.
The touches were crawling on her body, the whispers haunting her ears, her eyes filled with tears and she didnāt even take notice the hot blood leave her body. She let the blade touch every part of her that she remembered him touching and slowly darkness overtook her.*
____________
āYou promise me, Rudra, you wonāt be like him!ā She said as the blood seethed out of her body. She was on her death bed,the 12 year old Rudra wasnāt naive to not know that.
āI promise Mom, I will be a better man,ā
Rudra felt a headache take over him, but something was off! He wasnāt sure what. He couldnāt do drugs, not now when he was doing so well. He had promised Diya and Maya, and most importantly, to himself. Maybe he should talk to someone.
He dialed Mayaās number, but she didnāt receive it. He tried after some more minutes and then after some time again. 10 missed and 8 messages later Rudra felt uneasiness rise in him. He walked up to the girlās hostel, his fatherās face haunting him.
As usual, he had to face the watchman who gave him dirty looks.
āI need to meet Maya Jaisingh, Fourth floor, room 44,ā
He rolled his eyes and Rudra wanted to say, ābe careful or they might get stuck in your skull,ābut didnāt as he dialed a number on the telephone. After a few minutes, he got a call back saying the Maya wasnāt in the room.
Rudra stood there eyeing him in confusion. He knew Maya never stepped out of the hostel post 8 oāclock and it was 8.15. He spent another 10 minutes waiting for Maya to walk down, but when she didnāt, something snapped in him. He ran across the corridor with the watchman yelling his guts out behind him. He climbed the steps two at a time and the girls had the shock of their lives watching Rudra Roy run across the hostel corridors like a mad man.
He banged on Mayaās door for some time. Maya locked her room and if it wasnāt locked, it meant she was inside. He tried to break open the door.
āWhat are you doing Mr. Roy?ā The warden screeched.
āMam, I know Maya is in the room, and she has been in distress for quite some time, ā
āMaybe she is sleeping,ā
āShe doesnāt sleep,ā He yelled at the old hag, why was she not getting it! Something was wrong, his guts were saying so. His labored breath was making it difficult for him already, but he knew he had to break open the door.
āPlease, Mam,ā
The warden sighed and signed the watchman. The two of them broke open the door and had the shock of their life when they saw Maya on the bed with blood dirtying the bed sheets and her eyes closed.
āMaya!ā Rudra yelled as he ran to the bed and held her face.
āShe needs help,āthe watchman whispered, but Rudra was hyper venting next to him. The warden looked at him.
āMr. Rudra Roy, you need to calm down. Please leave while we dress her wounds,ā She said, but she looked scared herself.
āMaya,ā He looked at her like a kid who lost his most precocious toy, making her heart cry.
āShe'll be fine, I promise, now please,ā She looked at the watchman who pulled him out and the girls who had followed them joined the warden.
His phone rang making him jump. He received it without reading the caller ID.
āRudra, are you ok?ā Ananya asked.
āMaya,ā Rudra burst out crying.
āRudra, is everything ok?ā She panicked.
āShe is hurt Ananya, she cut herself,ā He cried in the phone.
āRudra, I know it hurts,but you need to calm down. Maya needs you right now, Iāll inform Diya mam.Please take care,ā She disconnected the call and rushed to tell Diya the news.
He breathed for few seconds and then dialed for the ambulance. He accompanied Maya in the hospital and in a day when Maya was stable, the first person who insisted on meeting,was Rudra.
____________
*Maya faints but doesn't die because her cuts arenāt deep. I am assuming that by the time Rudra reaches, her wounds start clotting, and she just faints. I am sorry for bloopers, but I couldnāt get a proper resource about self harm cuts or suicidal cuts.
Cricket
Bollywood
