Bonds

7- WHY & HOW

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Indranil Pov

Viti is sitting in Ethi's lap even now. I guess she doesn't realize that. I mean, of course, the way she gets scared of everything, this has to be unconscious. She is just elated about the rings. Because of that, she pecked his cheeks. It was not necessary. Hug was still okay. But kiss. No. She did not have to. And since then, she has been with him while he is helping her try all the rings. They are freaking real diamonds. But as Ethi is a true responsible man, he also got her the same ten artificial rings to play with. But then why kiss?

Ignoring some unconventional stuff, such as giving a kiss on the eldest brother's cheek, everything else is perfect in this moment. She does not seem to be that afraid of us. I can understand her pretty well. The emotions, the sufferings, the beatings, the fucking rules, the sick smiles, the begging for food, the imploring to leave you alone just for them to laugh hard in your faces—I get that. It is unbearable. You need support if God's grace comes back; you need help to fall asleep or to hold your hand; you need things you never needed, not even as a child. A person becomes fragile in his surroundings yet develops such a hard and thick wall around himself that he makes it impossible for those who love him to come near him.

Here we are. What are we to her? Just some scary-looking strangers. Just because we all have genuine smiles to give her does not in any way modify the fact that the three elders are intimidating. There is another fact that amazes me: she is currently sitting with one of them. And kissed one of them. I mentally scoff. Playing with one of them. Anyway, the most concerning thing for now is that she is not eating anything. She had barely two to three bites yesterday. Today, did she have anything? I came back from college, and since then I have not seen her having anything to eat. But Adik had to force her to take a sip of water to keep her hydrated. She is supremely dehydrated and malnourished.

Of all the things that shock me more, her parents. Are they even parents? Are they worthy of being called parents? Let alone parents—are they even humans? How can someone do such barbaric acts to such a very adorable child? Or any child? How were they not melting looking at her? Because from what I am seeing, she converts something implausible into plausible. She makes the most feared three men of the underworld melt because she makes them jealous of Ojas because she hugged him willingly. But am I the right person to question her parents? Or am I forgetting my parents?

The eldest three are indeed the toughest guys I know, and the twins and I are well-versed in how to put up a facade since we clearly are not that stoic. Our brothers have always nurtured us in such a way that they never got a chance to be nurtured. They created the environment for us that any of the normal children get. So we are more likely to be normal kids.

It's been like, what? Five minutes later, she had been staring at the color kit that Akul bought for her and had already given thousands of expressions. Sad, excited, feared, scared, longing, happy, mostly haunted. She is expressive—quite expressive. Suddenly her face lit up as if she had something to resolve whatever she was looking for, and she raised her right hand in the sky and then left, but she shook her head vigorously and took back her left hand half way through it. It looks like she knows what she wants after having some second thoughts about it. Then again and again. It is all so damn funny. I am meagerly managing not to let out a laugh. It's amusing to see how she is talking to herself. In her mind. She finally raises her hand. Right hand. A tiny smile graces her lips and is beautiful. Just simply beautiful.

It makes me wonder how idiotic we adults are in life. Even a child knows what he wants, and we adults struggle with the same question all our lives. Is it because a child is still free of all social obligations? Or is it because a child is unaware of how judgmental people can be? Or is it simply because a child is oblivious to "what if"? It is amazing. This experience is overwhelming. As a person grows, he learns a myriad of restraints from society and does not bother to question why I should follow your rules when it is my life. But he does as he was told, reluctantly or unreluctantly.