HER SHATTERED HEART

Chapter 1 | A R T H I S H A

Slap

I was looking at my mother's second younger brother who just slapped me. "She was talking to her lover", He yelled, my mother and I were sitting together on a bed in my mother's room. But I was checking my school assignments on it and about my lover, I don't have that.

"You might have done something wrong that's why he is saying", It was my mother's words.

"If you are that much eager to do sex then come to me, I'm thicker than your lover", It was my mother's brother's words. My mother was just sitting beside me, I looked at her to say something to him but instead of saying to him she said to me, " I respect him lots".

"Don't give her food to eat in today's dinner", Second younger maternal uncle shouted. His wife nodded and said, "Sometimes, I want to give her poison".

I lay on the bed in my mother's room, nothing here that I can call mine.

Aauch

"Sleep on the floor, dirty", My mother kicked me from the bed to the floor through her leg harshly. My knees started to bleed. I was trying not to cry because my brother was there, he was seven years old. He came to me and hugged me. I was trying my best not to break down.

Whole night I couldn't sleep. I was lying on the floor without laying the bedsheet and pillow. My right knee was in pain. And my stomach also started hurting after midnight. I was staring at the same point of the wall. Empty, traumatised, unloved and depressed. These are words that describe me. My father lived in another state, my mother, my brother and I lived in my maternal uncle's house since when I was in nursery school. My father rarely came to meet us. My second younger maternal uncle was alcoholic, he always came to the house after drinking. My first younger maternal uncle was no less than my second younger maternal uncle. My mother was the oldest. She has two brothers and a sister. My maternal aunt was the youngest among them, she was good, she loved me but she wasn't in this house to save me from them. I think she doesn't know that her own blooded brothers and sister were like this. And I never told her anything. Even if I did and when they came to know about it they would kill me to death. Both of my inner-thighs had turned purplish-black.

* * *

"Rudrabhiravi, do you have a sanitary pad?" I asked my one and only best-friend.

"Your periods were over two days earlier", She said.

"Actually, both my maternal uncles had kicked on my womanhood so it did bleed", I told her.

She handed over a sanitary pad to me and her tears fell on my palm. "I will give you company", She said while looking into my eyes, I nodded. Only five minutes had left for lunch time.

"... so, class do revise everything whatever you had taught in your today history class", My history teacher, ma'am Shegar said while exiting the classroom as the bell rang for lunch.

"Should I tell this to my brother?" Rudrabhiravi asked.

"No, you shouldn't. It should be kept between us", I whispered to her while washing my hand, she nodded.

"But you know what, Arthisha?" She paused, I raised my right eyebrow.

She shocked her and said, "Nothing".

"Tell me what he did to you?" She asked, anger was flowing in her veins. We made our way to the school playground, her second elder brother always came to give her a lunch box at lunch time. She hates to eat cold food.

"I was checking assignments on my mother's phone, I didn't know where he came and slapped me on my left cheek then he shouted that I was talking with my lover.....", I told her, she was looking behind me. I turned my neck, her brothers were standing. My eyes widened.