Redux (Discontinued)

Beginnings

She took in a deep desperate breath as she dragged her luggage over the last step.
Breathe.
It'll be okay.
I'm going to be just fine.
I've made it.
She huffed and panted, trying to catch her breath.
Just a few more stairs.
She shook her head at the painful burn in her arms.
It's just my luck that the room I've been assigned is on the second floor. I won't normally grumble but the added weight of the suitcase is not helping me at all.
And since I'm doing this alone...
No Sanyu.
Don't go here.
Don't feel bad about doing the right thing.
Not Now.
Especially not now.
Dam.. Darn it.
She came to a halt at the end of the corridor, pulling down her ruffled chunari.
"Arey Beta, I'm not that old. Let me carry your bags atleast." A white haired man was attempting to pull a huge suitcase out of his daughter's grip.
"Nahin, bilkul nahi, Backache hoga apko." a chirpy voice cut through the older man's request.
"Are! 4 saal hogi hamare sivah! Let Dad pamper you for the little time he has na!" The older man's rich laughter echoed all around.

Sanyu blinked, trying hard to prevent tears from filming over her hazel eyes.

"Daddy! Badme peet dard kare toh mein nahi hungi moov lagane ke liye" the chirpy voice swooped down into a sad one.
"Arey beta...Holidays mein lagana. I can't believe ki meri Choti itni badi hogai"

She couldn't take it anymore.
The loneliness was weighting down on her.
A flash of envy ripped through her.
How I wish...had things been different...

No. They weren't different.
And that is why I am here.
To make things different.
I cannot be weak.

She pushed away the homesick thoughts, the pining for her mother's arms and reassuring words. Her mother's smile.
But now, she no longer had her mom.
Thanks to what her father had made her do.

I'm sorry Maa. I love you but I have to do this.
For me.

Sanyu couldn't get her mother's painfilled eyes out of her head.
Nor could she get the words her brother had spat at her out.
"Good riddance to bad rubbish" he had said.
She tried to tell herself Ankit was tactless and stupid.
She wasn't rubbish.
He was.
But it still hurt.
But what hurt more was her father's voice.
"Walk out of this house Sanyukta and you'll be dead to me."

No. I have to stop thinking of that.
I'm done crying and getting hurt.
It is my life and I am taking it back.

She managed to drag the suitcase to her room after a lot of huffing and puffing (and some censored curse words.)

The door was already open and Sanyukta could hear the faint tune of "Perfect Day" from Legally Blonde playing.
A roommate who liked cheesy movies couldn't be bad, could she?
Running a nervous hand in her messy hair and smoothening her mud splattered Kurti, Sanyukta took a deep breath and walked in.

The music went dead and all that greeted her was silence.
And then, the silence broke.

"My my, look what the wind blew in"

-------------------------------------------------------------
Yes. Sanyukta loved her family but she loved herself more. She'd learned enough of emotional abuse to want to continue living in a place where she was not respected for who she was.
She misses her mother the most.
Whether her family makes another entry in her life is up to my readers.

Who is Sanyukta's roommate?
Three guesses
Do you like legally blonde?