ROUHI

six

Both the spouses stayed quiet as Maryam Khala explained the events of the night to Saaqib, how the robbers must have noticed his departure, Hafsa being left alone, how they broke in just within the next hour, how they fought Hafsa and hit her against the wall, how one pushed her on the floor, how Khala's two elder sons were returning back from work and saw the robbery and went in to save Hafsa, how the robbers were beaten up and taken to the police station, how Hafsa was wounded in various places, how she had been with khala's family for the last three hours, not uttering a word...

Khala had left the two to privacy. No words, no glances were exchanged. Saaqib couldn't figure how he felt about the situation. He wasn't sad or angry or frustrated. He was guilty. He was definitely guilty.

"Where were you?" Hafsa's whisper sounded barely audible. Her eyes were fixed on the blanket kept at the foot of the bed, her face emotionless.

Saaqib couldn't answer. How could he say that he was watching a movie with his friends when his wife was getting hit and almost raped at their house? He gulped down and lowered his head.

Hafsa continued speaking. "There were three of them. They were very big men, at least in their thirties. They were stealing everything. They broke a lot of things too. They slapped me." Saaqib's breath hitched at this. "Pushed me. One held my mouth shut to keep me from yelling. One climbed on top of me and-and groped me everywhere. The last one... he was filming it." Hafsa nodded. "He was filming it."

Saaqib stared at Hafsa's face, horrified. Maybe it was her flat tone that made his guilt rise, making it hard for him to breathe properly. What was he doing when his wife needed him? Where was he when he was supposed to protect his wife against rapist robbers? How could he do this to her? He could see the questions being thrown at him through Hafsa's silence. He could see her suffering, remembering how harshly those men had handled her, remembering how her husband was not there not to let it happen. But Hafsa remained expressionless. One couldn't decipher if she was alive even. It were as if she had forgotten to breathe, not moving a single hair.

Saaqib wanted to apologise, say sorry. But that would never be enough. It would be like using one tiny drop of water to fill an ocean. He fiddled with his fingers for a while. He knew Hafsa had given up, he knew she had lost all her hopes trying to make him better. He knew about her effort and about his faults. He had been oblivious to his wrong ways but now he understood how far off astray he was. Till now he had Hafsa pushing him no matter how badly he treated her, but now even she had let go. What would happen?

"Let's take you home."