Might and Massacre

5. Taking The Bride

6. Taking The Bride

Later that night, Veer called me up to inform that the trap was set. I patiently waited, feigning sleep on the bedding that I was given. It wasn't a tough job. I had told them that I was very tired from the whole day's journey around the village and they had accepted it within a second. The family had dinner; they also had fed me before I went to sleep.

As of what we knew from the information collected beforehand, Shivani went to the well side every evening after dinner to wash the dishes. Usually it was a well lit place, somewhat three minutes away from their house. That was the time, destruction would strike.

I heard Ramnandan's wife saying to Shivani that the number of dishes were more, so it might take some time. She still wanted to go and do it, no matter how much time it took. In five minutes she was out of the place with a dozen or two utensils in her hand to wash.

She was out. It took time, and I patiently waited for almost thirty minutes faking sleep. After those long thirty minutes, her aunt started to worry and I knew it was time that the plan was put into action. My phone rang twice, and I didn't receive it. The plan was over. It was time to take action.

"O ji, dekhiye nay eh Shivani kaha chali gayi. – Please go and see where Shivani has gone." Her aunt, Kalavati pleaded her husband who nodded. I seemingly woke up from the sleep.

"Kuch hua hai kya? – Has something happened?" I asked, innocently. I knew what the plan was, and knowing Shivani's nature it would just work out as perfectly as we had planned.

"Haanji, woh Shivani wapis nahi aayi abhi tak. – Yes, actually Shivani is not back home yet." Ramnandan said, rubbing his bald forehead in worry.

"Mujhe lagta hai humme jaa kar dekhna chahiye. – I think we should go and see." Her aunt said, and the both of them walked out while I stayed in saying that there was no one else in the house and that it wasn't right to keep the house alone with a stranger, but they went there anyway.

With the facade I was playing, it was impossible to get caught. Nobody would ever doubt anything.

When they came back, I saw a scene I was expecting. Shivani had her arms around herself as she cried bitterly and her guardians were just simply shocked. Their faces were that of terror, as they noticed torn cloth on her as she cried.

Here in such villages in India, this could only mean one thing — that the girl had been tainted, and no man here would want a tainted girl no matter how much money you gave to them as dowry. Which only meant one thing – compromise, and that was the reason I was there.

"Beta, kisne... – Child, who..." Her uncle trailed off unable to even speak those words. Her aunt was now crying bitterly as well, as she held her sari's pallu near her mouth and cried into it.

"Aaj hi rishta leke aye the tere liye... aur... – They came to ask for your hand in marriage just today... and..." She cried.

"Maami... mujhe... nahi... main baas... – Auntie... I... didn't... I was..." She couldn't even string a sentence. It was late at night, and suddenly there were screeching sounds of a jeep in front of the house. The two older people looked flabbergasted at who could have come this late, while the girl was still sitting in the corner and crying.

There was a knock on the door, and I went and opened it because the other three members of the house looked too shocked to even move their eye lids. The man I had expected was standing there in front of the door, with a neutral look on his face.

"Maane inne btaya se ki aap mahre bade bhai ho. – I've told them that you're my older brother." I whispered to Malik who gave a simple curt nod to me.