Chapter 32
‘Kashu, calm down,’ Arohi urged, trying to fasten the seatbelt around her.
Kashvi kicked at the seat ahead, shoving the belt away. ‘I don’t want to go, Maa. I don’t want to go anywhere.’
Arohi held her in place with a firm hand on her shoulder as she reached for the buckle.
Kashvi struggled harder, her shiny shoes flying off as she pushed her mother’s hand away.
‘Kashu, that’s enough. We’re leaving right now,’ Arohi instructed as she locked the seatbelt into place. She quickly shut the back door, cutting off her daughter’s protests.
With one lingering glance at the house, Arohi slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Gravel crunched beneath the tyres as they pulled out of the curved driveway.
Kashvi twisted around just in time to watch the massive Kashyap townhouse disappear into the distance. She yanked against the seatbelt, the fabric biting painfully into her shoulder until it pressed against her throat. ‘Take me back.’
‘No,’ Arohi said with a sniffle.
Kashvi caught sight of the dark bruise beneath her mother’s eye in the rearview mirror. ‘What happened to your eye, Maa?’
‘It’s nothing,’ Arohi assured her, though she flinched when her fingers brushed the swollen skin. ‘My makeup got ruined.’
Kashvi shook her head, picking at the end of her braid. ‘I saw you crying earlier. Why were you crying, Maa?’
Arohi swiped angrily at her cheek. ‘Don’t worry about it. He won’t hurt us anymore.’
Kashvi’s gaze darted towards the seat ahead where Siya slept soundly with headphones snug over her ears. Kashvi grabbed the back of her top and tugged hard. ‘Di, wake up. Tell Maa we don’t want to leave. Tell her we want to stay.’
Siya stirred lightly in her seat but didn’t wake.
‘Kashu, don’t do that,’ Arohi scolded gently, pulling Siya’s top free from her grip. ‘Don’t wake her. She has a terrible migraine and took medicine.’
‘I don’t care,’ Kashvi shot back. ‘She’ll say the same thing. We don’t want to go.’
Arohi drove onto the main road, her voice cracking under the strain. ‘That’s enough fighting. We’ll be there in ten minutes. All you have to do is sit quietly.’
‘Di, wake up! We have to go back!’ Kashvi screamed. She braced her hands against the window, trying to shove the door open.
Arohi winced. ‘Kashu, stop that right now. She can’t hear you through those headphones. You’re only making my headache worse.’
‘She has to help me. We have to go back!’
‘Why do you want to go back?’
Because Papa told me to keep you home.
‘I have homework. I have to go back and finish it.’
Arohi’s forehead creased with confusion. ‘I’ll write you a note. It’s fine.’
‘No. I want to go home, Maa. Please,’ she mumbled, tears running down her cheeks.
Exhaustion seeped into Arohi’s voice as she pleaded, ‘Aren’t you my sweet doll? You always listen to me, hai na? And you always say Nanu’s house is your favourite place, so why are you behaving like this?’
‘But you said we’re going to your friend’s house first.’
Arohi glanced at the traffic light as she brought the car to a stop.
Then she turned slightly to check if Kashvi’s seatbelt was secure and met her daughter’s eyes.
‘Neena is more like my sister. I need help, and she’s the only person I can count on.
So yes, we’re going there first. But I promise you, we’ll go home soon. ’
‘But why did we leave?’ Kashvi asked through her hiccups.
‘Because we’re not safe there.’
Kashvi shook her head insistently. ‘Papa is there. He’ll take care of us.’
Regret slipped through Arohi’s tears. ‘I wish that were true. But, baby, your father is exactly who we’re not safe from.’
Kashvi scrambled to understand, but none of it made sense. ‘Why are you lying?’
Arohi’s shoulders sagged slightly as she let out a tired sigh. ‘I’m not.’
Frustration bubbled up inside Kashvi. ‘Yes, you are. You’re taking us away from him because he loves us more and you don’t like that. You’re jealous.’
A horn blared outside, amplifying the tension inside the car. Arohi quickly turned back around and pressed the accelerator. Her gaze flickered to Kashvi in the mirror. ‘Who told you that?’
Oh no. Papa told me to keep that a secret.
Kashvi swallowed hard, her heart racing. ‘I’m not telling you. You’ll just say he’s wrong. You always blame him for everything.’
Arohi tapped her fingers restlessly against the steering wheel. Anger sharpened her voice. ‘Karthik has filled your head with lies. But once you grow up outside his shadow, you’ll understand why I had to do this.’
‘What do you mean?’ Kashvi asked quietly, her lips trembling.
‘If everything goes according to plan, he’ll be out of our lives for good,’ Arohi said hopefully. ‘I know I haven’t been a good mother so far, but I’ll protect you girls from him now. Don’t worry.’
Her mother sounded serious, but the only thing circling through Kashvi’s mind was the quiet warning her father had given her. She knew if she failed to bring her mother home, he would punish her.
‘Maa, we’re not that far. Home is still close. Please, let’s go back to him.’
‘We’ll go home, Kashu, but never back to him. Never.’
Kashvi knew that tone. Firm. Final. Fear snapped through her, and she screamed again. ‘Take me back, take me back, take me back.’
‘You can scream all you want, but we’re not going back. That’s final,’ Arohi said, rubbing small circles against her temples.
‘Then call him. Please, please call Papa,’ Kashvi begged, tugging at the edge of Arohi’s kurti.
‘No,’ Arohi said, though her resistance wavered.
Kashvi pushed harder, tugging more insistently. ‘Please, Maa, call him. I just want to talk to him.’
‘Maybe when we reach Neena’s house,’ Arohi offered weakly.
‘Please, just let me talk to him once. I’ll behave and sit quietly after that, I promise,’ Kashvi begged, desperation tangling with her tears.
The sight of her daughter’s glistening eyes tugged painfully at Arohi’s heart. With a sigh, she gave in. She picked up her phone from the console and pulled up Karthik’s number.
As she lifted the phone to her ear, her eyes met Kashvi’s in the mirror. ‘You have to be quick. Don’t tell him where we’re going. Just say goodbye, nothing more. Understood?’
Kashvi nodded eagerly, waiting for the call to connect.
Pressing the horn once, Arohi said, ‘Hello, Karthik? Kashu wants to talk to you. Be quick.’
Kashvi stretched out her hand for the phone, but her mother's expression darkened as she listened to whatever her father was saying on the other end.
Arohi snapped. ‘Save your threats. I’m not changing my mind. I’ve left with my girls. You’ll get the divorce papers by tonight. Stay with your mother from now on. I’ll have the staff send over your clothes.’
With that, Arohi thrust the phone towards her. ‘Be quick,’ she reminded her as Kashvi took it.
Kashvi pressed the phone to her ear, her lips trembling. ‘Papa?’
‘Kashvi.’ His voice carried a note of disappointment that fed the fear twisting tighter inside her.
‘Papa, where are you?’ she asked, crying harder.
‘I told you your mother would take you away from me, didn’t I?’
She struggled through her sobs. ‘I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s happening. I want to come back to you.’
Arohi’s eyes flickered towards her through the mirror, but she stayed silent.
‘I don’t understand either,’ Karthik sighed heavily. ‘But if you don’t help me right now, you won’t see me again.’
Kashvi gasped. ‘Never?’
‘Never.’
No. I have to fix this.
‘What do I do, Papa?’ she whispered.
‘Then help me. Tell me where your mother is taking you,’ he urged softly.
But Maa told me not to.
‘Why?’ she asked, her stomach knotting with unease.
‘Don’t you want me to come get you?’
Driven by the desperate need to see him, she nodded. ‘I do.’
‘Then tell me!’ he demanded anxiously.
‘Her friend Neena’s house,’ Kashvi blurted out.
Arohi heard her friend’s name and immediately turned towards Kashvi. ‘Hey, what did you just say?’
‘Nothing!’ Kashvi winced, quickly pressing herself against the door as Arohi reached back for the phone.
‘Come here,’ Arohi urged, unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching towards her. She struggled to steer with one hand as she warned, ‘Kashu, give me that back right now.’
‘He just wants to come see me,’ Kashvi argued.
‘Enough.’ Arohi eased her foot onto the brake, but the sudden blare of horns behind them forced her to keep moving. Frustration bled into her voice. ‘Hand me the phone right now or I’ll come back there and get it myself.’
Karthik quickly called out, ‘Are you in the backseat?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then focus on me. Tell your mother I’m telling you about the birthday gift I got for you.’
Kashvi blinked in confusion but obeyed anyway. ‘Please, Maa. Just one minute. I want to know about my birthday gift.’
Arohi hesitated before pulling her hand back and gripping the steering wheel again. ‘You have one minute. Then I’ll stop this car in the middle of the tunnel if I have to.’
Kashvi nodded quickly and clutched the phone tighter.
‘Are you in a tunnel right now?’ Karthik asked.
Her throat felt dry as she whispered, ‘Yes.’
Renewed energy entered his voice. ‘Your mother wants to punish me, but she doesn’t understand. I won’t survive without my girls. Do you want me to die a sad, lonely man?’
‘No, Papa,’ she said instantly, her chest aching at the thought.
‘Then why did you break your promise? Last night, you told me you wouldn’t let her leave, so why didn’t you stop her?’
‘I tried, Papa.’
‘You failed because you didn’t try hard enough,’ he scolded. ‘Why are you killing your poor father like this? Don’t you love me?’
The accusation hit her hard, and her tears came faster. ‘I do! I love you, Papa.’
Arohi’s strained voice cut through. ‘Are you done?’
‘Just a few more seconds, please,’ Kashvi begged hurriedly.
‘Listen to me,’ Karthik prompted. ‘Do you want to keep our family together?’
She nodded desperately. More than anything, she wanted a normal family like all her friends had. ‘That’s all I want.’