Child Brides of India

By C. Stanton Leman

Chapter 17: Retribution (Mg, rom, no sex)

The rest of the week for Priya and Sara at school was tense, but Priya had held her own in two verbal confrontations with Haseeba. Priya was especially hurt by the remark Haseeba made that Priya was able to trap me by giving up her black pussy for money. Although defending herself well, the other students wondered if there wasn’t a ring of truth in Haseeba’s venomous words. Surprisingly, it was Sarah that went on the offensive and began to dig out the worm hiding under the rock.

By Wednesday of that week, Sarah had been able to find out that the slut in question was indeed a slut. Although only rumors, Sarah learned that Haseeba was screwing a software engineer that worked for an American company here in New Delhi unbeknownst to her father. Dad relayed the info to his investigator.

On Saturday, Dad received a package by courier. When Dad and I opened it in his study, even we were shocked at what this viper was really capable of. It seemed her brother found out about her little trysts on the side and wanted payment for his silence: you got it. She paid with her pussy - in advance! We had lying before us, infrared photos of her brother fucking her ass doggie style in one of their father’s cheap tenements. She gave it all: one night her ass, another night her pussy and once a blowjob right on the street in her brother’s car. She’d leave her brother and go see her engineer friend at his apartment. Dad was relieved to find out the guy didn’t work for us.

Dad had a look of satisfaction on his face and said, “Ha, ha. And so, the worm turns.”

The sad part about it was that she wasn’t even very discreet about it. The report logs and photos showed that this happened three times this week. Haseeba’s brother oversaw their father’s tenement slum properties, and they just flauntingly entered and left without any inhibitions about being caught. The investigator’s report had noted that probably because of her age, she wasn’t as discreet as a mature woman would have been in covering her tracks. It was all too easy.

When we called Priya and Mom in to divulge the courier’s report, Mom just shook her head and said, “I feel sick,” and left the room. Priya looked at me, and then at Dad and said, “Like a dog, she eats her own vomit.”

Dad said to Priya, “Do you know what we’re going to do?”

“No,” her reply began, “tell me what I must do.”

“First,” Dad began, “we’re going to load these photos into your computer. Then, you’ll have a little ‘heart-to-heart’ talk with this slut and show her the goods. You’ll tell her that she had two choices: either she leaves you, Sarah and Sean alone and you’ll keep her secret; or you’ll distribute these photos mysteriously around school and they might even find their way to her father’s office. Can you do this with some discretion?”

Smiling wryly at him, she replied, “Am I not my Father’s daughter?”

“Good girl,’ he replied, “Good girl.”

When Dad called Adib and asked him if Salima, Sarah and he could come over for dinner and he’d explain how this was all going to come to an end, Adib was more than happy and said that the three of them would be here at seven.

After laying out all the reports and photos on the table, Adib and Salima were shocked. Sarah began sobbing so bad that Mom and Salima had to take her out of the room to calm her down.

Adib embraced Priya and said, “I am so sorry for all the injustice that’s been heaped upon you, I had no idea that these kind of people would go to such lengths to hurt you.”

With tears in her eyes, she looked up at him and said, “I have a husband to protect me, Papa. All my pain and fears are gone.”

The evening ended on a somber yet relieved note that Priya’s torment would end next week. I told everyone that we had Sarah to thank for Priya’s defense. She has shown a new confidence and strength that she didn’t display when we first met.

Sarah humbly revealed that ever since she had heard the voice of Allah in her heart that night, she has had a quiet peace and new sense of strength. We were all happy for Sarah’s newfound place in the world. With that, we said our salaams, and the Haaseems left for home.

The next day, everyone felt relieved but somber. We played board games and whiled the day away uneventfully and went to bed early.

The next morning was much of the same. We all knew that Priya would end her torment, but at a cost; a cost to a girl who had somehow lost her way and sacrificed herself to fulfill a dream that her father had convinced her was worth having.

When we arrived at school, we knew it would all end right then and there on the school steps. Haseeba and her clique were waiting. When Priya and Sarah got out of the car, I kissed Priya goodbye and let her go alone to do what she had to do. I stood by the car and watched it all unfold.

Haseeba started in on Priya as soon as she approached the steps, and Priya asked if they could talk in private. Haseeba taunted her by saying, “What? Does the little black bitch want to kiss my ass in private?”

Priya said, “No, but I have something you should see and I feel you have a right to privacy.”

Playing up the bully role, Haseeba spat, “I have nothing to fear from a little Black Muslim whore who spreads her legs for money.” Everyone was gasping waiting for a fight.

Priya looked at her defiantly and said, “We’ll see if you don’t regret those words. I ask you again, do you wish to discuss this in private, or do you wish me to expose you right here on the school steps?”

Leaning into her face, Haseeba taunted, “You can’t scare me with your idle threats. What have you got? Pictures of you sucking you white husband’s cock?’

Priya calmly opened her laptop and booted it up. She turned to Haseeba and said, “I open my legs for my husband out of love, but you are a whore who fucks her own brother!” She then opened up the file of pictures, set it on slide show and stepped back.

Everyone took turns looking as the photos ran through about five times with Haseeba silently crying as she viewed her own lasciviousness over and over along with everyone else.

Priya then shut her computer down, packed it up and walked into school. The crowd deafeningly quiet, dispersed, leaving Haseeba sitting all alone on the steps in ruin. I got in the car and left.

When I picked up the girls after school, they were both quiet and morose. Priya only said that she regretted letting her pride overcome her and showing Haseeba’s photos in public. She had a terrible feeling that the result would be the ruin of a person’s life.

After we got home, I removed the photos from Priya’s laptop and tried to console her, but to no avail. Haseeba didn’t show up at school the rest of the week, which made Priya and Sarah feel even worse. Priya had withdrawn into herself and had remained that way the rest of the week.

We heard the following week that Haseeba’s father had sold her to a brothel. Her brother was found a week later in his car with his throat slit.

For two weeks following the rumors of Haseeba’s demise, Priya and Sarah were completely despondent and withdrawn. They said only what they needed to and without any emotion; even Priya’s studies were beginning to suffer. Priya basically shut me out and wouldn’t talk to me about it, although she’d talk to Sarah every night on the phone in Tamil. When we went to bed, she’d just roll over in a fetal position away from me and quietly sob.

Finally, at dinner one night, the silence was so deafening, I dropped my fork in my plate and turning to Priya said, “That’s it! Talk to me! Say something! You’ve been moping around for weeks, ignoring me and refusing to talk; it’s gone on long enough! No matter what it is, tell me what’s bothering you!”

While I spoke, Priya just looked down at her plate picking at her food. Mom, Dad and I just looked at her waiting for a response.

She dropped her fork in her plate, put he hands in her lap and looking up she started to cry. She wept out, “I have sinned against God! In my need for revenge, I have extracted a life from another. I should have held my anger and taken the sting of her insults knowing in my heart what is true. I can’t live with myself knowing her life is ruined and her brother is dead. Sarah feels as responsible as I do, if not more.”

Dad looked at her and said, “A snake cannot change its nature. No matter how much compassion you show it, it will only bite you in the end,”

Priya looked at Dad and replied, “Yes, but her venom couldn’t hurt me. She would have only caused me discomfort. She couldn’t destroy what I have with Sean or ruin my life. Her true nature would have been revealed eventually without the loss of life.”

I turned to her and said, “That’s not entirely true. The investigator’s report said the she and her brother were indiscreet about their relationship. Her father would have found out sooner or later anyway and the results would have been the same.”

“Maybe so,” Priya responded, “but his blood wouldn’t be on my hands. In the end, I stooped below her level and am worse than she ever could’ve been. She had nothing but idle treats and insults with which she lashed out at me with. I realize that she really couldn’t hurt me except for my pride. I have to make this right! Please, Sean, help me make this right.”

I asked her, “How do you propose to do that?”

“Give her back her life. By buying her out of slavery and helping her get her life back. I will use my entire dower if necessary to do it.”

“You’re right,” I answered. “It was my idea to do this, and I share most of the responsibility for it. You don’t have to use your dower; I’ll help you do whatever is necessary to set things right.”

“Will you buy her freedom?” she implored.

“Yes,” I responded, “and whatever else she may need to get a new start on life.”

“Thank you,” she said. “If you do this for me, I can live with myself again.”

“I’ll start tomorrow, alright?”

“Thank you,” was all she said and slowly began to eat. We finished dinner quietly, said our evening prayers and went to bed.

That night, she melted into my arms and cried herself to sleep.