Zara turned towards Rihana and said, ‘I always knew, Rihana, but was too scared to acknowledge it. I’ve fantasized making love to you a million times before.’
‘Why were you so repulsed about your husband making out with another man then?’ Rihana asked curiously.
‘His making out with another man wasn’t repulsive, his dishonesty was,’ Zara quickly answered.
‘Weren’t you dishonest with him? Even you have a different sexual preference?’ Rihana asked, wanting to know Zara’s mind.
‘My sexual preference is love—only love—no matter where it comes from. If I had got it from him, I would’ve been with him. Is it a crime to be happy? Our society wants to bring down everyone who wants to be happy. Pleasure is never associated with morality. Just because I’m happy doesn’t mean I’m immoral. Does it?’ Zara questioned Rihana, who herself was quite perplexed at the amount of pleasure she had derived from being loved by Zara.
‘How can something that gives pleasure and happiness to some be immoral for others?’
Rihana and Zara were at the point where, if they came out openly about their relationship, all they would get in return from the world was disgust and contempt. They hugged each other and slept off, oblivious to the hardships the days to come would bring.
The next morning, Zara woke up before Rihana and got dressed. She made some coffee for her and saw Nandini making breakfast in the kitchen. She had no bindi or vermilion on her forehead and looked pale. Zara wasn’t very happy to see Nandini like that, but it was going to be a matter of quite some time before she could get used to her husband’s absence. Zara hugged her to show her support and encouragement. Nandini cried for some time, but then wiped away her tears and got on with the routine as usual. Seeing a cup of coffee in Zara’s hand, she asked, ‘Is this for Rihana Didi? I’ll give it to her.’
‘No, no, Nandini. I’ll take it to her. Why don’t you make arrangements for breakfast for three—Rohan will be coming over.’
Then Zara herself went to Rihana’s room. She didn’t want Nandini to see Rihana without any clothes on.
‘Good morning, madam. Wake up!’ Zara brushed the warm mug of coffee against Rihana’s arm, who, at once removed the blanket covering her body. She had her nightclothes on.
‘When did you wear your clothes?’ Zara was surprised to see Rihana dressed.
‘When you were fast asleep.’
Rihana jumped out of bed and showed a painting to Zara that looked like an abstract form of two women hugging each other. ‘I got some inspiration last night, so I painted “Love”,’ Rihana said, using her fingers to draw quotes in the air.
‘This is sublimely beautiful! I haven’t seen something as beautiful as this from you before,’ Zara said, in awe of the painting.
‘Do you really mean it, or are you just being patronizing because I had sex with you last night?’ Rihana’s statement made Zara blush a little.
‘Some paintings are better lived than being depicted on canvas,’ Zara said.
Rihana smiled wide and asked, ‘What happened last night? I hope it wasn’t one of those passing casual sex things that I usually have with men that you label as degrading?’ Rihana asked jokingly, yet with a hint of seriousness.
‘Why? Do you have any regrets?’ Zara questioned with a smirk on her face.
‘Why hold regrets when I could hold great tits?’ Rihana replied with a wink.
‘Hope I don’t have to worry about being pregnant. You know how snakes and unwanted pregnancies scare me,’ said Zara.
Rihana chuckled, then suddenly got serious. ‘Earlier, you showed me your scars, thinking that I would run away, but I stayed. I actually stayed to show you mine. Mine are uglier,’ said Rihana, holding her head down in shame.
‘Rihana, you held me when I couldn’t hold myself together and that’s why I held on to you. Whatever you told me last night, it was just a temporary situation. You’ll get over it,’ Zara assured her.
‘It was a temporary situation, but it has left permanent marks,’ Rihana said in a low tone.
‘I don’t want to sound clichéd, but love and time will heal everything. Would my being a woman be a problem?’ Zara definitely wanted an answer to that question.
‘Love has no gender, Zara.’
‘How do you know about love?’ Zara asked sarcastically.
‘You tend to know about something a lot when you get very little of it,’ Rihana replied. ‘We need to change the name of our house now.’
‘Why?’ Zara questioned.
‘Cupid has those wings that make you think of God, which makes you feel guilty about having sex,’ Rihana replied.
‘God can never be against love, Rihana. Sex is a part—rather, a subset—of love.’
Rihana’s and Zara’s conversation came to a halt when they heard the doorbell ring.
‘Get ready! That must be Rohan. We need to go to the police station.’
Zara left Rihana in the room and went to receive Rohan. Nandini had already opened the door for him and he was comfortably sitting at the dining table. Zara greeted him and they sat down to discuss the serious matter at hand.
‘So what do you think? How serious can it be?’ Zara was very worried about Rihana.
‘Nothing will happen to Rihana, Zara. Whatever she did was in self-defence. You know, even if some thief tries to pull your chain and you end up killing him while trying to protect your property, you won’t be accused. And this was a case of rape!—a crime that even God can’t justify.’ Rohan sounded very confident, and that assured Zara a great deal.
‘I’m relieved to hear that, Rohan, but what about the statement to the police?’ Zara inquired.
‘Firstly, Rihana is a victim, not a murderer. You have to believe in that fact in order to convince the police. And secondly, she isn’t a murderer. She is a victim-turned-saviour,’ Rohan said, making the point clearer.
Just then, Nandini came up with the breakfast tray and served Zara and Rohan. She was joined by Rihana, who was ready to go to the police station. She was dressed in a salwar kameez and a dupatta. Zara was surprised to see her in that attire.
‘When did you buy that?’ Zara asked.
‘It’s an emergency suit. I keep it for situations where I have to gain the sympathy of our society,’ Rihana said bluntly, and Rohan smiled.
‘You’re very intelligent, Rihana,’ said Rohan, complimenting her.
‘Not intelligent! You can say “adaptive”,’ Rihana replied.
‘What happened to your hair, Rihana Didi?’ Nandini was shocked to see her beautiful locks had disappeared.
‘I shed them like I shed a lot of other things last night.’ Rihana looked at Zara, who merely smiled, while Rohan and Nandini looked confused.
Rihana then walked up to Nandini and asked her, ‘Nandini, I’ve killed your husband. Are you upset with me?’
‘Didi, I wish I could do what you did, but the reason you’re wearing a salwar kameez is the same reason I couldn’t kill him—for societal approval. And you didn’t kill him. You only protected my daughter.’ Nandini was thankful to Rihana, and that took a big burden off Rihana’s chest.
‘The only endangered species today is probably “humanity”!’ Rohan said after listening to their conversation, and continued, ‘Rihana, you don’t have to worry. I’ve got this all sorted. This should be your statement.’
He took out a sheet of paper from his bag and showed it to Rihana. While she was reading the statement, he started speaking to Zara.
‘Regarding your divorce, you have two options. Either you ask him to file for it mutually, along with you, without revealing that he is gay; or, if he refuses, you’ll have to file a case of cheating and then the court will investigate the matter. It will then be a criminal case, which I specialize in. It’s your call now.’
Zara dialled her estranged husband’s number there and then. Vinay was taken aback by the suddenness of the call, but they had a meaningful conversation, where Zara explained the tw
o legal options to him. She told him she needed to know his decision within the next half hour. Her husband definitely didn’t want the world to know that he was gay, so he agreed to the first option: mutual divorce. Zara communicated the same to Rohan in a clinical fashion, who said, ‘I’ll file the papers accordingly now. You’ll have to wait for six months in that situation.’
‘You could still consider filing a criminal case against him. If proven gay, he’ll be in a soup,’ Rohan said, still giving Zara the option to reconsider before he could file the papers.
‘Rohan, I’m sure Vinay must be under a lot of pressure already. Being different is in itself a crime in our country. He was—or probably is—in love with the man I saw him with. When it is love, it justifies everything. What will I achieve by punishing him? My part of the suffering is over. Maybe through his journey, I found my destination.’ Zara was referring to the newly discovered love in her life. The hate in her had been replaced with a new feeling of warmth. And when that warm feeling had the undertones of love, nothing else mattered.
‘But he needs to be punished for all the trouble and misery he caused you,’ Rohan reasoned in his role as an advocate.
‘Then what would be the difference between me and him?’ Zara asked.
‘I don’t want to be a prisoner of hate and destruction. Forgiving him will give me freedom.’ Zara looked at Rihana to seek her approval. Rihana only smiled back.
After breakfast, all of them went to the police station to record Rihana’s statement.
‘Ma’am, you didn’t have to bring your lawyer. We would have taken care of it anyway,’ Bhawani Singh said compassionately.
‘It was a tough situation, sir, so we want to take all the precautions we can,’ Rihana replied.
‘We police officers aren’t as bad as we are projected to be in the movies.’ Bhawani’s statement made everybody laugh.
‘On a serious note, you have given justice to Gudiya and yourself. At most, we could have only been able to put him behind bars for the maximum sentence of a lifetime. After having been a burden on society for so long, he would have been a burden on the government. We would’ve been providing free boarding and lodging to a creep like him. Just a personal view, madam—such people don’t deserve to live. I think you did the right thing.’
‘At eleven, I wasn’t this strong, inspector.’ Rihana shed a tear, but Bhawani and Rohan couldn’t understand.
‘She means Gudiya wasn’t strong enough, inspector,’ said Zara, fumbling for words but taking control.
The police made a record of everything Rihana and her lawyer had to say. After this they were allowed to leave. Rohan left for his office to prepare the papers for Zara’ case, while Zara and Rihana hopped into their car to head back home.
Just then, Zara’s phone buzzed. It was Rihana’s mother.
11
Love Has No Barriers
‘I’ve been trying Rihana’s number, but she isn’t taking my call . . . as usual,’ Rihana’s mother said. She sounded defeated.
‘Her phone must be on silent, Auntie,’ Zara covered up. ‘I hope everything is well with you and Uncle?’
After a brief moment of silence, Rihana’s mother said, ‘Her phone is not on silent, Zara, she is silent. I know why she doesn’t want to talk to us.’ Rihana’s mother started crying.
‘I’ll ask her to give you a call, Auntie. Please don’t cry.’ Zara didn’t want Rihana’s family to know anything about the police involvement in her life and the molestation she had saved Gudiya from. It would have made them all the more anxious. She hung up as fast as she could on the pretext of driving, with a promise to make Rihana speak to them soon.
They were trying their level best to get back to routine. Nandini resumed her work, Zara got back to her office, while Rihana—after finishing one painting that night—looked for more inspiration. Sometimes her inspiration was in front of her eyes, but the rest of the time, she had to use her imagination.
Rihana’s birthday was only a few days away. She was going to turn twenty-nine, and Zara had planned a small celebration for her. At midnight, Zara woke her up and wished her a happy birthday, hugging her tight and planting a kiss on her forehead. Rihana beamed because she was bringing her birthday in with so much love after years.
Just then the doorbell chimed.
‘That’s your birthday gift, girl. Go and grab it!’ Zara said, smiling.
Rihana dashed off to answer the door. Nandini and Gudiya were standing outside with a basket in their hands. It had a small Labrador pup in it. Rihana looked at it and squealed in delight.
Zara had been right behind her and said, ‘That’s Tiger’s pup! Remember you had him mated?’ Rihana’s heart soared upon hearing that. She had a bit of Tiger with her now. It made her happy and a part of her guilt was washed away.
‘Zara Didi tracked him down for you. She brought this one in the morning and we hid him in my room,’ said Nandini and Guidya, co-conspirators in this lovely surprise. Rihana hugged Nandini and Gudiya one by one, before gently picking the puppy up from the basket.
‘It’s not a he, it’s a she,’ Zara corrected everyone.
‘Holy cow! We are now officially an all-female family,’ said Rihana, laughing.
When they moved into the house with the little one, Zara went to the kitchen and came back with a chocolate cake, candles and a matchbox. Seeing Rihana smiling from ear to ear made Zara feel a huge sense of satisfaction.
Rihana blew out the candles and cut the cake. She had received the best birthday present ever. Her family was, in a way, complete. Zara took the day off and spent it at home. The girls invited Rohan and Zubair over, while Zara cooked Rihana’s favourite food with Nandini’s help. It was a great evening for all of them. After a nice meal, they slept on one bed, all three of them, the puppy nestled lovingly between them.
The next day, while having dinner together, Zara spoke to Rihana about her family wanting to speak to her.
‘I think you should return your mother’s calls, Rihana. She has not been keeping well and has to discuss something very serious with you.’
‘What is it? She didn’t tell you?’ Rihana asked.
Zara looked at Rihana with the utmost love and said, ‘You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve come across in my life.’ Zara changing the course of the conversation so suddenly made Rihana blush.
‘Why?’ Rihana asked, fishing for compliments.
‘Because you’ve been all the way to hell and back. And you’ve survived it!’ Zara kept her hand on Rihana’s and caressed it as she said, ‘Very few people know how to do that, Ri. In fact, oxygen is enough to survive, but to really live, you need much more. And that makes you incredibly beautiful.’ Zara paused and took a bite of her dinner.
‘So give your mother a call whenever you are ready for it, please. Face this one also . . . Head-on,’ Zara requested. There was a hidden meaning in her words that was worrying Rihana. Zara wasn’t forcing her, but her request was insistent. And Rihana could do everything except turn Zara down.
Rihana decided to concede and get it over with—not for anyone else, but for Zara’s sake and for the promise she had made to Rihana’s mother. When they were done with dinner and were sitting in bed, ready to go to sleep, she took out her phone and called her mother.
‘Rihana baby! How are you doing, my child?’ There was pain in Rihana’s mother’s voice and she could sense that her mother was crying.
‘What happened, Maa?’ Something forced Rihana to ask that question. Her mother had seen much in life, for better or worse, but her voice sounded too painful for Rihana to stay immune to it for too long.
‘Your father . . .’ Rihana heard her mother sobbing now.
‘What happened to him?’ Rihana’s tone changed a little, fearing the worst.
‘He is suffering from cancer and is in the last stages of his life.’
There was a pause, punctuated by her mother’s sobs and Rihana’s silence. She didn’t know if she should fee
l sad for her father after the way he had so badly scarred her for so many years.
‘Before dying, he wants to see you once, and ask for your forgiveness.’
Rihana was stunned. She couldn’t believe that her mother knew. ‘When did he tell you?’ Rihana asked her mother.
‘A week ago. I abused, kicked and loathed him after he told me—but he is dying. He cannot leave this world with the heaviness of his guilt, my baby. Please let us come to you. We may not be worthy of your forgiveness, but I can’t deny a dying man his last wish. Please, Rihana . . . Let us see you before it’s too late,’ Rihana’s mother pleaded.
Rihana just said okay and hung up.
‘You have a heart of gold, Rihana.’ Zara had heard the entire conversation. She hugged Rihana for having been so brave to finally face her fears and insecurities.
Zara gave the abstract painting Rihana made to the Maharani, who had it auctioned at a phenomenal price. Rihana got her share, while the rest of the money was transferred to the cancer hospital.
‘Why did you send that painting to her? It encapsulated our love.’ Rihana was cross with Zara.
‘There is no harm if our love can be used for a good cause. I’ve asked Auntie to get your father admitted to the same cancer hospital that the Maharani runs. He will be looked after well there. The Maharani has promised,’ Zara said, being her usual sensible self.
‘She must want some mileage out of this as well. “The painter has had her father admitted to the same cancer hospital that her painting helped raise funds for”. I can read the headlines! We could’ve had him admitted to a hospital here in Delhi too, you know,’ Rihana persisted.
‘And I don’t understand what it is with me and this dreadful disease cancer. It just doesn’t seem to leave me alone.’ Rihana was perplexed at how the illness had taken away the good from her life. Was it going to take away the bad too? she wondered.
‘That’s your hospital Rihana. You’re one of the trustees, and the care your father will get there cannot be paralleled in any other hospital. Moreover, you’ve seen that they have state-of-the-art facilities there,’ Zara reasoned.
Love Bi the Way Page 19