“Good one,” she said about his reference to a Temptations song.
“I meant it, honey,” he said. “Everything I did, I meant it. I was so happy to see you after all that time, but the feelings that I thought were long gone came back full force.”
“So … did you plan on…”
“No. I … No. I planned to come at you the right way, after I told my people what was what. Blessing or no blessing, I was coming for you.”
Reign locked gazes with him.
“That night was phenomenal, Reign.”
“Truthfully?”
He nodded. “If I had known that making love to you would cure what ailed me, I would’ve put in an order for that before I landed in Atlanta. No Biofreeze. No anti-inflammatories. No Aleve or Tylenol. Just some good old-fashioned loving. That right there should be on the market.”
Reign laughed, smacking him on his rear end. “You are so silly.”
Chapter 27
“Mama, is it okay if Papa washes me?”
Devesh trailed behind his quick-footed daughter, soap in one hand, soft sponge in the other and a scowl that voiced his displeasure more than words ever could.
Leena’s bath towel was barely wrapped around her, and it was so large she was having a time of trying to keep it around her body. Amazing how she’d managed to do so after covering so much square footage of the Maharaj house. The twins knew how to bathe themselves, but they’d been in the pool and needed to get the chlorine out of their hair. Jay was coming to get the munchkins in an hour to take them back to his condo to watch the original Wizard of Oz and The Wiz, so he could show them why he called them munchkins. Devesh had taken up the task since Reign was helping Mumma with planning Aunt Kavya’s birthday celebration.
“Yes, sweetheart,” Reign answered slowly, taking in the glint of anger that flashed in Devesh’s eyes. “It’s alright.”
Kamran peered around the edge of the threshold and Reign waved him back, figuring that he hadn’t shown his full body because he, unlike his sister, had covered the entire walk to the den in his birthday suit.
Curious glances shot their way. Once again, she hated the close proximity of his family and the fact that privacy was only relative in the area that Devesh still claimed whenever they were visiting. The closing on their new home couldn’t come fast enough. He finally had to let Reign in on the secret because packing up the condo was going to be a lot more involved than their move from the Maharaj place. If things had gone as planned, they would have already been in the new place.
Devesh lowered until he was eye level with Leena. “Go on back to the bathroom and brush your teeth. I’ll be right back to help with your hair, baby girl.”
“Okay,” she said and dashed off.
He waited until Kamran and Leena had cleared the area before he spun and faced Reign full-on. “You’re projecting your fears onto our daughter?”
“It’s about safety,” she defended, trying to keep her voice level. “She knows her body belongs to her, and that no one should touch that part of her. That’s not me being fearful or making her fearful. That’s smart.”
“Just because that low place you come from isn’t safe,” Tiya said, interjecting her unwanted thoughts and presence into the conversation. “Doesn’t mean that it’s not safe here.”
“Oh, you want to go there?” Reign taunted, placing her iPad on the end table as she stood. “Alright, then let’s talk about the fact that none of the girl children in your family want to go anywhere near one uncle in particular. Yet, the adults force them to.”
“Reign,” Devesh warned as his parents came to their feet, putting an intense focus on his wife.
“Y’all are so involved in eating, dancing, drinking, and having a grand old time that you forget to keep an eye out for your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. There are things happening right under your noses.” She scanned the faces of everyone. “And you have the nerve to question me?”
She whipped around to face Devesh, whose expression was thunderous. “I was in the Nation of Islam for five years. When I left, three things remained with me. A Nation can rise no higher than its woman. Pork is something I should never consume. And a girl child over five years of age should not sit on the lap of any man. Not even their own fathers.”
Reign slowly pivoted until she put her eyes on Mumma. “Now, I didn’t give a lot of thought to that last one because I had a son at the time. But given what happened to my sister, I began noticing when people say give Uncle So-and-so a hug or a kiss, and that child doesn’t want to.” She slid a glance at the women who wore expressions that ranged from shocked to perplexed. “The grownups either didn’t see—or worse, didn’t care that the child is anxious or reluctant about being near someone. But we adults can’t overlook something like that. A child’s instinct can be more accurate than ours, and if you give them the idea that their bodies can be commanded by any adult, that’s just the thing that teaches the child that they don’t have the power to say ‘No.”’
She moved forward until she was only a few inches from Tiya. “And I let my children know that they can talk to me about anything.” She studied some of the men who were spread out near the entrances to the living room and the den. “That no one can threaten to harm them, me, or their father just to keep them quiet about something hurtful that’s being done to them. Children are counting on the adults to keep them safe. So don’t question how I choose to make that happen.”
“We don’t have anyone here that does that,” Tiya said, smirking at Reign. “This family is safe.”
Reign laughed, and the sound of it was bitter to her own ears. “Let’s go there, then. Notice how one relative in particular only wants the girl children to sit on his lap? Never the boys, though.” She moved until she was facing Anaya as she said, “Or how your daughter cries and squirms to get away every time you force her to touch him?” Reign shrugged and threw up her hands in a show of nonchalance. “But hey,” she crooned. “That’s not my business, though. You’re so busy trying to be all up in how I’m raising my children that you’re slipping on the fact that something’s not quite right with yours.”
The men seemed especially tense as Papa looked their way and frowned, his eyes darting to each one, trying to ascertain who Reign meant.
“So you get all up in your feelings because my daughter is aware of her body, her father is new to her, and she asks if he is allowed to see or touch her naked body. And you also have issues when Leena doesn’t want to slide up onto that uncle’s lap, and he tries to scare her into obeying.” She let that hang tight for a minute as people mentally flipped scenarios, trying to figure out who she meant.
She tilted her head. “Notice that the only adults in this house that my children ever go to is their father, Papa, Mumma, Aunt Kavya, Anaya, and Pranav. No. One. Else.” Reign quirked a questioning brow. “They avoid Tiya as much as possible, more than anyone else in this house.”
Tiya cocked her head. “That’s because you’ve taught them to be as stubborn, standoffish, and close-minded as you are.”
“I didn’t have to say a word. Children want love, and they are well aware who’s giving it and who doesn’t have an ounce of it in their souls. They can feel the hatred or indifference coming from the rest of you. You view them as something less than children. They are not as important as your full-bred Indian children.”
Tiya blew out a cynical breath and rolled her eyes.
“So forgive me if I err on the side of keeping my children safe,” she snarled. “Rather than have them spend a lifetime in therapy trying to deal with the pain that could’ve been avoided if adults had been doing their job.”
Silence followed. The kind where folks stewed in their own thoughts.
“Oh, and maybe my children are doing your job as well,” she said with a pointed look at a red-faced Tiya. “Why do you think my daughter always comes to your daughter’s aid, asking her to play with her when you’re forcing her to do as that uncle says
? You thought Leena was being bossy, but she was subtly forcing him to relinquish his hold on your daughter. And it happens more times than you realize.” She gave everyone a patient smile. “My four-year-old has better sense than some adults around this camp.”
When no one responded, she continued with, “I may not have been your ideal choice for Devesh’s mate, but I’m definitely God’s best choice to be the mother of his children.” Reign scanned the range of solemn faces focused on her. “In the back of your minds, y’all know that something’s off with that uncle I’m talking about. You can keep ignoring it, but he will never have an opportunity to hurt my children. No one in this house or on this earth will do to them what he’s been allowed to do to your little girls.”
Anaya froze, stared down at her child, then at Uncle Mitul who met her startled gaze head-on, almost daring her to say something. Realization dawned, and she snatched her daughter from his lap and ran from the room.
“Uncle Mitul, aren’t you going to defend yourself against what she’s saying?” Devesh asked, putting a glare on the man with hawk-like features and beady eyes.
“Why should I?” he shot back with a shrug. “The accusations do not hold. I have not done anything wrong. Why should we listen to this kalankani?
Devesh crossed the distance in six smooth strides. “She. Is. My. Wife!”
Uncle Mitul was off the sofa. Bhavin stepped in and quickly slid between Devesh and his uncle, holding Devesh back after that derogatory word left the older man’s lips. A word that meant a woman who has a blackened face because she has committed a sin or slept with or married a man outside of their culture.
“Tune your lips to call my wife out of her name again,” Devesh growled, craning his neck around Bhavin’s body. “And I will show you how much respect I don’t have for you.” Devesh gripped Bhavin’s arms and said, “If I’m going to do some damage, you won’t be able to stop me.”
Bhavin raised his hand in mock surrender.
Mitul laughed, his round belly shaking with the effort. “Get a little taste of some black magic and all of a sudden you are turning against family.”
“I’m not turning against anyone,” Devesh defended, facing the man who puffed up, trying and failing to match Devesh’s towering height since he was a whole foot-and-a-half shorter. “Sometimes outsiders can see things the family is too close to notice. She might be wrong, but guess what I’m not going to do? Wait and find out. Not on my watch.”
“You are going to take the word of that … that—” Uncle Mitul caught himself before he used that word again and suffered the consequences. Devesh was not in a playing mood. “You have chosen her over your family. She has no proof of anything,” he cried, jamming his hands in his pockets. “None of the children have said any such thing.”
“She’s not lying,” Anaya called out from the entrance to the den. She must have left Keva in another part of the house.
A chilling silence descended on all of the rooms.
“She’s not lying,” Anaya repeated, moving further into the family room until she was in front of her parents. “You always let him babysit us while you were traveling to India. He insisted that Aunt Kavya go with you and he’d stay behind.” Anaya put her focus on Uncle Mitul. “No one questioned why.”
“She’s the one,” Mitul roared, pointing an accusing finger at Reign. “She says these bad things and all of a sudden people are believing them. She is crazy.”
Papa’s hands clenched into fists, his trembling lips a sure sign he was making every effort to remain calm. Mumma put a grip on his hand, struggling to hold him in place.
“He said I was the pretty one,” Anaya whispered, forcing Mitul into silence. “I was special. No one was more special than me.” She ran into Devesh’s open arms and absorbed his comfort before focusing on Tiya, who was rigid with shock. “But Tiya was special, too. So were his daughters Ritu, Savina, and cousin Monika. That’s probably why Rita and Savina left home the moment they turned eighteen. We haven’t seen them since.” Anaya’s focus landed on her mother, who had covered her face and cried. “I was too afraid to say anything because you all loved him so much. Who would believe me? He said no one would believe me.”
Yet, your silence allowed that man to continue doing this to others—even your own child. Devesh kept that thought to himself, though the moment he locked gazes with Reign, he was certain that was going through her mind as well.
Papa slowly circled until he was a few feet from Uncle Mitul. His expression was so pained, it took everything within Reign not to cry.
“I pushed it to the back of my mind,” she whispered, and wrapped her arms around her midriff.
“What he did made it hard for me to love my wonderful husband,” she said, lips trembling as the words flowed from her lips. Pranav couldn’t know how much I hurt. Not just my body, but everywhere. Being “special” was not supposed to hurt.”
Pranav finally got over the shock that came with that hurtful admission. He rushed to his wife’s side, taking her from Devesh’s hold.
“You are not even her real husband,” Mitul taunted Devesh, beckoning for Aunt Kavya to come toward him. She remained squarely in place. “Could not even demand a real marriage. What kind of man allows that? And you are listening to her lies. I have never touched Anaya—ever.”
“Anaya is telling the truth,” Meenu said and slumped down on the nearest chair as though weighted by that admission.
Mitul abandoned any other attempt to get to his wife and tried to make his way to the front door by himself. Devesh slid to the side so he and his father fully blocked the man’s path.
Soon stories spilled out from Anaya and Meenu on how they had been violated in the worst way. They all felt that it was their fault because he’d given them one reason or another to believe that lie. He said it would make them good little Indian girls; cure them of their “American ways”. Only he could make them good. Only he could make them special. For some reason, it took harming them, destroying their innocence to make them that way. It also took threatening them, shaming them to secure their silence. Their secrecy had allowed him to run his ugly game on nearly every female in the family long before they had their first menses. Tiya had not admitted anything, but her shell-shocked expression spoke a truth her tongue would not utter.
Devesh’s expression was murderous and a direct match for Papa and Pranav. His tone was barely civil when he said, “Uncle Mitul—”
“Come, Kavya,” Mitul commanded his wife who seemed to shrink in a matter of moments. “They need to cool off and figure out that these girls are lying about me. Let us go for a walk. Now!”
Mumma quickly translated a summation so Aunt Kavya would understand what had transpired.
Aunt Kavya’s face flushed with embarrassment. Her husband’s shame was now her own. She adjusted her weight on the sofa and moved to stand next to Mumma, tears streaming down her face; the same as nearly every woman in the four connecting rooms. Her chest heaved and then with a speed and strength no one could have ever believed possible, Aunt Kavya streaked past Papa, lunged for her husband, hands encircled his neck. She tightened her hold as she shrieked a barrage of curses in Hindi.
“Help me,” Uncle Mitul screamed, lashing out, first trying to extract her hand, then to block the strikes coming at him in rapid succession. Aunt Kavya had a mean right hook and wasn’t afraid to use it.
Several men moved forward.
“Her daughters …” Reign said, causing the men closest to Aunt Kavya to stay in place.
Pranav and Devesh stepped back, giving Aunt Kavya free range to pummel her husband with blow after blow.
Bhavin finally stepped in to put an end to the skirmish. Only then did Pranav and Devesh extract her deadly grip from Uncle Mitul’s neck.
He slumped to the ground, coughing and trying to breathe.
“Uncle Mitul,” Devesh began and then waited for the man to wipe the blood from his face with the edges of his plaid shirt. “Someone will pack yo
ur things, but you’ll need to leave here tonight.”
“This is my home,” he cried, trembling with equal amounts of outrage and fear. “Where am I supposed to go?”
“Back to India,” Uncle Samar said, folding his arms across his broad chest and a few of the men nodded and voiced consent. All except Papa, Devesh, and Pranav who pulled out his cell to make a call.
Reign laughed, and it caused all the attention to snap to her. “So you’re going to pack him back to India, where he’ll be free to molest more children?” she scoffed, leaning on Devesh for support. “That’s one thing my culture, yours, and the Catholic Church have in common. Playing musical chairs with the pedophiles.”
Papa’s eyes closed, trying to calm that rage that was evident in his expression. When he opened them, he focused on Reign.
“Rape and molestation are the most common crimes against women and children,” Reign said with a pointed look at Devesh. “Here and in India.” Reign narrowed a studying gaze on Tiya, who was too frozen to do anything but listen. Her husband hadn’t bothered to give her the kind of comfort that the others were doing for their wives at the moment. “So don’t ever talk to me about Indian culture being better than anyone else’s. You all don’t protect your women and children any better than anyone else does. And men like him get away with it because you, like other cultures, don’t hold women and children in high enough esteem to punish predators like him.” She shrugged yet again, spread out her hands in supplication. “But hey, that’s not my business, right?”
“No, that is not how we will handle this,” Papa said, finally finding his voice.
Devesh trembled with unspoken rage. He struggled to keep a steady gaze on Reign. She realized that she shouldn’t say anything else. Unless she helped her husband find a sense of calm, she was going to lose him to the penal system. She did have his bail money, but that was beside the point. The victims in all this had said everything that needed to be said.
“As long as he’s not here, India will work fine,” Samar said, his face moist with a thin sheen of perspiration. Several of the men agreed.
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