Sharda’s Ledger - II
1056 Words
V. The Ledger Opens
When Kabir placed the warm cigarette butt on the table, something detonated inside Sharda.
With the controlled violence of a bone cracking under pressure. She sat on the edge of the sofa, elbows on her knees, face buried in her hands.
Just… remembering.
Aman’s blood on her palms.
Aanya’s ribs under her fingers.
Two seventeen-year-olds separated by decades but united by the exact same kind of violence.
Men who thought their power was a birthright and believed girls were inheritance.
Men who believed silence was consent.
Aman had died because help didn’t come in time.
Aanya lived.....but barely....because help never came at all.
Sharda whispered under her breath, almost inaudibly:
“Not again.
Not another child.
Not on my watch.”
Kabir heard her.
He didn’t say anything, but he moved closer, unobtrusive.
He knew the sound of promises forged in pain.
VI. The Plan
“We’re not letting her sleep alone tonight,” Zoya said, voice firm, sharp, protective.
Aanya looked up, startled.
“You don’t have to...”
Kabir cut her off gently.
“We do.”
“But....”
Zoya knelt in front of her.
“No buts. We’re not taking chances. If that man followed you, if he stood here tonight, if he knows where you live…”
Her voice broke.
“You’re not being left alone.”
Aanya’s eyes filled again.
Sharda softened her tone.
“You’re safe here. And until the danger passes, one of us stays with you at all times.”
Kabir added, “I’ll take the first night.”
Aanya froze.
“No. Kabir....no. I can’t ask you to....”
“You didn’t ask,” he replied quietly.
“I’m offering.”
Zoya smirked through her tears.
“See? Good men exist. They’re rare, like solar eclipses and government efficiency, but they exist.”
Aanya blinked, a tiny sound escaping her......half laugh, half sob.
Sharda touched her shoulder.
“We’re not leaving your side,” she whispered.
“Not tonight. Not ever, if you don’t want.”
Aanya lowered her head.
She whispered the words of someone who had lived too long alone:
“I don’t know how to let people stay.”
Kabir’s voice was soft.
“Then we’ll teach you.”
VII. Sleeping Arrangements
The night became ritual.
Aanya didn’t want to sleep in her bed.............
It felt too open,
Too vulnerable,
Too full of corners where memories hid.
So they moved her to Zoya’s room.
Zoya set up a mattress beside the bed.
Sharda placed a lamp within arm’s reach.
Kabir spread a thin mattress outside the bedroom door, positioning himself like a guard.
Aanya looked at him, guilt flooding her face.
“You don’t have to sleep there.”
Kabir shook his head.
“I won’t sleep well anywhere else.”
Something in Aanya’s ribs shifted.
an ache that filled her with terror.
She whispered, “Why?”
Kabir met her eyes with a steadiness that made her feel seen in a way that was unbearable and healing at once.
“Because you’re afraid,” he said softly.
“And fear shouldn’t sleep alone.”
Aanya’s breath quivered.
Zoya threw a pillow at him.
“Stop saying gentle things like a poet. You’re making the rest of us look emotionally incompetent.”
Kabir laughed quietly, catching the pillow.
Sharda cracked the faintest smile.
Aanya didn’t smile, but her breathing eased.
VIII. Memory from the Bathroom
Around 2 a.m., after the house fell into an uneasy quiet, Aanya whispered:
“Zoya… Sharda… I need to tell you something.”
Both women woke immediately.
Aanya stared at the far wall, eyes vacant.
Her voice was a ghost crawling out of her throat.
“He used to come through the bathroom.”
Sharda straightened.
“What do you mean?”
Aanya swallowed hard.
“It was the only room with a latch he couldn’t hear from the hall. I used to hide there. Behind the bucket. Behind the door. Anywhere.”
Zoya’s breath stopped.
Aanya’s fingers trembled as she continued.
“I would sit on the floor, on the cold tiles, holding my breath. Sometimes for hours.
Once, I fell asleep sitting up.
I woke to the sound of him trying to break in.”
She shut her eyes tightly.
“The tiles were blue.
The bucket was red.
The tap dripped.
Constantly.
And I prayed.........
God, I prayed
That he wouldn’t find me.”
Sharda’s hand flew to her mouth.
Aanya whispered:
“The first time he touched me…
it was in that bathroom.”
The world stopped.
Sharda’s eyes filled.
Zoya’s fist slammed into the mattress, rage, shaking her entire body.
Kabir, outside the door, heard every word.
He gripped his blanket so tightly the muscles in his forearms trembled.
IX. The Promise
Aanya curled into herself, voice cracking:
“I don’t want to be broken anymore.”
Sharda climbed onto the bed beside her, pulling her close without hesitation.
Zoya moved to the other side, taking Aanya’s hand.
Together, they formed a cocoon........
Warm, human, imperfect, protective.
Sharda whispered into her hair:
“You’re not broken.”
Aanya shook her head.
Sharda held her tighter.
“You’re not broken,” she repeated.
“You were hurt.
You were wounded.
You were betrayed.
But you’re not broken.”
Aanya sobbed quietly.
Zoya whispered:
“You are loved, Aanya. Even if you don’t feel it yet.”
Aanya shuddered.
Sharda pressed her forehead against the top of Aanya’s head and whispered the promise she had never spoken to anyone:
“I failed Aman.
I won’t fail you.”
Aanya’s breath caught.
Zoya’s eyes widened.
Kabir, outside, whispered a vow to himself:
“I won’t fail her either.”
X. Line - Ends the Chapter
Just as Aanya drifted into exhausted sleep, Zoya stroked her hair gently.
Sharda lay awake, eyes open, staring at the ceiling with a fury and tenderness that could split bones.
Kabir sat outside the door, upright, listening to every breath inside. And the night, heavy and waiting, pressed itself against the blue door.
Sharda whispered into the darkness, voice low, steady, and full of something deadly:
“Some monsters live long enough to meet the women who survived them.”
The house held its breath.
Because something had changed tonight.
And the monster....finally..........had women to answer to.
- Writer
