Chapter 7

"Nothing father," she said in a low voice. "I heard a noise." her father grunted and banged the door shut without another word. Mounika staggered to her room and fell on the bed completely shocked by how horribly her father had changed.

Harshini was nowhere to be seen but Mounika was in no position to notice her absence. Why did she have the feeling that her mother was being beaten right now? She had no idea how to handle that situation since her father had always been a loving family man who was fiercely protective of his family.

This alcoholism was something she was unable to wrap her mind around, but the most important question was why. She still had no idea who could help her make sense of this situation as something told her that she would have to adapt fast to this new situation.

Harshini came into the room wrapped in a towel obviously having showered, but this was another strange thing she had a hard time with. Her elder sister had never allowed her to be in the same room when the former changed her dress. Her uncharacteristic open ness was making Mounika uncomfortable.

"Did he tell you why he is drinking?" Harshini asked throwing away the towel and searching for a night dress. Mounika turned her head away her cheeks burning bright red in embarrassment.

"Will you please stop doing that?" she protested. Harshini picked up a dress and pulled it up restoring her modesty.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Change your dress in front of me." Mounika remonstrated. "You never did that before." Harshini gave her a weird look.

"You really have forgotten a lot, haven't you?" she asked Mounika thoughtfully. "You never had any problem changing your dress before me or me doing the same in front of you."

Mounika was startled. This was shocking for she appeared not to know this new Harshini. But she decided to use this opportunity to learn as much as she could.

"Tell me about everything. Perhaps I will be able to make sense of it all." If Harshini was suspicious, she didn't show it. She spoke nonchalantly but Mounika was grateful for it.

"Five years ago, dad got suspended on corruption charges." Mounika was stunned at the revelation which was made even more difficult Harshini's nonchalance.

"What! He is the most honest officer ever!" Mounika said in a low voice indicating her shock.

"Yes, he says he was framed by someone who wanted him out of that post." Harshini said. "He refused to accept the suspension and tried to fight it out, but the other party was too powerful for him. He was given a choice - resign or be sent to jail for something he never did."

"So, he chose to resign?" Mounika couldn't believe her father would do something like that though it did seem suited to his proud, honest nature.

"Yes. All charges against him were lifted, he was given a clean chit and the suspension w3as revoked." Harshini said as if she was talking about some stranger and not her own father.

"But he never got a government job again?" Mounika asked incredulously. "If all charges were dropped, and he got a clean chit, he could have applied in some other department, right?

"No. The case had smashed his reputation and his application was sent to his address with the stamp "Rejected". Mounika could sense deep rooted anger in Harshini which was the only sign that she cared for her father or the family. "He was devastated beyond belief and started drinking to bury his sorrow."

"That's the most stupidest thing to do!" Mounika protested.

"He never listened to mom and started beating her." there was a resentful tone in Harshini's voice. "Why she chose to stay with him is something I can never understand."

"She stayed for us I suppose." Mounika too was finding it hard to grasp all this in one go but she had to do her best.

"No. I asked her to come with me so we three could stay together." Mounika found her respect for her elder sister returning again.

"What did she say?" she asked Harshini, her curiosity evident in her expression.

"She said she couldn't leave him alone." Mounika was disappointed and she felt was how Harshini felt too.

"She chose to stay with him though he beat her?" Mounika was surprised at the thought of her mother sticking with an abusive husband.

"Yes. She says he will be lost forever if she doesn't take care of him." Mounika detected a small tinge of anger in Harshini.

"Then how are we surviving?" she asked trying to divert the topic. She still needed to know a lot of things.

"Mom does something and he does odd jobs." Harshini explained, all her resentment gone. "You also work as an office assistant in some accounting office or something."

"And what do you do?" Mounika saw a cheeky smile on her sister's face that contrasted the seriousness of the discussion.

"I squeeze rich, spoiled brats for my needs." Harshini said this with a mischievousness that made Mounika remember old times with her sister.

"Won't that spoil your reputation?" Mounika was alarmed at how easily her sister said this.

"Who cares about reputation?" Harshini emphasized the word 'reputation'. "Everyone is concerned with money. If you have money, nobody cares how you get it."

Mounika couldn't believe her sister would ever say something like that because the sister she knew had very high principles, but this specimen seemed to have abandoned everything. Could circumstances change people so drastically?

These were issues that were not in her control so she needed to focus on more practical aspects that could help her cope up and somehow find a way out of this mess. She believed that she had somehow managed to live her nightmare. She needed to find a way to get out of it fast and she needed to find someone who could help her do that. Till then, she had to live here and to do that she needed to work.

"Where is my office?" she asked surprising her seemingly unscrupulous sister.