2 The Queen of the Hearth Part 2

Next day when Jassi woke up, she had a terrible headache. She was still sleeping on someone's shoulders, Renny's shoulders. He had sat beside her the whole night! He was a gem.

Then, she felt a jerk. They were on a bus! Her eyes shot open with sudden alarm. She saw that she was sleeping on Mr Rajeshwar's shoulders. The man was not wearing his coat and tie anymore. His shoes and socks were sitting on the other side of him in the aisle. It was night time and there were only one driver and two other men on the entire bus.

She was on the window side. It was an AC bus. The thick pane was not meant to open. Mr Rajeshwar was on the aisle side trying to crush her in his seat.

"What is this? Where is Renny? I want to go. Get away from me", Jassi screamed while trying to push Rajeshwar away from her.

"Renny! Your dealer. He sold you – to me. You are a pretty one. I never thought you would leave the life of entertaining a new man every night in a new five-star hotel and choose to be my wife forever ", leered Rajeshwar. "Don't worry! I know a lot of ways to keep you busy all day and all night. You will never want another man in your life", he continued.

Jassi's mind was churning.

"Listen, listen. This is all a mistake. Did Renny sell me to you?"

Rajeshwar nodded.

"You paid 12 lakh for me!"

He nodded again – displeasure evident on his face. Obviously, this was not the reaction he had been expecting from her. But this was Jassi's last chance. She had to take this chance.

"Mr Rajeshwar. Please, Sir. I am so sorry. This is all a mistake. It seems Renny had fooled both of us. I assume he told you that I am a call girl, Sir. I am not. I am an English honours graduate. I was a gold medallist. I want to be a novelist. I have other dreams. Please, Sir. Please let me go", she touched Rajeshwar's feet and grovelled as best as she could.

Rajeshwar's face hardened.

"I don't know all this. Listen, girl. I don't care whether you were a call girl or not. You are now 'sold' and I 'bought' you. I am your master now. Stop crying and grovelling now. Be quiet. You will soon get used to it."

"I understand, Sir. I know you spent Rs 12 lakhs for me. I will return all your money in three months! My uncle will pay the ransom for me. He will pay every penny back."

When Rajeshwar's eyes shot warning, she continued, "He can pay Rs 50 lakh for me, Sir. You just have to ask him." Jassi didn't know whether it was all wishful thinking on her part. Was she stretching the limits her uncle will go to save her? She could decide it later. For now, she had to get out of the clutches of these people.

"I am a good girl, Sir. I have never done anything wrong, Sir. Please, Sir." Jassi kept her forehead on Rajeshwar's feet in an act of submission. The word 'humiliation' did not occur to her then.

Jassi was an academic girl. She was never much into sports. She had never learnt martial arts in school. No one told her to…and she did not care for it much. She looked around her to see other people's faces and see if her words were having some effect on them or not. All she saw was empty stares.

She bowed her head again and opened her mouth to say something more when Rajeshwar kicked hard on her face. A tooth and some blood flew out of her face. She was terrified!

"I told you to stop crying, stop grovelling. You are a slave now, my slave. You are a good girl! Okay, I will change that status right now."

He looked at the two other men. "Disrobe her."

Jassi did not utter a word as the driver parked the bus somewhere inside a jungle and all the four men tore away her clothes and did the unspeakable to her. This was the first time she was seen naked by someone but these men were not there to enjoy the view. They were there to do things she never thought could ever happen to her.

When they were done, Jassi was barely alive but she didn't cry again.

It has been two years since that night and Jassi never cried again. She never grovelled again. She underwent a staged-up marriage and became a target for the entire family of Rajeshwar. She was an animal to be tamed, to be trained. She learnt everything quietly.

She never mentioned her studies again or her past life to anyone. She lived beside her hearth – whether it was cold or hot…even when it was raining, she used to sleep beside the hearth. Her whole body used to get drench in rains and she would crawl closer to the hearth to try and get warmth from the dying embers. Jassi's role was to take care of everyone. She oiled the hair of her mother-in-law – the Rajeshwar's mother and never answered back. She got kicked or punched or slapped occasionally but she never cried. Rajeshwar sometimes pulled her into his room and raped her mercilessly and then, threw her out of the room and lock himself in.

When she had her periods and was not allowed to cook in the traditional village home, she was locked in a windowless room without clothes – in only her underwear and rags. When the family had to go somewhere – in a marriage or on a pilgrimage, they would lock her in the room with some food and water – without clothes. She had no access to a stick or a rope or a knife or a pen or even a scrap of cloth when no one was with her. Mobile phone? No one had even a landline or a basic phone at home. Perhaps Rajeshwar had one but he always carried it well-hidden – whether he was at home or out of the home.

They made sure that she wouldn't run away. They guarded her pretty well. After all, they had bought her for Rs 12 lakhs and she seemed like a good deal to them!