He is your father :: Part 2
Story By Thiyam Ningol, Africa

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One evening Mariam found her daughter late to come back home. She started getting worried. She tried to control herself but the flashes of the long forgotten memories were appearing again and again in her minds. She tried to shake it off. Pretended to be busy by keeping herself occupied with cooking.

She felt the burning smell of oil in the pot on fire. But her mind was far in the railway station being sexually molested again by the fat station watchman. She took out her anger on the furning pot. She lifted it with her bare hands and threw away the hot pot. Her fingers got burnt but she did not feel it. She sat down in the corner, remembering the train of her painful past life.

She was the same age of Fatma-15 years old. But she was more naive than her daughter. The village life was simpler and sweeter 15 years ago. There were not many people in the neighbourhood. The railway station was not crowded.

Only thrice a day, the train passed there-one passenger train and two goods train. The railway workers, passengers were very good and cooperative. In cases of trains getting delayed because of one or the other reason, the villagers would make the stranded people comfortable without thinking of taking advantage of the situation.

The vibrant, sweet teenage girl was selling fruits, sometimes boiled maize, sometimes sweet potatoes; anything her grand mother gets hold of in their own yard. The railway watchman who himself needed to be watched, had fancied Mariam. He was always drunk His cloths were always greasy and soiled. Daily he used to buy something or the other from Mariam.

One fateful day he came to buy fruits from Mariam. He looked sober on that day. He took the whole bunch of banana but said he forgot to take his wallet with him. So he asked Mariam to pass by his place and get the money from there. He had made a home in one of the abandoned wagons near the service track.

Before it became dark, Mariam decided to close her business and go back home. On her way back, as she was told, she passed by the watchman's wagon. She called out announcing her presence. A voice from inside told her to come in. Without a second thought, she entered. The man told her to sit down and eat the biscuits which he offered her. He asked her about her whereabouts, about her parents and many other questions.

Mariam felt very good about the concerns he showed. "So, there are few good men also in this world"-she thought. She didn't have to wait long to prove how wrong she was.

The man started stroking her hair, softly touched her cheeks. He took her hands and told her that her tender, soft hands need to be engaged with delicate works only, not to dig the earth, tilt soils and so on. Mariam looked at her hands and found that they were roughened really because of the works in their house. She had to help her grand mother in cultivating; she had to cut firewoods with the machetes.

Sometimes her hands used to get blisters from the works. She nodded her head agreeing with the comments of the man. She looked at the man with the eyes asking the question "but how". Answers to her questions were there. The man told her that if she could pass his place everyday he would give her many things.

He did not wait for her approval. He pulled her towards him, hugged her, squeezed her, kissed her, molested her, and raped her till she lost consciousness. She did not remember how long she was lying there, when she gained her conscious, it was already dark. The moonlight filtering through the windows and holes in the wagon made her see her surroundings. There was nobody near her. The abandoned wagon was empty. The watchman had abandoned her.

She wanted to scream, but had no energy. Just a moaning sound came out. All her body was bruised and aching. Her body was naked, the crumpled skirt and blouse thrown on her body was soiled with blood. Slowly she gathered her memory and strength, supported herself on the broken steel chair and started thinking about ways of escaping from there. She realized she was raped by the monster. She had to leave before the monster came back.

She pulled herself towards the heavy steel door; it opened with a loud creaking sound. Nobody was there, even if they were there, she did not see them. She put on her skirt and covered her body with the blouse. She did not bother to look for her underwear in the dark. When she stepped down from the wagon, the cold breeze hit on her face. She felt better. Got more strength. Without looking back she ran away from there.

On her way back, few blocks from their house, she met her grand mother coming back after fetching water. Usually it was Mariam's job to fetch water, but as she was late, her grandma had to do it. She could not believe her eyes when she saw the ghostly appearance of her granddaughter.

She pulled Mariam aside, took down the bucket of water from her head.

" Did somebody hurt you"

Mariam could not answer, she exploded. She curdled herself on her grandma's chest and cried. Blood was trickling on the inner thighs of Mariam. Quickly, the grandmother poured the bucket of water on Mariam's body. Quitely she consoled Mariam and warned her about the dangers if any of her uncles would see her in that condition. She pulled Mariam aside and gave her a bath on the roadside itself. She made Mariam change to the shawl she had and came together to their house. Luckily nobody noticed the look of Mariam. After putting her to bed, the grand mother went back again to fetch water. With the fear that they both would be chased away from the house if the other family members come to know about it, Mariam and her grand mother had to keep the secret only between the two of them. Every day at night, Mariam was raped again and again in her dreams. Days passed. Mariam's wound healed but left a permanent scar. After about 6 months from the ill fated day, her grand mother noted the signs of pregnancy in Mariam. She took her to the dispensary of the neighbouring village. Her doubts were confirmed at the clinic. She took Mariam to one of their far relative, single, elderly lady. Mariam had to work hard day and night. One day while she was in the field, helping the old lady to reap the ripe paddy from the field, she went into labour. She delivered a healthy baby girl with the assistance of the old lady. She named her Fatma. At that tender age when most of her age mates did not even know how to take care of themselves, Mariam had already two helpless dependants- one, her infant daughter and another, the elderly lady.

To be continued....