on the way to the canal

I winced, a moan escaped me. It was cold. Icy. There was a huge block of ice in it. They had pushed my head in. I don’t know why. But they had. There were three of them. Big, animal, bulky, brutes. They had sneers on their faces. Their hands were in their pockets, and the hands were moving around a lot. It was the eyes though. It was the eyes that terrified me. Hungry. As if they wanted something from me. I was too young to know. But death is the great equalizer. Death shows you all because now you are eternal. The eyes terrified me.

But let’s back up a little. I had been walking home from school. I didn’t think they taught much.  Or anything. But it made my mother happy. Maybe she wanted to see a better life. And now, she was sobbing, and would for her life. My father agreed with me. “Badshah ka beta Badshah bantaa hai” a servant’s child cannot elevate his status in life. Funny how it was always the male. The female was never even mentioned. He figured I should just start working early. It made sense. Kind of. What the teachers taught was just basic knowledge. Anyone could figure it out. Why did I need to waste time sitting in a classroom listening to stuff I already know. It was easy. But I digress. The thing about death is, you have all the time in the world. I do. But you, my dear reader, are not dead. Your time is short.

I was walking back home from school. Two men drove up in a motorcycle. They yanked me on it with them. And drove away. It took a few seconds. I was too shocked to scream. And after that wore off, I was too young to know any better. I just thought they were trying to kidnap me, and when they found out my parents didn’t have any money, they would let me go. Haha. These were that type of kidnapper. They could be. But not when it came to little girls like me. Then, that animal instinct that I mentioned earlier was their primary driver.

They drove and drove. At first, I could make out where we were going. And then it started to become confusing. For good measure, one of the kidnappers put a needle in my neck. Then I became drowsy. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair that was too big for me: my legs would not reach the ground. They just started saying random things, one man would say something, the other two would implement it. His hands would be moving around in his pocket. Look of satisfaction in his eyes. Then the next would say something. And so on. When it was all done, all three leapt on me. They took turns. I understand what it was now. But then, I was confused. Why were they hurting me so? I was terrified. I was crying. And then they choked me. Killed me. Dumped me in the river.