Selvi’s father-in-law moved with his younger son to another house they owned. Meanwhile, Selvi’s husband’s voice began to echo through the neighbouring house with an authority and aggression that had never been heard before.
Because there were no other houses nearby apart from these two, the voices echoed inside the two homes but rarely reached outsiders.
“Why, you… Is it not enough that you were with your father and my father? Now you have to get close to my younger brother too? Why did you talk to him today?”
“Why are you saying such horrible things? I only gave your brother some sambar,” Selvi replied through humiliating tears.
The words of shame and pain shook Sugandhi’s heart and carried her back through many memories.
“Oh God… How long has all this been going on?”
“Please don’t talk like that. It’s disgusting.”
“Why shouldn’t I talk? I’ll talk! You… you… you! If you didn’t even spare my own father, what am I supposed to call you?”
Sugandhi stood frozen like a statue at the furious voice from the neighbouring house. Then her daughter’s scream shook her.
“Amma! Look what’s happening to Appa!”
Sugandhi, who had come to the backyard to fetch something, hurried towards her daughter despite her physical weakness.
When they realized that her father was seriously ill, Sugandhi’s daughter, who had been married off in the neighbouring village, came with her husband. Seeing him extremely weak, they immediately admitted him to hospital and somehow managed to save his life.
Once he was somewhat better, Sugandhi’s daughter returned to her own home. Once again, there were only Sugandhi and her husband in that house.
Whenever Sugandhi was in the backyard beside the kitchen, she could hear Selvi’s husband’s voice from the other side of the wall—more furious than ever.
“How did this child come about? Whose is it? Tell me whose it is!”
When the sharp sounds of blows followed, along with Selvi’s cries, Sugandhi could do nothing. Helplessly, she remained confined to her side of the wall.
A month or two later, while Sugandhi had once again admitted her husband to the intensive care unit, she saw Selvi lying in the general ward, thin and broken, almost unrecognizable. An indescribable feeling rose within Sugandhi.
Beside Selvi sat the broad-shouldered Rajan, carefully peeling an orange and feeding the segments to her. He was speaking politely and knowledgeably to someone in the next bed.
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