Non-erotic The Scarface I Hated by Trambak

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Early in the evening, the maulavi with his team of shagirds arrived and started the proceedings. I was asked my razamandi (consent) to which I answered in affirmation. The same question was asked of my counterpart. The yes from the other side took some time to come. I was surprised. And it was over. My marriage was solemnized, the celebrations and gaiety was one notch below than the lowest level and it was time for me to leave. The groom apparently came with a big crowd of one friend cum driver and they were there to escort me to my new life.

The goodbyes were stressed and perfunctory and I walked down towards the car waiting for me. The groom was already inside. The driver cum friend deposited my luggage consisting of a single suitcase behind and we moved off. The crowd of six waived. My sisters cried, others strained to look pained. I felt nothing. In the car, I looked ahead, not to the new life though, the roads that snaked in front of me. It was a mechanical view telling me nothing, what lay ahead.

In a short while, we reached a decent looking building and my groom got down, sehra and all. We three quickly moved inside into a second-floor apartment. The door was open and a girl of my age was standing there. The groom namely Imran took of his sehra and I looked at his face and an audible gasp came out of my mouth.

The face had a huge and ugly scar on the left side that distorted the face completely.

I had never seen anything so abominable in my life.

My reaction was noticed by all. The girl came forward and escorted me to a sofa. Imran and his driver quietly looked down probably digesting my discomfiture.

I welcomed my new life.

Somewhere between giving up and seeing how much more I can take. The Goodvibe .co

Chapter-4: The Scarface

I sat shell shocked. The scar and the face was the final frontier of my agony. How much more was I expected to bear? Still, that initial expression of shock was unlike me and I felt sorry. The suddenness of the event had completely taken me by surprise. But the damage had been done at a human level. Imran stood there shamefaced and there was complete silence. I looked up and said to no one in particular, "I am sorry." That appeared to ease the atmosphere. Imran came forward and said to me, "He is Suresh. He works with me and drives a taxi. This is Sumitra and she stays here with me. She will take care of you and I am Imran and I work in a car repairing company. You should not feel sorry. I scare everyone, at least the first time and I don't mind it. I am used to it." I sensed some pain.

He did not introduce me to others. I had a hunch that he had already told them about me. What exactly had he said about me and how much did he know about me was a big mystery. We again lapsed into silence. Sumitra asked me if I wanted to change and I agreed. She took me to the bathroom attached to what I presumed would be our bed room. The bathroom was simple but clean and all necessary toiletries were there including a clean towel. I was a bit surprised with the presence of Sumitra who apparently stayed with Imran. She was obviously a ***** and of a decent background. I could not understand the equation. I forcefully rejected my curiosity and changed into something comfortable and came out. By then Imran had also changed and Sumitra had made some tea. Suresh was helping her.

I looked around. The house appeared frugally furnished but clean. Only the bare minimum furniture's were there. The walls were blank and llight subdued. There was one photograph of a lady on the mantle that I assumed to be Imran's mother. But she wasn't there. Why? As if on a prompt Imran said, "That's my mother. She doesn't stay with me." I was mildly taken aback. Was he thought reading. Imran said that he planned to order some food and wanted to know my choice. I sharply said that I wasn't hungry but immediately realised that I wasn't alone and amended myself to their choices.

Despite the initial shock, the scar continued to engulf my mind. It was bothersome and something impossible to ignore. Somewhere in my mind this made me obdurate and resistant to this entire marriage fiasco. This complete episode seemed a great travesty of justice. Still, the presence of two other people made things a little more palatable and tolerable. Suresh went and brought in some food which was a simple fare. I nibbled and so did Imran. Still, the dinner passed off without any incident and Suresh took leave. And now the most awkward time. We were to sleep as husband and wife. This seemed completely unreal. It was an antithesis to everything that I knew about marriages. There were no flowers, no relatives and no inkling of an event. Suddenly, I remembered the marriage between Wang Lung and O-lan in "Good Earth". Wang had simply gone to the great lady and was handed O-lan in marriage. They came back and their conjugal life had started straightaway, nothing fancy. But that was a story. This was real.