She married young and had two beautiful babies. Two little girls, now 8 and 6.
Her husband was the easy going yet sensible and responsible type.
He had lived down the same lane as her, for 16 years, and had been in love with her from the very beginning. He loved how her pleasant smile radiated at everyone in the vicinity. He had asked for her hand in marriage, but her father had wanted to see signs of stability in the mans life before he would promise his beloved to another.
He set out to start a small restaurant from scratch. He had put all his hard work, his blood sweat and tears to get the business up and running. And he had succeeded.
The locals knew the little restaurant well, and visited it regularly.
Business was good.
Finally they were married, and began together on this road of wedded family life. They were happy, and maintaining their business brought contentment. There was always food on the table for the babies, and worries were distant from their minds.
Eventually, as the small venture grew, He decided to buy a vehicle for the family. The children were a bigger now, and it was harder to manage everything with his motor bike. They hunted for a van that suited their needs and found one which met the requirements. In his head, he calculated how buying this van would affect his business, weighed pros and cons, and battled out the last dregs of doubt. It was a big decision for him to make. After all, he did have more than just a family to carry responsibility for. He decided that though the sum of money was large, he could run the vehicle for business purposes as well, and make up for any losses that may occur.
So the decision was made and a general excitement ensued. On that fateful morning, they went together, husband and wife, to withdraw the money and set out to meet the man who was to sell them the van.
Right outside the bank, they were mugged.
He ran after the thief, they called the cops, waited for about a month tearing out his hair in anguish, till he realized that no one was going to do anything about it.
They had lost the money. Because of some punk. Sheer bad luck.
He realized he would have to work ever so hard to keep his business running. But his spirit was broken. That joy he had for life was gone, snuffed out in that cruel moment. He blamed her for being so irresponsible. How could she let someone grab her bag like that? He was angry at himself, for not being able to catch the thief, for not being fast enough. For maybe even not carrying the money himself.
The savings they had left would last the for a little while. Enough to send the children to school for a few months. Working hard from now and cutting corners was his only option.
With his heavy heart he set out to rebuild that which he had lost. But life had turned bitter towards him. Business slowed, and soon the children stayed at home, playing among themselves. Their mother and him tried hard to salvage anything that they could.
All the time, he resented her.
The radiance he once saw was lost forever. He now saw every flaw in her face, every deep line in the corners of her eyes. When she opened her mouth, he wished she would just shut up. And when she touched him – he felt nothing.
He turned to alcohol. Just to give him something to do. Just to help him forget.
The business crashed.
She waited with him, hoping he would change. She knew his potential, she knew he could turn this around. But he had been violent lately and had begun to take out his frustrations on the children and her.
One drunken night, he threw the childrens things in the street. He said he had sold the house. They would be taking it tomorrow. Asked them to leave and never return. He could not afford them. Everything he had been feeling towards her – the anger, the bitterness – he took it out on her that night, before he threw her out too.
The children cried… She carried the little one in her bruised arms and asked the older one to help carry what little clothes they had. They had no where to go, but she would find a way. She had to. For the sake of her children.
She found a job. A cleaning agency.
She took it willingly – the only way for her to be able to pay for a small room for herself and the children and give them one meal a day, if they were lucky.
She cleans toilets and sweeps floors for a living. Making tea at 10 am and 3 pm, sometimes.
The children sit at home, Hungry and crying. Sometimes they work at the place where they rent the room, till she comes back home.
She wondered how this had happened. How her life had gone from being so contented , to falling apart at the seams. How the love of her life had changed, so much so that she didn’t even recognize him now.
She wondered if she had dome something to deserve this, but then she thought of her children and realized that no one deserved this.
She works in my dads office.
Her heart breaks every time she looks in the eyes of her children.
But life is unaware.
It still goes on.
i think my colleagues thought i was having some sort of seizure.)
