Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
She went inside the shower, and stood under the water letting the fluids fall, she cleansed herself, maybe it was the lack of sex education but when she looked at her body she felt disgusted by what took place a few hours ago. She was young, and topics like these were never discovered. Apart from Islamic teachings, none of the girls in school knew anything related to sexual relations or intimate activities. 
Maheen knew her private parts needed to be covered, and she knew the verses of the holy book said that men are supposed to be the protectors of women, to take care of them as God has given them more strength to support woman. 
In this village, men used their power to terrorize women. They used Islamic laws and twisted them so they could rule over their wives. Being a part of this village, Maheen had never resisted. She had never fought for her rights, but she didn't know she didn't have the power to fight for it. 
The water drained down mixed with blood and fluids, and she cleansed herself with the soap to get rid of everything that happened last night.
Abdullah proved that he was, in fact, like the men in the village, her mother was wrong, he wasn't kind. If he was, then he would have given her time, but... his male pride and ego wouldn't have allowed it. 
She closed the shower and sighed, looking around the bathroom she realised in her fury she forgot to bring in a towel, she had to go out naked again, but at this point she didn't care. As she twisted the doorknob, she realised it was heavy. Looking at it, she saw her kurti and towel hanging by. There was no one inside the room, so she closed the door after her and picked the yellow kurti, putting it on. It was a pretty colour, the dupatta was red, it almost looked like she was going to someone's haldi ceremony. She let her hair open, to let it air dry, then she looked over and realised the bedsheets were replaced along with her clothes. The cupboard door was wide open, and inside it, her clothes were neatly placed. 
He did all of this in ten minutes... 
She would have given him the credit if not for the salty words earlier. Rolling her eyes, she closed the door of the cupboard and sat on the bed feeling tired. She wanted to dozz off again. 
When she heard a voice, "Khaasi aari? Zukaam hai kya, accha. Kaan mai dard? Haan. Aur sar dard? Theek hai dawai likha hai maine, parcha dawai khaney m dedunga aapke ghar dawai pohoch jayegi. Ji ji Khair Mubarak (Oh is he having a dry cough? Throat ache? Okay okay... is his ears aching? How about the headache? Alright I have prescribed him the medicine...)". 
He was back to his usual schedule, dealing with patients. Her life did a complete 360, and this man literally went back to his usual day to day chores. He was a doctor, wasn't he supposed to be compassionate and patient. Where was his humanity when Afshan was getting stoned?
There was a knock at her door, she didn't reply, "Maheen?"
A few minutes passed and the door opened, "Tumhara Baba ke ghar jaana hoga (We have to go over your father's house)", Abdullah said, Maheen didn't had the energy to argue, she nodded her head and brought out her Abayah, she couldn't go outside without it now that she was married. 
Pulling it over her head, she exited the room, and he followed after her, trying to keep her pace. She knew the routes well, Abdullah offered his hand, but she ignored it. Why would she hold his hand?
"I didn't want this nikkah as well, like you. I was forced, too..."
Maheen stopped in her tracks, "Forced? How were you forced into this? Did they threaten you to stone you to death or trap you in the village?"
"No -"
"Then shut up."
He stopped her by pulling her wrist, "Listen, stop acting like a brat. we are going over to your parents, and General Sahib will be there. So this attitude might land in you trouble. "