Editor’s Choice: Anita – The strange story of a teenager
Anita – The strange story of a teenager
Photo credit: anitapeppers from morguefile.com
“Stop it mom, it’s hurting me”- Anita pushed her mom’s hand away from her bosom. Tears welled up in her eyes as she hid her face in her mother’s lap. Anita – the dusky beautiful teenager in our locality had a sweet face and usually caught everyone’s eye with her gentle demeanor. Her struggler mother-a seamstress by profession, watched helplessly as her only child cried inconsolably.
“Why does she show such frustration”- The doctor asked her mother while she was taken for a medical check-up?
“Saab, she talks strange things! As she grows up, a new year brings her newer problems”- She explained.
“Yesterday, she came back home and cried because her Math Sir called her to his home on the pretext of getting water for the Principal’s room. There he asked her a few questions and gently touched her cheek and drew her closer. He hugged and kissed her. Saab, she gets terribly upset with such thing. Today, she rues about an incident where a boy pressed her breast”- Her mother lowered her eyes for she was getting choked in her emotions.
“Hmm…these things happen in a girl’s life. She needs to be clever and the best option is she has to avoid all these untoward situations. There is no treatment for this. Forget about the medicine”- The doctor cast a concerned look at the girl all in tears.
“Saab, she does not sleep at night. I hear her sobbing throughout. What can I do”- Her mother looked depressed?
“Give her a sedative, if it is happening”- The doctor was scribbling in the writing-pad.
“Talk to the lady teachers, if they can help”- The doctor offered the prescription while pocketing his fee.
“Your daughter is impulsive. What was the necessity of going to the teacher’s house all alone? She could have gone there with another girl. Besides that, he is known for his impeccable character. Well, first I will deal with the boy, who got nasty with her”- The lady Vice-principal of the school said while pressing the bell for the peon.
“Let me tell you another thing. Whenever there is such a situation, usually there is an uproarious situation following it. You and your daughter will have to bite the bullet while we deal with the teacher and the boy. There will be allegations and counter-allegations. Word will get around. The people will talk about your daughter”- The lady teacher added.
Anita’s mother stood motionless. Beads of perspiration appeared on her face. She hung her face down and uttered- “No madam, don’t punish anyone. There is no need. I just wanted to apprise you”.
“Next time, if any boy tries this sort of thing with her, she needs to raise an alarm. There is no need to go home and bring you here to create such a situation. We will do everything in our book to bring justice to her. Why is she so ashamed while the characters go scot-free?”- The lady teacher’s voice sounded authoritarian.
Anita looked away through the window of their single room apartment. He remembered her departed father and the warmth of his embrace. As a little child, she always sought to hold her father tightly whenever she saw a nightmare. Her father would tighten his arms around her while raining her with kisses.
She looked at the clouds, swimming across the azure sky. The realities were more foreboding than the nightmares.
She stared at the passing clouds and mumbled- “Papa, are you there”?
She closed her eyes and felt the tears gushing out. She stood before the window and extended her right hand at the clouds.
She was sobbing and choking in her emotions. “Papa, please Papa. Help me”.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeper. She was fast skipping inside an unknown land. She felt someone gripping her and murmured-“Papa, oh my Papa”! She stayed like that; as though her whole being in suspended animation.
The following day while entering the school’s premises, she saw the lewd teacher standing and grinning at her. She saw the robust boy at the stair-case of the building.
“Hey listen”- He shouted and began walking to catch pace with her.
“Did you like that? Anita, why don’t you understand, just I am trying to tell you. I am truly in love with you. My father has everything. He is very rich. Let’s love each other yaar”- The boy was trying to keep her voice low but firm.
Anita tried to walk fast but the boy veered fast and came before her.
“Hey, you love me or not? Else, I will show you my true color”-His eyes had the fires of hell. He gripped her hand while she stopped walking.
For a jiffy, Anita looked in the eyes of the boy and the madness oozing out of it. She breathed deeper and then she could then see the clouds and feel the ether in them.
“Leave me, you bastard. Leave my hand first”- Her eyes spewed venom while the boy would not listen.
She could feel the strength surging through her. In stead of cowering to the threat of the boy, she found herself rebelling against him.
“Ya…ha..”- She landed a kick in the middle of the boy.
The boy looked at her, surprised. He writhed in pain while catching at his private part. Then he fell with a thud on the floor. Anita cast a indignant look at the unconscious boy and clenched her fists. She began running towards the entrance of the school. She saw the teacher coming from the opposite side.
“You rascal, how dare you hug and kiss me”- She pounced on him like a tigress on her prey.
He was trying to break free from the beating of the girl. He was surprised at the demonic spirit possessing her body. He was bleeding at the instant.
“Help, help”- He shouted while making a desperate effort to stop the blood oozing out of his nostrils.
“Anita, stop…stop”-Four female teachers were trying to snatch the man out of her tight grips. She was virtually unstoppable in her mad fury.
She collapsed on the floor after awhile. While she regained her sense, she was in a hospital. She saw her mother sitting beside her.
“Mama, forgive me. I do not know what happened to me. I went mad”-She was crying.
“Please do not cry. Like your father, you have acted brave. We will fight to our last. I am not angry with you anymore. How can I step behind when my dear daughter is so courageous?”- Her mother tightened her arms around her while weeping.
__END__
