Lost, and Finding the Way (Part2)

I jumped up and hugged my aunt tightly, crying out,
“Aunty, everything is over!”

My aunt pulled me away and asked, “What happened? Tell me!”

Hearing her scream, my mother and uncle rushed in.
My mother was shocked the moment she saw me.
She ran to me and hugged me tightly, saying,
“What happened, my child? Tell me, please!”

I told my mother everything.
As soon as my aunt heard it, her face turned red with anger.

Aunt: “What a disgrace! I worked so hard to arrange your marriage, spent all that money — and now you’re saying everything’s over the very next day?
You cursed girl! Get out of my house right now!
If I let you stay here, I won’t be able to marry off my daughter properly!”

Uncle: “Why are you saying that? Whatever was written in her fate, that’s what happened.”

Aunt: “You keep quiet! You always interfere in everything!”

Me: “Aunty, where will I go now?”

Mother: “Sister-in-law, please let my daughter stay here for a few days.”

Aunt: “You and your daughter — get out of my house this instant!”

I knew there was no use arguing with her.
So silently, I took my mother’s hand and we walked out of the house.
We didn’t know where to go.
Both of us were crying.

Mother: “Anu, where will I take you now?”

Anusha: “Ma, maybe you can stay at elder or younger sister’s house. Don’t worry about me.”

Mother: “No, that won’t be right. If I go to their homes, their in-laws will talk badly.
Besides, Shila’s husband isn’t a good man — he’ll taunt you.
Sumi’s husband might not say anything, but her mother-in-law will look down on us.
It’s better if we stay away and don’t burden them.”

We sat under a big tree.
I kept thinking —
How I dreamed of building a beautiful life,
and in the blink of an eye, everything fell apart.

As I thought about it, my vision began to blur.
Suddenly, I lost consciousness.

Mother: “Anu! What’s happening to you, Anu! Please, someone help!
Someone take my daughter to the hospital!”

But no one came forward to help.

Mother (crying): “Oh Allah, what do I do now?
Is my daughter going to die like this?”

Her cries filled the air —
Even nature seemed to stop and mourn with her.
Then the sky broke open,
and heavy rain began to fall.

The rainwater fell on my face, and slowly I regained consciousness.

Anusha: “Ma, why are you crying? Look, I’m fine. Nothing happened to me.”

Mother: “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Anusha: “Yes, completely fine.
But Ma, we can’t just sit here on the street.
Where will we go now?”

Mother: “I’ve heard your uncle Hossain lives in Dhaka. He’s a wealthy man.
Let’s go and see if he can give us a place to stay.”
(Hossain uncle was my mother’s distant cousin.)

Anusha: (Thinking silently)
“When our own people have turned away, will he really help us?”
But aloud I said, “Okay, Ma, let’s go and see.
If we walk a little, we’ll reach the train station.”

Mother: “But we don’t have any money. How will we buy tickets?”

Anusha: “Ma, I’ve heard if you ride in the last compartment, they don’t charge money.”

So we started walking.
So many people stared at us with hungry, lustful eyes —
it felt unbearable.

Finally, we managed to climb into the last compartment of the train.
After a long journey, we reached Kamalapur.
From there, we somehow made our way to Dakkar City after a day and night of struggle.

Now the real challenge began — finding Uncle Hossain.
After asking around a lot, we finally got his address:
Hossain Chowdhury.

By now, we were starving.
Mother too was weak but didn’t say anything.
I could see the hunger on her face.

I remembered hearing that leftover food from rich people’s houses could be found in dustbins.
So I took my mother and started searching.
At last, we found some food and ate quietly.

Then we went to Uncle Hossain’s house.
The gatekeeper refused to let us in.
After a long wait, uncle arrived in a big car.

My mother ran after the car, shouting,
“Brother! Brother!”
and followed him inside.

But I was shocked —
Uncle looked at her and said he didn’t even know who she was.

I turned to my mother and said,
“Ma, let’s go.
You won’t find humanity in hearts made of stone.”

We left.

As we walked, I thought about where we could go now.
Then I remembered hearing that cheap rooms could be found in the slums.

After asking around, we reached a slum in Mirpur.
The landlord there refused to rent us a room —
he thought we wouldn’t be able to pay.

My mother begged him, holding his hands and feet.
Finally, out of pity, he gave us a small room.

It hardly looked like a room —
I was sure it would leak when it rained.
But still, it was a place to stay.

I lay down with my head in my mother’s lap,
thinking —
I can’t afford to break down.
Life can’t stop because of someone.
And I won’t let mine stop either.
I have to stand strong.

Mother: “What are you thinking about, Anu?”

Anusha: “Nothing, Ma.”

Mother: “I’ve been thinking about something.”

Anusha: “What is it, Ma?”

Mother: “I’ll go to rich people’s houses and ask for work.”

I didn’t say anything.
There were no words left in me.

And that’s how three or four days passed —
but still, we hadn’t found any work.

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