- Where are you stuck, girl? How did the exam go? We've all been worried sick. - Don't worry, Ma. I'm fine. And how the exam went—well, let that be a surprise! - Oh, you! Why can't you just say it straight instead of all this hemming and hawing? - All right, Ma, we'll talk about it once I'm home. - Fine, but hurry back. - Sudha, let's go now. - Yes, let's. - Ma...Father, look, brother's here, and Sudha's with him! - How did the exam go, son? We've been worried half to death! - Father, relax. There's no need to worry. God willing, your boy will be among the top fifty. - Thanks be to God! Now I can breathe easy, son! - Listen here, brother, this time you've got to let me find you a nice girl. And honestly, your mother and I can't stand you being alone any longer. - Oh, there it goes—the old crow's cackling again. Want a smack behind the ear? - Sudha, tell me—doesn't brother's hair have some grey in it now? If he doesn't settle down soon, no girl will have him in another two days! Sudha and Khushbu burst out laughing. I felt my face burn in front of Father. - Ma, will you please shut that chatterbox up? Look what she's started! Ugh! I hate all this. I'm leaving. Another round of laughter erupted! - Come here, Sudha, sit beside me. How did your exam go? - Yes, Aunty, it went well, thanks to your prayers. - So, my boy—what do you think of him? - Yes, Aunty, he studies hard! I should go now, Aunty. Everyone at home is waiting and worried. Sudha turned red with embarrassment and hurried toward home. - The girl was mortified, and you—asking such things in front of everyone! - I've liked that girl since she was little. What do you say? - Yes, she'd be a perfect match for our Sourav. From the next room, my parents' words made my shame multiply a hundredfold! Yet somehow, in my happiness, both eyes grew heavy with sleep. - What...! Father, is all your worry just about brother's wedding? Don't you remember there's a beautiful girl who's grown up in this house too? Hearing Khushbu say such things, Mother and Father couldn't stop laughing! - Look who's talking! My little trouble-maker! All right, all right—I'll arrange a prince for you, a grand wedding! Khushbu ran off in embarrassment. Such an odd nature these girls have! All that talking when it's their own mouth running, not a trace of shyness—but let Father say just one word and they're dying of shame! Truly, understanding girls is no easy task!
– Hello! Rajib da?
– Yeah, how are you, my beautiful one?
– Ugh, da, you’re always exaggerating!
– Ha ha ha ha! What nonsense you talk! Does a mirror ever lie?
– I don’t understand all that. I had some good news to tell you. You know, today Ma and Baba are looking for Sudha for Dada’s wedding.
– Wow! That’s wonderful news. Finally, two pairs of hands will come together. Sigh! When will I ever get to hold someone’s hand!
– Why not? Don’t tell me your hands aren’t already bound to someone!
– No, girl, who would ever love me now, tell me!?
– Well, we’ll talk about that later. Let me go now.
In the haze of sleep, Khushbu’s words reached my ears faintly, dimly! Even in sleep, I felt a kind of unease. Around one-thirty, I woke up…
– Khushbu, Khushbu, come here at once!
– What’s wrong? Why are you bellowing like a mad bull?
– Who were you talking to just now, huh?
– Who? Me! Where? When? I wasn’t talking to anyone!
– Don’t lie. I heard you. You were talking about my wedding with Sudha. Sounds like you were talking to Rajib da!
– Why on earth would I talk to Rajib da, I ask you! And when have I ever lied to you!? I’ve been in the kitchen with Ma all this time. Go ask Ma yourself!
– Fine, forget it. Go back to the kitchen.
Had I dreamed it then? How could that be—I’d heard Khushbu’s voice so clearly! And why would she lie about such a trivial thing!? Nothing made sense. I’d heard everything so wrong! Maybe I was mistaken.
After lunch, I went to the field. A little before evening, Sudha called.
– Saurabh, where’s Khushbu?
– Why? She’s at home.
– You’re sure?
– Yes, I saw her at home. Why?
– Oh, never mind! No, I think I heard Khushbu’s voice! I think I’m mistaken!
– What! Where? When?
– A little while ago. I was walking in the garden, I heard something like Khushbu’s voice, like a cry of distress!
– Where?!
Fear gripped me suddenly; my voice wouldn’t come out.
– It seemed to fade away on the north side of the house!
– I’m coming right now. You go over there too.
– All right.
I’d barely managed to get to my feet when the phone rang again! Fear settled deeper still!
– Hello, is this Saurabh speaking?
– Yes, but I’m afraid I don’t quite recognize your voice!
– You wouldn’t know me. My name is Abhishek Banerjee, owner of Roomi Apartments, north of the fourth crossing to the left of your lane.
– I understand all that, but what do you want with me!?
– Could you please come and meet me? It’s very urgent!
– Look, sir, I don’t know you, and I’m in a bit of trouble right now. I can’t come.
– I got your number from an eighteen or twenty-year-old girl. She says you’re her grandfather!
# The Words Had Torn My World Apart
The words had torn my world apart—heaven and earth upended in a single heartbeat.
Without another word, I bolted toward Rumi’s apartment. There stood Sudha, staring into nothing, as though someone had hypnotized her into stone. She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
“Speak, Sudha! Why are you like this? Who’s up there?”
The landlord came down from behind, gesturing urgently for me to go upstairs.
A thin line of blood ran across the floor of one of the upper rooms, straight and narrow as a thread. Someone lay face-down, groaning. I moved quietly, slowly forward, and turned the girl over onto her back.
It was my little Pari.
“What is it, my golden child? Why are you lying on the floor like this?”
She turned her eyes toward me slowly, and tears poured down her cheeks like an open sluice. She couldn’t form a single word. Her clothes were torn in places, ripped to shreds. Below her neck, several deep scratches ran raw and bleeding. Blood pooled beneath her feet and traced a dark line out through the doorway.
In that moment, something in me died. My senses scattered like ash. I wanted to laugh and cry at once—great, heaving sobs twisted up inside me. Pity overwhelmed me. And rage: how could my beautiful sister lie there in those torn clothes, bleeding into the floor? Behind me, a terrible sound—someone wailing. Everything blurred. I saw faces but couldn’t recognize them. Yet I understood: they were weeping for Khushbu.
Her head lay in my lap. They fell upon her, everyone at once, crying, shouting. Someone grabbed me, shaking me, asking questions I couldn’t hear. My ears had gone deaf.
Khushbu was dying. She thrashed like a chicken with its throat cut. I felt her agony but couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but watch. At the end, through the pain, she managed a few broken words: “You heard me that day, didn’t you? *He* did this to me.” And then—nothing. A lifeless body went silent in my arms. Forever. They carried her broken form past me. The world went dark.
When I opened my eyes, the house was filled with weeping. Sudha came, her voice cracked with tears. “There’s a handful of earth,” she whispered. “For you to throw on Khushbu’s grave.”
I rose mechanically, took the earth in my palm, and let it fall onto the mound of soil. A scream tore from my throat—a sound that split the sky, shattered the air. My voice broke and bled.
# The Madness Is Mine!
You crazy girl! What are you lying there for? There are cockroaches in that corner! You’re absolutely terrified of them, aren’t you? Get up, I’m telling you, or I’ll bite you right now. I’ll bring you a handsome prince and you’ll marry him, won’t you? Come on, I’m going to marry you off before Father does! Didn’t Father say your wedding would be grand? What’s wrong? Why won’t you talk? Owl-faced monkey… Get up, my little fairy… Sister, where did you go? Your brother’s been calling and calling for you… Come back, you wild thing! I’m dying to spoil you… My little Lakshmi! All right then, I won’t call you a pain anymore, I’m swearing on your ears—go on! You’re the most beautiful sister in the whole world. You promised you wouldn’t go anywhere, that you’d stay with me your whole life, hanging around my neck like a pest! You broke your promise! Come back, you have to come back… Kh… ush… bu… Co… me… ba… ck… pl… ease…
After Khushbu left, Rajib bhaiya handled everything these past few days… the rape report from the hospital, the death certificate… everything. Father had a heart attack and was admitted to the ICU in Ward Three. He stays alive as long as he’s asleep. The moment he wakes, his pulse drops steadily, and his chances of survival plummet.
Mother hasn’t eaten anything for three days now. She doesn’t talk, doesn’t cry, just stares blankly into the distance. Sudha takes care of everything. Father’s friend, Kasim Uncle as we call him, is a government lawyer. He’ll fight for us.
Father is slightly better than before. Mother still won’t talk to anyone like she used to, won’t smile. She eats only if someone feeds her, otherwise two or three days just pass by without her eating. On the day of the hearing, the courtroom was full of lies, and at one point during the arguments, the lawyer called me aside and asked: Is there someone you trust, someone who saw or heard something that day, who will tell the truth in court?
Only one person came to mind.
“Sudha, will you come to court once?”
“Why? What happened?”
“The prosecution is trying to prove it was an accident. You’re the only person who heard Khushbu’s scream first that day.”
“All right, I’ll come.”
There was an hour left before court adjourned.
Sudha arrived within twenty minutes.
# The Question
After all the formalities were done, they began questioning Sudha. I had always believed that everyone could lie, but not her—never her.
“Miss Sudha, what exactly did you hear that day?”
“I was walking in the garden when I suddenly heard a muffled cry.”
“Did you recognize it? Do you know whose voice it was?”
Sudha remained silent for a while, then answered.
“No, I couldn’t quite tell.”
“You really couldn’t?”
“The voice sounded like Khushbu’s, somehow. I didn’t see anyone. But I don’t think it was actually her.”
“But you called Khushbu’s grandfather, Mr. Saurabh, and asked him where Khushbu was. You told him the voice sounded exactly like Khushbu’s, and it faded away toward the north. And Khushbu’s body was found on the floor of a flat in the northern wing. You reached there before Mr. Saurabh did. Why are you lying to us now?”
“I just said those things. It wasn’t Khushbu. It could have been someone else!”
“Did you know that Mr. Rajib last spoke to Khushbu that evening?”
“Yes, I heard about it. Rajib da said Khushbu had answered by mistake—that’s all. Besides, Rajib da has nothing to do with Khushbu’s… incident. He was home at that time. Most importantly, he’s a good man.”
Her words pierced my heart like a blade! What was I looking at? Who was this deceiver, this liar? This couldn’t be my Sudha—it just couldn’t be! The last person in the world I thought I could trust, and she did this to me! How was it possible?
Outside the courthouse, Sudha stood before me.
“Why are you trying to blame only Rajib da, Saurabh?”
“I can’t believe you’d go mad for revenge and drag a good man like Rajib da down with you! No matter how hard you try, Khushbu won’t come back! You didn’t see Rajib da with Khushbu that day, and neither did any of us! Rajib da loved Khushbu like his own sister. What didn’t he do for her, for you, for our relationship! He’s still doing everything selflessly! And now you’re accusing him of this horrible crime! You’ve forgotten everything! And because of this, you want to destroy our relationship too! Shame on you, Saurabh, shame!”
“Have you ever heard a dying person lie, Sudha? Have you ever seen a girl like Khushbu lie about her own honor? Have you heard a mutilated body speak lies, Sudha? Have you ever seen how a chicken writhes after its throat is cut?”
“I don’t know you, Sudha. You’re no one to me. My Sudha is dead. You’re someone else. The way out is right there, Sudha…”
I couldn’t bear to look at her anymore. I walked straight out, a vial in my hand, and went home.
I went to Khushbu’s grave with some half-bloomed jasmine buds from the garden. I laid them on her grave and stood there, staring blankly.
“My little songbird, my mischievous monkey… you were right! You won’t suffer anymore. Today I’ll dig another grave. Right next to yours…”
“I still have work to do, my child. I’ll go now. I’ll come back later, all right?”
I took the vial and went to Asuda’s shop. I bought some fine sandesh there, wrapped it nicely, and sent it to an address.
Another grave was dug next to Khushbu’s.
Several days passed… One evening, I opened the door and there stood Sudha. The moment she saw me, she burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably, and wouldn’t let me close the door.
“Forgive me, Sourav! You were right that day… I was wrong. I’ve wronged you so much, wronged Khushbou… I trusted that animal more than I trusted you… Kill me, Sourav… That beast didn’t spare my sister Sumi either. In room 112 of the Rumi Apartment, Rajib bhai and his gang tore her apart, fed her to themselves piece by piece… Today I finally understood what Father said back then… Sumi sister is gone, Sourav! She’s taken her own life… I… that day I didn’t deliberately help Rajib bhai escape, believe me… I didn’t understand… Forgive me… Don’t turn me away…”
“There’s a new grave next to Khushbou’s, Sudha. Go and see for yourself.”
I closed the door and lay down on Khushbou’s bed. My little Pari had once said, “How could I ever speak to someone who disrespects my brother, who shows him no honor, who levels false accusations against him? What joy could there be in that?”
That’s exactly what I’ve done today, Khushbou! You saw everything, didn’t you, sister? Mother spoke to me again today, did you know? Mother even put on a new sari. Father called me by my name today…
Today I am free. Today I have so much joy… Today I will sleep… sleep and sleep…
Sudha will know for the rest of her life that Jaman and Mamun are Rajib bhai’s friends. Let her know. It’s what she deserves!
I opened the drawer and carefully placed a bundle of two hundred crisp new thousand-taka notes into a brown envelope, then tucked it under my pillow with great care. They’ll come to the waterfront after midnight. By then, the fish will surely have finished their special dinner—those delicious morsels of Rajib bhai’s corpse! Ha ha ha!
Today I saw the fire of hatred in Sudha’s eyes—hatred for Rajib bhai. She won’t forgive her brother-in-law. Even if he flees to the far corners of the earth, the police will catch him. I will certainly help Sudha track down this fugitive, just as she stood by me in court that day. How could I not stand by her when that man stood by me for my sister’s sake? It’s my sacred duty in the name of justice! How could I be so ungrateful to the woman I love?
I can’t help but praise Jaman and Mamun’s professionalism. I’m truly impressed by their work! Should I add ten thousand more to their fee? Or should I bear all the legal costs myself in the future?