"Ma! Where are my shoes? I can't find them..." shouted 10- year old Rema who was getting ready for school. She looked at herself in the mirror. Pig-tails in place tied with white ribbons, dimpled chin and pouty lips. She made faces at herself . Rema's mom walked in with her shoes and helped her put it on. Rema was a beautiful child. Her mom was proud of her. She was pretty, intelligent, studious and a gifted singer at her age. The child was always happy and frolicky. Her happiness was contagious. Nothing would deter her from joining competitions and winning prizes. Her parents had nothing to complain about and doted on her. But for a 10-year old girl, Rema looked well beyond her age. She was tall among her classmates and had a figure of an older girl. She was confused about the changes in her body but slowly got used to them. However she did not understand why she was beginning to look different from her classmates. She was just too embarrased to talk about it with her mother.
One day, she got a call from her cousin Veena. "Rema, my holidays are starting from this saturday. Why don't you come over and stay with me?" Rema was used to staying in Veena's house. She was just a year older than Veena and were best friends besides being cousins. Rema was excited! She loved to stay with Veena. They always played the best games! She replied in affirmative and excitedly ran to her mother to inform her. Her parents always gave way to her requests, because she was such a good child. So they helped her pack her stuff and dropped her at her cousin's on saturday morning. Veena's mom is Rema's mother's cousin hence they were distantly related. Veena's father Sreenu was a grotesque man in his mid 40's. He was a man of few words. He hardly noticed Rema all these years everytime she paid their family a visit. He would sit in his room for hours chewing pan and watching TV. Veena's mother Uma was a cheerful lady and would spend time wth the girls whenever she was free. Veena's father was jobless, they lived off the rent they received from the flats they owned.
That day he noticed Rema playing in the living room with Veena. They were running around and hitting each other with papers. He noticed how Rema was looking older than her age, the way her bust bounced everytime she ran. Something stirred in him..something malicious. The child was unaware of his scrutiny. She pranced around happily. Sreenu couldn't take his eyes off her, she was stirring thoughts in him, thoughts he had locked up ever since the showdown with his wife . He slowly let his hand move down between his legs and touched himself. Uma walked in at that moment and he jerked his hand off. He couldn't afford to get caught, not another time. So he went back to his room and allowed himself to think more about Rema. He felt neither shame nor remorse at his feelings. How can he? This was not new to him.
Rema was old enough to be his daughter. She was only 10 for godsake! But the man was sick. He was so sick, he touched himself thinking about Rema again and again. He had to do something, he wanted release. It was too unbearable for him. Uma had been denying him his needs for many months now, ever since she found child pornography magazines in his draw. She was disgusted with him and endured his presence in the house for the sake of their daughter. But today, she was unaware of Sreenu's lust for Rema. Had she known...
~************~
Sreenu called Veena aside, gave her some money and told her to buy some chocolates and pan from the shop. Rema got up to go with her, "Rema, wait here. Let her buy it, you stay with me." Rema wanted to go, but she had to listen to Sreenu uncle too, so she stayed back. She just sat there on the sofa looking around. "Where is Uma aunty uncle?" She asked innocently, 'Uma aunty was a much better company than this boring Sreenu uncle', she thought. She noticed that he was staring at her but didn't bother about it much. " She's in the kitchen ,shall we go to the terrace? I want to show you something." Rema's curiosity was irked. "what could it be, what could it be, a baby squirrel maybe?' she thought gleefully and agreed to go with him. As they climbed up the stairs, she felt his body brushing against her back one too many times. She was just a child, why would she care? She's used to being hugged by adults.
Once upstairs, Sreenu closed the terrace door and bolted it from outside. Rema was unaware of this, she was running around the terrace looking for nests and baby squirrels. "What is it uncle? Please show me fast." "Turn around and look that side Rema, at that building." Saying this he moved closer to her. Oddly, Sreenu uncle was touching himself there and Rema couldn't understand why. She was not used to seeing adults touching themselves like that outside. Nevertheless she turned around as he asked her to and looked towards the building. Sreenu stood right behind her, pressing himself on her as she stood leaning against the short wall. Rema felt something alien pressing into her back and began to realise that she did not like what was happening. Instinct told her this was not right. All of a sudden Sreenu hugged her, squeezed her bust and grunted. She was shocked! She felt wetness on her back and tried to wiggle out of his grip. "Uncle let me go, I want to go downstairs." she gasped in her tiny voice. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. She thought uncle had peed on her. She felt disgusted and dirty. Finally he let her go, and she ran without looking back.
She unlocked the terrace door, ran downstairs and locked herself up in the bathroom. Rema did not know what happened to her. She pulled her kameez from behind her and found gooey stuff on it. She washed it silently and looked at herself in the mirror. She was dishevelled and red-faced from crying. She was not pretty anymore. She was not going to be happy and frolicky anymore. Something in her died...her innocence had been butchered....
Copyright © 2007 Jo Samarthi . All rights reserved.
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