Small Deaths: A Novel by Rijula Das

Author:Rijula Das [Das, Rijula]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Published: 2022-09-12T23:00:00+00:00

As soon as she’d gotten out of the elevator, opening onto the white marble floors of the Park hotel, Lalee spotted Sonia sashaying down the lobby to her. Sonia blended perfectly with the muted gold-beige interior of the hotel, reflected in an infinity on the mirrors lining the walls. Lalee looked around for Chintu. In the years Lalee had known him, she had seen him lay out unruly johns and working girls alike, carried out every one of Madam’s commands without a question or thought. Lalee hated him with all she had, but Chintu was the one who stood between her and a john with a knife, a john who might knock her teeth out or choke her within an inch of her life in the name of pleasure. Newspapers were full of reports of stray dogs tortured, flayed, and set on fire for the sake of someone’s pleasure, and every time, Lalee knew the exact impulse that drove people to seek that particular kind of gratification. She’d seen it more times than she wanted to remember in a customer’s eyes, in the eyes of that customer’s friends when they came in a group. Sometimes, Chintu was the only thing standing between them and her. It was a complicated algebra; it was the algebra of need in Shonagachi.

But she wasn’t in Shonagachi now. Chintu was nowhere to be seen, and Sonia was descending upon her like a shark chasing a scent.

“Come along, my lovely, the car is here. You had a good night? I had a lovely one.”

Sonia was already walking toward the door. Lalee remained seated. “I have to wait for Chintu,” she said. “Madam called me.”

“Chintu is here already, waiting outside in the car. Mere saath chalo.” Sonia spoke slowly, gesturing for Lalee to move.

Lalee felt annoyed that Sonia seemed to know what was going on while she didn’t. But it was impossible to stay in the hotel lobby—people were already glancing at her, knowing as she did that she didn’t belong in such a place.

She trailed after Sonia, feeling a surge of anger toward Madam and Chintu for keeping her off-balance. Not for the first time she began to think that it may have been a mistake to accept Madam’s offer. But it wasn’t a choice. She had a debt to Madam—the price Madam had paid for Lalee. She tried not to think about it. Maybe “upstairs” could become a means of escape, or at least a better way of surviving.

Sonia pulled out a pair of giant sunglasses from a stiff, pale leather handbag dangling elegantly from her arm. Next to her, Lalee felt more legitimate, somehow more deserving of the space she was taking up, even in broad daylight. A black car pulled up in front of them with Chintu in the driver’s seat. Sonia walked around to the other door and said, “Get in.”

Lalee found Rambo occupying most of the back seat. Next to him, two girls, barely twelve, were huddled in a corner, one sitting on the lap of the other.

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