Her scooter came to a sudden stop, and the loud noises coming from inside the house made her cheeks burn with shame. A few people standing in the neighborhood were staring at her and smiling mockingly. Trying to hide her embarrassment, Driti rushed inside, only to find her younger brother and sister fighting bitterly while her mother sat on the floor, her face buried in her hands.

“Mom…”

Maya looked up at once, her eyes brimming with tears. Driti stood frozen, unable to understand what to say to her siblings, who seemed to fight over every little thing these days. Neither Riaan nor Diya was ready to make any compromise anymore.

It had been over six months since their father went missing. There was no financial support left for them, and not a single relative was willing to help or even look their way. Because of that humiliation, they had left their city; the taunts and gossip there had become unbearable. The situation was taking a terrible toll on the children, and Driti could no longer stand to watch it. She didn’t want her younger brother and sister to suffer in any way.

“Stop it, both of you…”

The moment Driti raised her voice, Riaan and Diya looked at her. Riaan turned on her angrily.

“What’s the point of shouting, huh? We used to live comfortably in our own house, and now we’ve been thrown out. We got expelled from our school and now go to some cheap one. We can’t even afford the class trip. Why shouldn’t I be angry? You had everything your whole life… And now that it’s finally our turn to enjoy something, our father ran away… Our mother can’t give us anything, and here we are fighting over who gets to go on the trip. Either she goes or I go, but we both want to go… I don’t know how you’re going to manage it, but I am going on that trip.”

Maya sat clutching her head. She had done everything she possibly could, and now she was simply out of options. Seeing her mother like that, Driti came closer, opened her wallet, and placed all the money she had into Maya’s hands. The moment her siblings saw the money, they hurried over, smiling and counting the cash. Even after counting it all, it was short by two hundred rupees. Riaan immediately started yelling again.

“If the sum is two hundred short, then keep your precious sister here. I’m not staying. I’ve made that clear.”

Diya, who had been silently listening to her brother’s complaints, turned to their mother angrily and said,

“Listen to me clearly, Mom… If he’s going on that trip, then so am I. If I don’t go, he won’t go either. Either both of us go, or neither of us does. Those missing two hundred rupees matter to me just as much as they do to him, and I’ve made that clear…”

Maya’s patience finally broke. She shot up, pushing both her children back, her voice echoing through the small house.

“Shut up… Enough of your nonsense… Do either of you even have manners? You're squabbling like stray dogs… Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked? I’m a clerk at an office. When I asked for an advance, they insulted me in front of everyone. Never in my life had anyone spoken to me like that. Not even my parents. But today, because of your father, I have to hear things I never imagined. That man did what he wanted, and when the trouble came, he ran away, leaving us in this mess…”

“Mom…”

The moment Driti spoke, Maya turned toward her with furious eyes. This time she didn’t hold back. She stepped forward and slapped Driti hard across the face. The twins froze in shock. Maya, breathing heavily, grabbed Driti by the shoulders and said harshly,

“Am I saying something wrong? Tell me, am I? I asked your father to involve me in the business, but he said no, you should just host parties and live a life of luxury. I won’t lie; he gave me every comfort, but I always told him, “The way you handle money isn’t right.” Be careful… But he never listened. I told him not to spoil you too much… I warned him that painting won’t feed you … that he should enroll you in a suitable academic program so that you could graduate with proper marks and do an MBA. But no, he let you stay in fine arts because you wanted to…. His precious daughter demands this… You went out to sell your paintings; how many did you sell? … even one painting…. If you had completed your graduation properly, you could at least have gotten a decent job by now. Instead, you deliver food during the day and serve drinks at a bar at night. You’ve become my humiliation…”

Every word from her mother broke Driti a little more inside. The woman who had once never raised her voice at her now scolded her every day. Maya left the room crying, while the two younger ones stood there looking at their sister. They didn’t think they were mistaken for asking for their share of small joys, they just watched her cry, feeling guilty but still unwilling to let go of their stubbornness. Diya came closer and said gently.

“Di, I know what Mom said was wrong, but it’s just about two hundred rupees. Can’t you work a little extra tonight? Maybe you’ll get a good tip from someone… please, do something.”

Hearing that, Driti bit back her tears and nodded. The twins smiled instantly and began planning their trip again, as if nothing had happened. Driti watched them, their excitement, their innocence, and her heart ached. They used to circle her like bees around a flower, just to get their father to agree to something for them. Every little thing reminded her of him. She couldn’t believe her father would ever abandon them. No, he must have been forced to leave. Maybe he was trapped, possibly helpless. But forget them? No, never.

Even at her mother, she couldn’t stay angry anymore. Maya wasn’t entirely wrong either. If she had taken her graduation seriously, maybe she could have had a decent job now, helped her mother run the house, and saved her siblings from this misery.

She looked at the clock. It was already eight. She had to leave for the bar by nine. Heading to the kitchen, she realized her mother hadn’t cooked anything in anger. Maybe later, when her rage cooled down, she would. But Driti didn’t have time to wait. Opening the fridge, she found a few slices of bread. She searched for sauce or jam but found nothing, so she called out,

“Diya, is there any sauce or jam left?”

“Oh, I bought patties yesterday because I would rather not eat food cooked by Mom. You know I can’t eat them without a lot of sauce, so I finished it. And this one…" she pointed at Riaan. “He finished the jam straight out of the jar with a spoon… You’ll have to get some more, Di, or you know I can’t eat properly without it.”

Driti closed her eyes for a moment, too tired to respond. She sat down quietly and began eating the dry bread. At the bar, other waitresses often earned big tips because they flirted, touched, and leaned close to the rich boys who came there. But Driti never could. The very idea of it made her skin crawl. She only served wine, kept her distance, and walked away. That’s why she never got any tips, just her basic salary. But lately, reality had started to crush her. She knew she had to do something, anything, to bring in more money.

The dry bread stuck in her throat. She drank some water, wiped her mouth, and glanced at the clock. She needed to leave soon if she wanted to arrive on time.

Tonight, she had made up her mind she would work until after midnight. The wealthy clients arrived around that time. Maybe if she stayed until two, someone would give her a decent tip. She stepped outside, climbed onto her scooter, and muttered to herself,

“It’s okay, Driti. If someone touches you and offers you a small amount of money, what does it matter? You’ve already seen worse days. What could be worse than this? You have to do it… you just have to.”

The moment she repeated those words in her mind, her throat tightened. The thought itself made her want to cry. She stopped her scooter abruptly, parked it on the side of the road, and sat down right there on the pavement. Hiding her face in her palms, she began to sob.

It was a lonely stretch of road, with barely any traffic at this hour. She always preferred this route; it was shorter and quieter. She knew it was dangerous at night, but getting home faster mattered more than fear now. Tears ran down her face as she cried for five long minutes, her shoulders shaking. When she finally began to calm down, she tried to smile faintly through the tears. She didn’t bother wiping them away. Looking up, she saw the stars twinkling above her, beautiful, distant, and cruelly peaceful.

She stood up, reaching into her bag for a handkerchief, when suddenly, a sound came from behind her. Her body stiffened. She froze. Quickly grabbing her scooter handle, she whispered in a trembling voice.

"Don't go anywhere, Driti…"

“Ahhh… Please leave me…”

The voice that followed wasn’t threatening; it was filled with pain. Someone was calling out for help. Driti’s instinct screamed not to go, but her feet betrayed her. They moved on their own toward the dark alley. The deeper she went, the darker it grew, the fear in her chest pounding like a drum. Her heartbeat was so loud she could almost hear it echo in her ears.

Slowly, she pressed her back against a wall and peered around the corner, trying to see if someone was hurt, if she could help. But what she saw froze the breath in her lungs. Her eyes widened in horror, and a sharp, terrified scream tore from her throat.

“Ahhhh ….”