Sweet Revenge

Rhea was shivering despite the heavy sweater she had worn. It was the chilly monsoon season of Tamil Nadu. The rain gods blessed them early this year. But Rhea very well knew it wasn’t the cold that made her shiver.

The rain poured like cats and dogs from the sky. The clouds were painted with shades of black and blue. But Rhea had no mood to enjoy the petrichor. It was the dimming twilight and the sun was setting below the horizon. Rhea looked at her bag. With great difficulty, she kept the contents she had ready in her palm.

She walked to the huge white mansion she had been waiting by the whole time. She wanted to execute it as quick as possible, and eliminate her life long pain from her heart- a pain she was never responsible for.

She was just a blossoming young teenager, 13-14 years old. That’s when Uncle Dutta came into her life. He was a lanky, wheatish skinned young man in his twenties. Her mother used to travel often after her father died from a sudden heart attack in his forties. Travelling was basically her job. With no one to take care of her daughter, she entrusted Rhea to her uncle. That’s when the beast took its form. When she was alone at her study room, preparing for her final semesters at the midnight hours, he barged inside. She kept asking what was wrong and he didn’t say a word. He grabbed her arms and found a shawl to tie her to the bed. He slowly started to undress her. She kept yelling and he muffled her screams with a cloth. He was enjoying her svelte frame, her young breasts. And the demands started to increase. Every memory of the event was fixed at the back of her brain, waiting for the right moment to pounce. And this was her moment. The night she had been waiting for the past 7 years. After that day, Uncle Dutta excused and fled to Mumbai owing to some business work. Rhea was innocent at that time and she didn’t know much about her sex education. She kept blaming herself for the incident and never opened it before her mother. She considered herself a burden. But now she was very much aware. It was never her fault.

She entered the mansion. Uncle Dutta had returned back to Tamil Nadu after those 7 years. The guard was asleep, much fortunate for her chance. She took soft creaks as she walked across the wooden laid floors. She found the bedroom right across the hall. Rhea turned the knob around and found her uncle sleeping peacefully. The peace she had been longing for. Her glance was stern and cold.

“Surprising to find you back here, Uncle Dutta,” she feigned her amusement in her voice. The sound of another person in the house alerted Dutta who woke up immediately.

“You! How..?!” He exclaimed “Security!”

Rhea slowly pulled her bag, revealing her pistol, preparing her aim.

“Rhea, no, don’t do this! I’m your uncle!” He tried to sympathise with her.

“And I was just your 14 year old niece,” she faked a sigh “A tiny poor soul who knew nothing. But now I’m aware, Dutta.” She shot her pistol straight to his heart. Gasping for breath, he held his heaving chest, a shock of terror clear on his face. Blood oozed and he fell to the floor. He finally passed away. Passed away from her life. She found herself smiling. Content with her doing, she wiped her pistol and placed it on his right hand. She would be found out about her crime soon, but she would be gone away by then. Away from her roots, travelling with her mother.

Rhea arrived home drenched. Her mom came rushing with a warm towel for her hair. Making herself comfortable on the couch, Rhea finally spoke.

“Thank you for the pistol, ma,” she smiled “But how come you have it in the first place?” 

Her mother chuckled 

“Did your father die of a heart attack?”