@Yelda #ThePatient Next morning, I was given the daily chores of the house. The inspector dropped by the house. He had a quick conversation with Gurvinder and Gurpreet and they brought him towards me. He also had the psycho lady with him. The psycho lady said, “Hi, Yelda. Can you help the inspector find your Chacha now that you have left him?”

I didn’t trust the inspector. The psycho lady was okay. I can share what I thought with her.  “Can I talk to you alone?” I said.

You are now reading the seventh chapter. Refer to Inflicted for a chapter-wise listing…

The others left the room. I said, “Listen, I am not a rat. I am not going to tell on my Chachaji. If that inspector asks me where to find him, I am not going to tell him.”

The psycho lady said, “See, you need to give him something or he would keep coming back and there would be no point. How about this… just tell him your locality.”

They would never be able to find him in that area. How would they know who he is… I could tell him this, I thought.

“Okay”, I said.

“Could you tell me why you left your house?”

“I just couldn’t take his incessant bullying. He had very cruel punishments for very unusual reasons.”

“Okay”

She went out to call the inspector and I told the inspector my locality. I was sure that Chacha was long gone by now.

Everyone left and I then completed my daily chores. I was also told to go and meet the psycho lady. I was on my way to her office when it happened. At one end of the zebra crossing, an auto stopped right beside me and inside that auto was Chachaji. By the time I could register what was happening I was shoved inside that auto rickshaw and driven off to a secluded deserted area of the city. There he took me out of the auto dragging me with my hair. I was frozen at that moment. He pulled me close to his face and screamed in my ear nearly deafening me.

He said, “What the hell did you think? You thought that I would just let you go? I’m gonna take you to Keanu now. He will teach you never to even think about the possibility of escape… Huh… you really thought you could escape? How naive are you?”

I was not going back there. I’d rather die. At that moment reality hit me and I devised a plan. I said, “Listen to me chacha, before you make any haste decisions. The house I am working at trusts me completely and they are filthy rich. I know there is a safe in that house that has all the prestige items of that household. I could work there a few more days and fool them completely and finally steal the goods and get them to you if you let me go now. You would never have to answer to Keanu or anyone. You could be your own boss chacha and live like gods. I did not run away. It was my strategy to gain their trust chacha.”

He relaxed his grip and thought for a long time. Then he broke the silence by saying, “Okay, but we will meet here daily so that you can give me updates on your progress.”

He dropped me to the psycho lady’s office and raced away.