He was it. He was handsome and had it all. The reputation of being the "ladies man". He had women in every post he was stationed. The "bad boy" policeman. He had recently met a young mother of two who was a married woman. The wife you'd want to come home to. She was a kind and loving woman who did everything to please her husband, Aneil. The high school teacher who did all the wrong and never the right. He would come home high from the alcohol and marijuana and beat her. A battered woman but surely, this woman was no saint.
Married at the age of 16 she had her 1st child. A very happy child she named Vijay. She loved her life in the rural area of Brasso. An undeveloped countryside area that she called home. Her youngest sister, Karmani, had just moved in with them. She had gone out of control. Dropped out of school, ran away from home, started drinking and smoking weed and experimenting with drugs, having "nights out" with strange men, and now, with nowhere to go, she ended up at her sister's doorstep. Her sister, Chandani, being the kind hearted woman she was, let her stay in her home along with her husband and their newborn son but little did she know ...
Awoken by the giggles that came from her sister's room she removed her hands from around the baby she cradled. Drifting, she approached and peeked to see her husband having a "feeling session" with her "baby" sister. She entered and made her presence known only to hear the words, "yuh cyah fuckin knock o'wa?". Ashamed she retreated back to her baby and cried. The sleepless nights began.
Day after day, night after night the young battered mother tried to cope. She was on the verge. "Should I run away and leave this place?" she thought to herself. "No!". She heard the voice in her head as clear as day. The alter ego begins. She never wanted to be a divorced single mother but slowly she started to realise that she had enough of this life and being second best to Karmani who got treated more like a wife than a sister-in-law by Aneil.
A few nights later Karmani came home with one of her suitors to see one of the many in the porch talking to Chandani and Aneil. She had informed him she was pregnant earlier that week. Too soon to show, she was afraid to tell anyone. She kissed him quickly and got out his car. She stopped, watched him drive off and came slowly up the stairs. Agitated and filled with shame she did the one thing she could think of. She cursed the poor fellow and told him she had lied. "I eh pregnant yuh jackass. I did just say that to get yuh money." He left and was never a part of her life again.
Chandani came home to discover what looked like blood stains on her carpet. She had spent that weekend visiting her parents with her son and husband. Aneil who couldn't pass up the opportunity to "lime with d boys" at the nearby bar had stayed back to have a few. "Karmani" she screamed, worried that something had happened to her, "Yuh home? Yuh ok? Wey yuh?". "Ah in meh room" she heard. Karmani was safe but was recovering from "throwin away d chile". She had planned her at home abortion three weeks in advance. Too tired and in pain from expelling the fetus she had taken pills to get rid of. She was unable to clean up her mess and shouted, "Ah need some tablet. Ah now geh meh period" Chandani later discovered the truth behind this when she found the pills Karmani had taken along with a picture of Aneil she had stashed away safely in the side of her hand bag. The truth was in front of her but she rejected the thought out of hurt and anguish.
Later that night Aneil returned "high like ah kite", his steps slow and uneven and heavy. Chandani was still on her knees trying to scrub the blood stains out of her carpets. "Wey yuh cook?" he shouted. "I eh cook. Ah tryin tuh clean up d house. An doh talk so loud. D child sleeping." she said but this was her mistake. "Doh tell meh wha d fuck I could do in my house eh! Yuh playin fuckin mad?" was enough to wake Vijay and was accompanied by his loud cries.
A broken woman, she ran out the house with Vijay locked in her arms. Her lip and nose severely bleeding. The police station was only a few houses away. She ran in and so her story begins. Here is where she met Basdeo who would soon become her lover.
Kamani said her goodbyes. She was U.S. bound soon to be married to her fiance Bob, a local boy who had left Trinidad to further his studies and make a decent life for himself. She had met him though her sister-in-law who happened to be his aunt. Chandani gave her some money she was saving, "send some nice clothes fuh Vijay wit dis fuh meh na." She loved to see her son in the latest styles but would never get the chance to see her money's worth.
Basdeo and Chandani had many days to themselves as Karmani was no longer in the picture and Aneil was always too high to know what was going on around him. Nine short months later she gave birth to her second son, Avidesh. Aneil was too dumb to even know what had happened here. She passed this bastard child off as his and he happily believed her. Basdeo, now a long gone memory for her, had a wife and child at home and a squeaky clean reputation not worthy of tarnishing.
One year had passed and the joy of a new baby had faded. Aneil returned to his old ways and the beatings continued. She would now meet her new lover while making her final report to the police station, our handsome "ladies man", Raphael, who had a string of flames and a handful of children he had no choice but to claim.
And so the story ... My story, begins ...
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