The Scandal

Shibu just stared back at her menacingly. The slap did nothing to him. "What was it that you said yesterday?" he spoke slowly. "Thoma isn't afraid to take what he wants, right? Well, neither am I."

Shanta looked on in horror as his meaty fingers ripped apart her panty in one tug. She cried from the pain. The elastic had cut into her thighs. She turned on her belly under him and tried to wriggle out of bed. "Where do you think you're going?" his hand grabbed hold of her hair bun and pulled her back. She turned on her back and tried to claw at his face but he caught both her hands and held them down above her head.

She was trapped. There was nothing she could do to escape. His shirt smeared something red as it grazed her exposed belly. "Oh my God. Shibu. You're bleeding."

He looked down and winced like he just remembered. "I was stabbed. Now shut up." With one hand, he pushed down his trousers and boxers. He was still holding her arms above her head with his other hand.

"Who stabbed you?" she continued, looking for a way out of this.

Shibu raised his huge hand to the ceiling. Shanta braced for a slap. "I told you to shut up didn't I?" But he did not slap. Shanta watched as he freed his manhood from his boxers. Fat and hard, and very pink at the tip. Beads of sweat began to form on Shanta's forehead and her heart beat faster in anticipation.

"Please stop, Shibu. I'm your friend. It's me, Shanta."

She was wetter than a whistle down there. And tighter than a virgin. She cried so much when he entered her. Shibu did not even try to be gentle. He was a man changed by battle. He wanted his reward. Holding her legs open and her hands locked into place, Shibu pushed inside, straining the walls of her womanhood.

Thoma's wheezing father heard the rickety bed squeaking. Even though nothing down there worked for him anymore, he still wanted to see the action that was going on in that bedroom. He was also curious as to who was doing the woman. He had seen both his son and an angry young man go inside the room that day.

Shanta was crying, turning her head left and right from the pain. Her movements were restricted, and all she could do was to take it in silence. Shibu was relentless. She had never seen this side of him before. She had never seen him be assertive at anything. "Please stop," she said softly, but he paid no heed to it. He had become like a mindless beast. Plowing her with no consideration for her well-being. Perhaps he no longer understood what she was saying.

Shibu was finding it easy to slide in and out of her. His thrusts made her juices flow non-stop, like squeezing a ripe mango. Under him, she still cried. But not much. Maybe a whimper after a dozen thrusts. She was either too tired to cry, or she was beginning to enjoy it. But he didn't think about it too much. It was about what he wanted. It was about taking control.

Just an hour ago, he was sure he was going to die. Thoma's gang surrounded him on all sides. A faint glint of a knife in the night. He was beaten and cut. There was no way out. But then he remembered Shanta's words. The words that haunted him. His survival instinct kicked in. Shibu tackled the nearest hooligan to the ground. The other four came after him. A cacophony of screams and grunts and the nasty whistle of a knife. Shibu was cut three times. All surface wounds. But his opponents were all unconscious. Maybe even dead.

You are the size of a house. How can you run? With those words in mind, he rammed his meat into the spinster's womb.

Shanta gasped suddenly, then sighed, blushing a dark pink. His fierce thrusts were driving her mad. And he was groaning too. Loud, animalistic groans. With his gasoline odor and bloody clothes, it was like being fucked by an inhuman creature. His thrusts were no longer painful. As much as she hated what was happening, she was beginning to enjoy it. Her whimpers sounded insincere. After a while, she stopped protesting altogether. Instead, she just lay there, eyes half-closed, panting serenely.

Thoma's father took one step at a time, holding onto the wall for support. He could distinctly hear the sound of skin beating on skin, the groaning, and the bed squeaking. The sounds of sex. He had to see it, even though he could no longer partake in it.

The old man reached the door that was broken off its hinges. He shivered immediately from the cold. The floor was littered with trousers and undies. And on the bed, he saw a huge man on top of a woman in a red blouse. The man had seen him, but he did not seem to care. He was fucking the woman with amazing power like he was beating metal. She would have to be a strong woman to take all that. Even with the cold, they were both sweating. The woman's blouse was almost see-through, and the man's shirt stuck to his muscular body like a second skin.

The dicking was getting faster. Every wild thrust was getting Shanta closer to the edge of more than just the bed. Breathing heavily through her teeth, she would look down to the point where they connected. Then she would lie back, her chin turned upwards as her body went up and down on the bed. No one has ever made her climax from just penetration alone. Not even Peter, the pretty city boy.

The old man sat on a plastic chair that was beside the bed. The muscular man ignored him. And the woman did not even notice him. He was sitting behind her, with her hair bun a few feet away from his cock, which he had begun to stroke. This close to the action, he thought he smelled gasoline.

Shibu was about to burst. Droplets of precum already stained her walls. Just as his manhood began pulsing, her walls tightened around his cock. Shanta's mouth opened in a soundless gasp, eyes rolled back white. Her insides began to spasm around his length and her face looked like she was choking on a pickle. Shibu emptied his balls inside her, groaning with deep thrusts for every spurt. He filled her up so much, that his semen was flowing out of her.

The waves of her orgasm lasted long after he had finished. Shibu freed her hands and pulled out. He grunted in satisfaction and got off the bed. As he pulled up his trousers, he looked over at Shanta. She lay still as a statue with her hands above her head. The expression on her face reminded him of the weed smokers in their neighborhood. Without a second glance, Shibu left.

Shanta sat up with a start. Something fell on her face. Something wet. She screamed and moved back when she saw an old man sitting behind her, his hand on his penis. Shanta touched her face. Sticky.

The old man tittered. Shanta grabbed her lungi and got out of that place.

xxx

Shibu gave his statements at the police station the next morning. The entire town had heard about how he single-handedly subdued five hooligans, that too with nothing but his bare hands. After thwarting the burning of the theatre, he alerted the people in the neighborhood before going off in search of Thoma. Some even believe that he found Thoma, and killed him in his murderous rage. Shibu had become a local legend overnight.

He scratched his abdomen. The bandages were killing him. Shibu had told his mother that he didn't need it, but the old woman wouldn't listen. People called out his name from the shops he passed. He waved at them and moved on. It was getting on his nerves.

Some new posters of Shanta were up. People swarmed around it, itching for the latest gossip. Shibu didn't bother to read it. He didn't care anymore. It was time to move on to other women. Only when he got home did he hear the new developments. His mother told him. Shanta was kicked out of Das' house. Someone had sent Asha an anonymous letter, informing her of the shameful incident that happened years ago. Then followed the curses and the slipper throwing. 'You ungrateful bitch,' yelled Asha, at the retreating figure of Shanta. No one knows where she went after that.

"She kicked out Shanta?" Shibu asked his mother. "But it was Das' fault. He raped her."

His mother shrugged and walked away. It irked him that no one was blaming Das. People were calling Shanta a whore again. Putting her at fault. Then it hit him. The realization that he was no different from Das. Maybe what he did was even worse.

Shibu set out to find Shanta. He went around Chattakood on his father's motorcycle. Pavithran had gifted it to him after hearing about how his son had saved his theatre. People in the streets stopped their activities and watched him as he passed. Shibu nodded uncomfortably. Perhaps they were just making fun of him at this point.

He searched till dusk but to no avail. Shanta was nowhere to be found. It was possible that she had left town. But she didn't have any friends outside Chattakood that he knew of. Shibu wondered what he'd do when he found Shanta. What he'll say to her. He regretted what happened last night. It was lust that made him do it. Combined with the hatred he had fostered after what she had said to him at the toddy shop. Would she even want his help?

Shibu had almost given up the search. But instinct told him to search one final place before heading home. And surely he found her there. In the old abandoned house under the banyan tree, fast asleep with her chin on the seat of her bicycle. She opened her eyes when his shadow fell on her. Shibu thought she'd be afraid to see him. But she just stared at him unflinchingly.

He didn't apologize. That would be showing weakness. Furthermore, she had said it herself: 'If you tell me sorry one more time, I'll choke you to death.'

"You can come stay at my house," he said, meeting her unflinching eyes. "Don't worry about my mother or anyone. Just come."

She stayed silent. Shibu waited patiently for a response. Her hair was not in a bun anymore and she had grime on her face and arms. She was in need of a good bath. Shibu leered at her breasts but immediately shook away his perverted thoughts. I'm still not over her.

"You don't have to worry about me either. What happened last night... err... it won't happen again." Shibu tried to assuage her fears. But she wasn't even looking at him anymore.

Her silence was a reminder of what he had done to her. Tired of stewing in his guilt, Shibu turned back. He hit the gym to get his mind off things. But it was not easy. Shanta continued haunting him. And when he got home, she was waiting by the gates on her cycle, like an apparition. He pinched himself to make sure that he was not dreaming. She wanted his help after all.

Shibu's father was fond of Shanta and missed her showing him her varicose veins every afternoon. So he had no objections to her staying at their place. He always used to think she was unlucky in life. But bypassing Shibu's mother was tough. She wouldn't let Shanta in their house. Shibu tried to remind them of the time they were friends. But she wouldn't budge. He looked over at Shanta. Her eyes betrayed her fear, the thought of spending another night outside like a beggar.

"She's not going anywhere. Deal with it however you want to," Shibu grabbed Shanta's hand and brushed past his mother. Roshni was stunned by her son's defiance. "What has gotten into him?"

Pavithran wrapped his wife under his arm. "Our son has grown up."

xxx

Shanta settled in well. Maybe too well. She never stepped out of the house. And she passed her time by helping Roshni with her chores and playing tennis with Pavithran. About two weeks in, she had taken over the kitchen. And much to Roshni's dismay, Pavithran liked her dishes better. To them, Shanta was everything they looked for in a daughter-in-law. Too bad that she decided to shun Shibu for all eternity.

She slept in their guest room, which Shibu found difficult to explain to his parents. They couldn't understand why Shanta refused to take him as her husband after everything he had done for her. He hadn't told them the full story. In the first three weeks, she hadn't said a word to him. But Shibu continued trying every day. He did everything he could to make her life better.

He had quit his job at the rice mill and was now running Pavithran's Cinema. The old man had retired after Shibu thwarted Thoma's plans to burn the theatre. "The theatre is now in good hands," he said. With his newfound confidence, Shibu was looking into expanding his father's real estate business and was even thinking about starting his own gym. The possibilities were endless. If only he could give it his full attention.

"Are those for me?" Shanta said, looking at the bouquet on the dining table. The first time she'd spoken to him in almost a month. Shibu should have done this sooner. Flowers always worked.

"Yes."

"I don't care for them."

"You're speaking to me aren't ya? They must have had some effect on you."

"They revolt me. You revolt me," she said with malice, dropping a plate before him on the table. Shibu's parents weren't home. Maybe that's why she was talking to him now.

"I revolt you. But you'd still serve me lunch?"

"You don't want to eat?"

"I do," he sighed, wondering how to get through to her. "What I did to you was wrong. But I believe I've done more than enough to pay you back."

"You want me to leave? Since you've paid all your dues." She was pouring some fish curry onto his plate.

"No. No. That's not what I am saying. God, woman! You infuriate me. I'm saying... I want to give you a life."

"You want to marry me?" she stood with her hips to one side, holding a ladle, looking terribly appetizing.

"Why not? The whole town thinks that we're married."

"They also think I'm a whore. What are you going to do about that? You want everyone calling your wife a whore?" She asked, leaning forward.

"Let them say what they want." Shanta glared, making Shibu squirm in his chair. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Find the one responsible for all this mess. Find Thoma. Make him suffer. Then, I'll do whatever you want."

xxx

Shibu made a mistake. He was not himself. It was his revenge for all the mean things she said to him.

In this way, she tried to justify his actions.

He owned up to his mistakes after all. Even repaid her by giving her a home. But she could not open her heart to someone who had assaulted her. No matter how badly she wanted to. It would only lessen her self-respect. And make her feel even more like a slut.

But if he were to complete some Herculean task just to win her hand in marriage, then she would have no other choice but to accept his proposal. Especially if this task helped her get revenge on the person who had single-handedly ruined her life. Every day she prayed for his success.

The hooligans Shibu had beaten up had escaped from the hospital where they were being treated. So that was a dead end. The next step was to go after those suspected of associations with Thoma. Keeping an ear out for such rumors, Shibu managed to find a handful of such people. But nobody seemed to know where Thoma was hiding.

He enlisted the help of some of his buddies from the gym. Those who had an admiration for Shanta ever since she bested The Grudge in squatting. Together they thought of a stakeout strategy.

Two of them will keep a lookout for Thoma at the old age home. Thoma's father had been moved there since there was no one to take care of him. There was a good chance that he would come to visit. The rest of them will stake out the usual spots in Chattakood where the posters pop up. It was a long shot, but it was still something.

And so the waiting game began.

xxx

Das had begun staking out the old age home way before Shibu and his brutes. He knew someone from Thoma's gang. A guy with a ponytail he recognized from the nights they were singing lewd songs before his house. And thankfully, he was easy to crack. He had threatened to oust him to Shibu if he did not tell him of Thoma's whereabouts. The stories about Shibu putting many men in the hospital were the talk of the town then. So it was easy to get the required information out of him.

Shanta was not the only person whose life Thoma had affected. Das had lost the trust and respect of his entire family. On top of that, he'd also lost his job at the toddy shop. Every day was a hardship now. Shanta's life was comparatively better. One could say that Thoma was the best thing that ever happened to her. Because of him, she now lived with the richest family in Chattakood, while Das struggled to provide for a family that wished him dead. So if anyone deserved revenge on Thoma, it was Das.

One of the men in Shibu's gang had a grocery shop close to the old age home. This helped him keep an eye on the place till night. Das kept an eye on the place too, but he did not have a good vantage point, and he couldn't stay in one place for too long without people getting suspicious. It was easier for him at night. He hid in the bushes of the old age home, fighting sleep and cold. His wife did not care about his whereabouts as long as he was not in bed with her.

Das waited for his revenge for more than a month, but Thoma never came. For a time, he believed the rumors about Shibu already having ended Thoma. Maybe Shibu's stakeout, which was now an open secret, was just a ruse to make people think that Thoma was still alive.

To support his family, Das started working at the rice mill. Revenge was still on his mind, but he had a family to feed. Every once in a while, he would still sneak out of his house at night to watch the old age home. But he got nothing for his hard work, except for a body full of rashes from hiding too long in poison ivy.

The guy with the ponytail came to him one evening. He met Das at the tea shop. Came and sat next to him casually. Das continued eating his onion ring and sipping his tea, thinking it was just a chance encounter.

"I have news for you," he said. Das looked at him. "Don't look at me. Keep sipping your tea."

"What news?"

"That Chandran, the tabla player, the one with the droopy eyes..."

"Yes. I know him," Das whispered.

"He's going on a tour with his troupe."

"So what?"

"Chandran's wife is having an affair with Thoma. No one outside his gang knows this."

"You're saying he will come?"

"Yes. Without a doubt."

"Risk everything to fuck that ugly woman?"

"You don't know him. He doesn't get laid a lot."

xxx

Shibu was snoring, his head buried in his muscular arms, slobbering all over the dining table. Shanta smacked him on the head with a ladle. He woke with a cry, blurry eyes staring at an ass big as a hug. It's been more than two months since the day Shibu brought her to his home. She ruled it now.

"If you wanted to sleep then why did you ask for dinner?" She got mad at him for the most random things. "Here." She pushed a plate of rice and chicken curry towards him. She'd become quite a beauty. Her skin was lighter, her clothes fancier, and she'd accumulated some fat that gave her that feminine softness.

"I haven't slept good in a while. You know that."

"Still no sign of Thoma?"

"No." Even after weeks of stakeouts and searching, Shibu was nowhere close to finding Thoma. With the kind of heat on him, Shibu was sure that the troublemaker had left the district. He may come back one day for revenge, but it did not look like it was going to be anytime soon.

"You'll catch him soon. Don't give up."

"It's not that I'm giving up. I just feel like it's a wild goose chase. Everyone does."

"He's still in this town. I know it."

"No, you don't. Nobody knows where he is."

She sat opposite him, staring at him from across the dining table. "I feel like you don't care anymore."

"I do care. I'm just saying that it's pointless to search for him in Chattakood. He's probably left the state for all we know."