The Passengers(9)

‘When he gets home, he will come after us and find us and he will kill us. I know how vindictive your father is when he is pushed.’

‘No, he won’t because he can’t. I met with the women who run the shelter and explained your situation and they told me that when you were ready, you are welcome there. It’s completely anonymous; no one will ever know where you are. I spoke to them again on my way here – they can take all of you in this morning. There are beds waiting for you. And they’ve put me in touch with a solicitor who works closely with them. She will see you now to organise a restraining order against Dad. Everything is in place and ready. All we need is you and the girls.’

‘But what about you? Where will you go?’

‘I’ve only got a few months until I start uni. I can sofa surf until then. I’ve been lucky – being kicked out because my dad thinks being gay is worse than being dead was the best thing he could’ve done for me. Mum, the world is beautiful beyond these walls if you give it a chance.’

‘Your lawyer friend, does she know I don’t speak English?’

‘Yes, and she says for you not to worry; she’s seen it many times before. She wants to help you.’

‘And you promise to look after the girls while I sit with her?’

‘Yes, of course I will.’

Without warning, a warmth had travelled quickly through Shabana’s veins infecting every part of her. Her nods had been barely perceptible until she’d pictured how different the future could be if she trusted her son and the people he had engaged to assist her. That they could want to help someone they didn’t know had humbled her. She’d looked Reyansh directly in the eye. ‘Help me get your sisters ready,’ she’d said with growing confidence.

Shabana had packed anything she might need for the next few days into two shopping bags, like clothes, underwear and toiletries. From her bedroom, she’d listened as Reyansh had organised his four siblings in the adjoining bedrooms. She was so proud of her only son; despite all he had learned about men by watching his father, he had still known it to be wrong. Instead, he had remained a kind, gentle and considerate soul. The name she had given him translated to ‘first ray of sunlight’, and now that was the gift he was giving to her – the chance to see a new day in a new light. She was ready to leave the shadows and join a world illuminated in a way she could barely remember.

As she’d heard the girls make their way downstairs, she’d said a small prayer for them. She had begun motherhood with the best of intentions and had wanted to teach them to be independent and not to allow anyone to control them. But aged fourteen and under, all they had known of her was a subservient, frightened woman. After growing up under that roof, she hoped it wasn’t too late for them to change their expectations of what a marriage could be. If they repeated her mistakes, it would not be their fault; it would be hers. And for that, she would never forgive herself.

With her bag packed, Shabana had hurried into the kitchen to grab a key, then made her way to the padlocked shed where she had never been allowed. She’d yanked containers from shelves and rifled through boxes and bags until she’d pulled out wad after wad of cash. She‘d been stunned by the sum. While she had been forced to micromanage a paltry food and clothing budget for a growing family, Vihaan had been sitting on thousands upon thousands of pounds. It had compounded her hatred for him.

After scooping the money into her pockets, she’d joined the rest of her family in the lounge Vihaan had taken as his own and banned them from. She’d begun to feel a strength she hadn’t realised was still inside her when she’d seen the girls with their school bags hanging from their shoulders, crammed with clothes, books and toys. Meanwhile, Reyansh had hovered nervously behind the thick net curtain, checking all was well outside, ready for their escape. For so long that curtain had hidden what had become of Shabana from the rest of the world. But not any longer. She’d yanked it from the runner until it fell into a heap on the floor. Finally, she was able to see from the window with clarity. ‘Let them look at me,’ she’d said defiantly.

As she’d kissed each one of her children’s cheeks in turn, the youngest two, Aditya and Krish, had begun to cry. Their mother had responded by giving them the tightest of embraces. ‘I will show you what it means to be happy,’ she’d whispered, before letting them go. Reyansh had escorted them from the front door and into one of the two driverless taxis parked outside. Then he’d assisted Shabana in placing her bags into the second vehicle parked behind it, programming the solicitor’s address into the GPS.

‘We’ll see you this afternoon,’ he’d replied and handed her a mobile phone before remembering she had never operated one before. ‘I’ll call you on this – press the green button to answer – then I’ll order your car to bring you to us.’

Shabana had wrapped her arms around her son and held him. ‘Thank you,’ she’d whispered before allowing him to leave.

It was the first time she had ever travelled inside a vehicle with no driver. But she’d trusted Reyansh when he’d assured her it would get her to where she needed to be of its own volition. Her only boy had not yet turned eighteen but he was the only man she trusted – not her father who had arranged her marriage to a man he knew to be violent or the brothers who almost beat to death a boyfriend she had from a lower caste back in India as a teenager.