It was scorching heat outside and according to the weather forecast it was going to shoot up in the next few days. I was one lethargic lad sitting home like a couch potato enjoying the leisure of cold breeze of the air conditioner when suddenly mom screamed from the kitchen calling out my name. I ran down the stairs and laughed at the sight of my mom all covered in ketchup. According to her a rat ran into her out of the blue. I checked every nook and corner to give her satisfaction but the rat was found nowhere. It gave her a sigh of relief. That afternoon sameera called me and asked me to accompany her to complete the holiday’s homework. I thought that would be a good riddance from laziness. So I rushed to her house with all my stuff. Her house was rather spic and span as compared to the outer aesthetic. We started with our drawing assignments. After an hour her father entered the room drunk and started yelling at her. I got startled at the sight of her father. Her mother came running to the room and started to pacify the situation. Her mother took me and Sameera out of the room and locked us inside a room. From the outside we could hear her getting beaten and sobbing. I thought I should probably leave as soon as possible to avoid the awkwardness and negativity in the room. I bid her goodbye and ran home. I was so terrified with the scene at sameera’s house that I could not calm myself down without sharing it with anyone. I had thousands of thoughts running in my mind and a lot of questions haunting me that I couldn’t resist myself but talk to mom about it.
When I reached home I saw dad had already arrived and he was sitting with mom having a cup of tea. So I ran towards my room without creating any noise. Next day I found mom working in the kitchen and grabbed the opportunity and told her whereabouts of sameera’s house. She prohibited me from going to her house and told me not to get involved in anything like that. School reopened and to my surprise sameera didn’t come on the first day, not even the following day and day after that too. The class teacher called her parents and no one picked up the call. Soon her name would be stroked down from the attendance register so I decided to pay her a visit. I did not tell my mom about that and secretly went to her house sneaking out of my room. I reached her house and no one opened the door so I climbed up the window and knocked. Sameera was lying on the bed crying. She opened the window and I asked her the reason for the absence from the school. To which she answered that her father doesn’t allow them to step out of the house and they will be locked into the house in his absence too. We heard someone’s footsteps approaching.
Sameera panicked and I couldn’t climb out of her window that fast so she hid me under her bed. From under the bed I could see someone entering and it was her mother. She asked me to come out from beneath the bed. I saw her pale face and swollen eyes. She asked me for a favor. She wrote down something on a piece of paper and handed it over to me. I was supposed to hand over that letter to the principal of my school confidentially. I retreated back to my house with mincing steps in order to not disturb anyone. I kept the letter in my bag and went to my bedroom. As soon as I entered the room I saw mom standing besides the door expecting a good explanation for sneaking out of the house. At first I was reluctant to tell her the actual scenario but she was sick of my useless excuses that she threatened to wake up dad. So I had to tell her. She asked me to handover the letter to her and concentrate on studies rather than acting valiant in other’s life. Next day I went to school with heavy steps not being able to do the work assigned to me by Sameera’s mom. In the break time I saw my mother in the principal’s office and I was puzzled. Later, I came to know that mother handed over the letter to the principal and has also visited police station and had filed and FIR against Sameera’s dad. And by the time I reached home I saw Sameera at my house. Mom came in my room and asked me to play with her and she would stay with us until further proceedings of the court. I never knew mom was so benevolent and bold at the same time. After the court’s judgment Sameera rejoined the school and her mother worked in our school to earn a living