Read Online Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - Free Book Online Page A

something— Do you think he harmed—?” Sabitri’s cut-off words waver in the air.
    The doctor gives an embarrassed cough. “No, madam, there are no signs of . . . that . In fact, I am not sure there was a man at all. Your daughter may have just fallen from the swing and hit her head—she does have a bump. Also, she may have been out in the sun too long. Such things can disorient anyone.”
    No , Bela wants to cry. There was a man. There was . A special man, sparkly as a gold tooth, opening up locked doors inside her mind. Making meaning out of the Morse code of fluttering dragonfly wings. She couldn’t have mistaken something so important.
    â€œI don’t think she’s disoriented,” Bijan interjects, suddenly, hoarsely. Bela hears him striding to the bed, her champion. She waits for him to throw his arms around her, but he isn’t paying attention. “There definitely was someone. Someone who intended to harm Bela. I want you to test her blood for drugs. Last week, I had a big argument with the workers’ union about overtime pay—I bet they had something to do with this.”
    Are his words slurred? Is an old odor rising from him, raw and pungent? Bela’s eyes fly open in alarm.
    â€œThe bastard—and anyone else who was involved—they’re going to be sorry they messed with my daughter.” Bijan leans over the bed. Like cracks in porcelain, lines run from his nose to the corners of his mouth. He grabs the doctor by his white sleeve. Bela can taste his anger. It’s bitter and desperate, like the dregs left at the bottoms of whiskey glasses, the ones she sometimes sipped from in the morning in Kolkata before her parents awoke.
    â€œSir, please don’t jump to conclusions,” the policeman says. He is a burly man, and Bela notices dark blotches of sweat under the armpits of his khaki uniform. “We will definitely be on the lookout for a stranger—in case there was one. As soon as the doctor allows, I will get a detailed description from your daughter. I would like to question the maidservant, too, since she was the one who found the girl at the edge of your property.”
    Bela’s eyes skid across the watching faces until she finds Ayah’s. She tries to read what Ayah might have seen. A dragonfly that hovered for a moment before the wind snatched it away? The wooden seat of the swing thwacking the back of a head? A man with a polished metal body wrapped in a robe of fire? But Ayah’s eyes are black stones. She stares at the IV machine with its endless silver dripping as though it were a holy mystery.
    â€œQuestion the union leaders,” her father says. “Find out what kinds of alibis their henchmen have.”
    â€œThe union is very strong—better not to accuse them unless we have proof,” the policeman says. Bela hears the warning in his voice.
    And where is Harsha? Why is he not in this room with Ayah? Who is watching him? Is he alone at home? Someone needs to go and get Harsha right now. Bela tries to tell Sabitri that it isn’t safe to leave Harsha alone, nothing is safe here, doesn’t she know that? But her mouth is gummy and her lips will not open.
    Hands fisted, Bijan rises to face the policeman. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this, if it’s the last thing I do. I’m not afraid of any damned union.”
    â€œBijan, please.” Sabitri puts a hand on his arm.
    â€œDon’t touch me! None of this would be happening if it wasn’t for you!” He pushes her away so hard that Sabitri’s shoulder hits the wall. The doctor has to grab her to keep her from falling.
    â€œAnd if I don’t get the necessary cooperation from you,” Bijan says to the policeman, his voice rising, “I won’t hesitate to complain to your superiors.”
    The policeman’s eyes narrow. He lowers his forehead like a bull about to charge. And Bijan