LIKA - PART III
By Lasheen Yusuf
Read Part I & II HERE
(Continued…)
With love or hate or anger or passion or loathe. To marginalize or disenfranchise is a step above
apathy. True definition of (and attribution of rights to) an entity is only possible when we accept
the existence of that entity. Not just the physical existence. It is remarkable how we can talk and
interact with a person without acknowledging his or her existence. As a part of our social evolution
we have developed a fine auto query-and-response instinct that allows us social membership. The
rituals of such interaction have long since lost its purpose – to know. A ‘How are you’ is as heartfelt
as one would say ‘Hello’ on the phone. Unless, the response to the query has shock value, we automatically move on to the next question without really paying attention to the response.
She pulled away from my hand and touched my face with the back of her hand briefly. She then
lowered it to get back to mine.
Suddenly he stirred again and reaching behind, he tugged at her sleeve awkwardly. Her expression
changed from tenderness to sadness again. In his drunkenness and sleep he wanted her and rolled
on to his back. I started to back away and she held my hand to stay. Fear again. She tugged my hand
down to make sure I would stay and turned towards him. This is demented. Does she want me to
stay and watch her perform her duties? She lifted her robe, got on top him and started moving. She
turned and put her face down close to mine. She looked apologetic. Just as she would be, getting
back to a conversation while being interrupted by any similar daily household chore.
“You kiss me?” she whispered.
After a pause, I kissed her softly on her lips. In that instant, she went into an ecstasy tha B