Date: The Night of the 6th Day of the Month of Blossoms.
Location: The "Rat's Nest," Deep Slums.
Two days passed. The shack was very quiet.
Behind the gray curtain, Aanya lay on her straw bed. She was very weak. Her arms felt like heavy ropes. Her head spun every time she moved.
She had drunk a little water, but she had not eaten.
Since the night of the stolen bread, Aanya had made a decision. It was a strange logic, born from guilt.
She looked at the curtain. She knew Veer was on the other side. She knew he had scars on his hands.
If I eat, she thought, he has to find more food. To find food, he has to steal. If he steals, the guards will catch him. He will bleed.
So, she thought the answer was simple.
If I don't eat, he stays safe.
It was a twisted way to protect him. She was trying to save him by slowly killing herself.
On the other side of the curtain, Veer was losing his mind.
He came home in the afternoon. He had a pear. It was small, green, and had a big brown bruise on one side. But it was sweet.
He slid it under the bottom of the curtain.
"Aanya," he said. "Eat."
Aanya saw the pear on the dirt floor. Her stomach twisted. She wanted it so much. But she imagined Veer getting beaten for this pear.
She reached down. She pushed the pear back under the curtain.
"No," she whispered.
Veer did not say anything. He just sighed. A heavy, angry sigh.
Later that evening, Veer tried again.
He brought a piece of dried fish. It was salty and hard as wood. It smelled strong.
He pushed it under the sheet.
"It is fish," Veer said. "It has protein. It will make you strong."
Aanya stared at the dried fish. She pushed it back.
"I am not hungry," she lied.
Silence filled the room. Then, Veer started to pace.
Step. Step. Turn. Step. Step. Turn.
The sound of his boots on the dirt floor was loud. He was like a caged animal. He had saved her from the alley. He had cleaned her face. He had built her a wall. But now, he was watching her fade away.
He felt helpless. And for Veer, feeling helpless was worse than being hungry.
Suddenly, the pacing stopped.
"Enough," Veer growled.
Aanya flinched. "Veer?"
He did not answer.
RIP.
There was a loud tearing sound.
Veer grabbed the gray bedsheet with both hands. He yanked it down. The rusted nails popped out of the wood. The rope fell.
The wall was gone.
Aanya screamed. She was exposed. She felt naked without the curtain. She immediately threw her hands up to cover her scarred face.
"Don't look at me!" she cried.
Veer did not listen. He crossed the room in two steps. He grabbed her wrists. He was strong. He pulled her hands away from her face.
"I am looking at you!" Veer shouted. "Look at me!"
Aanya opened her eyes, terrified. She expected to see anger. She expected to see hate.
But she saw tears.
Veer was crying.
The tough thief, the boy who fought three men with an iron rod, had tears running down his dirty cheeks. His eyes were red. He was shaking.
It shocked Aanya. She stopped struggling.
"Why are you doing this?" Veer yelled. His voice broke. "I am bleeding for you! I am running from guards for you! I am risking my life every single day to put food in this room!"
He pointed to the dried fish on the floor.
"And you throw it in the dirt? Like it is nothing?"
"No..." Aanya whispered. Her lip trembled.
"Do you know how hard it is?" Veer asked, gripping her wrists tighter. "Do you know how scared I am that I will come home and find you dead? Why do you want to die so bad?"
Aanya looked at his wet face. Her logic crumbled.
"I don't want to die," she whispered. "I want you to be safe."
Veer blinked. "What?"
"If I eat, you steal," Aanya explained, tears spilling from her eyes. "If you steal, you get hurt. I am a burden, Veer. I am just a heavy weight on your back. If I don't eat... you don't have to bleed."
Veer stared at her. He understood now. She wasn't being ungrateful. She was trying to be a martyr.
He let go of her wrists. He wiped his face with his sleeve.
"You are stupid," Veer said. But his voice was soft now.
He knelt beside her bed. He looked her right in the eyes.
"You are only a burden if you die," he told her intensely. "If you die, I have to carry a dead body. That is heavy. That is a burden."
He took a breath.
"But if you live... you are my friend. Friends help each other. Friends eat."
He picked up the dried fish from the floor. He blew the dust off it. He broke it in half.
He took Aanya's hand. He put the fish into her palm. He closed her fingers around it, making a fist.
He held her fist with his own hands.
"Eat," Veer begged. He was not shouting anymore. He was pleading. "Please, Aanya. Do it for me."
Aanya looked at the fish. Then she looked at Veer.
She saw the bandage on his arm. She saw the tired circles under his eyes.
She realized her hunger strike was not protecting him. It was torturing him. It was making him cry.
She slowly raised the fish to her mouth.
She took a bite.
It was tough. It was very salty. It tasted terrible.
She chewed and swallowed.
Veer let out a long breath. He sat back on his heels, watching her chew. He looked like he had just won a war.
Aanya took another bite. And another.
"I am sorry," she whispered between bites.
"Just eat," Veer said.
When she finished the fish, Veer stood up. He picked up the gray sheet from the floor. He found the rock and the nails.
Bang. Bang.
He hung the curtain back up.
The room was cut in two again. Aanya was hidden again.
But the air in the room felt different. It was not heavy with secrets anymore.
"Goodnight, Rat," Veer called from the other side.
"Goodnight, Thief," Aanya whispered back.
She lay down. Her stomach hurt from the food, but her heart felt lighter. She realized that in the slums, you cannot save people by starving. You save them by staying alive.