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Chapter 3

Raj pulled up to my house. I took a deep breath and opened the car door.

"Wait!" Raj grabbed my hand, restraining me from leaving.

"What?"

"If you die can I please have your stuff?" He stared at me with his puppy dog eyes.

"NO! I am not going to die!" I shrieked.

"Naina, me and you both know that you are committing suicide. It would be less painful to jump off a bridge." He said, contemplating the least painful ways to die.

"It would...but I have to do this. I have to stand up to my parents! I have to fight for my rights!"

"Calm down. This ain't no American revolution. Now get your ass out of my car. You are wasting my gas!"

"Aren't you sweet?"

***

The doorbell rang, and I could have sworn my heart stopped. It felt as if the grim reaper had approached my house. But it was worse. My dad was home. My dad was the dictator of our house. He was Adolf Hitler, and I was his Jew.

My dad was the stereotypical Indian dad. He was tall, dark, and hairy; the three things every Indian man was born with it. My dad had a thick beard, (I think he kept it because he was tired of shaving it) and it covered the bottom of his face.

"Naina dinner!!" My mom yelled from downstairs. It was always a ritual for my dad to eat right when he came home. It was just something he had always been doing. I rushed downstairs to take my regular seat. My dad came up and sat right next to me, just like every other day. My mother had made butter chicken, an orange Indian dish that was absolutely delicious. Luckily, it was my dad's favorite, so my mom made it alot. My dad rolled his sleeves up, ready to attack the dish. He began eating as if he hadn't eaten anything for days. This was the perfect moment to ask my dad.

"Papa?" I said in a tone as sweet as honey. Papa was what I called my dad because dad was too "American". 

"Hmm?" He didn't even look up to give me his attention, but that was my cue to continue.

"Soo my class is taking a trip to Europe, and I was wondering if I could go..?" I eased in slowly, waiting for a reaction. My dad broke into a laugh so hard that it could be heard from miles away. He laughed at the idea as it was preposterous and it made me sink down further in my chair.

"Are you seriously asking me this, or is this some type of joke you teens are playing these days?" He asked, still chuckling.

"No Papa.I'm serious." My Dad's face transformed to stone. His eyes burned with fire and his lips purred with anger.

"No." He said sharply, the one word cutting through the tense air.

"But why?" "Because I said no. There is no need to discuss this."

That was the final straw. I was done. I was done being a slave. I was done being trapped. I was not a wild animal and did not need to be kept in this cage known as home. I was completely fed up. My arms began to tense up. Everything that was bottled up inside me began to pour out of my mouth and no one could stop me. The words just spilled out of my mouth and couldn't even be controlled by me.

"NO!" I jumped out of my chair and my parents stared at me bewildered. This was not like me. My eyes filled with resentment as I reminisced every moment they had taken away from my life.

"YOU CAN'T SAY NO TO THIS. I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE! YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE EVERY OUNCE OF MY FREEDOM! I HAVE ALWAYS LISTENED AND RESPECTED YOU!! I HAVE NEVER CROSSED MY LIMITS! I HAVE NEVER GONE BEHIND YOUR BACK LIKE YOUR FRIEND'S KIDS! JUST BECAUSE I'M YOUR DAUGHTER DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME AND HOLD ME CAPTIVE FOREVER. YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. I'M NOT YOU'RE PRISONER. I AM YOUR CHILD!!"

I realize how much I had said and just stared at my family's reaction. The person to break the silence was my little sister.

"Mama is Naina mentally unstable?" My parents said absolutely nothing. They just stared at me in shock. My mother was about to open her mouth to tell me to go to my room, but my father stopped her. He got up from my chair and approached me. I wanted to hide, but I was out in the open ready for him to attack me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and I flinched.

"Your right." I stared at my father in shock that those words came out of his mouth.

"I am?" "You have been an obedient daughter. You are everything a father could ask for. You can go." I started doing a happy dance, but then I realized there had to be a catch. There was always a catch.

"What do I have to do in return?" My dad let a sly grin slip on his face and the words that came out of his mouth were unbearable.

"When you come back, you are to get engaged to anyone we desire."  

"But I'm only 18!!" I yelled.

"Just engaged. You shall get married after you finish college."

"What if I say no?"

"Then no Europe, but Naina? Do you realize that you are going to get an arranged marriage no matter what?

***

I dialed Raj's number and he picked up half asleep. "Naina! You know the afternoon is my sleeping time."

"Shut up and listen." I replied, cutting him off.

"Okay, listening."

"I AM GOING TO EUROPE!!" I just left out one tiny detail. That I just sold the rest of my life.