As it turns out, her mother had suffered a small heart attack and they had gone to the hospital. Anju didn't want to further upset her parents, and mentioning it would just disgrace her family; she should have known better. She blamed herself, even if Anju knew she shouldn't. Since her mother had fallen ill, they were returning to India as originally planned, after Anju graduated. The end of the year was just in two short months and Ginga would still be too weak to travel.
And then this happened...
This was something Anju couldn't hide. She'd have to come clean about everything and knew her parents would be less than pleased. Anju decided it was better to tell them now, rather than when she started showing. 'How do I explain this though?!'
One night during dinner, it all spilled out. She began with how Ray had shown up, and she had thought he was there to see them. She told them the fight they had gotten into, and what it turned into. Anju looked up from her hands when she was finished. She looked to her mother to find a sad, broken look. Her father on the other hand appeared to outraged.
"Anjali! Why did you put yourself in that situation? We raised you better than that! You-"
"Gadin, calm down. You can't think this to be Anju's fault!" Anju snapped her head to see her mother. Ginga almost never went against her father, but was thankful she was.
"Ginga, stay out of this! Had she not answered the door like she was supposed to, this never would have happened! Now she has gone and disgraced the family name. We can't even marry you off any longer! Think of the shame...!" Anju's father was on the verge of turning purple from anger, and Anju looked to her mother warily.
"No I will NOT stay out of this! She tried to warn us of him, but we refused to listen." Ginga had tears rolling off of her cheeks, and her breathing was ragged. She couldn't fight anymore.
"What if I gave the baby up? People do that all the time!" Anju didn't know if she could do that. The child was half hers after all, even if its other half was of a horrid person.
"You cannot think of giving up a child of Delhi blood! Are you trying to wreak havoc on the Gods?! Not another word on the subject. Anju, you have two days to leave or you, by yourself, will return to India. Mind you, India isn't as accepting of whores such as yourself. You'd be lucky to find a place to live." Anju and her mother looked to Gadin in shock. Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but with the wave of her husband's hand she remained silent, there was nothing she could do.
---
Anju was in her room when her approached her. The girl was not in the mood to be talking about getting kicked out, and while she was happy her mother had tried to reason with her father, Anju was sure what her mother had to say wasn't good news. "Anjali...I think it's in your best interest to return to India. Pay no attention to what your father says. If you go willingly, perhaps I can arrange for a place to stay."
"Mother, that's like suicide! I've heard the horrible stories of girls in India who have gotten pregnant before they were married! This isn't even my fault! I didn't want that to happen!" Anju collapsed on her bed and started crying all over again .
"Anju, if you stay here, where will you go? Your father would refuse to pay for a place for you to stay, and you can't survive on the streets! Would you at least consider it? The people of India aren't quite what you think, dear one."
Anju took the next day to think about it, her mother had convinced her father to let her have one more day. The last time she had been in India was when she was two years old, she didn't even remember living there! 'How can I ever survive there!?' She knew life in India was much different than that in America, it'd be difficult to adapt, but if she stayed in America, she'd be kicked to the streets for sure. If she went to India, her mother could assist her in secret.
And so, Anju decided she'd go to India.
The above picture is actually my favorite to date of Anju (and believe me, I have a bunch of extras of her!) The Sari she is wearing was actually a recolor I did of an AF one I saw on MTS :] I'm very happy with how it turned out!
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