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Naz slowly stood up, leaning on a chair, and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Why are you torturing me like this, cruel ones? Just let me sleep for one night…" She dragged her legs forward, but Jida stopped her. Naz started sobbing and couldn't move ahead.
"The bed is ready, go to sleep," Jida said.
"No," Naz replied, "you'll trouble me while I sleep."
"Naz," Jida said in a steady voice, "I didn't buy you for myself. Maybe you don't even know anything about me."
"I know everything," Naz said in a helpless voice. "You're a thug, a villain… you are such a person…"
"I'm not human," Jida interrupted her. "I am a pickpocket," he said, swallowing his bitterness. "Go to sleep quietly. I don't need your body for myself. I have never lied. One more thing: sit for a while, then sleep, and listen. From today, all your troubles will end. No one will touch you. You will get good food and good clothes. A young boy will be there to serve you, and two men will stay in the other room as guards. Sleep peacefully. New clothes will come for you tomorrow whenever you want. Bathing arrangements will also be made."
"When will I be free?" she asked.
"When you walk the right path."
"I will never walk that path," Naz said in a defeated voice. "Why waste your time unnecessarily? Just kill me and keep playing with my corpse."
"Jida never attacks women," he said. "You will be confined in this room. There will be no other pain. You will not be able to escape from here no matter how hard you try. No one knows where you are. This place is underground; no one has ever left it. Now sleep."
Naz said in a fearful tone, "You won't let me sleep, your men disturb me every night."
"They do that," Jida said, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. "You are very beautiful. None of my women are as beautiful as you. You are young, your body is such that even great men would admire it. There is effort in your beauty and youth—don't destroy it. But listen, I don't need your beauty or your youth. I am stone, Naz, I am a block of ice."
Jida spoke slowly. Naz felt some relief in her nervous exhaustion. His tone had a strange effect.
"I won't trouble you much. I will keep it private. You can't have mercy on me. The body you praised so much, you will throw it before every day new man."
"I don't' give it every day, Naz. Rest first, then think about it. I won't set you free."
Naz had been told everything about Jida by Barhiya and the other companions. She had started seeing him as a ghost. Wherever he went, he consumed someone or the other. She was terrified of Jida. That night, when she faced him, listened to his words, and saw his gentle demeanor, the grip of fear on her heart loosened.
Even though Jida had clearly told her that he would not free her, Naz saw a glimpse of sympathy in him. She began to feel convinced that if he were to attack, it would not be cruel. A false sense of comfort also crept in—she felt that Jida was quite impressed by her beauty and youth.
"Sleep here; I'll sleep in the other room," Jida said. "Sleep on the floor tonight; tomorrow you'll have the bed and a better mattress."
Naz sat on the bed as if she had collapsed. Her body was exhausted, broken.
"Lie down," Jida said.
She lay down. Jida walked toward the other room. Naz kept watching him. When he opened the door to the other room, she sat up.
"Listen," Naz said.
Jida paused. "Where are you going?"
"To the other room."
"Sleep in this room," Naz said in a trembling voice. "It's scary to be alone."
Jida looked at her. She was looking back as if holding on to a straw for support. Jida returned and lay on the floor, at some distance from Naz, in the middle of the room.
"Take this blanket," Naz said, extending a blanket toward him. "Take a pillow too."
Jida took the blanket but didn't take the pillow. He spread the blanket on the floor, turned off the lantern, and slept. Naz's sorrowful thoughts wandered a little in the dark, and she also fell asleep, though with the fear in her heart that anyone might seize her at any moment.
No one woke her. The night passed, and the sun rose. Jida got up, gave a boy instructions regarding Naz's bathing, washing, eating, and drinking, and then went out. Naz was lying in the same position she had been the previous night. Days passed, but her sleep deepened. In the late afternoon, when she turned over, her eyes slightly opened, and then she slept again.
Evening began. When she woke up, she looked around the room and sat up in alarm; her heart was pounding rapidly. Her nerves, which had been at peace during that long sleep, were now tense again, and fear and panic settled over her.
She was thinking when a young, neat, and clean boy entered the room. "Come, I'll show you the bathroom. I'll bring some tea," he said.
"Listen, come here. I won't tell you the way out of here."
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To be continue