Rosa's Waters, the well-known all woman stall, the mood were a little bit somber, the stall were well known to only employed the undesired woman. Those that were considered old, widows and those that has been set aside by the society. It was a little haven, a community for these women, to be able to make money and work, everyone here knows each other's and support each other's, one woman misfortune can be felt by the entire group.
"Natasha…I've heard that today…might be the last day…that you and your husband would be living in the town….". (Rosa)
".…Boss…". (Louise)
There were about 20 ladies around the stall, each one of them were working hard, but as the Boss, Rosa's gently approach the topic of an already confirmed bad news, one of the ladies, Louise a friend of Natasha, tried to intercept.
"No, it's fine Louise….it is not a secret at all…. yes, Madam…today is our last day here…. frankly…I am a bit nervous and afraid of what might happen to us…. Azra…. he….is…a bit in a hard spot lately…and lately…he is sick a lot of times…". (Natasha)
"That's sad…. Azra is a strong man once…. but lately…he's a bit...off…. I'm sorry to say that, Natasha…". (Rosa)
Everyone knows how Azra, Natasha Husband is, he is a shell of a once desirable man, and he had fall far from grace. Everyone also agreed that the best quality that he had was that he was a strong man, and that was about it, the rest of his personality were trash. But naturally as an undesirable woman, they wouldn't want to speak so badly of him. Azra at the end of the day, is still a man, and all of the ladies were all eager and desperate to have a man in their life, no matter what shape, form or manner the man comes from, as long as they managed to be a wife, that is enough for them. Being a married woman with a husband can easily enable them to be accepted at any settlement easily, and in these days and age, being in a settlement means safety and survival.
As a woman, it was their sacred duty to served their husband and mother a child, this is every woman dreams. Being a married woman will alleviate their status in the society, as for the other good things everyone believed that as long as they were married and have a husband good thing would just roll out for them. Getting a bad husband or a good husband is just a matter of luck, what is the most important is getting married. This is why, despite Azra were known as a bad husband by many, the fact that Natasha was married to him, made a lot of women envied her luck. They all know that she had a hard time at home, but ultimately for everyone their thought can be simply to 'Be lucky you have a husband, now work hard for him, or someone else will steal him from you'.
".…It's okay, Madam…as long as we are together…. I am sure a better day will come…". (Natasha)
Natasha was humble and she really do mean what she said. To her Azra was her everything, the love of her life and she enormously grateful to be married to him. Although Azra were a drunkard and a junkie, and she were often beaten and disregards by him. He needs her, he needs her cooking, her money and her night embrace, and for her that smidgens of care from him, is what kept her going each single day. Sure, she knows that her affection and love to him, might be one sided, but the fact that he stayed with her, a Clone, a widow and an undesired woman, already a big sacrifice on his part. And for that she knows that she is luckier than all these women around her.
"I'm sorry, that I…. we, here can't help you more than this…. here…I put 10 more Coins…on top of 3 coins day salary…. this is a gift from all of us here…. we hope that you and Azra would always be safe….no matter where you are…. you are a good woman and a good friend, Natasha…". (Rosa)
It was after work already and the stall were already closed, all the woman made a circle around Natasha, saying their goodbyes and hugging her, providing loving consolation and well wishes. Natasha knows that this warm congregation might be the last time that she would feel like this, and she might not even meet them in the future at all. It took the women's 10 minutes to say their goodbyes to her, Natasha took her salary and also a few small gifts that many gifted to her, a few bottles of clean waters, and a few hundred grams of dried meat and spices, a precious gift for someone that they will never see again. Leaving her workplace, as always Natasha head to the Town office, using her own salary, she was going to pay for her husband debt to the town. This is something that she had hid from Azra for a long time, each day as she received her salary, before heading home, she would stop by the Town office and paid her husband debt.
"Mrs. Azra, here to pay the debt again?". (Mr. Jack)
"Yes, Mr. Jack, here's 5 coins for today…". (Natasha)
The fact that she was called 'Mrs.' already made a smile plastered on Natasha face. Mr. Jack in the Rat Town treasurer, one of the leaders of the community that worked at all time inside the Rat Town office.
"Oh…bit more than the usual…. but…with this…you've only paid half of your family total debt…there is 145 Coins left unpaid….so, I am afraid…the last sent out notice of eviction…will not be retract…". (Mr. Jack)
"...Mr. Jack…please…can you give me more time…. I promise that I would work hard to pay the rest of the debt as soon as I could…". (Natasha)
"No, there are nothing that I can do, Ma'am…. the debt outstanding is too big…. you and I know…Mr. Azra, your husband…would always going to cause trouble…. he is a drunkard and a junkie! there is no way you are able to pay this debt in time….". (Mr. Jack)
".…. I'm Sorry, Mr. Jack…". (Natasha)
"Hmm…this can't be helped anymore or changed, Mrs. Azra…. the decisions in final…. you as a wife should earn more money to pay his debt…. or not…just control your husband...I thought that boy would change when we married him…yet, he is rowdy as always! Humph!". (Mr. Jack)
".…. I'm Sorry, Mr. Jack…but, please stop talking about my Husband like that, Sir….". (Natasha)
Both of them knows that Natasha was not to blame for all this debt, but such is the nature of this world. The man when is connected to a woman, when it comes to the sort of family matter the blame would always be from the woman, and the treatment will be even worse, if she was an undesirable woman. Stupid logic, but that is the way it is, Natasha knew that begging was useless by now, but there is no harm in trying she thought, and when the Town Treasurer started to bad mouth her husband, she would never stand to sit silently.
"Hmph! at least you have the backbone to stand up for your man honor…. anyway…remember 145 coins left…. until you paid this debt…you and your husband will not be allowed to live here…. now off you go…". (Mr. Jack)
Scowling, Natasha left the town office with a heavy heart, tomorrow she and Azra had to leave town, she knows that Azra would surely be upset, tonight she might have to cower and bleed in the corner, it was a haunting thought for her, all she hope was the 3 coins that she brought would ease his mood a little bit, he might go out to drink again, countless harrowing thought went through her mind as she slowly trudges back to her home. But the thought of that home that she was coming back to where her married house that she shared with her husband, it was small happiness for her.
"it's fine…. it's all going to be fine…I have my beloved waiting for me….and we will be together no matter what…. Sigh~…I may need to get him from the bar again…. I just hope, he would stop drinking….". (Natasha)
Natasha only wanted to hope and dream for a good thing, convincing herself that perhaps when she gets home, everything would just be a happy and loving home. It was a twisted kind of love for her, but to her what mattered is it was love at the end of the day.
"Huh? why is there a smoke…coming out of the house? oh no! the house is burning! Why, Azra! why!".
As she was nearing her home, she noticed a small trail of smoke coming out of the top of the house, panic sets in, afraid that her husband might want to burn the house again. That man doesn't know how to cook and before there was a time where he, in a feat of drunkenness and anger, he once tried to burn down the house. With all sort of negativity running inside her head, Natasha gripped her bag tight and ran as fast as she can. And as she arrived at the door, she roughly swung the door curtain open.
"Honey! please stop!!…don't burned the house!!…Please!!!....". (Natasha)
"Huh? um…. welcome home?". (Azra)