Arranged Marriage Ch. 06

Megan told him he had to ensure that Anitha and Lakshmi could not smell a rat. However, Karthik did not have to make any effort for that. Lakshmi stank up the whole place as she walked in. She ordered him to get his first whiff and the stench destroyed any good feeling he might have had. The closest he could associate it with was something dead that rotted in water and the thought of sniffing and licking them made his eyes water. Anitha also retched all the way back home while driving but it was a small price to pay for torturing Karthik. When they reached their house basement however, all hell broke loose.

"Freeze! Hands where I can see them." Anitha looked around to see five police officers with their guns trained on her Car. Then, a female FBI officer walked forward and told them all to come out with their hands on their head. The sight of the naked man shocked them and they ordered him to go get dressed. Then, she read Anitha and Lakshmi their rights.

"Look, there is some mistake." Anitha started.

"Please, I came here only last week." Lakshmi shouted. She did not realise that that itself was a black mark.

Once Karthik was dressed and came back, Anitha and Lakshmi knew it was him. They were seeing someone new. It was not just him wearing clothes. There was a swagger in his walk they had never seen before. Karthik was informed that they did not have a warrant on him. However, he was still a material witness and, unless he answered their questions satisfactorily in the station, he would be arrested as well. They asked him if he wanted to call a lawyer and he called Megan's lawyer friend. Out of curiosity, the first question asked by the lead officer in the station was why had he been naked. Karthik started crying. He told her about all that he went through, and the officer was sympathetic. She told him he was free to go but not to leave the city.

Anitha and Lakshmi were both arrested and remanded. Anitha, in her typical arrogant fashion demanded to be allowed a lawyer. She called her company lawyer.

"Hey! It's me, Anitha. I don't know what this mess is. Can you come help me tomorrow?"

"Are you serious? Anitha, I am coming tomorrow. Not to help you but to serve you for embezzlement on behalf of the company. Do not call me without your own lawyer present."

With her one phone call gone, Anitha was denied any other help. Lakshmi called her company as well. Once she mentioned FBI, however, they made up an excuse and cut the call. Since they had sent money to a radical group, they were both denied any rights and FBI invoked the national security act to hold them for a while. Three days of smelly holding cells later, they were finally presented with a lawyer. A pro bono public defender who looked as though he needed help with spelling law. Anitha said she had money for a better lawyer. The FBI told her that all her accounts were frozen. In the presence of the public defender, they informed her about the charges. They told her that she had sent the money to a known front for RAI. Unless they could name the people to whom they had sent the money, they had no choice but to charge them for terrorism. They were remanded to custody in all of 10 minutes.

Terrorism charges! What in blazes was happening? Anitha and Lakshmi were completely alone. They had not been allowed any visitors so far. Lakshmi tried to tell them that Karthik was behind this. The officers laughed it away. They informed them that, even if they could give them one name from the RAI group, it would help them. However, what were they going to say? Two week in federal remand changed them. They were bullies outside. But, in the federal centre, they were nothing. The first day itself, they got a first-hand experience of being punished themselves. From tormentors to being tormented, the transformation was difficult. Anitha and Lakshmi, confident of their fighting abilities, fought back on their first day and it was a big mistake. The numbers brought them down easily and they were now the main targets. The second night, their clothes had been removed for them while they were sleeping. When the officers saw them half-naked, they asked what was going on. Knowing it was the only way to save themselves, they did not tell them that it was involuntary. They were then beaten up by the guards and warned of dire consequences if they mentioned it to their attorneys.

The arresting officers repeatedly interrogated them and sometimes, it was for hours at a stretch. They both wanted to collar someone big in the organisation and were ruthless in the way they handled Anitha and Lakshmi. They both cried and cried and repeatedly told they were framed. The officers could also see that now. However, they were not, simply not, going to turn them loose. They had been hounded by the press for a long time about not getting anyone from the RAI group. They were not about to release the only gift Horse they had got. Two arrests sounded way better than two mistaken arrests and releases, anyway. They told them that unless they gave some name, they would be spending the next thirty years in jail. Anitha and Lakshmi both spent sleepless nights in custody contemplating their lives. They prayed their lawyer would do something. However, with their funds frozen, all they got was a 2-bit public defender who could not do much. The PD could hardly go to court and tell them the fairy tale which the two women were spinning. Not to mention, he already got an anonymous call telling him it was in his best interest to show minimal effort in this case.

Anitha and Lakshmi bawled into tears repeatedly. They knew what was going on. The worm had done something. They did not know what or how, but they were sure that was what happened. The arresting officers did look at him once. However, one of them, the one who actually arrested the two women and brought them here, remembered how she had seen him naked and how he had regaled his story of enslavement. They had already posted an officer to watch him. Karthik, knowing it, was virtually in house arrest and went out only to get food and supplies. Rather than getting angry on the officers, he actually invited them in once or twice for lunch. They could do a better job of watching over him inside the house. However, it was just an excuse for Karthik to "accidentally" play an old footage of himself being whipped and shocked completely naked by the two women. The arresting officers, both women, hated Anitha and Lakshmi even more once she came to know of this. Whores like them ruined things for all women and they resolved to destroy them.

It was two weeks before Karthik was allowed to see Anitha and Lakshmi. By that time, they were in a state where they were actually happy to see him. At least, one familiar face amid the hell they were in. Karthik took one look at them and was disgusted. The treatment they were getting was nothing compared to the way they had treated him for the past 5 months. Yet, they were in a much worse mental state than him. He sat across from them, disgust and contempt clearly visible in his face.

"Karthik, please. You have to help us. Please, please. We are begging our lives from you."

"Yes, Karthik. We are very sorry for everything. We will make it up to you." Lakshmi pleaded with him. "I will let you do anything you want to me"

Karthik could not help but smile. He had these bitches right where he wanted them. And, just like them, he would show no mercy. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. He could not give even a small leeway to them. His continued freedom was now predicated on their destruction. And so, he spoke.

"I need to speak to Anitha alone. No lawyers. And, not you either."

The two begged and pleaded again. It was, oh, so nice to be on the receiving end of tears and pleas. He let them go on for half a minute before raising his hand.

"If Anitha and I are not alone in the next minute, I am leaving."

Lakshmi and the lawyer made themselves scarce hastily. The public defender had another client to meet anyway. Lakshmi and Anitha were being hit with the full force. The combined force of the overbearing US justice and the apathy of the public defenders. Lakshmi stood outside. Karthik was already briefed by a lawyer friend - or, more accurately, a lawyer slave - of Megan's. He clearly told him that any discussion he had with Anitha would not be overheard and Karthik fully vented himself.

"You fucked up. I was more than ready to be a house husband doing all the house work and serving you hand-in-foot while you go work outside. You could have lived the rest of your life happily. Why did you do this?"

"I am really sorry, Karthik. My dad, you have no idea how he treated my mother. That made me hate all-"

"Oh! Stop yakking. Your dad did not strip your mother in front of strangers. And, in any case, it was rhetorical. I have no intention of listening to your sob story."

"Please, Karthik. Just get me out of here. I will make things up to you somehow. You want my house, take it. I will be your naked slave. Just get me out of here."

"Your house is attached to the investigation. I cannot even come out of the house without three officers watching me. Plus, it is under surveillance. Your bank accounts are frozen. I cannot touch one penny of it. Why the hell would I want it? I am here only for one reason. Do it, and things won't become worse."

Anitha looked up, confused. Karthik smiled. It was this feeling that was tearing him apart every waking moment in the last 5 months. How on Earth could things get worse?

"The RAI member to whose account your money went, she can come in and testify. She will tell in court that the money you gave was for a bombing last month that killed four people. Instead of abetting terrorism, you would actually be charged with 4 murders and serve four consecutive life terms. I can arrange that."

Anitha was speechless. 30 years in federal prison was already making her suicidal. Life terms? 4 life terms?

"Something occurred to me. Lakshmi could just say she sent the money based on your orders. She had no idea who it was going to, etc. That way, she can turn state's witness and will be let off with a small sentence. Looking back, it was she who started all this in that park 6 months ago. I don't want her to go easy. I need her to be destroyed too. SO, it is up to you. You need to turn to state first and tell them you sent the money knowing it was an RAI account. I will even give you a name. You can tell the name and the story will jell. Don't worry, the RAI activist will never be caught. With that, you can bargain a 20 year sentence and, with good behaviour, you both can come out in 15 years. Maybe. This is my one and only offer."

Anitha, crying like a child, took it. Looking back, she realised she deserved it. The way her father treated her mother was no excuse for what she did to Karthik. She also realised she got carried away. When Megan offered to use him as her slave as well, she had no idea Karthik would be degraded this badly. Karthik's meek, submissive obedience had made her get carried away and pushed him to horrific degradations. She never realised that, beneath that attitude, there was a shark. That shark had now gobbled her up and spit her out. There was nothing she could do about it.

On his part, Karthik did a few things that she never expected for her. Firstly, he had heavily blocked her parents' arrival. With Anitha, the sole breadwinner's earnings down the drain, they had to wait for him to send some money and he did that only after a while. Plus, he deliberately messed up the VISA application so that they could stay in the US for only three weeks. Karthik needed them out until he could permanently fix things. He was thoroughly reamed by his own parents for messing things up with the VISA but he did not care. They could come back in three months. However, he did time their arrival and departure so that they could see her sentencing. With Anitha accepting the plea, the case was done in all of ten minutes. The judge ruled on 20 year federal prison sentences for both. The scream from Anitha's parents could be heard miles away. Karthik calmly gave a contemptuous look to both as they were escorted away. Once Anitha's parents returned to India, Karthik told his parents that he would stay there for four more months, until his own dependant VISA would be up for renewal, ostensibly to help Anitha mount an appeal. In reality, this was Megan's payment. He resumed as a full-time naked slave to Megan, Gen and the four neighbour women. He put forth only one condition that the feet-smelling and licking would be removed. Megan accepted with a counter-condition that he would now do their chores as well. Karthik accepted.

The six women did not lift a finger for the next four months. Karthik did all their housework. Their houses were spotless. Their clothes were thoroughly washed, steamed and pressed. Their toilets smelled like roses. Karthik was serving them so well that they started rewarding him. Initially, his duties also included getting them off with his tongue. However, grateful to his thorough servitude and, of course, his gigantic penis, they started having sex with them. Sex with 5 different women - since Gen was exclusively into women - for four months! Karthik enjoyed himself. His sexual experience was heavily enhanced with the thought of Anitha being someone's bitch in prison and Karthik was in seventh heaven. The money he was sent by his parents - basically, the money he had given them before coming to US - was promptly handed over to Megan. Megan insisted that he would get the money in cash. Then, naked, it was his job to carry it in his mouth and drop it at her feet. Megan cheerfully took the money and used it to heavily reduce her education loan that she had taken for correspondence law course.

He did visit Anitha twice. Anitha was broken, defeated and finished. She had wilfully submitted to one of the prison dykes and was following her around like a puppy doing all her bidding for her. The prison work was equally shared among all inmates. However, Anitha had to do her share and also her master's share as well. Anitha actually felt Karthik was showing great kindness in coming to visit her. Karthik asked her to sign the divorce papers and Anitha obliged. Karthik told her that he would ensure her parents would be in US as frequently as possible so that they could visit her. Anitha, tearfully, asked him if he would contact her in some way. Karthik laughed in her face, told her to drop dead and walked away with his head held high. He thought he heard a sob but he really could not bring himself to feel sorry for her. Two weeks later, Karthik banged Megan one last time and left back to India.