Short story- Cute fights

I am a sub inspector at gomti nagar police station and also a mother of two lovely children , some times I get really tired to find balance between work and home, “i will apply for leave this Saturday” I thought while i was wearing my uniform. Suddenly I heard

“Thadddd” and then loud crying of ruhi my daughter , “ahhh they started again” I mumbled.

I went to their room ,ruhi was crying inconsolably and vansh her big brother was mocking her ,

“What happened ruhi ? Why are you crying ?” I made her sit in my lap and asked,

“Vansh bhaiya slapped me” ,she replied and flashed her left cheek in front of me which has became red , she started crying again.

Vansh why did you slapped your younger sister, I asked with a strictness in my voice

“She was not listening to me” ,vansh replied

I was getting late for my duty so I tried to console ruhi by giving her cookies, anyways this is their everyday routine, first they will fight and then will become friends again , I put her to sleep and asked vansh to not trouble ruhi and came out of their room and thought “these children and their cute fights” and smiled .

At police station –

I was engrossed in an important case file, suddenly a girl of almost 23 years of age came in front of me

She had a plaster on her left hand, several bruises on her face and body, as if someone had beaten her badly

“Domestic violence??” I enquired , as in my career I have seen many such cases .

She noded but didn’t speak a word

“Your husband or in laws??” I further enquired

She shook her head for a ‘no’ and said “mam I am unmarried”

“Who did this to you then ??”I asked surprisingly

“My brother” she replied

“What??? But why ?? “I had an uneasiness in my tone, what kind of brother beats her sister this badly,do their parents don’t teach them anything.

“Because I was not listening to him” she said and started sobbing.

I don’t know why but in her bruised face I saw glimpse of ruhi, as if she was sitting in front of me and was crying, I felt a pain in my heart,

I asked in low tone “since when all this started??”

“Since CHILDHOOD”, she replied.

“since CHILDHOOD” RUHI REPLIED

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