(here be boobies)

I walked down the road white with dust, and found Bilu leaning back in a pile of construction boulder.

She wore a soft blue printed Tee above jeans and looked up as I came towards her. I waved. She nodded at me. A truck roared past us, rasing up a wall of dust.

"Have you no shame?" Bilu asked as I reached her, "Asking a girl to come with you to a place like this?"

"Well, you came," I pulled the invitation card from my pocket and handed it to her, "so you can't complain."

"What is—" Bilu read the card as she joined my walk, "Oh."

"Shalik told you yet?" I asked, turning a corner into a alley, no more than four feet across and wet.

"Yeah," Bilu folded the card and shoved it in her pocket, "Heard you're gonna marry Reshma."

Wait, she knew?

"Yeah," my foot stepped on something wet and mushy. I ignored it.

Bilu said nothing. She squeezed past me to the lead.

We turned a left beside an old moss covered building, to a slightly wider alley, inches raised from the previous one. A group of three girls stood near a door; wearing marginally less than girls usually do. A man, middle aged and shirtless, walked down the lane. One of the girls blew him a kiss.

I realized we've entered Vorapukuria.

"Why do you never come to class?" Bilu suddenly asked.

"What?" I had heard what she said but her question baffled me.

"You haven't gone to class for more than a week," Bilu said again, "Why don't you come to class?"

"Look I, uh," I pinched the bridge of my nose as we passed the group of three girls, "there's a lot going on."

Bilu just shook her head, "Mahbub sir asked about you. Asked where the Taal gaach of the class has gone to."

The class nickname sounded to me like a echo of another millennia. I have been going about my plans for almost a year, but only recently have things been as hectic.

"I'll be back soon," I promised.

Bilu said nothing.

It when we reached the electric transformer of the alley that she pointed towards an open door by the road door and said, "She's here."

Following her in, I was immediately hit by the perfume in the air. Heavy. Oppressive.

The interior resembled one of those central opening you find in old mansions, only smaller. And so much more crowded.

A dozen or so girls sat around the opening, not relaxed, but tired. Beyond them were the rooms. Some were locked and some opened. It was daytime but it was dark in there. The murk of a darkness that fed on meaning and joy, leaving a twitching shell of a person at it's wake. A child sat in the north corner, silent panic on her face.

Some girl's stirred as I came in, but they looked at Bilu and settled themselves.

"Bilu apa?" One of the girls, seemingly the seniormost, came forward.

"Is Ghuri here?" Bilu asked. Her voice held nothing except the words she said.

One of the others, a tall girl with ruffled long hair and copper brown skin came forward, "Me."

"This is your customer," Bilu shoved me towards her. I stumbled a step and when I got balanced I saw Ghuri looking right at me.

She licked her lips, "I charge five hundred for one session. Full pay in advance."

I gave her the money. She folded it with great care and put it in the knot of her Salwar Kamiz.

"Come with me, please," she grabbed my hand and pulled.

A man with passed us, his zipper down and pubic hair showing. He whistled at us but neither of us responded.

Ghuri pulled me into a room that smelled like urine and fish market and let go to turn on the lights. The room was ordered but not tidy. The walls were an obnoxious pink and some clothes were crumpled up in the corner.

"Sit on the bed," she said quietly as she closed the door. I did that. There was a magazine by the pillow. I picked it up. It was a Shandesh. A very recent issue. There was a clown dancing on the cover.

"I read that," Ghuri said. I looked up—

Ohmygodtits!

She had taken her Salwar Kamiz off and let her evil, beautiful, smooth and sadistic lumps of fat free. The breasts stared at me with angry brown eyes.

My neck couldn't decide whether to look away left or look away right. It just vibrated in place.

Ghuri snorted, and held one of her breasts up, "You paid for these, you know."

My nervous system finally snapped back in line and I looked down, shutting my eyes, "I didn't think it through."

Ghuri unbolted the door, "You can run away anytime you want. No refund, though."

I didn't break for it. Barely.

She stood silent for a moment. Then I heard footsteps approach me. Then, with a creak from the bed, she sat down beside me.

I felt a hand grab mine and pull it. It lifted it up, and then I felt my hand rest on something soft.

It took me a while to realize what it was.

And it took a longer while to pull away.

They're evil. I'm telling you.

"You're not here for the sex, are you?" Ghuri said, tilting her head.

Yes, ma'am, I blew up my boat; if you can't tell by the debris all around.

I raised my head and slowly opened my eyes.

She was sitting beside me, in her pajama bottoms, leaning towards me a little. Her boobs hung down.

Her boobs hung down.

Her boobs hung down.

Her boobs hung—

I forced myself to look up to her face.

She tilted her head and told me, "I know who you are."

I blinked.

"What do you mean—"

"People know you," Ghuri squared up to me, "Whether you like that or not."

Boobs.

"How?" I shook my head.

"Catcalling the girls in Komlapara," she scooted a little closer to me, "And just that night there's a Ruckus in Shamshir's warehouse. The next day, we hear the place is under your dad's."

I just bit my lip, with half my mind. The other half was trying it's best not to look at the boobs.

Ghuri snorted, "I imagined you differently, though."

She picked up the magazine and flipped through the pages, "I also know exactly why you're here."

As if on que, there was a shrill cry outside.

Ghuri looked up from the magazine, at something outside this room and my field of vision.

"The new girl," she said before getting back to her book.

I swallowed.

"So, what are you gonna do?" I asked.

"What are you gonna do?" She dropped the magazine and leaned back on the bed.

"Have sex?" I tried to go with the plan.

"Sure," Ghuri stood up and started to slip out of her pajamas.

"Wait," I looked away again, "Aren't you pregnant?"

Ghuri stopped. Then she looked at me with a smile.

"I am."

"Then isn't it gonna be bad for your baby if we..." I had said the word only a moment ago, but I couldn't do it now. Embarrassment is a weird emotion, "You know."

There was a ruffle of clothes, "Yes, it is."

"Please pull up your pants," I pleaded, "Please."

There was little pause. Then I heard the rustle of clothing again. When the stopped, I looked back to find that she's in her pajamas.

She studied my face, and then she pulled her feet on the bed.

"This is a very bad place," she remarked once she settled.

"Okay," was all I could say.

"But it's a place," she sighed, her breasts falling down, "The streets are not a place."

I said nothing.

"You have no idea exactly what..." She bit her lip, "What monstrous things we have to do every day to keep this place for ourselves. Just to stay off the streets."

I remembered the child curled up outside. Haunted by shadows that didn't hide her from monsters.

"I came here— I was sold here when I was twelve," Ghuri continued, "Men who come here are very eager for that— What do they call it?— green coconut."

What do you say to that?

"I'm sorry," I tried.

"You're sorry?" Ghuri smirked, "What a fucking joke."

I could say nothing. But Ghuri wasn't stopping.

"The only reason I'm still alive," Ghuri pointed at the door, "is because of those women outside."

"They protected you?" I asked.

"They taught me how to survive. They taught me what I have to do to survive."

Ghuri leaned on her hands and towards me. She chewed on her words, "Every girl who bleeds here is my sister. Every Hizra child who ends up here for no other reason than the bodies they are born with, is my brother. So do what you will to me, mister. I'm not bringing my sisters into this."

We sat in silence. Her face was inches from mine. I looked down, and noticed that the breasts that I thought were smooth were infact not. There were tiny red and white crescents marking the skin. Nail marks, I imagine.

"I'm trying to help a friend," I finally said.

Ghuri moved back and sat straight, "Then I hope you find a way to help them. But I'm not letting you harm my sisters."

I inhaled slowly.

What will she do if I threaten to beat her? To kill her child before it's birth?

I glanced at her face. She took something away from that single glance and her jaw hardened.

I can't.

Money, or no money. Reshma or no Reshma. I can't do this. Fatigue slowly crept down my body as my shoulder let loose and slumped.

Ghuri scoffed, and then asked impatiently, "Are you still gonna fuck me or not?"

I shook my head. Ghuri let out a little sigh.

"You better get out, then," she got out of bed and picked up her Salwar, "Unless you just gave me cash to talk to me."

I walked out the door while she was pulling her dress over her head.

Inside, it had been a relative decade. But outside, it was still high noon. The hallway I took was dark, and filled with noises coming from the adjacent rooms.

I passed the courtyard, the sun dazzling my eyes. The girls still sitting there turned to watch me go. No one made any gesture. They knew who I was. I looked to the dark corner where the child sat when I went in.

She wasn't there.

I came out through the door and found Bilu. She was just standing there, leaning on the wall. She stared at me as I came out, unblinking.

"Hey, Bilu," I raised a hand.

She didn't, "Got what you came for?"

"Yeah."

"She didn't make a noise?" She walked towards me, a hand to her back. Maybe sore from leaning on a wall for too long.

"No, she—" I blinked, "wait, how did you—"

I didn't get to finish that sentence. Bilu was swinging something. I jumped, but it struck me in the ankle. My foot moved from beneath me and I hit the ground.

I coughed to the impact, and then to the ball of pain in my ankle. It felt like someone took a electric drill and made a hole in the bone.

I looked up to see Bilu holding a metal rod. Her eyes told me that all words will bleed away from her ears.

"Tell me, Rashed," She took a step towards me, "Did you accomplish the mission? Was it fun? Gonna get a cookie for daddy for being a good boy?"

I scrambled back, only increasing the pain in my foot. There was obviously a misunderstanding here.

Then foot slammed down on my shoulder.

For a second I saw black. A veiny and pulsating black that went over everything. Before I could recover from that, there was a kick to my stomach. I made a sound and curled up to my right, my subconscious reflex defending my important organs.

I noticed the figures standing around me. Large, but dressed. Hizras. Bilu probably riled them up.

"You probably think you're such a hero, right? Saving Reshma and all that," Bilu hissed as she came towards me, "Tell me, hero. Aren't you gonna get a cookie for helping a poor girl who's choices you took away?"

Well, there's the violent response father wanted. Why does it matter whether or not it was me initiating it?

Now all I need to do is come out in one piece.

(Hizra: Transgender folks. They are isolated in our society, so they form tight packs that run rackets. Because of the street life, they are often quite physically strong, and take the duty of protecting red light areas)