It was an exciting opportunity, I was moving to San Antonio, Texas on a 2 year secondment for the multinational company I was currently working at. I was born and raised in Delhi and I had not ventured very far. It was always a dream of mine to visit the great United States of America.
I was staying in an apartment provided by the company and I tried to settle in with my new colleagues. Initially I found them to be a little brash and I did not quite understand the American humour but I tried to fit in. There were a few Indian colleagues and I found myself gravitating towards them.
They were organising an open day for the company and they were looking for volunteers to help out. I was always involved in work activities in Delhi and I signed up to get involved here. I left my number so that they could contact me if they needed any help.
I never received a call but the open day seemed to go well from what my colleagues had said. I was disappointed to not be involved and a part of me felt it was because I was Indian and with a name like Sunita Ahuja, I was not the Sarah or Michelle that they liked.
There were a few other Indian colleagues and we created a small group over time. There were 5 of us and we looked out for each other at work and spent lunch time together. There was me, Rohini, Smita, Anil and Aamir.
After work I only spent time with the girls and they had my telephone number. I always had a strange relationship with boys. I was only 22 but in all my life I has never had a boyfriend and I always lacked confidence when it came to boys.
I was brought up in a conservative Brahmin Hindu family and my mother was very strict. She would often warn me of boys and their bad intentions so I was always wary of any boys that wanted to talk to me outside of work or studying. I made it a rule to never give my number to boys. The other problem that caused me issues was my looks, I had an acne problem in my teen years but that now cleared up and I gave my skin meticulous care making sure it was smooth. I had a dark complexion and my mother would often scold me for staying out in the sun too long. This caused me significant issues with my self-esteem. My mother was against me travelling to America but I wanted to pursue my dream and I felt a part of me wanted to escape the controlling clutches of my mother.
I settled into my job and my life in the United States. I would often meet with Smita and Rohini on the weekends. We were all young and living alone in America.
We would often talk about all sorts of things but often when were drunk the conversation would turn to boys. Rohini had a boyfriend in India and she planned on marrying him once her secondment finished.
Smita had broken up with her boyfriend before she left for America and she had dated a few of the white people in the office but said she never had a good experience. We then turned attentions to the boys in our group and Smita blurted out in her drunken state, "They are both cute. Maybe Aamir if I was pushed to make a decision."
We were all giggly and laughing and I agreed, "Yes. Aamir certainly is cuter."
It was just playful talk between friends and the truth was that I would never be able to have anything with Aamir. He was good looking and cute but my mother's voice was always in the back of my head, "You are Brahmin Hindu. It is an unforgiveable crime to marry outside of your caste or religion."
Aamir was a Muslim and that would be the worst crime for me to commit in my mother's eyes. Anil was a Dalit and my mother would hate him more. Hr was the first Dalit I had ever met. I probably would never find someone to please my mother and I never really tried.
It was the weekend and I was restless in bed, tossing and turning. My phone then rang, it was late at around 12.00am.
I looked at the screen and it read, "Private Number."
I wondered who could be calling at this time. As it was private number I thought it might be my mother from India and I decided to answer.
I answered the phone, "Hello."
There was no response, just heavy breathing.
I tried again, "Hello. Who is this?"
There was still no response and just heavy breathing.
I became nervous and my own breathing became heavier. The phone was all of a sudden disconnected without any explanation.
I was just left in shock for a few minutes, who would call me like this and why they would call me. I tried to sleep thinking who it could be. Only the girls had my number and I wondered who it could be.
I called Smita as I was unable to sleep. She answered groggily, "It is 2.00am Sunita. What could be so urgent?"
I was still breathing heavily trying to get all my words out at once, "Someone called me. They were just breathing on the phone and said nothing. I don't know what is going on. Did you give my number out to anyone?"
Smita began to laugh, "You probably had a bad line with India. Or maybe it was one of the boys trying to get attention. Perhaps it was Aamir after he heard you say he was cute."
She was so annoying, "Shut up Smita. The boys do not have my number. Did you give them my number?"
Smita seemed surprised, "Of course not. It was probably nothing and you should sleep now."
It put my mind to ease speaking to Smita and I was able to sleep.
The next night I was trying to sleep and at 12.00am my phone rang again. It was from a private number again. I looked over at my phone thinking about whether I should answer it but the need to discover who it was too strong. I picked it up and asked, "Who is this?"
There was just heavy breathing on the other line. The breathing sounded like it was coming from a man so I asked, "How did you get my number?"
There was no answer immediately but then I heard a grumble as the person cleared their throat.
I could feel the excitement in my body as I listened intently to the person on the other side of the line and then they said, "I want to fuck your tight cunt. I want to cream the insides of your cunt. I want you to scream my name as I fucking pound into your horny cunt."