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face lost its color and she yelled for us to get into the house. John began collecting his things and this seemed to annoy her further. She ran out of the house and yelled at us. She had tears streaming down her face and she dragged both of us by the arm into the house.

As soon as we entered the house she shut the door and locked it. She leaned against the door with her back to it. John was still mad that he had to leave his things behind and screamed at Ma.

"I left my things outside, someone will steal them and I'll never be able to play cricket again with my friends. I hate you. I miss Papa so much. I wish he were here instead of you."

Ma's eyes were full. She came close to John and smacked him on the face. He ran upstairs and banged the door shut. She seemed nervous about something. She opened the window by the door slightly to see what was going on outside. She instantly shut the window and John came back down stairs. There was loud banging on the door. We could hear voices outside yelling and chanting slogans.

"Darwaza Kholo. Varna humko ise thod kar andar ana padega!"

We were huddled together and Ma wanted us to help her push the heavy dinning table against the door. John was scared; it was evident on his face. But he felt the need to be a man. Since Papa died he always thought of himself as the man of the house. I began crying and Ma held me close to her. She held her arms out for John. He came instantly to her and all of us prayed for a miracle to happen. The banging continued on the door and the windows. A little while later they began banging on the door at the back. Yelling similar things, screaming in Hindi:

"Dalo, jalaoo sab ko Jalaoo"

Ma had turned off all the lights. Slowly the flames started licking the house with an insatiable thirst. It got hotter and the flames got closer. Ma grabbed our hands and ran towards the door and tried to open it. The latch was too hot. She took the end of her pallu and undid the dead bolt. They were waiting for us. They knew we would eventually come out. They stood outside with swords and knives, heads turbaned in saffron cloth. Their foreheads were streaked with red holy powder. We were now in the middle of a deserted street. They came closer and closer making a large circle around us. Sweat dripping down their faces and madness about their being, they began pulling Ma away from us. They dragged her by her hair, slapped her and spat on her face.

"Sali chutiya! Darwaza khol nahin sakthi? Ham se panga lethi hai? Hum tujhe

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