After the school closed, Roji returned to the home. Sometimes, because she would play on the way with her friends, she couldn’t reach the home on time. For behaving this way, Roji had received a scolding from her mother just a while ago. That is why she is currently making sure to be deeply mindful of this and has returned to the boat exactly on time.
After arriving at the home, she casually threw her books onto the sleeping bed and put them away. There was no one—neither her mother nor her father—present on the boat. In Roji’s estimation, they had probably gone to work in the fields. She thought to herself that since her parents weren’t around, she would have to do some chore or task today.
Roji took out the cold rice that had been kept in the pot and began to eat. There was no tasty curry or side dish to eat until her stomach was full. Roji squeezed two green chilies that had been harvested from a chili plant growing near the edge of the hearth, mixed them in, and ate her meal while tears and mucus ran from her eyes and nose (due to the spiciness). After finishing her meal, she threw the leftover rice wash/scraps near the hearth. Right away, the ducks that were being reared on the boat rushed over, gathered around, and began eating the leftover scraps. Roji then took some water from the river, washed the pot and utensils clean, and carefully stepped back onto the boat.
After finishing her meal, she came near her father’s “Hero” bicycle and checked to see if it was locked. She thought to herself that since her mother and father weren’t around today, she would absolutely ride this bicycle, no matter what.
While no one was around, Roji immediately grabbed her father’s bicycle. She reasoned that she would ride it for just a little while and bring it back, and her mother and father wouldn’t even notice. Roji pushed her father’s bicycle out to the village road, put one leg through the frame (riding “half-pedal”), and tried to ride it. She kept wobbling and panting as she tried to ride, but whenever she fell, she would just pick it up and try again. After trying repeatedly, she managed to ride it for about twenty meters at one point, but suddenly, she lost her balance and crashed heavily.
Upon falling, she began to cry. Her hand, knee, and chest were scraped, and blood was oozing out. Hearing her crying, a village woman named Sombari came running over and saw that Roji was badly pinned under the bicycle. One of her hands and both of her knees were scraped and bleeding. After pulling her out, Sombari watched over her for a moment and then called for her own young daughter, Nerswn. Within moments of being called by her mother’s loud shouts, Nerswn came running over.
Sombari gave instructions to her daughter Nerswn and said:
“Go quickly, run to the field and tell Roji’s mother and father that Roji fell on the road while riding the bicycle. Tell them that all of Roji’s hands and legs are completely scraped up.”
Seeing the situation and hearing her mother’s instructions, Nerswn became deeply anxious. Looking back and forth between her mother and Roji, she asked:
“Where, Mother?”
“Over there in the eastern field. They are making a bamboo fence where the pumpkins are planted. Go and call them quickly!”
“Okay, Mother.”
Just as her mother had instructed, Nerswn ran swiftly toward the field and arrived there. She told Roji’s mother and father that Roji had fallen with the bicycle, and that her hands and legs were all scraped up and bleeding heavily. Leaving their work immediately, Roji’s mother and father came running back. By the time they arrived, a village man named Somdon had already lifted Roji up. Sombari had taken some goat droppings from the roadside, crushed them, and applied them to Roji’s wounds. Roji was still sobbing softly, breathing heavily as she cried. As soon as Roji’s mother, Rwisumwi, arrived, she began asking questions.
“How did this happen? How did she fall from the bicycle? Who was riding the bicycle anyway?”
Sombari, while gently pressing down on the crushed goat droppings on the wounds, replied:
“She was riding it herself. She was riding her father’s very tall bicycle from underneath (the frame). She was pinned underneath the bicycle and crying; it was Swmdwn who came and lifted her up. If no one had seen her, she would have just kept crying like this.”
Hearing that she had been riding her father’s bicycle, Rwisumwi immediately flew into a rage. Stepping forward, she slapped her daughter two or three times on her back and scolded her.
“She actually went and rode her father’s bicycle? Is she a boy or what, trying to ride a bicycle meant for men? She won’t listen even when told ‘no’. How many times do you have to be told to understand?”
Even as she hit her once more, Rwisumwi kept speaking furiously to her daughter:
“The more she is told ‘no’, the more she does it. Now have you gotten your proper punishment?”
Roji began to cry even louder in pain and distress.
Rwisumwi continued to beat her out of sheer anger.
“Hurry, get on the boat. Are you still crying? Nothing serious has happened, nothing at all; you just fell while riding a bicycle. Get on the boat quickly. And don’t cry anymore, keep completely quiet,” the father said as he quickly started walking back toward the boat.
Roji stood up and began walking with a heavy limp. Her father checked the bicycle, which he had kept properly maintained, to see what had happened to it or what was broken. He noticed that the front mudguard of the bicycle was badly dented and bent. Thankfully, it wasn’t completely broken, but it was wobbling loosely. The handlebar had become heavily twisted; using his own strength, he forced it straight again. He noticed that the bicycle chain had come off and tried to put it back on. After fixing the chain, he looked at his hands and saw that they were covered in sticky black bicycle grease. Wiping his hands slightly on the ground, he began pushing the bicycle back toward the boat. Right behind him was Rwisumwi. Walking ahead of her mother, Rajia kept limping along. Roji looked exactly like a weak, frail patient who was finally being discharged from a hospital after being kept there for a very long illness. Watching her walk like this, Rwisumwi kept grumbling:
“Hurry up, walk faster, nothing serious happened to you. You just wouldn’t listen when told ‘no’. A girl trying to ride a man’s bicycle! This is the exact punishment for not listening to prohibitions. Just let me catch you riding it one more time…”
The father kept pushing the bicycle along in total silence. Roji, too, kept walking in absolute silence. Rwisumwi kept glancing back and forth—looking at her daughter’s limping stride, and then looking at her husband as if it was all his fault.
“And the father is no better! Why on earth did you leave the bicycle without locking it? If you had locked it and hidden the key, would something like this have ever happened?”
The father felt deeply hurt and sorrowful inside, keeping entirely quiet. He felt completely unable to look them in the face. Even though he wanted to say something, he could not find the courage. He silently reflected to himself, walking along with a heavy posture. The village of Salguri was…
…just the other day, Gaida’s young daughter, Maguram, got her leg caught in a bicycle chain and ended up severely fracturing her foot. Fortunately, Roji’s injury wasn’t quite that severe.
As he slowly pushed the bicycle along, Lavathaia reflected to himself: If only I had left the bicycle locked, this incident would never have happened. Every single day, Roji’s mother stays entirely preoccupied with household chores, rarely considering how easily children can get their hands on dangerous, hazardous items. Children cannot think ahead or understand the consequences; the moment they see something new, they immediately want to handle it, touch it with their hands, and play with it if it seems like a toy. They mistakenly view even dangerous objects as fun playthings to be enjoyed.
Upon arriving at the boat, Rwisumwi continued to grumble at her daughter while tending to her wounds. She applied medicine to Roji’s scrapes and lectured her extensively, trying to make her understand. She strictly warned her never to indulge in such reckless, hasty antics again. Later that night, as it was time to sleep, she continued to gently counsel her daughter, embracing her tightly until she finally lulled her to sleep, before drifting off to sleep herself shortly after.