The Darya Nandkarni Misadventures Omnibus: Books 1-3

by Smita Bhattacharya

  ‘I can’t,’ the woman said piteously.

  ‘Drink,’ he ordered.

  ‘You should leave all this,’ the woman said.

  ‘I can’t,’ Parthiv replied.

  ‘So, we are both tied to our fates,’ Sapna replied. ‘Like the elephants.’

  Darya didn’t hear what Parthiv said next. He had closed the door.

  The Elephant’s Tale

  … as he was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not.

  He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘when they are very young and much smaller, we use the same size of rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.’

  He was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

  ‘Why would they do that?’ he asked again as if repeating the question would solve the conundrum in his mind.

  The trainer then said what he thought the man might understand.

  ‘Because it knows no other way. It is trapped in its mind and cannot escape.’

  A Bad Man

  The next morning, Darya noticed that although Veda’s mood was upbeat, there were dark circles under her eyes.

  ‘Damn! I was knocked out. Didn’t even hear you come in. When did you get back? Who were you with?’ Darya asked, then added wryly. ‘And looks like you didn’t get any sleep last night.’

  Veda winked. ‘All in good time, my friend,’ she chirped. ‘Some things are worth waiting for.’

  Darya sniggered. It was only with effort that she was holding back her questions, hoping Veda would reveal everything to her soon.

  ‘All in good time,’ Veda repeated, giving a playful tweak to Darya’s shoulder.

  The bubble of good mood was soon to be pricked.

  An hour later, when Darya and Veda walked past the reception to go out, they heard Viktor call out to them.

  ‘Hello,’ he said, his voice low and throaty. Like a pencil scratching on wood.

  They pretended not to hear at first. He called again. Veda shot Darya a warning glance when she hesitated at the door.

  ‘Don’t!’ Veda hissed.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Darya whispered.

  ‘No, don’t,’ Veda said, sounding weary. ‘We’ll be late. And what does he want anyway?’

  ‘Let’s find out.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘It’s rude,’ Darya protested.

  ‘He doesn’t care.’

  Darya stepped into the reception. Muttering under her breath, Veda followed.

  The room was dark. The curtains were drawn. It smelled of fresh wood varnish. Darya imagined this was what a funeral home must feel like: damp, cold, repellently sweet-smelling.

  ‘He’s not happy,’ Viktor said, peering at them from the shadows. The table lamp threw a jade glow near where he sat.

  Is he talking to us? Does he even know we’re in the room? Darya wondered because he wasn’t looking at them. His face was tilted slightly to one side. His eyes were cast downwards, staring at the corner of the wall.

  ‘Eh?’ Darya asked. ‘Who?’

  He flashed a shy smile. He had heard. He was talking to them.

  Viktor gestured at the wall.

  ‘What are we supposed to be seeing?’ Veda whispered to Darya.

  Darya shrugged. She had no idea.

  As far as she could see, there was nothing there, except for a wall cupboard, a few empty wooden brackets stacked next to it and a calendar from 2008 with an insipid landscape hanging from a nail. Several face-shaped wet patches formed the rest of the wall—handouts from the rains.

  Veda mouthed the words, Let’s leave. Please.

  Darya nodded and turned to tell Viktor.

  Immediately, her throat closed. She gulped, unable to speak.

  His eyes were fixed on her—small, beady, black and glittering eerily in the coarse canvas of the room.

  What is wrong with this man? Darya thought nervously. Veda’s words came back to her… Not as stupid as he looks.

  She watched his lips move, ever so slightly.

  ‘Make him smile,’ he said.

  ‘Who?’ Darya asked, concurrently noticing that Veda had moved closer to the door.

  Raising one hand, Viktor pointed, at the wooden hummingbird, two-feet tall, placed on the right corner of his desk. The spectacles and cap were perched back on it. A pair of slippers lay directly beneath, on the floor: the same beach-style grey flip-flops Viktor himself wore, but a size bigger.

  She didn’t expect a sensible reply, yet she asked, because she was morbidly curious, ‘Make him smile? Why?’

  A hideous leer played on Viktor’s lips when he answered, ‘Daniel can help you if you let him.’

  A trickle of fear coursed through Darya. Had Veda heard what he’d just said? But she was out through the door now.

  ‘He makes angels,’ Viktor said solemnly.

  ‘Daniel?’ Darya prompted.

  Dreamily, Viktor continued, not appearing to have heard Darya, ‘Debbie says he’s dangerous and I shouldn’t let him in. But he comes and goes as he pleases.’

  ‘Daniel comes here?’ Darya asked, dimly realizing her voice had risen.

  ‘When he comes next, he will come for you.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Darya had the urge to shake Viktor. Why couldn’t he speak clearly? Had Debbie lied and was Daniel not dead? Why would she do that?

  But Viktor had dismissed his audience. Leaning low, he took out the guest register and started turning the pages. The sheets crackled between his fingers, an annoying din in the deathly silence of the room.

  ‘Viktor?’

  Darya had no idea how long she stood there, finally stirring when Veda hissed, ‘We need to go.’

  Viktor paid them no heed as they walked out of the room.

  ‘What a weirdo,’ Darya said, once she had recovered her breath.

  Veda grunted in response.

  ‘Did you hear what he said?’ Darya asked.

  ‘What did he say?’ Veda asked.

  ‘He was talking as if Daniel were still alive,’ Darya muttered. ‘Is he really?’ Her voice shook as she said the words. What Darya had witnessed inside was surely a man not all there, but whom Darya had seen the day before was quite someone else… a clever man, someone in control.

  Then, another thought struck her.

  Could it have been Daniel that Veda saw the other day, and not Viktor, watching the video? So… could there be two of them? Could it be that Daniel was not dead at all?

  Veda gave a shrug which seemed almost a shudder. ‘I don’t know how long I can go on like this,’ she said. ‘Did you see the black device he took out along with the register, which he put back in the drawer again?’

  Darya nodded.

  ‘That was the one I saw,’ Veda said.

  They crossed the street to hire taxis. Veda had fallen silent, but Darya’s mind was racing. When Veda finally spoke, Darya knew she’d been preparing to do so for some time.

  ‘I know you’ve been wondering what’s going on.’

  ‘Will you tell me now?’ Darya asked.

  ‘I can’t, not yet; he has asked me not to,’ Veda replied quietly.

  Darya stopped. ‘Why?’ she demanded. ‘Is it because he’s married?’

  Veda wouldn’t look her in the eye. Awkwardly, she stood, fumbling for an answer.

  ‘Veda,’ Darya said, ‘just… tell me.’

  She bit her lip. ‘I’ll tell you soon, I pr
omise.’

  ‘When? Why can’t you tell me now?’

  ‘Soon,’ she replied softly.

  They walked silently until the end of the lane. A few taxis cruised past, the drivers looking at them expectantly. They signalled to two and asked them to wait.

  As they were parting ways, Darya asked, because her heart was troubled, ‘Do you think we should stay on at the villa…?’

  ‘Yes,’ Veda replied.

  Darya was thrown by the speed of her answer.

  ‘Even after what’s happening with Viktor?’

  ‘It’s not like he has harmed you or me. He’s just odd.’ But Darya could see Veda’s struggle to keep her face impassive.

  ‘Even though Kyra and Max have disappeared? Even though some people on the street think Debbie’s a witch?’ Darya asked. She hadn’t been meaning to bring it up, but it had been playing on her mind.

  ‘I’ve thought about it,’ Veda replied, echoing Darya’s views. ‘But this is the twenty-first century. We’d be stupid to think there were witches in this world.’

  One of the drivers honked. Darya waved at him impatiently.

  ‘Don’t worry. It’ll be fine,’ were Veda’s parting words as she left to get into her taxi.

  It was only when Darya sat inside her own taxi that she realized she hadn’t told Veda about what she’d heard in Parthiv’s room the previous night. She’d tell Veda tonight. If Veda came back to the room at all, that is.

  Aaron called in the afternoon while Darya was at her class. He was going to be back in town as promised.

  Darya squealed happily. ‘When?’ she asked.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ he replied. ‘Can I stay with you? Only for the night.’

  ‘I’ve got to ask Debbie. “No guests” is a rule, but perhaps Debbie could make an exception given she’s already met you,’ Darya said. ‘Have to ask Veda too, of course, but don’t think she’ll mind. Though it’s a small room.’ She paused. ‘Do you want me to move out for a night and we could stay at a hotel someplace maybe?’ A night away with him might do them both some good.

  ‘Will Veda be okay with it?’ Aaron asked.

  Darya had not considered that. She knew Veda would hate to be left alone with Debbie and Viktor in the villa. Add to that her current depressive mood and Veda would probably think Darya was abandoning her.

  She told Aaron as much.

  ‘Why don’t I come to your place tomorrow night then?’ he said. ‘Maybe have a little private party on your terrace. We can do that, right? Just the two of us?’

  The villa’s terrace was usually unbolted and accessible to guests. Darya and Veda had been out there one night to sneak a smoke. Darya didn’t think there was going to be a problem, though she should probably check with Viktor or Debbie. She’d been planning to keep away from them as much as possible over the next few weeks but didn’t mention that to Aaron. She didn’t want him to worry.

  ‘Sounds like a plan,’ she replied quietly.

  ‘I’ll call you later in the day then,’ Aaron said.

  ‘Yeah. I’ll try and be back early tomorrow. And I’ll tell Veda to keep away for a few hours.’

  Aaron laughed. ‘Don’t do that. She can join us if she wants.’

  ‘She has her own life… her own secrets,’ Darya muttered. ‘And she won’t even talk to me about it.’ She chewed on her lip. ‘I’ll tell you more when we meet.’

  ‘Be nice,’ Aaron said mock-sternly.

  ‘But she has to talk to me!’ Darya griped.

  ‘She will… just… just keep asking.’

  ‘For how long?’

  ‘Just wait,’ Aaron said. ‘Be patient. She’ll tell you when she’s ready. I know it’s hard for you.’ He gave a dry chuckle. ‘Try.’

  ‘Okay,’ Darya said, with an accompanying huff, because as always, she knew he was right. She was going to have to keep asking. Until Veda relented and told her.

  ‘By the way,’ Aaron said mysteriously, ‘I have a surprise for you.’

  A tingle went down Darya’s back.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Not now. When I see you.’

  ‘Aaron!’

  ‘No, later. Have to go.’

  ‘Aaron, tell me!’

  ‘Bye, gipsy.’

  When he’d rung off, Darya fell to daydreaming. It was going to be a wonderful evening, she decided. Private, romantic, maybe a tumble in the bed later; it had been a while. Nothing should disturb them, she vowed. And she was going to ensure Veda stayed away. She’d talk to her. Darya was sure Veda wouldn’t mind.

  Darya smacked her lips. ‘Wonderful,’ she said aloud, inviting amused glances from her classmates.

  Although it turned out to be quite the opposite.

  Darya slammed the door of her taxi and entered the lane in quick, angry steps. She was sure the taxi driver had had the meter running before she’d got in and had overcharged her. ‘Damn thief,’ she muttered, opening the swivel gate with vehemence. They were mostly all honest here in the city, but occasionally you met the one bad apple that ruined your day.

  As she shut the door behind her and walked towards the front door of the villa, she heard loud, agitated voices; it sounded like a fight. She hesitated for a minute. Always something going on here, she thought ruefully, then stepped inside.

  She saw Viktor first, standing at the bottom of the stairs. His face was turned upwards, an intent expression on it.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Darya asked, knowing not to expect a reasonable answer.

  Startled, he turned to her. His lips moved but no words came out.

  Darya shrugged, then made a move to walk upstairs. The voices dulled for a brief second then rose again.

  ‘They are fighting,’ Viktor said from behind her.

  Pausing her step, Darya asked, ‘Who?’

  ‘They.’ Viktor gestured up the stairs with a thumb. ‘Raj and the other tenant are fighting upstairs. Deb is there too.’ There was a childlike glee in his voice, as if this was the most excitement he’d had in a long time.

  Darya resumed her walk up the stairs. The voices grew louder, the words clearer. She heard swearing. Sounds of shoving.

  ‘Pata hai paisewala hai, but don’t think you can do anything just because you have money.’

  ‘I was just talking to her, man. We were just talking.’

  ‘Since when do you know her?

  ‘We were just talking.’ The voice had risen in irritation.

  ‘Kahan hai re woh? I know she came up here. After that? Where is she? What did you do with her?’

  ‘We talked last night. She went back to her room after that.’ A pause. ‘You mean you can’t find her?’

  ‘Don’t pretend like you don’t know.’

  Darya, who had almost reached the top of the stairs, hesitated, then shrank to one side. She wanted to hear what was going on without making her presence felt.

  She heard Debbie’s voice next, conciliatory. ‘Raj, calm yourself. I think it’s a case of a simple misunderstanding. Sapna must be around somewhere.’

  ‘Shut up, bitch!’ Rajesh snapped.

  Darya gave a start. The man was vile. He had the gall to actually swear at the woman with whom he was boarding.

  But it wasn’t Darya alone who grew agitated at this.

  ‘Rajesh!’ Debbie protested.

  ‘Hey, man! You shouldn’t be talking to her like that,’ Parthiv said.

  ‘You don’t tell me what to do!’ Rajesh yelled. ‘I’ll show you a thing or two.’

  ‘Please don’t make a scene,’ Debbie said. It surprised Darya that Debbie was reacting so mildly, as if Rajesh was merely an errant child who needed to be steered. Her tone continued to be calm, appeasing.

  A cold fist clutched Darya’s heart at Rajesh’s next words.

  ‘What will you do to me, witch?’

  Although Viktor was several steps down, Darya heard him gasp. A grim silence fell over the group on the floor above. No one spoke for a few moments.

  Next,
Debbie spoke. Her words were tense.

  ‘Raj. Please go downstairs… to your room.’

  ‘He cannot treat you that way,’ retorted Parthiv. ‘You should ask him to leave the villa.’

  ‘Oh, but she won’t, will she?’ Rajesh said smugly.

  ‘He’s a bad man,’ Viktor muttered aloud. ‘Very bad.’

  His voice carried all the way to the top.

  ‘And control that boy of yours,’ Rajesh growled.

  ‘You leave him alone,’ Debbie replied, her words like whiplash now.

  But Rajesh seemed to have driven himself into a frenzy again. His tirade resumed.

  ‘And you,’ he yelled, ‘tell me where Sapna is!’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Parthiv said quietly.

  ‘Stay away from her, or I’ll kill you first, and then her.’

  ‘I have absolutely no doubt about that,’ Parthiv replied.

  A howl of anger followed. Sounds of a scuffle, shoving.

  Then Darya nearly jumped out of her skin when Viktor, letting out a mad shriek, edged past Darya and sprinted up the stairs. Confused about what she ought to do, Darya took the safe way out. She started to move back downstairs.

  A finger jabbed her behind.

  ‘What the…?’ Darya cried, swivelling around, heart in her mouth.

  It was Veda.

  ‘What’s happening?’ she asked, cocking her head to one side.

  ‘Gosh, you frightened me,’ Darya said, straightening up.

  ‘I frightened you?’ Veda asked, letting out a dry chuckle. ‘Why are you standing here, crouching like a cat? And what’s that Mahabharata going on upstairs?’

  ‘Rajesh and Parthiv, our illustrious co-residents, are fighting.’

  Veda looked puzzled. ‘Really? Do they know each other?’

  ‘Apparently, they do. Or circumstances have made them.’ Darya shrugged, then realized she hadn’t told Veda about last night.

  ‘But Rajesh’s room is downstairs,’ Veda murmured.

  Darya flashed her an admonishing and that’s the surprising part? look.

  ‘Yeah, okay, so what happened?’ Veda asked, leaning next to her.

  Darya explained. ‘Sapna was in Parthiv’s room last night…’ Briefly, she narrated what she’d heard the night before, making it sound like she’d listened inadvertently. Veda’s eyebrows rose a couple of notches. ‘Rajesh got to know and now Rajesh cannot find Sapna, and he thinks Parthiv had something to do with it.’ She relayed the rest of the conversation as best she remembered it, moving her wary eyes up the stairs every now and then. The shouting had subsided, replaced by muffled noises.