by Amit Khan
“Understand one thing very clearly Shinaya,” Tilak crushed the cigarette-butt in ash-tray and looked directly at me.
“What?”
“I am really in love with you now. I can live without Brinda but not without you.”
Then Tilak turned and left the bedroom in a scurry.
●
I was restless.
And clueless! Clueless about the decision Tilak Rajkotia was about to take.
How can he marry me?
The option he chose surprised me.
It was afternoon when I met Tilak again at the dining table for lunch. I had served food for two but none of us had any appetite.
“Have you thought of anything?” I hesitated for many moments but finally asked. “Is there a way we can get married?”
“I was scared that Tilak would answer in negative.
“Yes, I have thought something. There is only one way,” he said with a serious face.
“What?”
He observed my face for a while.
His manners were suggesting that he was about to mention something very serious. He had reached a decisive decision.
“Answer a question first.”
“Ask me.”
“Think well before answering it. Your answer will determine our future. Do you understand, Shinaya?”
“I do. I will think carefully.”
I did not show it but I was scared.
“Are you ready to do anything to marry me, Shinaya?”
“What…anything?”
“I mean something awful… really terrible; something that your conscience will never allow you to do!”
“Yes. I am willing to do anything to marry you, Tilak,” I answered confidently.
“Think again.”
“I have thought enough.”
“Ok,” Tilak placed his elbows on the table and bent forward to come closer to me. “Then there is only one way for us to get married. One last option.”
“And that is?”
“We will have to get rid of Brinda.”
“What are you talking about?” I almost screamed. “You mean murder…Brinda’s murder.”
“Keep your voice down,” Tilak jumped with fear. “Don’t speak so loudly.”
I looked around. There was no one, thankfully.
Nobody had heard the words that slipped out my mouth.
The word ‘murder’ was enough to make me sweat. Tiny droplets of sweat appeared on my forehead and face. I used a napkin to wipe them.
“But…it is not so easy to murder someone and get away with it,” I whispered in a low conspiratorial tone.
“I know,” Tilak said, “that murder is a dangerous task. But if we want to get married then we must do it. We must act together and get rid of Brinda. We will have to plan it out well. And then execute it in such a way that nobody will have slightest of doubt that it was a murder. It should look like a normal death.”
“I don’t understand. How can a murder look like a natural death?”
“That is what we have to think now. You should also think about it. We need a foolproof planning. I will go back to my room and think about it. We will speak again in evening. Right?”
“Agreed,” I said.
None of us had touched our food. Tilak had a glass of water and walked out.
●
‘Murder!’
Even the thought was not easy to digest. To go ahead and actually do it! I was shivering at the mere thought of it.
Tilak’s suggestion had blown from my mind.
Was it right to kill Brinda?
I went to Tilak’s bedroom and made myself a drink. I badly needed to calm down. Getting drunk was one way. But even after gulping down four pegs of whiskey I did not feel relaxed at all.
My mind was getting adrift.
I was fond of reading suspense novels and spy stories. Many foolproof plans of murder were spinning inside my head; trying to come out. I could easily have used one of those plans and Brinda would be dead. Nobody would doubt that she has been killed.
In the evening we met again, as decided.
At the same place- dining table.
“Any plan of murder shaping up in your head?” I asked softly as soon as I arrived in the dining hall.
“No plan so far,” Tilak confessed. “Since afternoon I have been thinking about nothing but that. Have you come up with something?”
“Yes, I have,” I said plainly. “And it is the best plan.”
“The best?”
“And safest. I think you will like it Tilak.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Everybody knows that Brinda is very sick,” I started narrating my plan. “If she dies in this condition, it will be no surprise. Even Dr. Maalpani will accept it. Only on one condition!”
“What condition?”
“Her death should look natural. There should be no wound on her body. No cuts or bullet marks.”
“Agreed,” Tilak was listening carefully. He looked optimistic. “If Brinda’s murder is executed with these precautions, nobody should raise any doubts. But what execution are you suggesting? What’s the exact plan? Mode of her death?”
“It’s a perfect plan fulfilling all our requirements. I will tell you.”
I was speaking softly. I was now narrating him the precise plan. As I went on speaking, Tilak’s eyes started shining with hope. It was the perfect plan. Tilak approved it at once.
●
The very next day we started working out on the plan.
Tilak brought a strip of Dianil tablet.
“Here it is,” Tilak said. “I have brought Dianil tablets. What are you going to do with them?”
“You know Tilak that Dianil tablet is for diabetes patients. When sugar level rises in the body, this tablet is prescribed.”
“Correct,” Tilak agreed. “I know it very well.”
“This tablet lowers blood sugar,” I started explaining the plan which I had read in a novel. “Human body needs a certain level of sugar to function well. If it increases then there is trouble and if it decreases then also there is a risk. In fact, a more serious risk! The person can go into coma and then die very soon if sugar lowers very much. Now concentrate on one more point.”
“What point?”
Tilak was speaking with tremendous caution and that made his voice eerie.
“Is Brinda a diabetic or not?”
“No, not at all,” Tilak answered in a split second.
“Correct,” I said cheerfully. “Brinda is not diabetic. The amount of sugar required by a normal person is present in Brinda’s body. Not more. Not less. Now think Tilak, what will happen if we start feeding Brinda Dianil tablet?”
Tilak was silent.
“I have asked you a very simple question,” I spoke slowly emphasizing every word. “What will happen if we start feeding Brinda, Dianil tablet?”
“Her body sugar will start dropping,” Tilak said.
“Correct…and what will happen if her sugar starts dropping?”
Suddenly Tilak’s face showed revelation followed by tremendous excitement.
“Sh…She will die,” he stuttered.
“And that’s what we want,” I explained gleefully. “Brinda’s death; that’s our target. A death that would look natural! A death that no one will doubt! If we work out this plan there will be no wound on Brinda’s body. We are not using a bullet. Everybody will think that poor Brinda finally succumbed to her incurable illness.”
“Really excellent,” Tilak admired me whole-heartedly. “Marvelous! The plan is indeed perfect and safe.”
I had a faint smile on my lips.
“When are you starting to give this tablet to Brinda?” Tilak asked impatiently.
“Tonight. I will be giving her first Dianil tablet tonight along with her other medicines. Let us see what effect it causes.”
“So our game of death begins tonight.”
“Absolutely.”
●
8
Game of Death
Once again weather had taken a turn for the worst and a faint drizzle was in progress.
An ominous silence was mixed in air of the penthouse.
It was a deep & evil silence.
My mind was greatly upset.
After all, this was my first murder.
In a very awkward manner, I entered Brinda’s bedroom that night. It had been months since Brinda had taken a proper bath. She was given a sponge bath every day. That night also I gave her a sponge bath and then sprinkled the powder on various parts of her body. It was fragrant powder and the scent immediately spread throughout Brinda’s room.
Brinda ’s face was glowing today. She was looking at me adoringly.
“What’s the matter?” I smiled and asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
“There is something.”
“You have been lucky for me Shinaya,” Brinda took a deep breath and said. “The moment you entered this penthouse, a good time has started for me.”
I was surprised. It was a strange comment and it was made in even stranger circumstances.
“How come?’
“Ever since you have arrived here, darling…I am getting to hear nothing but good news- one after another.”
“What kind of good news?” I said, tightening laces of Brinda’s nightgown.
“Tilak had started drinking regularly,” Brinda said. “I was worried but today guard told me that Tilak hasn’t touched alcohol in many days. It’s like he has forgotten that thing.”
“That’s true,” I said, hiding my smile.
“How did it happen?”
“God knows…I am clueless,” I claimed ignorance.
“And the biggest good news was about my illness,” Brinda continued. “Dr. Maalpani had given up on my treatment. He was saying there is hardly any hope in my case…and now suddenly we have improvement. Isn’t it puzzling? Whether you agree or not, you have come back in my life for good. And you have brought a lot of happiness for me.”
My heart shuddered.
Happiness!
I had brought her good luck?
Oh!
She didn’t know. I had brought death for her.
A sad death!
“Hey, you look lost? What happened?” Brinda elbowed me.
“Nothing,” I said. “Let me make your hair.”
I started combing her hair.
●
It was a big food trolley and I wheeled it inside Brinda’s bedroom, sometime later.
Plates, dishes, and other silverware were arranged on the trolley.
“What’s the menu today?” Brinda asked cheerfully rubbing her hands.
She was sitting against the headend of bed and looking jovial.
“Dal-khichdi for you with yogurt,” I said. “I have made matar-paneer for Mr. Tilak and myself. You can taste it.”
“Oh, matar-paneer!” Brinda exclaimed. “I will taste it a little bit. I remember that you cook wonderful muttor-paneer.”
I laughed.
“You remember everything.”
“I don’t forget anything.”
I wheeled the trolley closer to bed. There was a folding table kept under the trolley. It was hardly six-eight inches higher. It could be placed on the bed right before Brinda so that she could eat properly.
I started arranging plates and dishes on that table.
“Switch on the TV set, Shinaya,” Brinda said. “I want to watch TV tonight.”
I switched on the TV set. A countdown show of film songs was on.
Brinda helped herself to some matar-paneer and tasted it.
“How’s the vegetable?”
“Delicious,” Brinda admired with a genuine appreciation in her eyes. “You have got better at cooking.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“And your English has got better as well,” Brinda laughed after saying this.
“Just an after-effect of accompanying educated clients. You know how I was! A real illiterate.”
“And who was I, a barrister? Even I am uneducated like you.”
We both shared a light moment.
A lightning outside disturbed our nostalgia.
“Bad weather again. Looks like it will rain heavily tonight,” Brinda said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It’s already drizzling outside.”
Brinda continued to eat. She had Dal-khichadi and curd too.
“Can I tell you something, Shinaya?”
“Tell me,” I sat beside her.
“You should never go back to that life in a nightclub. You left that behind and reached this point in your life. Now if you turn back and return to that world, you will never be able to get out of that filthy life. You may suffer the same fate, your mother did.
“No!” I shivered. Brinda’s words pierced deep in my heart. “Don’t ever say something like that.”
“I know. You have not forgotten your mother’s death. That’s why I am telling you. Find a guy like Tilak and get married.”
“Believe me, I am trying.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…I came here with the same thought,” I managed my slip of tongue carefully and said. “When I arrived here as a caretaker, I didn’t know that I will bump into you.”
“Oh…unfortunate,” Brinda sighed. “But there are other guys in Mumbai. Apart from Tilak, you will find hundreds of guys that are all right.”
“That’s true.”
Brinda was done eating. I collected all plates and dishes and replaced them on the trolley.
It was ten o’clock …when I gave two tablets to Brinda. One of the tablets had been switched with Dianil.
Dianil!
Beginning of the end for Brinda!
●
“Oh darling, you are beautiful…really out of this world.”
Tilak’s face was beaming with impatience. He was crazy with the thought of intimacy.
Suddenly he grabbed my wrist and pulled me on the bed. It opened the front of red silk gown that I was wearing and that was held in place only by a silk belt. It exposed my milky white and smooth & hairless legs that excited him further.
I plunged into his lap.
Next moment his warm lips found my soft and tender lips. It felt nice and I clung to him making the kiss last as long as possible.
We were in bed and badly needed each other.
“Have you given her Dianil?” Tilak asked me.
“Yeah, I have given her today’s dose.”
“One tablet?”
“Right… one tablet of Dianil. Now we will see what the tablet does to her. It should not take very long.”
While I was wondering how much longer that might take, Tilak did something, that made me go dizzy with pleasure.
He was getting better as far as pleasing me was considered.
“Oh…what are you doing?” I was breathing fire too.
“Why?” Tilak hugged me tighter. “Aren’t you enjoying it?”
I smiled in agreement. It was enough trigger for him to get more excited. His impatient fingers found their way inside my silky red bra and pantie and put my body on fire..
It was two o’clock.
“Don’t you think darling,” Tilak kissed me again and said, “that the tablet should show its effect by now?”
“Don’t worry.” My body had started throbbing at the pleasure-spots. I wanted him to shut up and concentrate. “We will see the result. After all, it takes time for a tablet to work.”
Tilak was going berserk. Our clothes were lying in a discarded heap on the floor. I was beginning to feel waves of pleasure rising inside me. This was the realm of ecstasy.
The world was becoming hazy. My eyes were closing. Tilak’s hands caressed my belly and moved down. My fingers were digging deeper and deeper in Tilak’s back.
We were about to experience the ultimate burst of happiness when we heard something.
>
A SCREAM!
A violent scream echoed through the entire penthouse.
It startled both of us badly. It was an eerie scream.
“That’s Brinda,” I found out that my hands and legs were freezing with fear as I tried to get out of bed.
“Yeah. That’s her,” Tilak said.
His mind was equally numb. We needed to get there but for a moment we stood frozen.
Coming to senses we put our clothes on in a hurry and ran half falling on each other towards Brinda’s bedroom.
●
We were struggling to ctch our breath when we reached the bedroom. Needless to say, we were in bad shape, as far as our mental balance was concerned.
We were heaving with exhaustion and excitement.
The view inside Brinda’s bedroom led to a even bigger shock.
Brinda was lying on bed haphazardly. Her hands and legs were floppy and neck was flaccid and she was cuddled up like broken rag-tag and listless doll.
“What happened?” Tilak shouted. “Is she dead?”
Dead?
I was about to faint. All senses went numb.
The way Brinda was lying in bed, it could have been bad.
“Brinda! Brinda!” I called out and rushed towards her. I grabbed her shoulders and tried to bring her to senses.
She didn’t respond.
Her body simply lay in my arms.
“Brinda!”
I shook her again. I got no response.
“My god!” Tilak exclaimed with shock. “She has died with just one tablet.”
It disturbed me further.
We were trying to murder her but not so soon.
First, we were hoping that there would be one or two episodes of emergencies and then we had planned to finish her with a high dose of ‘Dianil’.
“If she dies like this…then it is bad news,” I said. “It will be a failure of our plan.”
●
Suddenly Tilak thought of something.
He checked Brinda’s heartbeat. His face showed some hope.
“What happened?”
“Her heart is beating…I can feel it.”
“Thank god!”
I heaved a sigh of relief.
Now that we were back to senses, I checked her pulse and was relived to find it.
“She is alive…she is alive.”
“I think the tablet just knocked her off…made her unconscious.”
“One Dianil tablet is strong enough,” I said, “to lower even a healthy person’s sugar level so much that the person will go dizzy and collapse. Brinda is a sick person. That’s why she became unconscious.”