The Retribution

by Shankar Kashyap

  ‘Should I or should I not?’ He slowly unwrapped the seal from the neck of the bottle and opened the cap. There was a sticky liquid inside, more like a paste. A thin smoke came out of the bottle as soon as he opened it with a strong pungent sweet smell. He brought the mouth of the bottle to his nose and smelled it and then in an urge took a deep breath. Something exploded in his head and he could see colourful exploding stars in front of him. His legs were weak and felt himself sliding off the car seat and he dropped the bottle on the floor. He tried to bend down to pick up the bottle when there was another rush of blood to his head. He felt warm, very warm and light headed. It made him somehow happy. It took him to a place where he always wanted to be. The place was peaceful and colourful, loud and quiet, bright and soft. He felt himself floating in the air. He sat there and switched the roof light off inside the car and closed his eyes. He had not felt like this for a long time. He felt as if he could see with his eyes shut. There was an absolutely beautiful figure in dark blue dancing on the bonnet of his car. Bright orange flame formed a backdrop as the figure stooped forward to stare at him through the windscreen. He was not expecting what happened next. The once beautiful face turned into a vicious snarling monster with fire dancing out of its lips with a loud hissing noise. The face blasted through the windscreen and he could feel the fire on his face and made him open his eyes. There was nothing in front of him apart from pitch darkness outside the windscreen as before. He was sweating profusely and his legs still felt very weak. He leant forward and touched the windscreen; it was still intact.

  He sat in the car for a long time before daring to get up and out of the car. He thought he might fall down if he stood up. He stood leaning against the car for a minute before daring to step away from the car and walk towards the club. Despite the nightmarish images, he somehow felt good and on top of the world. He met all the old friends and danced away till early hours of the morning. He had used the poppers again and shared it with a beautiful young man while inside the club and thought they were the best thing he had ever tried. The sky was getting light when he finally made it back home.

  His trips to the Quebec and the Abbey Park became more regular after that. He would go there after closing the temple two or three times during the week and dance away with poppers till early hours of morning. He missed Sanju. He had looked for him and sent messages with no luck. He would keep looking at the door of the temple every evening hoping Sanju would show up. Once he was engaged to be married to Sheena, their meetings had been few and far between. They had completely stopped once he was married.

  Dev felt a void in his life. He missed having Sheena at home and he missed meeting Sanju at the Care Home. Quebec was like an oasis for him at the end of every day. The days he was not needed at the temple were the worst. Coming back to an empty home filled him with a dread. He started visiting ‘Central Motors’ near Belgrave and Abbey Park to pick up young boys. Stuart knew when he had been out the night before. Dev would drink gallons of coffee throughout the day and pop tablets every couple of hours.

  “You are slowly killing yourself, Dev.” He said one day when he looked terrible and kept popping paracetamols like smarties and drinking strong coffee out of a flask. “You are burning your candle at both ends. It won’t be long before you burn out.”

  “No. I’m not. I’m fine.”

  “No. You are not.” Stuart would say. “You are popping pills like anything and spending all night at the club drowning yourself in poppers. That can’t be doing you any good. I know you visit Central Motors and Abbey Park too. Do you realise you can pick up diseases as well there? That place is full of druggies.”

  There would be an argument ending in both of them eating lunch in silence. Dev would stop going to the Quebec for a few days. Finally Stuart had given up trying to tell him. Dev became secretive after that and he would not tell Stuart everything as he used to before. He did not tell him about his meeting with Lenny at the place. He had bumped into Lenny late one night at the Central Motors. He was about to enter into the place when Lenny had come out of thick shadows under the flyover.

  “Hi Bro. Fancy seeing you here.”

  Dev was taken aback for a moment before recovering.

  “Yes… It’s Lenny isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it’s me alright.

  Both of them stood there, not sure what to say next. Finally, Lenny said under his breath.

  “I got some junk on me if you want some.”

  First he didn’t understand what he meant. He stared at him for a long time. Lenny repeated his question. He still wouldn’t answer. Lenny said with a hint of irritation,

  “Do you want it or not?”

  Dev had been visiting the Central Motors and the Quebec long enough now to quickly realise what he was selling. It was Heroin.

  “Sure. How much do you have?”

  “I got two lots. I can give you one. The other one is for a regular customer.”

  Dev nodded his head and took some cash out of his pocket. The exchange took place before Dev realised what he was doing. He took the brown paper packet which was in his hands and looked at it strangely.

  “You used it before, ain’t you?” Lenny whispered.

  “Yes, of course.” And then quickly, “in fact no. Never tried the stuff before.”

  Lenny looked around furtively and whispered.

  “Come to the canal side near Mowmacre hill tonight after midnight. I’ll show you.”

  Before Dev could say thank you, Lenny had disappeared into the night. He tucked the brown paper packet deep in his trousers and walked back to his car. He was rather apprehensive about meeting Lenny that night near the canal. He knew it was not the safest place for anyone during the day, let alone night.

  He had reached the canal well before midnight. He had sat in the car with engine and lights switched off in the darkest part of the street he could find. He couldn’t see the canal itself from where he had parked with large trees obscuring the view. There was no one at that time of the night on the canal side. An old man passed him walking the dog and took no notice of him. Dev thought it strange to be walking a dog at this time of the night. He kept looking at the watch. Midnight came and went, but there was no sign of Lenny. He waited for another half an hour and decided Lenny was not going to turn up. He was about to switch the engine on when he spotted some movement among the trees along the side of the canal. He quietly wound down the window of the car to take a closer look. Yes, there was certainly someone on the canal bank standing against a tree not moving.

  As he watched the figure lit a match and took it close to his face to light a cigarette. There he was. It was Lenny standing there lighting a cigarette. He got out of the car and walked over to the canal bank. He climbed over the short fence to reach the bank and called out softly,

  “Lenny. Is that you?”

  The figure turned around and stubbed the cigarette out.

  “I thought you weren’t cumin. What took you so long?” A tinge of irritation in his voice.

  “I got here a long time ago and waiting for you in the car.” Dev replied.

  “OK. Now you are here. Let’s get going. Have you got the junk with you?”

  Dev reached into his trousers and pulled out the brown paper packet.

  Lenny sat down on the grass bank and signalled Dev to do the same. He took out a plastic carrier bag from his jacket and brought out a syringe, needle, candle and steel desert spoon. There was a thick rubber band in the bag too. He turned to Dev and said,

  “Where do you want to take it? Which arm?”

  Dev hesitated for a moment and said,

  “Why don’t I watch how you do it for yourself this time and I can learn for next time?”

  “It’s yours. You paid for it remember?”

  “I know. Think of it as training.” Dev laughed a hollow laugh.

  “You sure? You don’t want to try it?”

  “I am quite sure. I want to see you do it first time.”

&nb
sp; “Suit yourself. It’s your money.”

  He tied the rubber band around his left forearm and clenched his fist. He then poured a white powder on to the spoon and asked Dev to hold the spoon while he lit the candle. He held the candle under the spoon till the powder started to melt into a brownish liquid. He drew the liquid into the syringe and mounted the needle onto the syringe. As Dev watched fascinated, he held the syringe between his teeth, tapped his forearm to get one of the veins prominent. He then expertly slid the needle into the vein in one smooth motion. He had obviously done this many time. He pushed the syringe piston to empty the brown liquid into the vein and pulled out the rubber band and the needle out at the same time. It was all done in a flash. He folded his elbow and put everything back into the plastic bag again before turning to Dev.

  “You don’t know what you are missing Bro. This is good stuff. I got it straight from the gaffer.” He lay down on the grassy bank and closed his eyes.

  Dev was not sure what to do next. As there was no sign of Lenny opening his eyes, he was about to stand up and go when Lenny laughed out loud.

  “It’s funny. Ain’t it. You pay the money and I’m having the fun.” Dev stopped midway and said.

  “That is fine Lenny. You have fun. I’ll see you around then.”

  “Yeah, see you around. You must meet the gaffer. He is a great bloke. He looks after me.”

  Lenny closed his eyes again and his breathing became shallow and sweat beads appeared on his forehead. His face contorted and became grotesque for a moment before smiling a devilish grin. As Dev watched, he started to snore, a deep sonorous snore and drool started to drip out of the corner of his mouth. Dev left him lying on the canal bank and walked slowly back to the car deep in thought.

  The Gaffer

  Lenny did not show up for a couple of months after that brief encounter and Dev had almost forgotten about him until one night, when he materialised out of the darkness in the car park of the Quebec.

  “Hi Bro. You keeping alright?” he had said without actually looking at Dev. “I’ve been waiting here for hours for you.”

  “Hello Lenny. How are you? I didn’t know you were waiting outside. What can I do for you?”

  “My gaffer wants to meet you.”

  “Who is this gaffer? Why does he want to meet me?”

  Lenny looked uncomfortable and looked down at his shoes, shuffling his feet.

  “I dunno. He wouldn’t say. I can take you to him now, if you want.” He said with some hesitation.

  “I am not sure I want to meet this man, Lenny. I am not really interested.” Dev replied.

  “Please Bro. You’ll be doing me a favour. I’m in a bit of a bother. If you speak to him, it’ll get me out.”

  Lenny looked up. His eyes were bloodshot as if he had been crying. There were bruises on his face and a black eye.

  “My god. Looks like you have been beaten up again! What happened to you?”

  “It’s nothing Bro. I can look after myself. But it’ll help if you come and meet my gaffer. He just wants to talk.”

  Dev hesitated for a while and after a bit more of cajoling from Lenny, he agreed to go with Lenny to meet his “gaffer.”

  They drove towards the outskirts of Leicester to a tenement block, not too far from the National Space Centre. Lenny asked him to park the car outside and they walked in to a derelict basketball court at the back. It did not look like it had been used for playing basketball for a long time. There was broken furniture, a shopping trolley, buggy and even a couple of broken bicycles lying on the ground. As they walked in, a cat ran out past Dev, making him jump. There were a bunch of kids, not older than ten or twelve smoking and drinking cheap cider behind the bushes who legged it as they walked in.

  Lenny appeared to know where he was going. He walked through the courtyard to the back and through a break in the fence into an unkempt field which was overgrown with gorse bushes and tall grass. There was a derelict shed few feet away from the back of the court. Lenny walked straight into the shed and knocked on the metal door. Nothing happened for a minute. Dev was getting increasingly agitated by now.

  “I don’t think there is anyone inside. Let’s go back, Lenny. This place gives me the creeps.”

  Lenny turned around looking anxious. “No Bro. He is inside. He told me he would be here. He asked me to get you. I promise, it’ll be fine.”

  He was about to knock on the door when it opened with a creak which sounded unnaturally loud in the silence of the night. A stocky man with a dirty brown duffel coat stood at the door, his bald head shining in the dim light of the shed.

  “You took your time, Lenny. You know better than to keep me waiting.” He said in a gruff voice. “Have you brought him with you?”

  “Yeah boss. He is here. I told you he will come.”

  The guy stood at the door for a minute looking past Lenny at Dev who was becoming increasingly worried.

  “OK. Bring him in. But keep him where I can see him.”

  He walked back into the shed and seemed to disappear into the shadows. Lenny turned around to Dev.

  “Come on Bro. It’s OK.”

  Dev walked into the dark room which was lit by a single bulb. It was sparsely furnished with a single desk and a chair in a corner and the window was covered in what appeared to be a dirty sheet, which must be to keep any prying eyes out. The stocky guy was nowhere to be seen. He looked around to see where he could have gone. He knew that guy must be still inside as he could feel his presence and there did not appear to be any other way out.

  “Sit down at the desk where I can see you.” The gruff voice came from the darkest corner of the room. Dev squinted his eyes to see the man, with no luck. It was too dark to even make out his figure.

  “It is nice to meet you. Lenny here says you wanted to speak to me. You see ….”

  “I’ll do the talking. I’ll tell you when you can.” The gruff voice said. “I know you go to the Quebec, the Abbey Park and also the Central Motors regularly.”

  Dev did not say anything. He sat on the rickety chair with his arms folded looking at the corner where he thought the guy must be standing.

  “There are a lot of customers for good quality junk in those places. Lenny has not been very good with his customers lately and he is falling behind on his payments. I am looking for someone else who can deliver the goods to my customers.”

  Dev’s mouth went dry. This guy was asking him to be a drug peddler. He suddenly felt very cold and shivered visibly.

  “You cold?” and said, “Lenny, close the bloody door will you?”

  Lenny was standing just inside the door and closed the door tight.

  “Sorry boss.”

  “You are getting worse. You been skiving off the junk I give for the customers and your brain is skittled.”

  There was silence inside the shed. Dev was too scared to speak. Just when he thought the guy must expect him to say something, the gruff voice said.

  “I want you to deliver the junk to my customers at the club and the central motors. You’ll get your cut too.”

  Dev started to protest, “but, but. I am not really cut out for this sort of thing. You see, I am only a ….”

  He was cut off again midsentence.

  “Or else your mate Lenny will pay for it.” There was a sound of something being drawn out of a sheath. “I know where you live and your sweetheart too. She doesn’t know about your boys, does she now?”

  There was no menace in the voice. It was said in such a casual voice and could have been talking about the weather. But it still frightened Dev. His mouth was now completely dry and could not speak. He just nodded his head.

  “That is better. Now get out both of you. I need my sleep.”

  Lenny quickly opened the door and walked out, saying “Come on Bro.”

  Dev walked quickly out of the shed and walked towards the basketball court. He could hear the metal door shut with a creak and a loud bang. The whole tenement block must have heard,
he thought. Dev was sweating by the time he reached the car. He got into the car and drove to Mowmacre hill where he dropped off Lenny. Neither of them spoke during the drive. Dev drove off without saying a word as soon as Lenny got out of the car.

  The first box arrived at the care home a week later. It was delivered to the office in an innocuous looking cardboard box, the size of a small shoe box. He knew what it was the minute he set eyes on the box sitting on his desk at the office. He sat down staring at the box for a minute without touching it. His heart was racing as he called out to the secretary.

  “Sheila, can you come here a minute please?”

  Young Sheila, who worked as his secretary as well as manager for the care home came inside.

  “Yes, Dev. What can I do for you?”

  “Do you know who brought this box here?” His voice shook as he spoke. She looked at the box and was about to pick it up when Dev put his hands on her wrist to stop it.

  “Sorry.” She looked surprised. “I don’t remember the box coming in at all. It definitely did not arrive with the post as I took the post from the postman. Out delivery is not due till later in the afternoon. What is it?”

  Dev picked up the box, trying hard not to show the shake in his hands and said, “I am not too sure. A friend had said he would send me some samples.”

  “It does not have any markings on it apart from your name.”

  “It must have been hand delivered by one of his boys.” Dev tried to sound flippant. “That is ok Sheila. I just wanted to know if he came down himself to drop it off.”