Walking into the brothel, I wasn’t sure of what to expect. The moment we walked through the door the five us just stood in awe as our jaws dropped. So many beautiful girls; it is a shame that they have to resort to prostitution for means of income. I looked to my left and right as I stood in the middle of us five, the excitement on the faces of the guys was as if they won the lotto. As the female hosts approached us they were generally really touchy.
“How can we help you boys today,” asked one of the girls.
“We’re here on business, Marona sent us,” I replied.
“Oh the crying girl upstairs,” she asked.
“Nilani?” I asked for confirmation.
“Yeah, she’s right up the stairs; two doors to your left,” she replied.
Turning to my friends I let them know it was fine if they wanted to “hang out” with some of the girls. It was just one girl; she can’t be so much trouble. The guys didn’t even think twice, they agreed to my proposal and went their ways with the girls. The funniest of the four was Thambi, who left with two girls. As I began walking up the flight of stairs, Remone called out my name. “Here keep this gun,” he said; there was no point in me having it, but I took it anyway.
Nilani was out cold as I walked into the dark room, I noticed that her plate of food and water reminded untouched. Walking next to her, I took a seat on the bed as I attempted to wake her up. I didn’t want to tap her on the shoulder, she might think that I had come here with wrong intentions; we were in a brothel after all. Simply saying, “wake up,” didn’t work; I had no other option but to dump the bottle of water on her face. She woke with fear; I turned completely drawn to her eyes opening wide as tears dropped like rapid tides.
“Please don’t do anything to me! Can I go home, I don’t know what I did! Is it money that you want? You can call my dad, he’s the Tamil Nadu Police Commissioner; he’ll give you whatever you want. This place gives me the creeps, please take me home; I’ll let my dad know not press charges. Are you going to rape me, I’m not like the rest of the girls in this house; I’m not a prostitute”
“Could you shut up? I’m not going to rape you! You’ll just have to stick around here for a few days at most. Learn to eat your food, cause you aren’t going home anytime soon.”
She glared at me for a brief moment before giving a nice spit to my white t-shirt. Surprisingly I felt no bit of anger towards her; instead I took grasp of her hand and used it to wipe her spit.
“That is gross,” she screamed.
“What? It’s your spit,” I replied.
Her displeasure of my presence reminded me of something similar to my first conversation with Hasini at the bar in the Dominican. I guess I was never bound to have a nice first meeting with attractive girls. Nilani was just as beautiful as Hasini; though their similarities were limited. Her long tied up hair, absorbing brown eyes, and beautiful cheekbones made her quite the attractive girl. “Can you stop staring at me, it’s kind of creepy,” she said. There was still a weird feeling about Nilani that reminded me of Hasini. “Sorry, you just had me thinking of someone I knew,” I replied.
I continuously asked her to eat and she just stared at me like I had something on my face.
“How am I supposed to eat with my hands tied up,” she asked.
“I can’t untie your hands, wouldn’t want you to do anything dumb,” I said.
“Then feed me,” she suggested.
“Seriously? Are you cool with that,” I questioned.
“How else am I supposed to eat you idiot,” she retorted.
While feeding her she began to ask questions of why she’s being held hostage. I really should’ve just left her remain asleep.
“Why are you being so nice? Are you trying to play nice? I know about people like you, don’t start thinking for one second that I’m not aware of your true intentions. I don’t even know who you are; what’s you name? Why am I here? I think you’ve got the wrong girl, I don’t get why I’d be here.”
“Wow, could you just slow down for a bit. My name is Arrun, and I work for Marona Duranji. Your father is making deals with some really bad people to kill my boss; and you’re only here for a few days to send him a message. Don’t worry, no harms going to come your way as long as I’m around. Now eat your food so I can leave for a smoke.”
She was starting to cooperate a bit more. After she finished eating, I found it to be an appropriate time to move out for a quick smoke. I let her know that I’ll be stepping out to the balcony around the corner for a brief moment. “Arrun, I guess you’re alright,” said Nilani, as I was walking towards the door. “Stay awake, I’ll come back and talk to you for a bit,” I said closing the door behind me.
~
I stood over the balcony to notice another one of Marona’s Range Rovers to be parked in front of the house. I guess he sent over a few more henchmen in case something was to have happened. I guess you can never take too many precautions, especially considering the event that took place yesterday.
Moments later I heard a loud cry for help, it was coming from inside the house. Tossing my smoke over the balcony edge, I rushed inside. The scream was coming from the room we were keeping Nilani in. I tried turning the doorknob, but it was locked from inside. “Arrun, Arrun,” screamed Nilani from inside. I took a step back, and aimed at a spot beside the doorknob. With full force I kicked open the door to see Miran trying to force himself on Nilani.
Grabbing Miran by the shoulder I ordered him to let Nilani go. “Get off me you piece of shit,” he said turning towards me. He threw a punch straight to the right side of my jaw. “Is that all you got,” I asked stepping back towards him. “Do you a favor and step out till I’m done here,” he said. I continued to stand in front of Miran, I did not say a word waiting for him to try and hit me once more. Miran attempted to swing a second punch, but this time I saw it coming. Quickly ducking, I dodged his punch; I then swung a punch straight to his chest. He had a momentary drop in breath; taking advantage of the situation I swung a solid punch to his nose, and as blood began to flow down his face I gave him a lateral stomp to the side of his left kneecap. The moment he dropped to the floor I stood over him, as my left hand grasped his shirt, my right arm swung ruthlessly to the right side of his face. I’ve never felt anger like this before; I didn’t want to stop.
“Arrun! Stop! You’re going to kill him, stop,” pleaded Nilani.
Sethu must have heard the screaming as well, rushing into the room he tackled me to ground. I’m sure I could’ve beat Miran to death at the rate I was hitting him. I didn’t want to allow him to live; his existence is not needed. Sadly he will live, but I was glad that he would be living with a few broken bones. “You have to control yourself,” said Sethu, as he checked Miran.
“He tried to rape her, what was I supposed to do allow him,” I countered.
“Yeah! Who cares about her? She’s a nobody,” said Sethu.
“I care, I’m not going to just let him do shit like that,” I responded.
Turning over to Nilani, I untied both ropes arresting her arms and legs. “Don’t run,” I commanded, as she stood quietly. “What are you doing Arrun,” probed Sethu.
“I’m taking her out to the balcony, I didn’t finish my smoke,” I replied.
Walking out the door, I held Nilani’s arm for precaution. We turned left and walked over to the balcony where I lit another cigarette. Looking over at Nilani I said, “Don’t think about jumping, you wont make it.” Smiling at her, I turned to look out over the balcony, with a vast amount of land in sight. In the distance the city is nowhere in sight; these guys were pretty smart to place a brothel way out here.
“Thank you Arrun,” said Nilani.
“For what,” I questioned.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life, thank you for caring,” she responded.
“Look, I didn’t come into the room because I cared about you. Why should I? You aren’t my mother, wife, sister, or girlfriend; I don’t need to car
e about you. I just don’t like that guy. Besides I have a few women in my life that mean the world to me. I wouldn’t have spared a sick bastard like Miran, for laying a finger on them.”
“Gosh Arrun, you don’t need to be so rude about it,” she retorted.
“It is, what it is,” I said.
“If you don’t mind me asking, where did you learn to fight like that? It was like watching a scene from a Bruce Lee movie.”
“I learned “Mixed Martial Arts” sometime back; I think it was when I was in high school? Sarah was the one who forced it on me; she thought I needed to learn to defend myself. I used to get into many fights during those times, and it felt great cause I actually knew how to fight.”
Nilani’s face explained the confusion she was in. I forgot how high school was labeled otherwise in India. A name like Sarah was probably not tossed around commonly either.
“I was raised in Canada, Sarah adopted me when I was just a toddler,” I said, in hopes of clearing her confusion. Although her expressions showed otherwise, she seemed to be more puzzled than ever. “Why on Earth are you here; doing this for a living,” she questioned. I wanted to tell her; I usually always want to tell people of my reasoning, but I always hold back. “It’s a long story,” I responded in hope that she’d just let it drop.
“I’m going to be here for a few days, I think you’ve got time,” she replied. Nilani seemed determined to know what my story actually was. Of all the people I’ve met in recent events, I felt more comfortable saying it to her. Seeing how I probably wont have to come across her ever again, it would be great to just know that someone else in the world knows my entire story.
“I was born in Chennai, but raised in Canada. My parents were murdered when I was just a few months old, and it was Sarah who adopted and gave me a meaningful life. Went through schooling there, I graduated and found a job as a software engineer at some big time company. I have five siblings and…”
I was in the midst of explaining my story when I heard the roaring of engines coming from the direction we first arrived. Seconds later, I watched as six vehicles full of unfamiliar faces pulled in with weapons in arm. They were not any of our men; I took out the gun I had holstered at my side, in case of a sudden interaction. “Nilani, stay down,” I ordered as I stood waiting for someone to spot me. It didn’t take them too long to make first contact. “Did Marona send you guys,” I investigated, from the top floor. “Shekhar Khan,” one replied as they started to fire at will. Taking immediate cover next to Nilani, I opened the balcony door, dragging her in with me.
Holding Nilani by the wrist I was heading back downstairs to regroup with the guys when I remembered that Sethu was still attending to Miran. Running past the room I stopped to see if they were still there. “Sethu, we need to go! Bring Miran with you,” I shouted. “He’s too heavy, I need your help,” he responded; I had no choice but to assist him. I trusted that Nilani would not run, and she didn’t do so either as we helped Miran down the stairs. We placed him on the couch, as we regrouped with the other guys. In the immediate seconds later, three men stormed through the door. I was able to shoot down two of the three, as Sethu took out the final one.
“They’re still out there, a lot more of them,” I said
“Then this is our chance to try and make moves from here,” recommend Remone.
“There’s a back door, it’s our best chance,” mentioned Renny.
Nilani held tight to my arm, I could see the fear she was in. “Thambi, help me pick up Miran,” shouted Sethu. As the both of them helped Miran, Remone and Renny led the way through the back door. We walked around the back: I checked over the side of the house to see how many people stood between the vehicle and us.
“Alright, there are seven of them outside the house. The rest of them are probably raiding the house right now. I don’t think we have much time before they notice a back door, so we need to move quickly! Remone, you and I are going to take that first SUV with Nilani. We’ll take out as many of them as we can on our way to the vehicle, but Renny you’ll have to help us from here. Then the three of you can take the second vehicle and take Miran to a hospital.”
“Sounds good,” said Renny, while the rest of the guys nodded. “Nilani, follow us! Don’t stop,” I instructed. Executing by force I took out two more men; Remone cleared another three, while Renny took care of the remaining two. I got into the driver seat of the first vehicle as we were faced with more gunfire; men were rushing out from within the house. “Arrun,” called out Thambi as he held grasp of a propane tank. “Shoot it,” he shouted as he rolled it in direction of the incoming men. I waited to make sure all the guys were safely in the vehicles before firing a final bullet at the tank. BANG! I watched as the explosion incinerated the few men along with the front of the brothel. “That’s what I’m talking about,” cheered Remone. Firing guns in the air we drove off, cursing at will as we saw the remaining few men run to the front of the house in shock.
“What now, where are we taking Nilani” asked Remone as we watched the others turn in direction of the hospital.
“We’re taking her to her house,” I replied.
“What? Did you get hit in the head or something? What are we going to tell Marona? I’ve been listening to a few of your wild ideas now, but this is the worst of them all. Why don’t you just ask one of us to kill you? Because it seems like you just do things to die.”
“Calm down bro, I don’t plan on dying till death comes and gets me. I just think it’s better if she goes home now. Think about it, Shekhar Khan is supposedly working with the commissioner, but the way his men came firing they could’ve killed her as well. Which means, the commissioner probably didn’t know of this plan. He’ll probably withdraw from their so called deal; leaving Shekhar Khan to be our only problem.”
“Alright bro, fuck! I can’t believe I’m actually listening to you again,” said Remone
“Trust me brother, you have to,” I responded smiling.
Looking in the rear-view mirror, I watched Nilani, as she seemed to look disappointed. I did not want to ask her if anything was wrong; I just wanted to drop her off and end this little issue once and for all. Though she remained quiet for majority of the ride, she guided us to her house when needed. Once we arrived at her house, I parked the vehicle a short distance from the front gates.
“Remone, stay in the car. I don’t know how this will go; if this ends badly I want you to drive off. Don’t think twice, this is my plan and I’ll deal with the situation. Nilani come, you’re my ticket in and out. Don’t fail me.”
“Arrun, are you crazy? I’m coming,” countered Remone.
“Shut up, and listen to me!” I shouted.
“Nilani, I’m going to hold a gun to your head, but I wont shoot,” I promised.
I held a gun to Nilani’s head as I walked through the front gates. “Muthumaran,” I yelled out, as I stood waiting for the commissioner’s presence. Walking through the front door was Nilani’s father in tears upon seeing his daughter. “Let her go,” he pleaded. Muthumaran, the Police Commissioner of Tamil Nadu in tears, proof of how great a weakness a parents love is.
“I could shoot her right here, but I need her to ensure my safety. Remone, drive a bit forward. Muthumaran, I’m going to let your daughter go but I need to alert you of a little situation. You’re dancing with the wrong person; you need to avoid that relationship with Shekhar Khan. Your daughter could have died today because his actions. We’re the reason why she’s alive, withdraw from your deal before we actually hurt Nilani.”
“I will, I will. Please let her go,” he pleaded.
Cross Roads: Pick a Path Page 8