Cross Roads: Pick a Path

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Cross Roads: Pick a Path Page 13

by Janaath Vijayaseelan


  “And what? Do you ask me to watch him kill someone else? It could be Renny, Sethu, me, maybe even you the next time!” I pressured.

  “Arrun, stop! Remone deserves to be rested first,” spoke Verone; I didn’t feel right listening to Marona, but I felt the need to respect what Verone had to say. Remone was the first person I had ever considered a friend; and I should feel ashamed to have not considered resting my friend before acting out of spite.

  ~

  We thought we had won, I thought we had won. I felt that I’d finally be able to walk away from a life of death. I thought I could bring change to the world, cancelling the wrongs we commit on a daily basis. Instead I stood amongst a crowd of all our men, furiously mourning the death of two brothers. One of which we weren’t even able to find. Verone lit the fire, cremating the remains of Remone. I stared deep into the heavily breathing fire; replicating the colour of a murderous setting sky.

  No one spoke a word, and when Verone began walking away towards the vehicle the rest of us followed. Renny took the wheel, and we remained silent on the drive back to the Duranji’s. The silence was of peace; it provided time for us to process things out. I attempted to put the rage aside, trying to find smarter means of dealing with this situation. Though one thing is certain, the end shall not be peaceful.

  Last night we were one as a family, celebrating what was assumed to be a victory, and now the house usually filled with life, fell silent. Most our men were scattered across the house, trying to get their mind off things. I sat on a couch across from Verone and Marona, remaining quiet as the both of them did too.

  “I’m home safe, I hope everything is fine.” Read a text I received from Nilani. She sent it quite early in the day, but I was in no mindset to respond.

  “Arrun, can you come with me for a minute?” Requested Marona, as he led me to the room where we first planned to silence Khan. I was so sure that he had come up with a plan to make a return hit, but he surprised me.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “What? Why are you apologizing?” I asked.

  “My fault, its my fault that you’ve become like this. I didn’t realize what I’ve made you become till I saw your eyes earlier today. The rage I saw was monstrous, it wasn’t you kid, and I’m responsible for you becoming this way. You should go back to Toronto, walk away from this life! Take Nilani with you and be happy, you could still do it. Get married, have kids, it’s all in the cards for you! I’ve made you a criminal, I felt like I saw myself in you. Though today I realized the amount of hate I have for myself, I can’t stand aside and watch you become the person I am.”

  “Marona, do you hear yourself? You yourself realized that you’re better than all of this! I’ve been meaning to talk to you about change, change for the better. We don’t need to kill to make a statement. We shouldn’t enlist fear in ordinary citizens, that’s what were doing wrong! Criminals, Politicians, and anyone of higher authority, those are the ones we want to tame. We have power, we can use it for a better purpose, and it starts with you realizing that this isn’t the life you want to die living.”

  “Arrun, just listen! You should go back to Toronto!” He insisted.

  “But why? Don’t you see my vision for change?” I replied.

  “Change will not come without a war! Your father wouldn’t want this!” He snapped.

  “My father? What?” I asked. My thoughts began to run curiously; I don’t understand why my dead father is involved in this.

  “I’m sorry.” He repeated, as a tear drenched down his face.

  ~

  The year was 1985; a year after Marona had finished his ten-year sentence for a mass murder he committed when he was eighteen. Standing aside him in crime was his trusted childhood friend Durai, who had helped him commit the murder. Durai had come out of prison two years earlier, he was now married and expected to be a father quite soon.

  Marona’s initial cause for actions came out of revenge. With the assistance of Durai, he killed the people that were responsible for the murder of the Duranji family. Durai, didn’t really have anyone but Marona to call family, and practically grew up a child of the Duranji household. They were inseparable, and they continued to be inseparable as they raised anarchy across the streets of Chennai. Over the period of a few months, they were starting to grasp attention from people all over India. They began taking out the top kingpins, leading to the association of friends with higher authority.

  Time and influence are the two chemical compounds responsible for ones change in path. Such was what happened between the two; as the business collided with criminal activities, Raja was brought in to help share the load. Durai on one hand was being forced to walk away from the life by his wife, for the sake of his newborn child. Yet his loyalty remained with his friend, but he knew it would be quite difficult raising a child in this environment.

  Durai started to notice things going in the wrong direction after the addition of Raja to the crew. Sure he did bring new concepts of making money, but they came at the cost of ruining lives of innocent people. At first it was just murders, murders of people who did wrong things; now its prostitution, smuggling, trafficking, and more. All at the beginning stages, give it a few years more, and who knows where this will end up.

  Unlike Durai, Marona had the negative influence of Raja winding him in the wrong direction. He started to present Marona of the wealth and glory that awaits him in the future, all that won’t come if Durai is still around.

  Raja made it pretty clear to Marona that there could only be one king, and if it were to be him, Durai must die, with no loose ends.

  There was a month left till Arrun’s first birthday, and plans for a party were already in the works. It was a Wednesday morning, when Marona came for an unexpected visit.

  “There’s something I need to talk to you about.” Said Marona.

  “Give me a few minutes, I just got to change.” Durai replied.

  Devi, Durai’s wife was in the kitchen cooking; while Durai was upstairs getting ready to go out, Marona stepped in to the kitchen.

  “Will you be staying for lunch?” Asked Devi, unable to bear having a conversation Marona replied, “I’m sorry.” He pulled out the pistol with an attached silencer that was held underneath his shirt, and reacted before Devi could even cry for help. With the sound of the cooking food, it was hard to even make out the minimal sound the pistol made.

  Marona returned to the living room, and sat on the couch, attempting to play it cool.

  “Alright, should we go?” Questioned Durai.

  “Devi! I’ll be back in a bit.” Shouted Durai, he didn’t wait for a response. Instead he walked out the front door, while his wife laid dead in the other room.

  Marona continued to play it cool, and drove far out into empty lands. “I’ve decided to buy this land, what do you think,” questioned Marona. Durai got out to have a look around, and in that instant Marona raised his handgun once more, the slide pulled back, ready to fire. Durai turned around, and there wasn’t much of a change in his expression, even when he had a gun pointed straight for him, and that by his best friend too. Oddly enough, he may have seen it coming.

  “Did you kill Devi and Arrun?” Inquired a worried Durai.

  “Devi is dead, I spared Arrun.” Responded Marona, as his trembled unwillingly.

  “I forgive you brother,” said Durai. Marona was left in total confusion; he couldn’t understand why Durai was forgiving him. Where was the anger? Where was the immediate attempt for revenge? The more time he wasted, the more he began to doubt if he were doing the right thing, but the fear consumed him.

  His shaking hands gave in, his second thoughts didn’t matter, and the first bullet hit Durai straight near the heart. Marona couldn’t watch as Durai struggled to hold on to his life, he pulled the trigger three more times to insure an immediate death.

  ~

  “Your dad forgave me, I tried to killed him; its been haunting me!” Cried Marona.

  I did
n’t know what to say; I mean the guy before my eyes killed both my parents, but I couldn’t feel the rage. But then the rage I felt when Sarah passed, the anger of losing Hasini, and then losing both Remone and Thambi fuelled more anger. This just presented me with possibilities of a life I could’ve had.

  “I swear I didn’t know you were Durai’s son when you first came,” continued Marona, as he tried to reason for his actions. “Raja figured it out first, when the both of you first met,” he added.

  “Arrun, just do it. Kill me, please free me,” pleaded a lost Marona; he was tired of being a monster. I could really just kill him, but I’d just lose another important piece to the puzzle, and that wasn’t worth it. Yet I still couldn’t find the words to respond to the man, he was older and wiser and I guess I can see the regret in his eyes; it might be reasonable to give a man willing to change a chance. If I kill him now, I’d be giving the throne to someone like Miran. Though Miran has changed quite a bit, I still wouldn’t want to see his capabilities with all that power.

  “Be the father, you took from me.” I responded; I watched as Marona’s face lightened up. It was the closest thing to forgiveness that I could give him. I was actually beginning to look up to Marona as a father figure. Judging from what he said of my father, I think he was a good man; I believe he truly meant for things to happen for the greater good. I shall take the initiative to consider my dads goals, when planning a dream for the future.

  Though this doesn’t mean I’ll be laying down my weapon. Sometimes the world needs a little anarchism, just to keep calm the power hungry giants. I wasn’t going to just walk away from Khan; I consider myself to be in the same situation. He should’ve hurried to kill me, because I’m not ready to show mercy when avenging my brothers. It was a war, and my dream for a brighter future won’t come while he continues to live. The Grim Reaper doesn’t symbolize death; humans and humans alone symbolize death. Death comes from the chaos that we exhale, what men like Khan live off of.

  “Arrun just leave it, lets walk away,” suggested Marona. I don’t know why he said that. He knew I wouldn’t; I guess he was hoping for some change, expecting that the change would come as early as this particular situation. I nodded, to show him that I acknowledged his suggestion. I was still in midst of trying to come to terms with the fact that I’m working with the man that killed my parents; but he seemed to be a lot more freed, a lot more free than I was now of course.

  Space was what I needed, sometime alone from this dreaded world I was around on a daily basis. I wanted to be alone, but I know what that does to me; I’d much rather prefer the company of Nilani.

  “I’m going to head out now, I need to be alone for a bit,” I said.

  “Yeah son sure, give me a call if you need anything,” responded Marona before opening his arms. I hugged him on the way out; just to assure him that everything was going to be fine.

  I tried calling Nilani’s phone a few times before I left the Duranji house, but her phone was off. I wasn’t surprised; she could possibly be asleep after I kept her up last night. Then again, she’s been home for a while, I guess it’d be fine if I go over and pick her up. Besides, she did say that her father wanted to speak to me; I guess I might as well get that over with too.

  Chapter 16 – The Collapse

  I stepped out of the house to see a familiar face, that of one from my past life. It was Trent, who was one of Hasini’s co-workers. I remember meeting him at a work party she once took me to. He was speaking to Miran, curious enough I went over to say hi.

  “Trent! What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “He’s just some reporter; apparently he’s working on a story about us,” intruded Miran.

  “About us?” I questioned.

  “Yeah, the Duranji Empire is a force known worldwide, it would make a great story,” responded Trent.

  “Don’t waste your time here bro, you don’t want to get involved in this,” I suggested.

  He seemed to be in a lot of panic, it probably didn’t help that Miran was the first person he spoke to.

  “You’re probably right, I’ve got to be somewhere else soon. It was good seeing you,” responded a rickety Trent.

  “So soon? Well if you aren’t busy, come by, we’ll catch up on a few things,” I said.

  Miran continued to speak to him, while I began to walk away. Once I got in the car I started having thoughts of the people I left behind. Seeing Trent reminded me that I had another life prior to coming over here. People I left behind, but I guess it was for the best. I’m at the stage where I’m losing people; I wouldn’t be able to bear losing a sister or brother due to my actions.

  The drive over to Nilani’s didn’t seem too long, it was nearing 11pm and the traffic had condensed. Upon arriving, I told the security at the front gates that I was here to see Nilani. He was a bit hesitant of letting me in at first, probably because he last saw me holding her at gunpoint, but he received a call to let me in, so he did.

  When I rang the doorbell the man at the door responded partially as the Police Commissioner, badgering me with questions.

  “Where’s Nilani,” he asked.

  “What do you mean, she came home early in the morning,” I responded.

  “No she didn’t! I’ve been calling her phone! I thought she was with you!” He shouted.

  No, I didn’t want to start panicking just yet. I got a text from her saying she got home fine though. Maybe she was with her friend, Dipti. I think that was the name she mentioned yesterday?

  “Dipti, do you have her number?” I questioned.

  “I’ve spoke to her already! Nilani isn’t with her,” he replied in a worrisome tone, curious of her where a bouts. All right I guess it was fine to jump to conclusions now, because Nilani isn’t the type of girl to just leave, shutting out the world.

  “If anything happens to her because of you,” he yelled.

  I was starting to fear that Khan maybe behind this, and if that is the case, the tables have truly turned.

  “I’ll find her!” I said, racing back into the car. I searched for a few hours before parking along side a somewhat busy intersection. I wanted to think that I was just blowing the situation out of hand, and that she may just be busy doing something else, but considering recent events, I couldn’t settle on plain hope. I tried calling her phone many times over, hoping she’d pick up.

  My last few calls actually had a ring, but she wasn’t picking up. Considering that her phone was on I decided to give a call to her father, maybe he’d be able to trace a call if someone picks up or calls.

  “Sir, Nilani’s phone is on now. Wait for a call and trace it!” I suggested.

  He was already on it, but the problem was that we might end up waiting forever on a call that we won’t get. I was usually great when it came to coming up with immediate plans, but with it being of Nilani, my mind felt helpless. This is exactly what I was worried about; I knew that letting her in my life would do this. A man’s love can turn out to be his biggest weakness, leading to his tragic downfall.

  My first love caused my initial downfall; I wasn’t prepared to let Nilani’s love do the same.

  I parked near a street side teashop, and while I had a smoke, I tried sipping down a glass of tea to clear my mind. In the midst of it all I saw Trent, who was carrying a duffle bag, and he did make eye contact with me. Though the response wasn’t what I expected, it actually didn’t make sense at all. He had that similar panic from earlier today, though I now realized it was towards me, and not Miran! He turned in the opposite direction and attempted to flee. I wasn’t slow to respond, I dropped my glass of tea, and ran across the street, holding my right arm out to insure the cars would stop. His heavy bag was slowing him down, and so he tossed it to the side, hopping over a concrete wall I followed. It was a closed out alleyway, eventually he’d meet a dead end, but I caught him much before that.

 

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