Strangers & Secrets
Page 12
He took another sip. The warmth of the coffee and the chillness in the room neutralized each other. The rain darkened the room. Senandra entered from behind. Her image brightened when the clouds flashed.
Yuleika removed the jacket, threw it on her bed and went to the balcony. She saw a flock of dark clouds on the north of the city. An arch of rainbow appeared at the middle of the clouds, connecting the place below. The sky above her was clear. With the dark clouds far away, the sun appeared bright.
She pulled a tiny scalpel out of her sock, examined the edges with her finger. The sharp metal shined at the gleaming sun rays. She took a strand of hair from the side. She picked a couple of hairs and folded it near the edge. She inserted the scalpel inside and with one smooth movement, the edge of hair disconnected from the rest. She held the tiny pieces of hair on her palm.
Her father rose up from the couch. He was wearing a pale blue shirt with a navy blue sleeveless coat. He leaned forward on the rail, mirroring her and glanced at her workplace tool.
Devin stopped his sketch as she came next to him. Senandra stood admiring his artwork. “Nature is unpredictable, isn’t it? One minute it was a fresh morning, next minute it’s all gone” She said.
“It’s not the only thing unpredictable”
She turned her burning eyes at him. “Are you mad at me?”
He returned his gaze, looked at her stomach and back to her eyes. “I can never be mad at you”
“So what happened then?” Her father asked her.
“I found something today” Yuleika handed over the scalpel to him. “I’m not sure about it”
“You said you wanted to push yourself. You went outside for the first time in two years without your black cloak. So far you have succeeded in surprising me. What makes you stop now?”
“This is much greater than that.”
“Are you afraid or confused?” Her father asked
“I’m mad at myself” Devin replied. “I’m mad at myself for failing you”
“You don’t have to blame yourself. It’s not your fault”
“I don’t know how else to do” He came to his knee, sitting on one leg
“You always have plan-b” She said sitting on the couch next to him.
“I don’t know who will agree to that. No one will be ready to do the sacrifice. This is just a dead end”
“It’s not. You can find it”
“How?” Devin asked with anticipation
“I don’t know” Yuleika said shifting on her hand. “Maybe both, I guess”
“Sometimes problem looks confusing and scaring when you are in it. But look at the gray zone” he pointed toward the place suffering with heavy rain. “That’s you. When you are there, it is so horrible and chaotic but from here it looks so calm. You need to learn to see things as it is, not the way you wanted it to be”
“What is your suggestion?”
“Your close friend is leaving. If you want to continue then you have to find someone for you. Not just a friend but more than that”
“I don’t want to”
“You don’t want to but this is something you have to. You can’t rely on me forever”
“Are you saying you will leave me?” Yuleika’s voice cracked up.
“Being a girl is a very hard thing. I won’t be of any use to you once you find a companion and more than that I don’t want to be the third wheel”
Tears began to form around Yuleika’s eyes.
“You have learned a great deal of making sacrifices at very early ages. Believe me, this one is worth it. So, will my daughter make that sacrifice?”
“NO, SHE WILL NOT” Devin raised his voice. “I know her at least that much. I cannot convince her for this. She is very stubborn”
“You have to try Devin, otherwise you know what happens?”
“I am not afraid of dying. But I don’t think anyone will try to help you. What are you going to do after that? What are you gonna become after that?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. You won’t be here to see that”
“At least I won’t be missing you” He smiled, sat opposite to her on the table.
“Why will you miss me?” Her voice hissed.
Devin sighed heavily “You hurt me. You kick me out of my home. You mark me every night but still, I love you. I don’t know why but I do. I miss my sister. I don’t know if I will see her but you are my sister too. You don’t have to believe me. You don’t have to listen to my words, but I made a promise to you and let me do what I can”
“There is only one thing you can do and you know what that is”
“That’s not possible. I’m not saying I won’t persuade her, but she will not agree to that”
“You said the girl in the white skirt will agree to that and you said she might be her. Do you remember?” Her screeching voice pierced his ears.
“That is just some stupid girl from a stupid dream” His voice became louder than hers. “She will not agree to this, Senandra” He shook her head again and again.
“She will” A smile born at the corner of Senandra’s lips. “She will, after what happened today” Her smile turned into a smirk.
“What happened?”
“I cannot” Tears ran down from the corner of Yuleika’s eyes. “I cannot do that. You can’t mean that. You are asking me to do these things, just so you will leave me. I cannot live without you”
She broke down. Her father held her, consoled her with a hug. “You have to be strong. You have to do this”
She pushed him away. “STOP IT... STOP IT... STOP IT” She struggled to inhale. She grabbed the rail, brought herself down to the floor.
“Listen to me. You have to let go. You can’t stay in the past. I will help you find someone. I won’t leave before that. You understand?”
She shook her head. “No. No” He held her in his arms, bringing her face to his chest.
“Listen. You have to forget your past. You can’t keep blaming yourself” His voice became passionate.
“You are right” She wiped the wetness in her face. “I should be blaming you. I shouldn’t have gone out. I shouldn’t have listened to you. I should have stayed what I was. I was happy. You are the one who spoiled me. Why are you doing this to me?”
“Happy? You call that happy? You can’t even recognize happiness. You are so lost. You don’t even remember anything. You are like a child afraid of her own shadow. Do you even remember yourself?”
She stared at him, breathing heavily. Her chest went up and down in rhythm. The breathing tired her. She began to exhale with her mouth.
“Look at yourself. This is you. Driving your favorite bike, wearing your favorite dress and going to a dangerous place. That’s you. Not the one hiding behind her father. How did you feel when you drove the bike on the public? You felt something strange in you. There is your happiness. You said you found something today. If that’s not that, then I don’t know what else you could have found” He stood, turning away from her.
“That’s not” She spoke slowly. “That’s not what I found”
Her father sighed. “Then, what?”
“I gave her what she was searching for” Senandra said with a haunting smile.
“What do you mean?” Devin’s thought wandered around.
“She has answers but she is searching for questions. I just helped her to sneak a peek”
“What did you do exactly?”
“I saw something” Yuleika adjusted herself, resting back on the glass behind her. “Something, I never thought I will find again”
“What did you see?”
“I saw what you always told me to see. I saw what you wanted me to see. I saw what your words really meant. In his house - ” She paused, catching the breath.
“What did he do?” He asked raising the eyebrow.
“I gave her the mirror” Senandra said. “She wanted to see it by herself”
“What did you show her?”
“She w
as confused. I wanted to clear that”
“What did she see, Senandra?”
“Whatever it is, she liked it, and she will come back for that. Don’t worry”
“Don’t play Senandra. Just tell the truth”
“I saw myself” She pulled herself up. “I saw myself on the mirror. I saw what you always said about who I am. I felt my pain, experienced my laughter, saw my memories and I saw you dropping me at the school. I lived again. She showed everything. Everything that has happened to me. Everything that was me. What I was, what I have done, what I have lost and what I have become”
“It was all new to me. I couldn’t comprehend all of them. I ran away from there. I’m sorry papa. I failed you” She hugged him, breaking down.
He patted her back. “You are right. You failed”
Her arms tightened around him. She squeezed her eyes, tears burst out.
“You failed, Yuleika” He rubbed her head. “Which means you tried. You tried it. You did what is impossible for you. You tried to be yourself. You tried to live. You tried to be happy but you didn’t quit. I’m so happy for you”
She held him tightly. The tears didn’t stop in her eyes. He rubbed the back of her head, with a glimpse of pride in his face. He looked at the clear sky above and smiled inside.
Chapter 13
COCOON
“Hello, Mr. Krish” She said placing the glass on the table. Yuleika was in her usual black. She was sitting at the dark corner of the diner, addressing her personal lawyer. “Have a seat”
“Hello, Miss.55” He looked mid 30s in his black suit. His face brightened with a welcome smile. “How have you been?”
“I’m same. I hope you finished your job”
“Yes” He opened his leather business bag and pulled the laptop out of it.
She noticed a housefly drinking from her glass, near the lipstick stain on the glass while he turned the laptop toward her. The screen displayed a series of portraits.
“These are the one closely linked to the case. Do you recognize anyone?”
She scrolled down to the end, studying face by face. “No, I don’t know”
“We have already investigated few of them. They are all saying different stories. Probably it is just hindsight rumors. We are digging on that. I’ve already given the information to Mr. Hiran, and he has also started looking for it”
“OK” She nodded slowly, losing her hope on his findings. “What about that advocate? You found him?”
He took a deep breath before answering “Yes, I did. He joined this case after receiving a huge lump from a powerful party. So they framed some farmer’s son and later killed him inside the prison making it look like a suicide”
He changed the screen and showed her a young boy’s picture. “This boy was the only witness in that crime scene. He claimed that he saw someone running away from the crime scene with blood all over his shirt. Unfortunately, he too died”
“How?” Her suspicion grew over the series of death
“A bike accident”
“Do you believe in this coincidental deaths?”
“Absolutely not. They are well planned. But it wasn’t to protect him. It was during the election time and this case became a huge threat to the ruling party. They wanted to avoid it and turned it to their advantage. There was no eye witness except you. So they did their dirty works and took care of whoever crossed them”
“So what is the bottom line?” She asked averting her eyes with frustration.
“We are investigating the rest of them. Until we get the necessary info, we will continue”
“No. It’s a waste of time” She sighed, leaning backward. She rested her head back, looking up she covered both her eyes by crossing her palm.
“It wasn’t targeted for you, mam. They closed this case to save their positions”
“It’s OK Mr. Krish. Anyway, thank you for doing all these things. You can stop your work on this”
“Mr. Hiran insisted on going further. He asked me to come right away when I find anything that can be a lead for this case, mam”
“You don’t work for him. You are MY lawyer, Mr. Krish. You have already gone through so much trouble. I’ll handle it from here” She stood up.
“Mr. Hiran mentioned that you are working on your own. Miss.55, I strongly advise you against this. If they find out, then - It’s very dangerous”
“I’ll be careful”
He took the cue. “I wish you good luck then” He gave another smile before leaving.
Her disappointments grew larger as she continued the investigation. Her paths were blocked. The lights were getting shut down on every way she went. She was the sole living witness of that crime but still, she couldn’t do anything. She glanced at the fly floating upside down on the water as she walked out.
The dark Lamborghini flew away as she walked inside the gate of her home. She reached the door, knocked twice.
Another two knocks came from inside. “It’s me” She said and the door unlocked. Her father was on the other side when the door opened. He greeted her with his charisma, but she was distracted by her hopeless case.
“You want something to eat?” He asked. She went quietly to the kitchen. The lights turned on as she entered. She opened the state-of-the-art refrigerator, grabbed the ice tray. She twisted the tray, cracking the ice. She picked a cube and kept it inside her mouth.
“Another dead end?” He entered the kitchen. She nodded at him as she closed the door.
“Then find an alternative way”
She looked at him. Her eyes asked the questioning - ‘how?’
“Keep your mind off it for some times. Keep yourself engaged in something else. When the time comes, you will know the way to find it”
“Dead end is a dead end” She spoke rolling her tongue around the cube.
“Not every dead end. Some are called cul-de-sac”
She sighed. “Not him, again” She poured the hot coffee out of the kettle into the little shots glass.
“Not him. I was talking about the house. You liked it when you saw for the first time. You changed after you went to that house and now you saw a glimpse of yourself in that house. There is something in there. Make use of it”
She gulped the whole glass in one shot. The hot coffee began to burn her tongue. The cold ice fought on her behalf to calm down.
“Do you like him?” He asked handing over the tissue.
She wiped the corner of her lips and shook her head.
“Do you hate him?”
She thought for a moment before shaking her head again.
“Then that’s a great start. You can go whichever way you want. It’s up to you, only you. Take it in your control”
She swallowed the hot iced coffee and poured another round again on the shots glass.
Eva picked up a green, sludgy worm from the grass. She held it between her fingers and shifted it to the other hand. “Look, Devin. A Butter worm”
“What?” Devin asked as he closed the nozzle and came to her, wiping his hand with a cloth.
“Butter worm” She raised her hand to him.
“Aargh, a caterpillar. Throw it away” He bent down and began to remove the lid of the sprinkler.
“Why?” She asked with a rising tone
“Because that’s disgusting” He tried to loosen the metal body with the spanner.
“It will become a butterfly, right?”
“Yes, but now it is just a worm. So throw it and wash your hands properly”
“But why?”
“Just do it” His hand grew tired with revolving the nut.
“You are jo mean” She let the caterpillar on the wooden fence. “You don’t like anything until they become pretty! You are mad”
“You know what? You should become a philosopher” He said with frustration.
“Whatj pillow-jaupper?”
“Ah, you won’t understand” He checked the inside of cap before closing it.
“
You want me to become jomething I waun’t undertjand?”
He stood up, bent backward breaking knuckles on his back. “It’s really hard to talk to you”
“Why?”