Strangers & Secrets

by Jai T J

  Her light reflected on that silhouette. It was the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. She dropped the phone back and returned to the morgue.

  She found Nazeer inside the cadaver storage room. He was her only companion in her workplace.

  “You are being too hard on him” he said.

  “That was necessary”

  “He graduated very early. He is really smart otherwise he wouldn’t be here. You can’t expect too much from a fresher” He brought a huge notebook and handed it to her.

  “He got an erection, looking at the dead woman”

  “Yeah about that, we had a talk”

  “You did?” She asked as she signed in the book.

  “It was involuntary. It happens sometimes. He is barely 25, and he never had a girlfriend in his life”

  “You can’t use that as a reason”

  “Many guys out there in this country will get turned on just by looking at the sketch of a naked woman. But I’m not trying to defend him. All I’m asking is, he chose this field because he wanted to, and he chose to work under you despite my severe warnings. He is just like you and please try to treat him that way”

  She nodded slowly. Her phone buzzed in her hand. “I have sent the lab report of case H-2695 to the police and you can call the yesterday’s family to get back the package”

  “OK. What about the presentation? Do you want to give this time at least?”

  “Ah, no. I’m not good with living people” She zipped her bag and started walking out toward the door.

  She paused at the door. “Didn’t you forget something, Mr. Nazeer?”

  He smiled at her and asked his routine question. “Why did you choose this work, Yuleika?”

  She smiled back at him.

  “You know the answer”

  He looked at her, surprised by her smile. “I might be wrong”

  “How was the work today?” Mia asked as Yuleika got inside the car.

  “Well, the contrary between philanthropist lady who donated her body for science and the pervy prodigy as an assistant really balanced each other”

  “Okay. Home or do you want to go somewhere?” She revved the engine.

  “I want to go to church”

  “Now? I’m sure father will let you in”

  “No, let’s not disturb him” She folded her legs, wrapping herself in the cold night. “I can’t go home now. I want to go somewhere for few minutes”

  “Do you want to give a visit to your haunted guest house?”

  “Not now. It’s too bright”

  “OK” Mia said looking at the night sky.

  “Surprise me, Mia. Bring me somewhere, will do something interesting”

  “Glad you said that” She pulled the gear and flew up on the empty road.

  Yuleika grabbed the window to find balance inside the high speed floating car. “What did you wanted to say to me in the afternoon?”

  “It’s better to experience than to hear. I’m glad I’m the one giving you that”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Yuleika asked strapping the seat belts.

  “You are going to regret asking me to give you a surprise. You will not like this”

  “You are not planning on killing me, are you?” She asked looking at the needle on the speedometer racing to the other side. “At least give me a hint” She yelled over the turbocharged humming sound.

  “Save your energy. You are gonna need a lot, tonight” She said and raised the speed.

  An hour passed as she turned her car around the corner of the street. She went through the narrow lane and turned right. She stopped the car in front of the garage door.

  She pressed the button on the monitor in front of her. The metal door began to slide open. She drove inside the vast garage, turned around and parked her car facing the exit.

  “Hey, wake up” Mia unbuckled her seat belt and got out of her car.

  “Where are we?” Yuleika squinted at the bright lights.

  Mia opened the door and removed the seat belts off her. “Come out”

  “Are we in your garage?”

  “Yes, come this way” She walked toward the gate.

  “I know you don’t like receiving gifts but I wanted to give something before I leave” She pulled the plastic sheet in front of her, revealing the pink, girly bicycle with a basket in front of it.

  “Oh my. Is that?” Yuleika asked pointing at the gift

  “Yes, it is. I want you to have that”

  Yuleika went forward. The rims looked fresh and shiny. The stickers were torn over the ages. She noticed a piece of paper swirling in the handle. She brought it in her hand and recognized it was the toe tag similar to the one used in her morgue.

  “Wow, this is perfect” She adored at the sweet gesture. “But this is your mom’s. I don’t want to take that away from you”

  “I want to. I know it’s against your rule but still, I want to give you something at least”

  “You know this is more than enough for me” Yuleika showed the tag at her. “Plus I won’t be riding this”

  “You have to. You will. Not for me but don’t you want to go home?”

  “What?” Her eyes widened as Mia’s eyes mocked at her. “You gotta be kidding me. It’s 45 minutes from here and that too in your GENIE at top speed”

  “This is your punishment for today’s training. You are going to pedal all the way even if it takes the whole night”

  “It’s hard to argue with you” She sighed heavily. “OK, I’ll go home on this but one condition”

  Few minutes later, Yuleika was gasping heavily as she kept her legs on constant cyclic motion. Her burka resting on the basket and Mia on the back. Mia leaned backward holding the metal carrier and stretched her legs. Her hairs flew backward on the winds of the dark night.

  Yuleika put her legs down as she struggled to climb up the flyover. She began pushing the bike with her legs as she started to curse at Mia quietly inside her mouth.

  “I can hear that”

  “If we have done what I suggested, It would be the other way around” Her thighs began to ache. She almost reached the peak of the curve before she stopped, trying to relax her muscles. Few cars passed by as she began again her tiresome journey to home.

  “It’s a long journey. Anything can happen, don’t worry” Mia hugged her as the wheels began to descend on the long, monochromatic yellow lighted road, with their legs on the air.

  Chapter 16

  CAN YOU HEAR ME?

  Devin saw no hope in it. He was sitting inside the closed office room in his formal blue and black. The sharp, pointy cactus on the table and the humming air conditioner made him nauseous.

  The long V-shaped mark covering the forehead of the fat guy in front of him traveled up and down as he scrutinized his file. He was buried in his seat, slouching back on his chair. His mouth went all the way to his left as he looked at the resume through the glass clinging at the edge of his nose.

  “You do not have any experience” The obese interviewer said shaking his head. His voice was high and filled with a regional accent.

  He closed the file, threw it on the table with a disgusting look on his face. He removed his glass and began wiping it with his tie. “You are a jumper. Why should I give a job for someone who does a monkey business? Tell”

  “Of course sir, I have changed my work profile before. Not because I’m seeking thrill or wanted to try everything. If you look at the profile, I’ve excelled at what I did and my previous manager would say the same” Devin gave the notebook answer.

  “See, this is a very traditional office” He said revealing the dark stains in his teeth. “and what kind of name is Devin. Is that a Christian name?” His tone was a perfect mixture of condescension and narcissism.

  Wow, straight to the point. This wasn’t his first time but still, Devin couldn’t hide his frustration. He inhaled deeply.

  “My name doesn’t represent who I am. My action does, sir” He said h
iding his discomfort.

  “Look, in this office, we do not – ” His mouth hung midair as his eyes focused outside the window. He picked the landline and pushed two buttons. “What is happening?”

  Devin turned and glanced behind him. There was a commotion, people were rushing around. His interviewer’s face began to change. He put the phone down and ran toward the door. “Get out of the room” He yelled at Devin as he stood there holding the door.

  Devin saw people rushing toward the exit. Everything around turned chaotic and confusion. Few were trying to calm the rest. Bang - There was a loud clanging noise came from the front. Some of them screamed at the sound. The banging sound came again. He strode toward the exit, pushing through the crowd.

  The gates were shut. The shutters were pulled down, making it impossible to go out. The steel shutter shook with a loud noise like someone hammered it.

  “What’s going on?” Someone asked in the group.

  “It’s the protesters. It’s gone bad. They are closing everything on the way. We can’t go out” The guy in the security uniform said.

  “What do we do? Someone, call the police!”

  “It’s the ruling party. Police are nothing but their audience now”

  “What to do then?”

  “We have to wait here”

  The clangor of the clash rendered with the mob’s abusive poetries against the central government. The hue and cry began to move away from the closed door. The sound of shattering glass and slamming of the neighbor stores came crashing. They went on rampaging with their provoked riot.

  Devin and everyone around settled on the available space. Now and then, a clanging noise reminded them of the presence of mob.

  Few hours passed, the news anchor reported the result of vandalism and aftermath of the violence. “Though the situation is brought under control, it is advised not to go out. The public transports will not be functioning for the next 12 hours. For more information, stay tuned” The logo began to swirl around on the TV.

  The security guy opened the door halfway and went outside. He came back after a minute. “It’s safe now” He pushed the door all the way up. One by one, the crowd began to exit the building. Devin came out, carrying his briefcase. The whole street was messed with broken metals, burned papers, and wooden debris. The street lamb was broken and brought to the ground, lying on the pavement.

  He walked past the bent down metal gate. He cautiously walked amidst the shattered broken glasses and sharpnels. He turned left and stood shocked. There was a pile of junk and among them was a bike and a minivan set on arson. It’s all black and burnt. The smell of gasoline and smoke filled the street.

  He walked past the burning mess and found his car. It wasn’t burned like the other but rather beaten beyond recognition. The Roof of the car slammed down, the empty broken frames stood without any glasses. The graffiti of scratches covered the outer body. The doors, lights, hood, and everything were bent down, twisted to different shapes and postures.

  He saw oil dripping out of the car, under the engines. The tires were ripped and flattened. The shiny green pieces of windshield glass were sprayed across the hood of the car. He bent forward, looking inside. The dashboard had a big hole at the center and the music player was hanging out in two pieces.

  He saw no hope in this too. He turned back, saw few from that crowd were leaving from the bike parked inside the closed garage.

  After asking from few, finally he got someone who agreed to drop him half-way along his way. The car stopped near the traffic circle and turned left.

  “I’m going straight” The guy on the driver seat said

  “OK, thank you so much” Devin said and got off his hitchhike journey.

  The car he came in, began to grow smaller and smaller as it went away from him. He looked around. There was literally no one on the road. It looked like a set location of the post-apocalypse movie. Not even birds were seen in the sky.

  He walked near the traffic circle. Seventy-foot tall pole stood at the center, carrying focal light similar to that of used in a football stadium. He climbed on the roundabout and sat resting on the semi trimmed grass with his back on the pole.

  There wasn’t anyone to stop him or question him. He glanced from his left to right slowly. All the roads joining the roundabout were alone. One of the most traffic cities in the country looked strange and surreal. The sky above was clear, and he hid under the shade of the pole behind.

  He thought of the one strange woman who appears whenever the atmosphere around him becomes silent and still. He looked at the straight road to his left. He imagined her, walking toward him in the middle of the road. The black lady was dragging a very large scythe behind her. The screeching sound of sharp metal on the road grew louder on each step.

  His cellphone brought him back from his delusional, dark world. He flipped the phone open and saw his nightmare come true. Speak of the devil He thought as he looked at the unknown number calling on his phone.

  “Hey. What are you doing alone?” She asked

  “Are you watching me?” He asked looking around.

  “In the vicinity. Do you want a ride home?”

  “Oh, god. Yes, please”

  The call ended as soon as he finished his sentence. He threw it next to him and went back to his reverie with a new scenario.

  A black, fringy crow came directly from the top of the pole and landed next to him on the grass. It pecked the food from the ground. Slowly moved around and eventually reached the edge of his resting legs. It jumped and sat on the tip of his shoe.

  Devin shook his feet to scare it. It fluttered and landed again on his shoe. It turned its head and looked at him. His left leg felt its weight. The bird was heavier than it looked. He waved his arm at it yet the stubborn crow didn’t let go.

  He unzipped his bag and dug around inside the pockets. He heard a mild clicking sound coming from behind. He turned his head, trying to look at the origin of the sound. He could only turn his face so much and found nothing. The sound became clear and strong. He turned around closing the bag. He noticed the crow wasn’t there anymore. It vanished from his perspective leaving a pseudo feeling on his leg where it camped.

  He came to his knees and turned toward the sound. He saw Yuleika from the opposite side of the road. She was in the tiny bicycle, front basket filled with black cloth. She was in white and blue mixed tops with a knee-length skirt. She looked thin and young like a college teen to him. She appeared so bright and lively after seeing her in black. The word ‘friendly figure’ came to his mind. Despite her poker face, she looked like smiling in the bright day.

  “You have a twin sister?” He asked shading his eyes with his hand from the glaring sunlight.

  “I don’t like twins” She got down and began walking as she came near to the traffic circle.

  “I know someone who is just like you but very dark and more arrogant” He stood up pushing the briefcase on the ground and jumped off the ramp.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked.

  “My car was destroyed. I had to hitchhike here”

  “I could give a lift”

  “In that? I thought you will come in your bike or in that Lambo”

  She gazed at him for a moment. Her eyes shined at the bright day. She looked very new and different in the white and lonely atmosphere. She sat on her cycle. “Are you sure you want to walk home?” Her voice was a blend of impulse and husky.

  He rolled his eyes and sighed. “OK, Miss. Sensitive” He went near to her.

  “I’m not sensitive. I just don’t like your words” She said with her sharp eyes glinting at him.

  “Despite your fresh appearance, your tongue still got its old vile impulsive power”

  “Hop on” She shook her head, directing the back seat of the girly bicycle.

  He looked at the seat then at her. “At least let me ride”

  “Are you ashamed?”

  “You are already kicking every masculinity left
in me to the grave” His voice was louder than he expected. “Let me drive this”

  She climbed down and handed over it to him. He heard her whispering something. “I’m sorry?” He asked.

  She shook her head and stood aside. He gave his briefcase to her. She gave an unreadable look before grabbing it. She went to the other side of the bicycle and sat behind him, facing his right.