Strangers & Secrets

by Jai T J

  “Bubble tea?” Yuleika cringed hesitantly taking the glass. “Don’t you have anything else? I hate sweet things”

  “Then go and lick yourself in the mirror” Mia scowled at her as she sat next to her on the armrest.

  “Hiran wanted to see him personally. This was more than perfect”

  “You are scaring him too much”

  “I am? Didn’t you hear what he said? He got me into some kind of trap”

  “You are going to invite him for lunch?”

  “I don’t know. I want to see how he reacts next time”

  “So, Hiran is dropping him?”

  “Yes but not before giving a lifetime of lecture I hope so. Ugh, how are you drinking this? This is too much sweet” She kept the glass on the table and picked the water bottle.

  “You have to be careful now more than ever”

  “Oh, not you too grandma. I’m getting sick of that line”

  “Your dad said that?”

  “Yes” She said gulping the water.

  “You know he is right, right?” Mia rested her head on Yuleika’s shoulder. “Promise me you won’t do any crazy stuff after I leave here. You are changing that’s for sure. I’m starting to see my Yuleika after a long time but it’s really scaring to me”

  “I know” Yuleika patted her cheeks “I won’t be repeating any of my previous mistakes. I’m a quick learner. You said yourself, remember?”

  “What you will be doing? I mean for next year. You planned anything apart from your investigation”

  “I don’t know. I might be designing my funeral for starter”

  “Your funeral? Will I be in it?”

  “I’m not sure. Will you break the deal?”

  Mia gave a sad smile and exhaled. “I’m going to miss you a lot” She hugged her around the chair.

  “I don’t. I hate you the most”

  Mia let go of her awkward hug. Her unusually big eyes were moist. “I promise you I will keep your promise. You will know how much you are to me. I can never meet someone like you. I’m really...” Her voice broke.

  “Oh, stop it. I know you. You have been really strong and you have taught me so many things. Every time I go out or put myself in a dangerous situation, your harsh words are going to knock me up. I know it’s not easy to let go of everything at once but you know, try your best.”

  “I will” Mia jumped up from the armrest. “You want to do something?”

  “Like what?”

  “You want to go somewhere or something. I have very limited time. I want to use it to the most”

  “We’ll go somewhere”

  Yuleika’s phone buzzed in the bag. Mia took the other glass and went toward the bag. “Devin is home delivered successfully” Mia chuckled reading the text from the phone.

  They both left Mia’s home and reached her car. Yuleika pusher her aside and sat in the driver’s seat as she opened the door. “I’m driving now”

  “Not even on a fine day, move aside”

  “I don’t think so” Yuleika pulled the seat belt and brought it around her. She turned the key and started the engine.

  Mia climbed on the bonnet and sat blocking her view. “No, get down. If you don’t get down, I’ll tie you upside down on this hood and scare the shit out of you at the top speed”

  “I’ll probably pee on your windshield if you do that.” She said revving the engine and pushed the gear.

  “Hey, stop it”

  The car began to move down the slope, out of the parking lot. Mia bent her legs and sat on her knees. She held the door on her side for support. “Stop it”

  Yuleika pressed the accelerator, making the car move bit faster. She turned left, making her way out of the apartment gate. Mia was swinging from side to side and then with one swift, she pushed herself to the other end and swung herself into the window on the other side. She sat perfectly on the adjacent seat.

  “Stop the car” Mia pushed the break. “Now get down”

  “I won’t wreck your car, skinny bitch”

  “I don’t care about my car” She took the driver’s seat as Yuleika climbed out. “As much as I care about you”

  “Oh, that’s so romantic” Yuleika held both her arms together and blinked as she bent her face resting on her hands.

  “Now shut up and torture me from your seat, come on”

  Yuleika went to the other side and buckled the seat belt around her. The car flew away with a resonating humming sound.

  Silent, dead silent everywhere. The whole place looked abandoned. The leaves were falling out of the trees as Yuleika walked toward the entrance of her hospital. She felt a déjà vu as she entered through the gate.

  Everything was same like before. She has seen the exact things. The ambulances were sleeping. The usually hyped place has gone mute. The common visitor’s areas were empty. Not even a single person was wandering in the pathway. The nurses in their bright white were sitting on the stairs in front of the automated door. Everyone was laughing with each other.

  Everything was happening in slow motion. They were all happy. They were chatting, laughing, taking selfies but doing their jobs. They covered the whole entry. Yuleika passed through the place between them. They didn’t seem to notice her presence and were deep into their happy thoughts.

  She pushed the glass door open and saw something that she never expected to see. The chairs were pulled to the side and stretchers were combined together. The white coats were playing football in the patient’s waiting hall. The blue shrugs were in the ping pong game on a stretcher.

  Few were standing here and there chatting and few were audience with snacks on their laps. The cheering noise and rattling of the ball were echoing in the vast hall.

  Nazeer noticed her arrival and came out from the cheering audience chamber. He handed the marker to the person sitting next to the scoreboard.

  “What is going on?” Yuleika asked.

  “No one came today. That’s why we are celebrating”

  “What? What do you mean nobody came?” She puzzled and looked at the corridor to the outpatient ward. It was again filled with white coats jumping around.

  “No patient came today. Not even a single one. Even we don’t have any case today. No one died. Not even a common cold, no accidents or diabetes case was there. Not just for us. The whole city was surprised at this”

  “How is that possible?” She asked disbelieving what she was hearing.

  “That credit goes to you”

  “What?”

  “Yes, they did what you asked. Everyone is sleeping. The healthy ones are wandering and weak ones are still. We don’t have to worry about death and disease now. We just have to make sure they won’t wake up”

  “What?” She appalled at his false accusation. “What are you saying?”

  “Thanks, dear. You saved so many people’s life. They don’t have to worry about their dying mother or bedridden children”

  She noticed his eyes transforming into the shape of a downward facing triangle. The edges of the triangular pupil were glowing as he looked at her. She looked around and saw everyone’s eyes were shining brightly.

  “Only the worthy will walk on the street. Strongest will survive as you said. Thank you so much. I was worried I had to spend money on my daughter’s dengue fever. Now she is asleep and I’m happy here”

  Yuleika began to step away from him. “Nazeer, your eyes!”

  “You opened them” He stood there smiling at her.

  Yuleika stumbled onto someone behind. She turned around and it was her father. “You need to get out of here” He said as he grabbed her hands. They both ran out of the door. The nurses were standing in front of them with a constant, still smile like a porcelain doll. When she crossed them, the nurses’ bodies turned toward her like animated characters.

  A swooping noise appeared from behind. She looked behind as she ran and saw everything behind her beginning to shrink and implode at the center. The ambulance, the trees, the co
ncrete walls, and everything getting pulled to the center. She felt a drag on her arms. Before she could realize her father left his grip and got dragged into the vortex. She grabbed the metal gate as her legs got pulled backward in the midair. She began to climb forward in the gate sideways. The whole place was flying against her, rushing into the swirling vortex. She saw a dark figure standing just in front of the gate. It was herself. The tall buildings behind were plucked out of the ground and flying toward the whirlpool but her dark version stood there firmly without any support.

  The gravity was too strong. Her shoes left her legs as she dragged herself, climbing one rail after another in the gate like the creature from Dracula movie. Her dark figure brought her hand forward. Yuleika pushed her hand forward, reaching with her finger to get hold of her. A gap of an inch between their hands grew smaller and smaller as she stretched. Finally, with one last push, she touched her palm.

  Darkness, solid darkness. She felt something on her face. She grabbed it and pulled it out. It was still dark. She reached for her eyes and pulled the next thing, covering her eyes and a strong bright light intruded. It took a few seconds for her eyes to get adjusted. She realized she was still inside the car. She was holding the eye cap alone with a black, head cover.

  She saw Mia in the driver’s seat focused on the road. She turned right and caught a glimpse of a wide blueish wall behind the buildings on her side.

  “Almost there” Mia said

  She looked at her and threw the eye cap and the cloth which was covering her head to the back seat. When she looked out the window, a magnificent breezy ocean with beautiful white streaks appeared. The glassy blue and green appearance of water with pale yellow sand without any people around looked like a cover photo of Honeymoon Island.

  “Where are we?” She asked searching for the button to lower the glass. The automated system and modern tech were not there. She realized it wasn’t the same car. “Whose car is this?”

  “You don’t remember our flight travel”

  “We came in the plane?” She asked with shock. “What the hell did you mix in that tea?”

  “Nothing. You needed rest. You didn’t sleep properly for the last three days” Mia turned the car right and stopped it near the standalone red woody beach house standing out of nowhere.

  “Where is this place, Mia?”

  “Somewhere in Goa”

  “Goa! You crazy. How did you get me into plane?”

  “You have taught that much about your country. Incredible India it is”

  “You took a private plane?”

  “Let’s leave that part. How did you sleep?”

  “I still don’t get it. I don’t remember anything after we left your home”

  “You were speaking in your sleep. Anything to remember?” Mia said handing over her phone.

  “When?”

  “Just now. You were quiet like dead throughout the trip. Just five minutes ago you started chanting something. Good one or bad?”

  “Good one turned bad” She turned on her phone and typed ‘dre’. List of suggestions came down. She selected the icon with tag - dream journal. She searched the word “Happy hospital”. The screen scrolled down skipping a series of bulletin description and stopped at a point, highlighting the word she typed.

  “You remember this” She showed the screen to Mia.

  She studied the screen from end to end before nodding back.

  “It started in the same way but twisted at the end”

  “That dream was under bliss category, isn’t it?”

  Yuleika nodded. “But this time I didn’t feel anything. No emotions registered”

  “So, is this one worthy to note down?”

  “I’m not sure”

  “Anyway we got the whole place for ourself, you can think about it before you can push it into your ‘pseudo memory’” Mia said air quoting over her head.

  “Did you bring any clothes of mine?”

  “Why do you need them?” Mia said getting out of the car

  “How long we are going to stay here?” She got down and closed the door behind.

  “As long as you want”

  Chapter 18

  NO SHADES LEFT

  Like a bird catching its prey, Yuleika nose-dived into the blue, glassy water. She waved her hands back, pushing herself forward. The stream of tiny bubbles flew away along her sides. The black dress made it heavier and harder to move inside. She went deep down, against the drag from her floating burka. She reached the ground and stood at the bottom, tiptoeing on the tiles below.

  The half opened burka flew like a jellyfish. Her lungs were protesting for the supply of oxygen. She pushed the ground and brought herself toward the surface. She exhaled spilling water out of her mouth and swam across to the place where Mia submerged her legs with the pulled up pant.

  “Hiran texted me” Mia said dropping the noodles into her mouth. “He is busy. He can’t make it”

  She rolled the noddles in the bowl with a chopstick and brought it to Yuleika’s. “No, you eat”

  “You don’t have work, today?” Mia asked chewing another huge ball.

  “Nazeer is handling the last week’s data. He will take care, why?”

  “I’m going for shopping. You want to come?”

  “No, I’m not really”

  “Are you going to apologize to him?”

  “Apologize? For what?”

  “He trusted you and you got him to the police. That was something to apologize”

  “You should be the one apologizing. If it wasn’t for your stupid command, I wouldn’t have fallen down”

  “Hey, that’s your mistake. You should have been careful”

  “Victim blamer” Yuleika said pulling herself out of the pool. The drenching gown poured loads of water out of it.

  “Hey, you think?” Mia’s voice turned serious.

  “I’m just kidding” She brought her hands around, tried to hug Mia.

  Mia pulled back away from her. “Don’t touch me. I don’t want to get wet” She continued her eating.

  “You think he is playing dumb?” Yuleika leaned back on her hands.

  “He is pretty hot to be dumb”

  “What?”

  “Come on. His jaw bone and that fit body. Believe me. Girls would go crazy on him”

  “That is very cliche. Moreover, he is not your type, is he?”

  “He is not but –”

  “If you insist, you don’t need my permission. You can go ahead”

  “I don’t want to spoil your little experiments and I don’t think he is playing dumb. He looks confused around you. He is failing to fill the missing information about you. He is curious”

  “I’m the one going and visiting his home. How can you say he is curious?”

  “I’m not dumb. I saw the logs and tracking history. He has done his best to find out about you. I’m not some stupid girl with big eyes”

  “You sneaky. When did you see that?”

  “For a spy’s daughter, you are not quite good at hiding data in your phone”

  “That’s it. I want divorce”

  Mia’s phone beeped. She kept the bowl aside and looked at the screen “Look, I’ve to go now. Will you be safe and yourself?”

  “I can’t promise both”

  “I will see you tonight then, bye” Mia pulled down the folded pants and walked across the pool.

  Yuleika saw her father bidding adieu to Mia as he walked toward her. He was in a loose white shirt and blue denim with black Ray-ban. He came and sat on the pool lounge chair.

  “When will you stop being handsome, dad?”

  “We always look beautiful in the eyes of loved ones, no matter how they really are”

  She pulled back her face and frowned suddenly. She turned and looked at the ripple created by her submerged legs on the swimming pool. Her father turned on the laptop next to him and connected her phone to it.

  “You always warned me about trust. But how do yo
u know a person for who they really are?”