Soon

A short story I had written a while back - abusive language has been used, so please read no further if you think you may find it offensive

CHAPTER FOUR

 

The car bolted ahead at breakneck speed… his heart pounding in his head, he could still hear her pleading... crying… Oh, how he hated that bitch!!! He crushed the accelerator…

A rickshaw appeared on the road ahead, steadily growing from a minuscule dot to a larger mass… he doesn’t care, does he???...he rushed forward in a mad frenzy… the auto steered leftward just in time… He didn’t stop; perfectly aware that the auto must have stood there, the driver looking back at him in towering rage… he doesn’t give a damn…

There was something on the road ahead… a cat… he doesn’t care… he heard the bloodcurdling shriek as the cat was crushed under the wheels of his Corolla… he was crying now… I hate her, I hate that bitch… he felt no remorse, no guilt, no pain… are you happy, now???

The car screeched to a halt… tears were rolling down his cheeks… he wasn’t like this before… he had killed something… and he felt no remorse… You are beautiful, Adi … he clenched his teeth… he wasn’t human anymore…

And he threw himself forward, crashing through the windscreen onto the bonnet… fell on the road and lay there writhing in pain… are you happy, now???

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

“But you know I had nothing to do with this” Aditya was livid…

“I have my restrictions Aditya...” Mr. Bose replied curtly.

“Look, you know that I wasn’t involved in the project… I had told YOU everything… as soon as I came to know!!! ”

“You never informed the management, Aditya” said Mr. Bose coolly, “You should have done that. They think you are with the crooks.”

“I told YOU, for God’s sake…”

“My hands are tied… you know how it…”

“Don’t do this to me…” Aditya slammed his fist on the table and stood up. He looked at the man sitting on the other side of the table, so plainly unperturbed by what had happened, something which was going to ruin Aditya’s career.

“Look Aniket, I have always considered you to be my friend… I need your help” Aditya was trying hard to maintain his calm. “You can’t do this to me…”

Aniket didn’t reply for a few moments. He wasn’t looking Aditya in the eyes … But when he spoke, a lot of the stiffness had gone.

“Yes, we have always been friends, Aditya. And I have always liked you” He got up now but still looked away from Aditya, “You have been a good employee but if I may add, you have also been somewhat foolish.”

Aditya opened his mouth but said nothing. Aniket was moving around the table towards him. He looked into Aditya’s eyes now, “I know that you are in serious trouble. Your foolishness will not only cost you your job… it may cost you a lot more…”

Aniket was face-to-face with Aditya now…  

“I like you, Aditya,” Aniket placed his hand on Aditya’s shoulder and smiled, “And I want to help you… but you have to help me too” Aniket gripped his shoulder hard and placed his second hand on Aditya’s waist.

Aditya couldn’t understand what Aniket was saying but his shoulder was beginning to hurt. He instinctively wrenched his shoulder free and stared into the funny expression in Aniket’s eyes… “What can…?”

“You are beautiful, Adi … more beautiful than you know…” his hand was now sliding down Aditya’s waist…

Aditya shook himself free and moved away from Aniket.

“What do…???” he was incoherent with rage…  “You are crazy…”

Aniket gulped and said, “Aditya, I really want to help you… I’ll get you out of trouble in no time. Everything will be all right.”

“You…  you…” Aditya fumbled with words, shocked. Aniket had been his only ray of hope.

"No one would ever know,” Aniket seemed to return to his cold self now, “I understand that you have a wife and a kid… but what transpires between us…”

“Nothing transpires between us, you understand, nothing…”

“Aditya, you are not thinking with your mind now” Aniket warned coldly…

“Bastard, you…  …” Aditya found that he was now dumb with rage… he flew out of the cabin, not realizing that he was crying. Aniket had been his only ray of hope. He was, now, doomed.

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

“This is the second time in a month, Mr. Roy” the Principal spoke in a matter-of-fact manner, “Needless to say, we do not tolerate such behavior in our school.”

“I am extremely sorry, Mrs. Xavier,” Aditya replied genuinely, “I assure you that this would not happen again.”

Something about his pleading tone made Mrs. Xavier smile in an understanding sort of way.

“Mr. Roy, Nishant has always been one of our brighter students. Frankly, his deterioration has alarmed rather than surprise us. And, now, he has started attacking his classmates. I don’t know if I should say this, but such changes are often the consequences of… … domestic problems. I hope you understand”

“Yes, Mrs. Xavier” Aditya replied bitterly.

“Our counselor has given up. From what she could make out, Nishant is really disturbed about something.”

Aditya knew what it was. He had to do something about it, soon.

“Domestic problems are not something we can wish away, Mr. Roy. But we need to take care of our children’s future too. Whatever it is that Nishant is going through, it is taking a heavy toll on his performance in school, on his behavior, attitude, everything.”

Aditya gave a short nod. He was feeling ashamed of himself. His problems were ruining his kid’s future.

“Children get influenced easily, Mr. Roy. They do not have the ability to analyze – to judge what is right and what is wrong. At times, the child’s mind may get scarred beyond repair. As a well-wisher, I don’t want Nishant to head that way.”

“I appreciate your concern, Mrs. Xavier. I’ll do the needful, I assure you. Thank you so much.”

Aditya came out feeling distraught. He will have to talk to her, to make her understand. It was about his son… her son… their son.

He got into his Corolla and drove towards his office.

  

CHAPTER THREE

Aditya was still shaking. He parked the car in the garage and rushed towards the elevator. He had to do something. They can’t do this to him. He was innocent, after all…

He had always thought Aniket to be his friend. That bastard… he spat in the aisle. The guard glared at him for a second and then looked away. He got into the elevator.

… he felt like banging his head against the elevator wall.

He got off on the second floor and entered his apartment, the door being ajar.

Nishant was playing with his toy-car in a corner of the living-room. He looked up at him and then returned to playing without as much as a reaction. Aditya remembered what the Principal had told him. He’ll have to take to Shreya.

He went into the bedroom. Shreya was looking out of the window. She must have seen him drive into the garage. Yet she pretended as if he was a non-entity. Aditya looked around. The bed-sheets were in shambles. He had been here again, Aditya gritted his teeth.

“Shreya,” he tried to sound normal, “I’d been to Nishant’s school today.”

“Did you go to our lawyer?” asked Shreya.

“Shreya, for heaven’s sake…”

Shreya looked at him. She appeared to be in a state of delirium. 

“He told me!!!! You don’t want to free me… do you? You want me to serve you for the rest of my life…” Shreya was shrieking now.

“You are my wife, goddamit…”

“Wife… hah… I’m a slave, Aditya… your slave… tending to your needs, your son’s needs…”

“Isn’t he your son too…?” Aditya felt veins in his temple throb madly.

“Son… something I never wanted… saddled with marriage and a son when I had ambitions. I sacrificed my career…”

“Haven’t I made you happy in the past six years, Shreya? And you give me this in return…”

“Happy…? No, you don’t make me happy, Aditya… Your son doesn’t make me happy… Pete makes me happy, Aditya. Pete makes me happy. He understands my needs, my feelings…”

“He is using you…Shreya. Why don’t you understand??” Aditya was now yelling too.

“The thought of going away makes me happy… to go away from you… your son…”

  

Aditya could hold it no more. He slapped Shreya hard across the face. She fell onto the bed, whining. Aditya saw Nishant in the doorway and felt a pang of guilt.

“Shreya,” Aditya was crying as he sat on the bed, “We need to think for our son… we are spoiling his… why don’t you understand??”

Shreya gripped him with both hands, tears rolling down her cheeks… “Free me Aditya, free me… I want to live a life… I love Pete and he loves me…”

“Don’t you love me???? Don’t you love Nishant????”

“No” Shreya shrieked. “I never loved you… I was a slave in this house… I want divorce, Aditya…”

“Shreya, you are mad…”  Aditya was trying hard again to control his anger, “Don’t you realize that our son needs you…?”

“I have been tending to all your needs for six years, Aditya… Give me what I want…” Shreya was pleading hard…

“You are out of your mind, Shreya…” Aditya’s heart was burning. He felt something was choking him up. Suddenly, he stood up.

“Did I ever ask you for anything? I’ve always been a slave in this house…”

“You cheated on me, you bitch!!!” Aditya roared. He pulled her up with both his hands, “You make it sound like you have suffered… but I am ready to forgive… for our son…”

“No… I want to be happy, Aditya. I want to be happy…” Shreya clung to his shirt…

Aditya whacked her hard across the face again and pushed her backwards. She collided with the table and crumbled onto the floor, sobbing hysterically…

“Are you happy, now…? If you meet that bastard once more, I’ll kill both of you… perhaps, that would make you happy…” He rushed out of the bedroom and found Nishant cowering in a corner of the living-room.

His heart skipped a beat, his mind numb with rage, “Nishant, come here. Come to papa…” He realized that his voice quivered, and his eyes were moist.

Nishant walked up to him hesitatingly, too afraid to disobey. Aditya took him up in arms and marched out of the apartment. He rang the doorbell of their neighbor Mrs. Pundit. The door opened…

“Disha, will you look after Nishant for a while?” Aditya blurted…

Disha nodded, a thousand questions swarming in her eyes.

“Thank you…” and Aditya flew down the stairs. His heart was throbbing wildly… He got into his car and drew out of the building, not knowing where he was going, not knowing what he would do, just knowing that he wanted to go away from here, as far away as possible…

 

CHAPTER FIVE

  

Shards of glass sunk into his skin, blood trickling down his face and sides, Aditya walked over to the spot where the cat lay on the road. The scene was menacing… 

Aditya felt sick in the stomach. He thought he was going to throw up…

He gingerly picked up what remained of the cat’s body… and swaggered to a side of the road… he placed the cat on the ground and covered it with mud, leaves and stones…

And then he sank into the ground, crying like a kid. He lay there for several minutes… the pain in his heart unbearable… the flood in his eyes unstoppable…

I’ll not let my son suffer… I’ll secure his future… He sat up with great difficulty… I don’t care what happens to her, I don’t care what happens to me, I care only about Nishant… He stood up… I’ll get out of trouble… and we’ll go away… away from this madness…

A passing car stopped where he stood. “Are you all right?” the lady driving the car asked apprehensively.

Aditya nodded and started walking towards his car… Everything would be all right, soon.