The
Hometown
Ssandeep B Teraiya
DEDICATION
I am dedicating this book to my lovely parents and my whole family.
Thank you so much for your support.
Love you all.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Heartfelt Thanks to my wife Poonam, for keeping me motivated.
And
Thank you Dr. Sushma Gupta, for all your support.
सर्वतीर्थमयी माता सर्वदेवमयः पिता ..!!मातरं पितरं तस्मात् सर्वयत्नेन पूजयेत्..!!
To get the same virtues as one would, on visiting all holy places, all he has to do is, revere his mother.
Father is an embodiment of all the deities themselves.
They are the sole cause of us being here in this world today. It is hard to imagine one's life without them, their nurture and care. Parents constantly strive to provide the best that they could possibly give, for their children at all times.
There is no well wisher better than parents!
Chapter 14: Love
Kaalubhai and I were discussing our accounts and other stuff regarding the business.
“Kaalubhai, I am bored with all this now. There is no excitement left in this business, like before. Now we are doing nothing and the money is flowing to us. It's very boring.”
“Yes. Right. This office work is boring. You remember those days when you used to go to the delivery on my Bajaj, keeping the bottle in your shirt?”
“How can I forget that? I still remember it. We were just starting and I went for the delivery for the second or third time. At traffic single, I was standing and a policeman was also waiting for the green signal. First, I was afraid and then I tried to behave normally, but I did not know that the bottle was making a tent on the shirt. He saw that. He left his bike and was coming towards me. I had to break the signal. I tried to change the gears to neutral, then to first, but your Bajaj was not that easy. He reached me and was about to hold my hand, but luckily the gears changed and I drove Bajaj, brake signal. I did not look behind or to the left or right. I parked in one dark street and threw the bottle into a corner full of garbage. I drove home. I still laugh when I remember those kinds of days. It was really fun sometimes, and now I don’t laugh or cry. Now we have good homes, cars, mobiles. We have everything, but no feelings. Now we drink scotch, smoke Marlboro, eat food in big restaurants, but still something is missing in life. Or is it the time to leave everything and go travel all alone, on my own. Sometimes I think I should sell everything or give it to you and go away from everything,” I said.
“Bhai please don’t start again about your leaving everything and traveling. Just drink and enjoy it with me. If you are missing those days of yours as a delivery man, why don’t you try it again today,” Kaalubhai said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I am saying you should go to one of our regular clients, to deliver the bottle,” Kaalubhai said.
“Not a bad idea, but I want to go like in the old days, on Bajaj. You still have that Bajaj right?” I asked.
“Yes, I still have my darling Bajaj, and it's still working like before. I drive it every day at least 2 to 3 KM to keep it alive,” Kaalubhai said.
“Okay, great, let's do it this evening,” I said.
“Sure, but I will choose a client, not you okay? I don’t want you to go far with a bottle and my Bajaj. We have one client near IIM, you can go there,” Kaalubhai said.
“I do not mind any client; all I want is your Bajaj. I still have those clothes that I used to wear in those days,” I said.
“What? You still have that torn old white shirt?” Kaalubhai said.
“Yes, that’s a special shirt that I got as a gift from my parents. And with those clothes I can remember all the pain I have suffered. I want to feel it all. At least those sad, painful days made me feel alive,” I said.
“Do whatever you want to do; I don’t understand your thoughts sometimes,” Kaalubhai said.
One our delivery boys gave me the address and a bottle and the time to deliver. I changed my clothes, removed all gold, my watch, and wore simple slippers. I saw myself in the mirror, and those days stood in front of me. I was seeing each moment of my mom’s death. My eyes got wet and I left for the delivery.
I drove the same roads, saw the same signals, and used those same streets. I reached the IIM and just ahead from there was the flats of 4 towers. In B wing, flat no. 2, on the 7th floor I rang the bell and a girl opened a half door without removing the safety chain. Her loose hair fell on her side, I could see her hand on the door and half her face with big eyes.
“Who are you? What you want?” she asked.
“Ma’am, I am Karan,” I said.
She loudly asked me “Karan, who?”
“Ma’am, I came on behalf of Sanjay. I thought he informed you that today he would not be able to deliver stuff.”
I was explaining it to her, and she was still standing behind the open half door. Another lady’s voice came from behind, “Kavya? What happened? Who is Karan?”
“Nothing, he came on behalf of Sanjay to give a stuff. Please pay him; it’s your turn today,” she said to her roommate.
“Yeah, sure, but call him inside. You know that we can’t pay him at the door, the other flat holders will ask us.”
Kavya opened the door, and asked me to come inside.
“I enter and Kavya went to another room. That was 2 BHK flats, at the 7th floor. There was a sofa in front of me and behind that sofa I could see a big glass window from where I could see Ahmedabad full of lights. On the sofa that lady was sitting with pajamas and a T-shirt. She was busy getting money from her big black purse. She did not look at me and told me to put the bottle on the dining table. I went to my left and there was a dining table with four chairs. I saw there were two glasses of whiskey and empty bottles of the same brand. I turned around and I saw her; she got the money from her purse and kept her purse at her side on the sofa. She counted again 3 notes of 500, and then turned her face up towards me.
Our eyes met for the first time. We saw each other’s faces for the first time during that three minute conversation.
“Then what happened, Karan?” Sagar asked.
“I need one more drink, please,” Karan said to Sagar.
Karan drank his glass, again in one go, and put the empty glass on the table.
Manali asked “Was she beautiful Karanbhai?”
“Yes, very beautiful. I had never seen anyone more beautiful than her in my entire life, ever.”
“Tell us her Name?” Sagar asked.
“Neeta.”
.
Sagar and Manali look at each other with shock expressions, with question marks on their foreheads.
Karan said to both of them “Yes, it's true; she was Neeta. Now you want me to continue with my story, to tell about my surprise meeting with her?”
Sagar and Manali came to their senses and requested to Karan to go ahead.
Karan said “Thanks” and continued from where he had left off.
“What the… KARAN? Oh My God,” Neeta was shocked and kept her hands on her mouth with her eyes wide open.
"Neeta, you?" I said.
Neeta came forward and hugged me.
Neeta kept herself in the hug and said “I am so happy to see you after such a long time.”
I came out from her hug and said “I do not want to talk with you.”
Neeta held my hand and pulled me and asked me to sit on the sofa and asked “Why do you not want to talk?” with a big smile on her face.
“You left me. I mean you left us with no notice and you never informed us anything,” I said.
I had my mixed emotions. I tried to behave normally.
“Oh dear, I am sorry for that, but it’s a long story anyway. You must know that now. I wrote in that letter, everything which I gifted you on your birthday. I mean our birthday,” Neeta said.
I could not tell her that I had not read that letter.
“Yes, I know everything, I read your letter,” I lied to her.
She started asking me about my parents, about you, about my job, about Porbandar and many other things.
I told her about my parents, she felt very sad and hugged me when she heard that my mom is no more, and even she got tears in her eyes. She asked me to drink and we went to her room. We sat on the balcony of her room, she offered me a glass and asked me if I need Soda or water?
“I just need two ice cubes; I don’t mix anything else with whiskey,” I said.
“Oho...Karan, I did not expect that you would drink and that's neat too. Not good,” she said.
I felt that she still cared for me, but I said about my whole story how all this happened. She asked me about my clothes and about my delivering the bottle.
I told her everything, all the details, and why I was wearing such clothes and delivering the bottle.
She hugged me again and said “I am feeling very sorry for your life tragedy. I am happy that you came out very nicely, though with illegal business, but its ok sometime. Everyone is doing illegal things in some way, but now since you have money, you should change your business. You could invest in many things now.”
“I will think about it,” I said.
“Hey, you remember our first meeting?” Neeta asked.
“Yes, that day I came to deliver the newspaper and today Daaru,” We both laughed as I said it.
I got a cigarette from my pocket and offered it to her.
“No, Karan, I do not smoke and please you also should not smoke. You used to hate it so much, and now you are smoking like a regular smoker? You have smoked already four times in between dear,” Neeta said.
“Yes, Neeta, many things have been changed. Don’t you see that? And now I don't care about what happens with me. I am happy with whatever comes and goes,” I said.
She found me sad. She tried to change the topic.
“Leave it; tell me about your girlfriend. Got any?” she asked.
“I am still single and always will be. You know about my wish to live alone and all,” I said.
“Oh, I don’t believe you; you look more handsome now with mature skin and body language, and now you have money too. I am sure you have girlfriends,” Neeta said.
I stood up with a cigarette in my hand and held the glass railing of her balcony. I let the smoke out of my mouth and turned to her standing at the railing. “I told you, no I do not have anyone since you left.”
“What?” Neeta asked.
“I mean, you were the only one girl with whom I used to talk, otherwise there are no friends or girlfriends,” I said.
“No problem, I will find one for you,” she said.
“No, I don’t need any girlfriend, tell me about you? Do you have a boyfriend?” I asked.
“Are you mad? How could I have a boyfriend? I guess you do not remember that letter I gave you,” Neeta said with doubts.
“Oh yes, yes, how can I forget that?” I said.
I tried to change the topic of the letter, and asked her about her other roommate, the girl Kavya.
“Hey, don’t you want to drink with her? We are drinking here and she must be feeling bad about you that you did not invite her,” I said.
“Do not worry, I told her about you. She knows you as I told her about you, everything long before. She herself told me that today we should both drink in private. She does not want to disturb two old friends,” Neeta said.
“Okay, what did you say about me to her?” I asked.
“About you means about my short Porbandar stay and my friends, you and Sagar. Also, about our favorite places: that boat, Ganpati events, and our birthday party,” Neeta said.
“Where is Sagar?” Neeta asked. “I wish he could be here with us.”
“I do not know. He never tried to meet me or contact me. He was not there when I went to Porbandar, and after my mom's death, all of them thought that I was the reason behind my mom's death. I guess Sagar is also one of them who thought like this,” I said.
“Karan dear, please forget all that. Come, let’s have one more and celebrate our meeting,” Neeta said.
I sat again on a chair, and I asked her to switch off the balcony lights.
“Why do you want to switch off the lights?” she asked.
“I hate lights while drinking, and we are on the 7th floor. Switch off the lights; the view will be more beautiful. Look at those stars and clean sky, those roads with yellow lights. It’s 2 a.m., the city is sleeping, just feel the peace with a drink,” I said.
“Wow, Karan, I find this romantic!” she said.
“What is that?” I asked and we both laughed.
“So you shifted here?” I asked.
“Yes, I had to, Vadodra was painful. Here I feel free,” Neeta said.
“Ok, what do you do? Are you working somewhere?” I asked.
“These days, I am with one of my friends’ organizations of organ donation,” Neeta said.
“What is that?” I asked.
“It helps people to get an organ, and it allows people to donate their organs. A kind of blood bank, it’s an organ bank you can say,” Neeta explained.
“Nice, I would also like to donate, if it is possible,” I said.
“Sure, I had already registered myself for my eyes,” Neeta said.
Neeta told me about her dad’s death last year. She shifted to Ahmadabad, staying with her friend; it's her own flat and has her friend as PG. She told me about her dad’s wealth and all, but she wanted to use it for good work, as she told us about her dream of starting an old age house with "Anaath" kids. Where no one would come to take kids as they will have parents there already. I really liked this idea of hers; I mean a place where both get a solution, kids and parents. I understand why she wanted to do this always as someone left her at "Anaathlaya".
Since she was mature, she thought only about this. This was her all time life goal. I told her that I would help her as much as I could. To that she replied with a hug. We both were a bit high, it was a dark winter night and we were on the 7th floor balcony. Her hug did some magic on me, from that day I started feeling happy and complete again. We started to meet every day at that balcony. We started to share every small bit of us. Whenever she used to talk about the letter, I used to lie, but it was fine. As there was not much about that in our life now, we were good friends again.
We used to go the movies, and dinner every weekend. We both started to visit each other’s place for breakfast or drinks. Whenever I felt blue, she would hold my hands or sometimes she would hug me. Long drives in the rain with her, or sometimes eating street food with her, we were totally lost in each other. I was not having dreams of my mom. I started to feel happy again. Kaalubhai used to tell me that he never saw a smile on my face, but now I was very happy. He always used to tell me to marry her, but this time I did not want to lose her again. She was the only one who understood me and I needed her always with me as a friend. I did not want to take the risk of that love and all. I knew I loved her since those Porbandar days.
A couple of times, she asked me to visit Porbandar, but I was not able to do that as I was afraid of my painful memories. But she forced me and said I had to face it. “Only then will you be able to forget it and only then can you be happy. Don’t run away from challenges. Face them and clear it.” we decided to go to Porbandar.
We went directly to that boat OHM. We went with our drinks and my smokes. She told me that we should call Sagar as well, but I said no, I do not have any contacts now. I told her that we will only visit OHM in Porbandar. We will not go to any other place or my home. She agreed on that. Actually, I wanted to be with her only, no one else that could disturb us.
That was monsoon, we left from Ahmadabad at 10am in the morning, and with a couple of stops in between, we raced to that beach at 7pm. We both were excited as that was the favorite place of ours; we were visiting after such a long time. We parked our car, got our bag of things and walked to the boat OHM. Neeta actually ran on the sand to reach the boat as soon as possible. She reached there before me; she was so happy with those memories of when we all used to visit there. She walked around the boat, looked at the sea, and then she looked at me and hugged me again. This time I hugged her too with my both hands full of bags.
She said “Thanks for coming. I was dying to see this place again. I don’t know, but there is something special here. This place helps me to forget all the pain I had since childhood.”
While talking, she saw a tear coming out of my eyes; she asked me what had happened Karan? She held my shoulders and asked me to sit where I used to sit. She sat on her knees, keeping her face close to my face, and she held my face and asked me “Why are you crying Karan?”
“I am missing my mom,” I said. “This is the first time I have been in my hometown since her death; I hate myself when I think of those days. I broke into crying and she took my face on her shoulders. I held her with both my hands. I was crying like a baby, and she was comforting me with her hands on my hair. She tried a lot to keep me calm, but I was not able to stop myself from crying. I was not able to erase my mom’s memories. They were coming nonstop; I was not able to think about anything else. I was helpless. All I could do was cry; my tears made her shoulder wet and she held my face again and kept it near her face. I saw she was also crying. She kept her hand on my lips and requested me to stop crying, but when I saw tears in her eyes, I was distracted from my mom’s memories. I started to worry about Neeta; I told her “Please do not cry.”
“Karan, I can't see you crying. Please don't cry,” Neeta said.
“I saw her face and eyes. They were so sad because of me. I saw love for me in her eyes. She was wiping my tears from my cheeks, but tears were coming from her eyes. For the first time, I touched her face and tried to clean her face with my hand. I told her “Okay, let’s not cry,” and I hugged her.
We were in that hug, our eyes were closed, and our side was facing the sea. There was total silence. We could hear our own breath. I could feel her heart beating and the sea started to have big waves with their beautiful sound. A sudden cool breeze started and the trees began dancing. We started to feel a bit cold, but the warmth of our hug was saving us. It was like heaven for me. I was so calm in her hug; I do not remember such peace if I ever had it in my life.
I was thinking about nothing but happiness and peace. We were feeling like we were the only two on this earth. We were so calm that our bodies, minds, and hearts, were all relaxed. We were not moving at all; we just wanted to stay like this forever. We did not even notice that the rain started and we were still in that hug.
The sudden voice of the rain and lightning made her hold me tight and I held her face, took it towards my face. I saw closely, her face was very calm, there was no expression of happiness or sadness, eyes were closed, her skin was shining with raindrops, and her face was so close to me that I could feel her breath warm on my lips. I brought my face closer to her. I kept my lips on her lips. I closed my eyes and I did not move. I was not expecting anything. I just wanted to be like that, but my heart was beating like hell. A few seconds later, her lips made a very small gap between her two lips, my upper lip went in that gap and in no time we were lost in a deep kiss. We held each other so tight, like we wanted to be one body. I wanted to insert myself into her soul. She held my hair back, her fingers were moving on my wet hair. My hands were moving on her wet back, my knee had started to hurt. I made her lay on the boat and I lay on her, still lost in the kiss. The boat was filled with rain water and we were in a deep kiss in that rain water.
A few minutes later, we came back to our senses. We settled ourselves, both sat opposite each other, but we both were looking towards the ocean. We were not able to face each other. We both were silent, and a few minutes later, she told me to sit there because she wanted to walk on the sand on the beach.
I understood that she needed to be alone sometimes. I just said ok and she walked towards the ocean. I was watching her from the boat; she was walking slowly with folded hands, she was now looking more beautiful in her pink cotton wet Salwar top. While walking, she loosened up her wet hair; she reached close to the waves. She was facing the sea and stopped there. I could see her. She was lost in some thoughts, but my mind, my body, my heart, my each part wanted to tell her how much I loved her for long. Today, I did not want to waste this meeting without saying how much I loved her. I opened the bottle and drank a couple of sips of vodka, gathered my courage and walked towards her. She was standing still; waves were touching her bare legs. I reached behind her, went closer, and I hugged her from behind. I pull her towards me. “I LOVE YOU NEETA,” I said.
She turned herself towards me and hugged me. She looked in my eyes and said “I love you too.”
We hugged again, but we did not have any words. What was there to talk about now or what was there to do? We just held hands and walked on the beach in the rain. We were somewhere we had never been to. We spent the whole night there on the boat; we had drinks, and we had food. We talked about other things. In the early morning, we left for Ahmadabad.
She asked before leaving, to visit my home, but I said “No. I do not want spoil my day.”
We left for Ahmadabad.
***Chapter 15: Birthday II
After the visit to Porbandar, my life changed. I left all the illegal business, and focused on buying and selling flats and plots. Kaalubhai joined me and we started to buy small plots. We developed tenements and started to sell them. Kaalubhai was still in his old selling alcohol business and he still counted me as a partner in profit, but I refused to take profit sharing. All was going well again. Neeta and I were in a serious relationship now, but we never talked about our relationship. After that boat scene, we never kissed again, but we both knew that we love each other a lot. We started to talk a lot on the phone, on SMS, and we both were enjoying our balcony drinks together.
I remember we once went to Garba, after having a couple of vodka shots in my car. We went into the venue, fully decorated with lights, multi-color fabrics, Diya and with Garba. The venue was looking beautiful and the music had already started as we entered in the lawn area. She pulled me by the hand, I was running behind her and she found enough space in that crowded venue. After that vodka, I was bit high and happy. In front of me, she was standing in her red and green Chaniya Chowli with no Chuni. I could see her white flat tummy, perfect 34 26 34 kinds of figure.
Her hair was loose behind, her earnings were long, her nose ring was shining, her black big Bindi on her forehead and her beautiful smile; all together were making me fall for her again and again. I wanted to hug her now and start to tell her how much I loved her. I wanted to tell her, at that moment, that I would not be able to take even a single breath if you left my life now. I could not imagine myself without her. I was too busy to look into her beautiful body and she shook me and asked me join her to play Garba with her. We both started to play Garba and were playing like we were the only two in this ground again, like those Ganapti days. That was because of the vodka or because we both loved each other’s company so much or it was music. They were singing a Gujarati number “Jode Rejo Raaj…Jode Rejo Raaj…” (Be with me always whatever happens). With this music, lights and word of songs, I was feeling like all this was happening for me only. I was very happy. I started to dance like a mad guy in happiness. On that day, I found my life so perfect. She saw me dancing and first she stopped playing Garba. She watched me for a few second, but I closed my eyes and I continued my weird dance. In the next few seconds, she joined my weird dance. She was wilder than me; she was shouting like a halo... A… halo and her hair were in front of her face. She was dancing like someone who danced in Kaali puja. People were laughing at us. A few joined us as well.
We enjoyed it all like small babies. Later, we laughed out loud on the way to her home. She wished me good night at the gate. It was 2am. I told her that I did not want this day to end like this; I wanted to continue this happiness. She told me to come and stay at her flat. It was normal for us now to stay at her flat and drink the whole night. She told me to sit on the sofa and she went to the changing room. I asked her to please not change, “You look very beautiful in this Chaniya Chowli.”
“My clothes are wet. Can't you see? We have burned lots of calories; see my whole body is wet,” Neeta said.
She turned her back towards me, and I could see her bare back. It was shining pure white with her sweat. There were huge parts open of her back; one sweat drop was rolling down from her back neck. I got lost watching where that drop was rolling. I wanted to be that drop. That drop was so lucky. She turned herself again and asked me “What are you thinking?”
“Hmm...Nothing, you just sit here on the sofa for some time. I want to see you in this beautiful outfit,” I said.
That was the bold line I ever said to her.
“What? I think you its Vodka saying, Karan!” Neeta said.
“Yes, Whatever! I said,” and pulled her to the sofa. She fell on me.
“What are you doing Karan?” Neeta asked and tried to loosen my grip on her waist.
She was on top of me. Her face was very close to me and I saw in her eyes, and touched her back with my left hand. I hugged her tight.
“Oh...Karan,” she hugged me too, and we were lost in a kiss again!
We kept ourselves in control as she told me that "not now “kind of thing.
My days were so beautiful, so perfect. Months and months passed and our birthday was coming, the 29th of November.
I thought to give her a gift this time. The last time, I wrote letters, but she left Porbandar. This time I would not let her go without my gift. That time, I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, and this time I would tell her that I wanted to marry her. I decided to marry her, and I would tell her on our birthday.
I started to do all the planning; how I would tell her, where I would tell her, etc. There was one week left and I was finally going to tell her. She would say yes and we would get married. This would be the most favorite of our birthdays.
I was forgetting everything with her, but I still missed my mother sometimes. I wished that if she were here, then she would be very happy to know that her Neeta was going to be her daughter-in-law.
I started to think about wedding venues, food, and all.
I was acting like I did not remember our birthday. We met every day, but I was not giving any hint of surprise.
That whole week passed while I was thinking of our life after marriage, dreaming about it. Finally, the day came; I decided to visit her place at 12 at night, with a bottle of our favorite vodka, flowers, chocolates and a golden ring. I went to the 7th floor and I saw the door was slightly open. For a surprise, I pushed it slowly and went inside the flat, with my flower bouquet, vodka and gift in one hand. I closed the door with other hand without making a noise. I checked here and there and heard her voice from the balcony where we used to drink. She was talking on the phone, so I thought to not disturb her until she was finished with her call. Then I would hug her from behind. So I hid myself there. I made sure that she did not get any idea that I was waiting outside her room. I was getting her clear voice so I could hear her call and know as soon as she said bye on that call. I would be prepared. I was listening from outside the door.
"I miss you too dear…So… So… So much… you know I can’t even think about my life without you. I love you so much.”
“Yes, sure. I will come to meet you tomorrow. I am dying to meet you. I know it’s been a long time, but I was busy with my work. I told you.”
“Yes. Yes... of course we will have all the fun…hahaha…”
“What? You want a kiss on the phone? I will give tomorrow, lots of kisses.”
“Okay…let me kiss you on phone…Muahhaaaa…"”
That was the limit. I could not hear anything else. I left everything there and went outside the flat.
I was not able to wait for the lift. My whole body was shivering; I started to sweat like I was in some fire. I ran on the stairs to reach the downstairs. I missed steps and had to hold on to the wall. I started to feel freezing. My mind was not expecting that telephone conversation, but my ears were still hearing those words spoken by Neeta on the phone.
Somehow I reached the ground floor. I sat on the last step; my mind was moving around inside. The lights on poles, the lights of cars from the parking lot, the voice of the watchman’s whistle, everything was giving me pain. I held my head with both hands and tried to control myself. I went into the car and sat there. I saw the whiskey bottle, opened it, and started to drink it.
First, sipping brought me memories of my mother again. The second sip brought me memories of my job and what Deepak did to me. I continued drinking nonstop to forget all those memories of my mother’s death. I could not even talk with her the last time. My dad did not allow me to go inside the home. All those good and bad memories came together at the same time, attacked my mind. I was unable to face it.
I kept drinking more and more. With a shaking hand, I tried to burn the lighter and with a couple of hard tries, I could burn my cigarette. I was not able to hold my cigarette in two fingers because my hand was shaking, so I held it with my whole hand and tried to smoke. My car door and window were closed, but I smoked inside. The whole car filled with smoke, my eyes were red. I was drunk. My thoughts were killing me, all was going in slow motion: that first dance with her, that first kiss, all came to my mind, all that caring when I cried, her hugs when I felt blue, her advice.
Her caring came in front of my eyes, but now it was all fake. I came to know that all this was fake. I again started to think about my whole life. I was happy in my hometown with my parents, but when Neeta came she spoiled everything. She is the reason I got the job. She’s the reason I came to Ahmedabad and now she is the reason again for my brand new pain of love and cheating. I was getting angry. I thought I’d kill her on her birthday. I had control of my mind; liquor was doing its job. I opened the car door and came outside with the bottle in hand. I threw the cigarettes on the floor, drank the last sip from the bottle and I ran towards the stairs. It was night and I was running with an empty bottle in hand. I ran up the stairs. I fell, got injuries on my head, and started bleeding. I broke the bottle, so now it was like a sharp weapon. I reached the door and kicked it. I saw she was still on her mobile.
She saw me, and told me “I was calling you, where were you? Where is your phone? And what happened to you?”
She ran towards me to see my injuries, again that fake caring. She reached to me, with her fake worried face. She touched my head and I stabbed the bottle into her stomach. She yelled and fell on the floor. She kept both hands on her wound in pain. Her hands were all red with her blood. The blood started to roll onto the floor; tears of pain came from her eyes. She was looking at me, and wanted me to ask why?
“You bitch, why did you ruin my life? Why did you show me fake feelings? Why did you play with my feelings? Now you can live with him forever with whoever you were talking on the phone with. I heard everything,” I said.
She closed her eyes and I went from there crying.
I sat in the car and searched for my mobile. I saw there were five missed calls and one message from her wishing me a happy birthday and saying she was waiting for me to come to her flat. She wrote that she was going to give me good news.
I threw the mobile and drove the car fast with tears in my eyes and anger in my mind. I decided to finish myself. Somehow, I started feeling guilty, but the anger was still there. I went to Kaalubhai and told him everything. He told me to leave Ahmedabad and go somewhere as soon as possible. He sent me with his driver to other states. His driver left me at one of the hotels in Udaipur. He was a friend of Kaalubhai and Kaalubhai had already told him about me. He kept me there safe, was giving me liquor in my room daily.
I was in a big time drinking situation and I started to take a hash! I just wanted to forget everything, but nothing was helping me out. I kept myself there for almost a month. I was tired and I was regretting everything. I felt sorry for my life, my mother, my friends, and my love. My dad came in my dream that day, asking for help. He was asking me to help him and was not well. I thought now I can do this at least.
I left that hotel the same day and came directly to Porbandar. I went home, but it was locked there. I asked around the area and to other known persons, but they said they did not know where he went since last many days. Now, here I am waiting for my dad to come at home. I am not able to find him now. I even asked the police, but nothing happens. Now, I can only do one thing and that is waiting here for him.
Karan was not able to hold his tears. He kept the glass on the table and started to cry with hands on his face.
“Karan are you mad?” Sagar stood up and slapped Karan’s face.
“You bastard... What have you done?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ssandeep B Teraiya is a Bcom LLB by education, a wedding planner by profession and now an author by passion. Born and raised in Porbandar, Gujarat and now settled in Rajkot.
Email: Thessandeep@gmail.com
