The Lion and the Rose

Chapter 77

Four months later (August 2021)

Siva

The famous business tycoon of Chennai was found dead in his bed due to heart attack

I read the news shots and look at Mathew who is adjusting his bow tie. "Inaiku news pathiya, Mathew?" (Did you check today's news, Mathew?)

"Dei, inaiku avan seepu eduthen ah illa watch eduthen ah nu irupan ah illa news pathutu irupan," Rudhran comments while Mathew, Raj, Sayleesh and Raghav stay silent. (Common man, will he be busy checking for the things he needs to take or will he be checking the news?)

The door opens and Samarth enters, "Machan, itha namma coat lapel la pin panika soli koduthanga." He gives each one of us a boutonniere. (The organiser asked us to wear this on our coat lapels.)

"Machan itha konjam pin pani vidu," Raghav asks Raj and he helps him. (Help me pin this.)

"Dei, naan ungala onnu kekuren," I place my boutonniere on a nearby table and place my hands on my hips. (I'm asking you something!!)

Mathew watches me in the mirror and turns towards me. He takes my boutonniere and pins it to my coat lapel. "Nalla kariyam ku pogum pothu keta kariyam pathi pesa kodathu nu unaku theriyatha?" He swats the invisible lint from my coat. (Didn't you know that you should not talk about bad happenings when something good is happening?)

"Enakku theriyum aana Nalla kariyam nadakura aniku thaan ketta kariyam um nadanthu iruke," I hold Mathew's hand before he turns away from me. (I know but the bad thing has happened on the same day as the good is happening.)

"Athu oru coincidence ah koda irukalam ye," Raj comments as Raghav pins the boutonniere for him. (It can be a coincidence too.)

"Apadi therilaye pona varam thaan antha aalu avaru paiyana marachu vachu iruntha island ku poitu vanthu avana kanom trace pannum sonnaru nu Sanjay sonnan inaiku avaru illa eppadi?" I ask them. (It doesn't seem so. How did that person die after Sanjay informed us that he had decided to search for his son when he visited the island where he had hidden him and couldn't trace him?)

"Aama avanum avan pullaiyum uthama puthiranunga, march ku ready aviya itha pathi ketukitu," Raghav glares at me. Rudhran, Samarth and I look at them confused. (As if his son and he are perfect gentlemen. You should be getting ready for the march and not talking about this.)

Mathew takes a deep breath, "Antha ponungala antha alum thaan..." He balls his fist and I was taken aback. (He too was involved in those girls'...)

Can a father and son be so cruel?

"Dei ungaluku enna vigilantes nu nenapa?" Rudhran asks them. (Are you guys thinking of yourself as Vigilantes?)

"Illa da, commissioner oda under the table permission oda thaan pannom," Sayleesh says. (Nope. We did it with the Commissioner's unofficial permission.)

"Athu kaaga vera naale kedaikalaiya?" Samarth asks them. (Didn't you get some other day to do it?)

"Enga mela 0% doubt kooda varathu," Raj says. "Apadiye vanthalum inga busy ah irukum pothu anga eppadi nu confuse thaan avanga. Try to move on, da." (There will be zero percentage doubt on us. Even if someone doubts us, we will easily say that we were busy with marriage arrangements.)

A week after the launch day, Mathew and Raghav with his team visited the house behind the hotel. When everything was completely dissolved and nothing remained, they drained out the liquid. Sweeped the house for trace once again and returned the keys to the owner saying the person who rented asked them to return.