Arranged Marriage to Kill Him

Chapter 28 : A Date with BFF

Naina wasn't sure if she was fond of Ahanay's nephew, but she needed him as an armor to protect herself against being alone with Ohas. So when Ahanay mentioned how his nephew needed babysitting for today, she flew to volunteer. She didn't like many things about the boy such as his tendency to cuddle with his iPad throughout the journey in the car and bossing all adults around in a distinct English accent, yet she vibed with him when he blasted rap songs on full volume in the car. The kid knew every word of the lyrics, especially the ones referring to male and female genitalia which he uttered with equal enthusiasm. He was a rising feminist.

Ohas grudgingly got him a new, mango ice cream that the child licked till it smeared all around its mouth, resembling a mini Hanuman. As for Naina, she was too focused on the people here. She went asking around from one person to another, old and young, on what they felt about Ahanay's construction company taking over this place and turning it into a modern India.

Many hesitated to answer, while the old man who chewed paan more than he spoke and sold Chinese snacks on the next street said quite vehemently, "These rich sahaabs always promise us with towers, but then push us into 100 square feet matchboxes. They think we're stupid and will accept whatever they give us as if we don't have rights on our own land. It's all a profit business. They buy our own people with money so they get votes which are all fake. They put on a charity mask and get their faces printed on the front page of the newspaper. If this was charity, why are they selling some flats to outside people? Why not give us everything?"

Few others such as the Bcom graduate who just started working at an MNC were of another opinion, "What's happening is for the good. We come home every day, dreaming of living in better places. Our roofs leak during monsoon, we're afraid that our houses will be carried away by the wind. Gutter water enters our houses during floods. We don't have proper water or electricity. Some people here are backward. They don't understand how to move forward in life. If we get to live in a big building, our house prices will rise. We will have legal backing."

When Naina asked him if he received any money to vote for Ahanay, the boy recalled he had an urgent errand to run and vanished like a ghost.

Naina took down notes, her bias creeping into the words that became bolder and brighter at the points mentioned by the old man and others like him. What was Ohas doing all this while? To not scare others from giving responses, he had to keep an eye on the brat. But by the time Naina turned around, the brat was nowhere to be seen. Just Ohas cradling a cigarette between his fingers and staring into the distance, the smoke leading him to a faraway neverland.

"Oh, the Don of the street!" Naina called out, her eyes frantically searching for the kid, despite her mocking voice. "Where's he?"

Ohas shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"I didn't expect anything better from you," Naina muttered, moving towards wherever her nervous feet were taking. It was as if nervousness was a ghost possessing her body, turning her into someone else. Nervousness was bouncing within her all this while, up and down her body, the moment she stepped into this neighborhood. She was afraid that someone would recognize her as the murderer Naina, she was afraid to face her father, and she was afraid to find households destroyed at Ahanay's command. Her past met her future here, draining the horizon of all its colors, preparing for a thunderous storm. And she was afraid that she would be swept by it, left all alone in the end, by herself.

And now this.

Before she could stop herself, her nervousness carried her towards the ditch where her friend had died, robbing both, her and Ohas' lives.

"He's not here, Naina," Ohas said, his voice plain. "Don't worry, I didn't push him into it. I have better ones to kill."

"How can you---" Naina whirled around, her demonic eyes large and tearful. "How dare you joke about something like this!"