OBSESSED

18

Naira's parents rushed into the inspector's cabin, nilima close on their heels. The inspector was engrossed in reading some case papers.
"Officer....Officer....my son is innocent.....there must be a misunderstanding..." Naira's father panted, hand on a swivel chair placed across the inspector's table. Inspector looked up with surprise, clearly not expecting three strange faces in his cabin. He wasn't disappointed but he was anticipating the arrival of two of the constables who had gone to visit the suspect's house in a possible manslaughter case.
"Um please calm down and have a seat." he tried to calm them down. But naira's parents were anxious.
"Officer my son....Neil Dhariwal.....he hasn't done anything...."
"Is he the same guy who hit a man with his car???" he asked seriously. Naira's father gasped loudly.
"No no sir....he can't do anything like that. I am sure we are missing something..."
"It's a case of an accident sir, and the victim is hospitalised. He's not in a pretty good shape honestly....until his statement, we can't release your son. It's part of the procedure." said the middle aged inspector. Naira's mother broke down in tears. She couldn't see her child behind bars for so long.
"Please officer there must be something.....please, I can't see my child in jail." said Visheshwar with tears in his eyes. Inspector shook his head sadly.
"As much as I would like to help you but in cases like these there's no early release and if unfortunately the victim passes away, your son will be booked under the charges of murder. Can't help you much here Mr. Dhariwal!!" said the inspector calmly. Nilima had heard everything quietly and undoubtedly her blood was boiling. She knew who was behind all this. And today she was going to kill him even if she had to spend the rest of her life in prison.
"It's all because of that bloody Narasimha....i am going to kill him..." Nilima hissed angrily. Her father frowned.
"Shut up nilima...."
"Did you say Narasimha??? If I am not mistaken, you are referring to Narasimha Varma right!!" inspector confirmed. Nilima rolled her eyes.
"Who else it can be!!!" she mumbled pissed. Inspector chuckled.
"Well then your problem can be solved!!! I mean, the superintendent incharge of this police station is Narasimha's brother-in-law and honestly they both share a great bond. If you can somehow convince Narasimha to ask the superintendent to release your son, maybe your son can get a bail or possibly even the case may be dismissed. Honestly it's not that big of a matter, accidents do happen and Narasimha can help you even settle the matter with the victim too. Take my advice, talk to Mr. Varma....he's a good man." advised the man in khakhi. Naira's parents faces lit up. But Nilima wasn't so elated.
"No way.....we are not making any deal with a kidnapper. He's a criminal..."
"Keep quiet Nilima. Thank you so much inspector." said Visheshwar, secretly glaring at Nilima.

The house was in chaos. Everybody was shouting, screaming and god knows what. The biggest question was how to reach Narasimha. And it was today they realised their well wisher hadn't left his number. Naira was quietly sitting in one corner, thinking if she should tell them she has his number or not.
"How can we contact him!!!!" Visheshwar was on the verge of pulling his hairs. Nilima was crossed.
"I am telling you this is not a good idea. This man is a bad news..."
"Shut up Nilima. He's the only one who can help us.....he's a big man Nilima, even law bows before a big man." spoke Visheshwar pacing athwart in his room. Naira was looking at her family in trepidation. She recalled how he talked about dealing with his brother last night. Was he talking about sending his brother to jail?? Could he have done that?? Maybe yes, maybe not. But at this point, the family needed him more than anything.
"From where can we get his number!!!!" her mother whispered anxiously, her fingers quivering around the glass of water. As a mother, her heart clenched at the thought of her son sobbing inside the nasty prison cell. Naira gulped. Perhaps she should help her family.
"Um mom and dad....i guess I have his number." she spoke meekly catching her family off guard. Her family's eyes twinkled while Nilima had her eyes narrowed.
"How did you get his number??" was her first question. Naira looked at her gingerly.
"He called me last to last night." she told her fearfully. Nilima was ready to lash out at her for not informing her about his unsolicited phone calls.
"Naira...."
"Nilima before you say anything I wanna tell you that your brother is rotting in prison, so please shut up and allow Naira to share his phone number with us." her father warned Nilima as he walked towards Naira.
"Come on dear, give me his number." her father asked. Naira scrolled down the call log and found his number.