Half a Dozen Lives

Life, Love and Death

I did not really know why I called Jerry that morning but he seemed to be my only friend since I had shifted to Stuggart. All the other relationships I had, seemed to have fizzled out. It was just Jerry and our drinking sessions every night that were keeping me sane; like walking on a tightrope with him being the stick.

It was after I had called him, my voice breaking down, that a car came screeching down my front yard like children out of their classrooms at recess. It had taken him exactly five minutes to come down to my house and I loved him for that. It made me feel that our friendship was mutual and I was not just another client he took on drinks to earn a favour or two.

He sat down beside me silently. If Jerry knew anything about handling people, it was when to remain silent. Hours passed by with the two of us sitting silently, him playing music occasionally and bringing me things to eat. My whole world had come to an end and sitting there silently seemed like the most normal thing to do, like if I sat there long enough then somehow things will get alright and Rebecca will return.

It went on for almost a week with Jerry coming in every morning to check on me, sitting with me for hours, silently, and doing his work on the laptop. He didn't ask me about what happened. It was like he didn't want to know. He was fine without knowing the complexities of my life till he could be there for me.

Three months had passed and one fine day, as Jerry sat closing some deal, talking to a client on his phone- I got up, and taking my overcoat in my hand decided that it was time I got my life back on track. I had lost my job. But tonight it was a new beginning- a beginning that won't end very well for me.

That night, as I told Jerry that we were going out for drinks, he jumped up in excitement thumping his fists in the air like a teenager going on his first late night adventure trip. He was ecstatic.

That was the day I got a glimpse of Jerry's real world. I don't remember much about that night but there were expensive drinks, girls, private clubs; it was a part of Stuggart I had never seen, a part that existed only for some people like Jerry Lawrence. There were several other people that night in that party- celebrities, people I had seen on big billboards while crossing the highway, businessmen. It was Stuggart's elitist party and I, a jobless divorcee was there, amidst it all just because of Jerry Lawrence, who I was sure, was much more than a real estate legend.

The next morning I woke up, in a bed covered with a white satin bed sheet, a naked blonde beside me. I was out of my senses. I could remember nothing about last night. I sat on the side of my bed, looking over at the beautiful girl lying on my bed and wondered where the hell Jerry Lawrence was for the rest of my life. I remember that high Jerry made you feel, like life had just begun.

As I sat regaining my senses and admiring the beauty of the woman lying beside me as the sun reflected on her skin which somehow looked just as white as the satin bed sheet, Jerry came bashing in through the door, a suit in his hand and asked me to dress up fast.

"We need to leave." He said. I looked at him perplexed still a little dazed.

"Fast." He shouted once more as I pulled my pants up and fumbled through the room.

We got into a car and headed downtown. Everything seemed dizzy and I could not care less about where we were headed. We took several turns and finally we were on the highway. The roads were deserted at this time of the day which indicated that it was too early in the morning that we had set out. After an hour or so, in which I passed out twice or thrice, we finally stood outside a coffee shop. It didn't seem like Stuggart. I think we had driven all the way to some other city. I looked around, trying to figure out where we were.

Few children rode their bicycles, rushing to their schools. The sun had come up and it seemed like it was around nine or ten in the morning. The cars were out and honking, waiting for the traffic signal to change colours. Our car was parked just opposite to the coffee shop. The coffee shop was situated to the left of the intersection with four roads, so the traffic was pretty dense at this time of the day. Some people sat in the coffee shop eating their morning breakfast. Jerry was seated alone in the far corner drinking coffee. He was alone.

I tried exiting the car but the doors were locked. I tried calling Jerry but my phone's battery was drained.

A brunette walked in the coffee house. She was around twenty six, slim, incredibly pretty, wearing shades and a hat. She sat down beside Jerry and they talked for almost five minutes or so. The windows of the car were open otherwise I would have died of suffocation. Their backs were turned to me so I could not see much but they seemed pretty close. They constantly touched each other's hands and she kissed him on his cheeks as she left. Jerry looked at her leave, his eyes unwavering, as if the eyes of a man a moment before death. He certainly didn't want her to leave.

Jerry stood up from his seat and left some money on the table. A car came cruising from the road just opposite to the coffee shop. The signal had just turned green.

Gunfire roared through the streets as cars lost control colliding into one another. The people crouched for protection as I saw Jerry hide behind the wall in the coffee house. The firing continued as the car whizzed past the intersection disappearing down the road. As the world grew silent again, the hearts on the German street beating in unison after what they had just seen, everyone seemed to rise again. I crouched up peering through the window, still scared of any danger that still lurked. I scanned the roads. There were five bodies lying on the pavement on which the coffee shop was located.

I scanned through the bodies, searching for Jerry, praying as my eyes went from one body to the other for it to not be Jerry. It wasn't because my eyes finally fell on Jerry sitting on the pavement, wailing like a wild animal. He stood over a dead body holding it in his arms, weeping profusely such that his cries resonated through the silent streets. A crowd gathered round him trying to help him. He seemed numb like the world has ceased to exist. He just sat there holding the brunette in his arms unmoving.

Then he put the body down, walked out of the crowd, and came up to the car. His eyes were red, his face without the usual smile. He walked stiffly, opened the car door and drove ahead. This was what Jerry did. 

He moved ahead. 

He didn't have time to cry or lament. 

Of all the things we knew about each other, we knew when to remain silent. Time will tell me what I had gotten myself into.