"What were you kids doing up there when... if I'm right, you are not supposed to be anywhere but the classroom?" Inspector's eyes failed to cooperate with his gentle tone, betrayed a reservoir of contempt that's ready to break free and flood her.
There is nothing more scarier than the soft words from the evil that clearly knows that you know that it is an evil.
It all happened at a lightning's pace.
Thashi gained her consciousness when a splash of water hit her face. She woke up and immediately regretted it. Her blackout didn't even last a couple of minutes. It seemed like a rebirth or if I have to state it more precisely, a teleportation; from the world that had Red to the world that hadn't.
No one dared to touch Red's corpse when they'd confirmed his demise. Word about the unfortunate event had been shared with the higher authorities of the college. By virtue of their orders, teachers and security guards cleared the students crowd using the 'expulsion threat'. Since R had zero friends excluding Thashi and only fewer acquaintances, there was no emotional outbreak among the crowd; they fled the area within some minutes in more of an excitement than grief. It was an unprecedented event in PAC and unprecedented never fail to excite the bystanders despite its morbidness. Orders from the higher authority also included not to involve police yet.
Thashi wasn't able to look at the lifeless Red. She still sat there not knowing how to react. She couldn't cry. She couldn't comprehend what everyone's talking around her. There may come a time in everyone's life when one will envy the dead. It was one such time for her. Thashi was furious over Red for leaving her alone; leaving her amidst the pack of wolves as Red always puts; putting a final full-stop to a romantic masterpiece at its prologue itself. She loved him. More than anyone ever did. She kissed him. Now he was laying there dead testifying against the common acceptance of the idea called the balance of nature.
At that time, stuck among the wolves, she searched for that one comforting face to come and rescue her. Mrs Varsha, English professor. Thashi's mom. The one that got convinced to assign the seminar to R. In fact, everyone there waited for her to appear. If it were another girl, the scene would have been different. Since Thashi was a colleague's child, they felt that it won't be fair for them to interrogate her before her mother comes. Also it was evident that Thashi was not in a state of responding to anything that would end with a question mark. She looked devastated; in contrast to Red's undisturbed face. It was obvious then that Red was the culprit; Thashi was the victim.
Mrs Varsha split through the swarm that the stairs could barely afford and froze at the sight of the most disciplined student of the class -- who was about to make his first attempt out of his recluse life that afternoon -- was laying there lifeless that betrayed no difference from his usual self; calm and to himself except that he was dead this time.
Within a split second her concern jumped from the dead boy to her dead-within daughter. Their eyes met and like an invisible emotional button has been pressed Thashi broke into tears; started wailing like never before. Her whole body shook. She stood on her knees in a gesture to hug her mom. Mrs Varsha wasted no further second to jump on her daughter and seize her in her arms. Tears began rolling down her cheeks seeing her daughter suffer. In that moment of extreme tragedy, she become vigilant to the power of infinite; metamorphosed as a furious monster that would never let anything harm its most precious possession. Some of them in the crowd thanked their gods for not disturbing Thashi before her mom came.
Still, the situation demanded an answer from Thashi. Mrs Varsha was aware of that. Without ceasing the tight embrace, she lowered her head slightly near Thashi's ear and whispered.
"What happened?" She wanted no one to notice the exchange of words.
"I... don't know (gasp) mom..!" Thashi cried. She had no compulsion to reply in a husky tone. "R (gasp) is (gasp) DEAD mom..." She felt suffocated. Words demanded a great effort to materialize as a sound. For each word that came out, it felt like a part of her last stock of breathe leaving her body.She heaved. Her eye balls rolled back. She felt weak. Too weak that giving up seemed to be the only pleasure left in the world.
"How could he..." She passed out again. She won't even get the chance to bid farewell to his dear R.
The last thing she felt before descending into blackness was a strong twinge in her lower abdomen gradually developing from within; a distinguished pain
comparing to everything else she was going through then. Little did she feel the pool of red oozing out of her genital, flushing out what all that remained of Red in this world.
She wore a dark blue denim shirt half-tucked into the light blue jeans that day while the corpse laying beside her was on all whites; white shirt and white jeans. It struck her as odd at first to see him in that outfit but she couldn't quite rationalize the oddity in that so, she left it unquestioned.
The red stain started spreading over her blue jeans like the ink on a blotting paper causing a momentary shush of shock followed by a cacaphony of murmurs among the crowd.
She passed out; saved from experiencing the moment of extreme embarassment which would be remembered, trolled, gossiped, opinionized until the time she cease to exist; when all the ridicules and opinions fade away and people start taking her side. A cruely funny nature of the world we live in.
"We were kissing" Thahsi replied wearing a deadpan expression.
The interrogation happened in the evening, four days later, at the front porch of Mrs Varsha's home. It was a single storeyed building with a spacious parking space in the front; shielded by a compound wall masking the view of the porch for the outsiders unless they peek in through the main gate. They were sitting in the plastic garden chairs facing each other with a teapoy in the middle bearing the burden of the two cups of hot coffee.
The investigation went on for 20 minutes. The whole time Mrs Varsha was standing near the doorway keeping an watchful eye on Thashi and eventually
wincing over the decent questions of the inspector with disgusting undertones.
Thashi's father died when she was just 7. Ironically, Thashi miss her mother sometimes but her father.
Because, Mrs Varsha had been more of a father than a mother. The insecurity is a sharp chisel that would either break you down to pieces or shape you up
to something better. It's all up to how you handle fear and the perennial negativity around you. Thashi's mom handled them like a master.
"So why do you think Ravin is dead now?" He wasn't done with the torment yet.
"Dead fits him better than alive!" Thashi replied calmly.
"Are you sure you have nothing to do with his passing away?"
"You have no idea how I wish I had!"
He smirked tweaking his bushy mustache drooling down from his bulbous nose. Though I hate the idea of stereotyping this facial feature for villains.
Actually, I'm not. It is just that he was a bad guy looking the way he was.
He fired his final bullet.
"Then what about your pregnancy and the miscarriage?" He was literally excited to ask this question.
"Red raped me. Now I'm cleansed of the abomination. And I'm done with you!" Her face didn't even betray a hint of emotion.
If emotion is the only factor that qualifies a human as living, she is long dead.
***
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Oh My R!
Mystery / ThrillerStep into the world of light where the only darkness is love!
