To The Place I Belong

SYLVIA

Jane’s face looked so expressionless that I didn’t know whether to laugh or look sad. But I was rejoicing inwardly.
“Sinan’s dead. Can you imagine that?” she said looking haywire. “What on earth is happening!”
“What did that woman say? I mean how did it all happen? Was he suffering or something?” I asked, my curiosity peeking.
“Oh well…” said Jane sitting at the sofa, with a face that was cut up by confusion and bewilderment, “Well… they-they had taken the body for post-mortem. Seems like he had poisoned himself.”
“What? But why would he, I mean…”
Jane completed the sentence for me, “this old idiot was sturdy enough, what made him do that god knows. He was rich enough to feed his next three generations.”
“I’ll tell you what-” I said rising from the sofa to pour myself a glass of orange juice from the tetra pack, “-ultimately sins find their way to take you away. That’s what happened with him. Must have speculated on the stock market or something, or maybe was indebted to someone…”
“But this is so unbelievable…” said Jane still at a loss.
“His sins drowned him to the extent that he himself had to end his life…Didn’t you see how he used to treat his wife and servants?”
“Oh but-”
The doorbell rang. Jane got up to open the door and returned with Ethan.
“Hey!” he hugged me.
“Hey!” I replied vaguely.
“How are you now?”
“Just fine.”
“ ’How are you?’  Why what was wrong Syl?” asked Jane instantly.
“Oh nothing much,  my stomach had been aching and I felt nauseous. So I had to return early yesterday…” I said assuming casual airs.
“But where were you two last night?” he asked.
“When?” Jane counter-questioned.
“At around 9:40p.m”
“Oh I wasn’t there, you see those little kids kept me back, their parents were out on a party. I wasn’t home until 11.”
“And I was asleep” I replied before Ethan’s curious eyes were directed towards me.
“Oh okay” said Ethan.
“Would like some toast and eggs?” asked Jane.
“No-I just had my breakfast. I thought of checking up on Sylvia…”
“Good that you are here, take her out, she grows all grumpy in the house.” Added Jane.
Here we go again. Oh God Jane!
I had a lot on my mind and it would be great if people spared me sometime alone.
“Oh no, no, no. Please, I don’t feel like.” I waved a hand in dismissing manner.
“That’s okay.” Said Ethan.
“Why not? Has it got something to do with Sinan’s death? Oh dear, don’t you take these death’s by heart. He must have been going through too much…” Jane was about to shoot three or more such sentences but I could hardly bear and broke out into a laughter.
“What? What’s so funny?” asked Jane. Ethan looked confused.
“Oh nothing!” I stifled my laughter.
“Wait. Mr. Pelvis is dead?”
We nodded.
“But how?”
“They said he poisoned himself. But Syl…” Jane enquired absent minded, “do you think it could be something else?”
“Like what?” I asked alarmingly and dubiously.
“Like you know, murder or something?”
“Oh Jane now look who’s taking it by heart. If it were a murder, the police are there to investigate, lets not speculate okay?” I looked up at Ethan who looked so confused and alarmed, to say, “Now, lets get out of here, Jane’s going crazy.”
Ethan tried to laugh but couldn’t. He was too deeply thinking about Sinan and that irritated me.
“Will you come or not?” I asked him while moving towards the door, angrily.
“Oh yes-yes, coming”
…
“What ? Why are you looking at me so angrily?” asked Ethan while driving the car.
“How can you sympathise with a D grade man like Sinan?”
“Oh what? NO, am not sympathising but he wasn’t that bad was he? Seemed to me like a strong-”
“Shut up! Or I will ask you to pull over right here! If you aren’t sympathising then why the fuck are you wearing that mourning expression on your face?”
“Me? What no?” he tried to laugh it away but couldn’t. “Okay, just chill okay?”
“Give me a reason to and I will.”
“Oh come on we are almost there… take a chill pill.”
After a few minutes he handed me a bottle of water and I drank it thirstily.
“I don’t know I tend to blow up the universe when I am angry.”
“Oh stop hyperbolising your phrases. You can’t blow up the universe.”
“Oh for sure I can. All I need to do is blow up three people- you, Jane and… dad of course…”
He smiled in amazement.
“Now that dad isn’t here I don’t know what to do with this hell of a life.” I began to choke up on my own statement before Ethan finally pulled up at the road side and there ahead awaited our favourite place in all of the world.
…
“What is it?” I asked one Friday afternoon to Ben who was crouching on a chair in an empty classroom. Isabel and George were fighting on some trivial issue or so I guessed and Ethan was running a hand down Ben’s back as a gesture of consolation.
Ben said grumpily and in dismayed jealousy “Myra and Eric were-” he turned to Ethan and said, “hey you complete the sentence for me dude, it’s pretty painful for me.”
I looked at Ethan “Ben found them snogging early in the morning in front of the”
“the lockers” I completed it for them.
Ethan nodded.
“I know I saw them, besides, she even expressed the whole excitement of it later today.”
At the word ‘excitement’ Ben flinched and got up, “Dude its too much for me, I’ve gotta go…”
George came running from the far end of the classroom to say “hey wait where the hell do you think you’re going, we are going to the fun fair, do you or do you not remember?”
Ben shook his head, “I don’t want to go.”
“No that’s not done, after all Myra will also be coming…” Ethan winked at me.
“This is your last chance probably” I said to Ben with a lot of eagerness than needed, “and Eric won’t be there, maybe it’s time for some confessions”
Ben’s face brightened up at this mention and he asked with certain nervousness, “Do you think I should…” he looked around for some support.
“Of course you should!” said Isabel.
“Yeah, go for it, Ben,” said George.
“Alright then… you two are coming right?”
“Yes, we will.” The malignancy of my heart knew it’s last fatal destiny.
I have to do it, I have to do it.
I will do it.
I will do it.
For her.
For Stephanie…