The next few days were really boring. I watched television, played games, helped my mother but nothing changed my mode. Something kept on bothering me. I didn't know what it was. Then there were my friends. Whenever I went out Maria also accompanied me. I felt a little annoyed by her activities because whenever she was with me my friends backed away. Nobody came near me. It was like they would come closer to me and Maria would show up and they’ll go away. You are thinking about Crimpson, aren’t you? Yeah. How can I forget him?
The day he got punches from Maria he limped back home but didn’t complain to his parents which kinda surprised me. Then he sent some insults through WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and on many more other social media for the next few days. Then whenever I met him outside he would yell insults keeping his distance because always Maria was with me. The more and more Maria was with me the more my friends were going away from me. I couldn’t tell this to her because she had already gone through so many things. She’ll become sad and I can’t take it. One day I decided to tell this to Nielson, my best friend. So I phoned him. Normally he used to pick the call in two or three rings but this time the call went up to the last ring and he picked it.
“Hello, Nielson. I need to talk to you.” I said
“About what?” he asked with such an irritated tone.
“About why are you not speaking with me as usual? You back away whenever you see me. Why?” I asked.
“I’m afraid you know the reason, Oliver” he said with the same tone.
“No. I don’t.” I lied to check if there was any other reason for this.
“It’s your cousin, Oliver. She’s always with you and the way she bet Crimpson was terrifying. I guess you didn’t see it. So until she’s with you we won’t talk to you. You should decide whether you need her or us.” he said and hung up without even hearing my reply. Actually, I didn’t have a reply. My eyes became watery but I didn’t cry. My mind developed a hatred on her automatically.
That night I kept on thinking about my conversation with Nielson. His words “You decide Oliver. Whether you need us or her.” kept on echoing in my ears. I saw the clock. It showed twelve. At that time I heard some footsteps outside the door. I listened to it. Someone was climbing upstairs. I came out of the bed and slowly opened the door. I saw Maria climbing the stairs to the terrace. I wondered what she was doing here at this time of the night. First I thought she was sleepwalking. But who would walk straight to the terrace in their sleep? So I followed her.
Our terrace was a rectangular area attached to a square area at the end. The square area had a small garden which was my mother’s idea. There was also a stone pillar like chair enough to cover me. I hid behind it. I saw Maria take some kind of bag from her pocket. The bag was small in size enough for a newborn rat to go in. She took some kind of powder from it and sprayed it into the air. She said something which was like chanting. I couldn’t hear it. Even if I could I would not have understood. The powder became a smoke-like substance and the smoke made a circle. The circle glowed. After the glowing stopped it showed a man’s face. That face was the ugliest face I had ever seen. It was wrinkled. The dark circles almost hid the eyes. He had salt and pepper hair. It was long up to his shoulders. He wore some jewellery in his neck. He had a weird beard.
“Greetings, my lord” Maria said
“Have you completed the task?” he asked. His voice was rough, harsh, very sharp and brave.
“Almost, my lord” Maria replied.
“I want that boy here in two days! I won’t give you more than that! Understood?” he scolded her.
“Yes my lord. I won’t fail you. He’ll be there in two days.” she replied. Her voice was like a wounded animal pleading a tiger to spare it. After that their talks became less than a whisper. I tried to listen but I couldn’t. So silently I left that place and went to my room. I decided to ask Maria about this tomorrow after lunch. After what seemed like hours I saw the clock. It showed two. I heard footsteps. I was sure Maria had returned. Finally, my eyes closed automatically. I didn’t know what time it was.
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