Death and Dishonor

by Abhimanyu Saxena

  This was a close shave, but my mind had completely chosen to ignore the fact that I had just created a damn ruckus at the last place I should have been in. Instead of thinking about the consequences that will follow if they piece together what had actually happened, I was rather thinking about what I had just found.

  ~*~

  Shikha having an account in another bank, this was something she would have told me. Everyone has secrets, but we shared a lot with each other. I looked at the token again. What is it for?

  I took out my phone and searched for it. I found the details on the bank website:

  This is a new frontier in bank security and total convenience for the customers if they need to open safety deposit boxes. This token is all you need for a hassle-free service in case of deposit or withdrawal. Please be assured that we offer our services and support our customers discreetly at their choice.

  It could be that it wasn’t hers. Somebody else had lost their token, and she had just found it somewhere, but she should have mentioned this too. If this really is an account in Shikha’s name, then this is the next clue if following my heart leads to my wife. She might have a safety deposit box in this account. I have to get to the bank and check the contents out. I checked the bank’s branch, and the nearest one was in Greater Kailash. I had to be careful, I switched multiple buses on the way and got there in about forty minutes. I had to be careful inside the bank too as security would be much tighter here and surveillance equipment would be more sophisticated. I can’t just cut the power again. I needed to make this a quick in and out with no hurdles.

  I went inside the building and got to the reception, where a girl smiled at me.

  “Hello sir, how can I help you today?”

  “I need information on an account my cousin had,” I showed her the token.

  She was caught off guard a bit, seeing the token, “I am sorry, sir, I don’t know why your cousin gave you their token, but we don’t authorize anything like this unless it is an absolute emergency. In fact, this is a breach of our services seeing as you have someone else’s token.”

  “I know this looks bad and it is a strange request, but my cousin recently passed away around three months back, and her husband found this token having your bank’s name. He didn’t have any knowledge that this account existed. He is still dealing with the loss and is a bit unstable, so he asked me to find out any details about this account. I read from your website that you serve your customers discreetly as well if they want a secret account. I think my sister used that service of yours. I just need to confirm and check the details.”

  She looked uneasy, but nodded, “Come with me, sir.” I handed her the metal token and followed her to a nearby desk where a man sat, working on his computer. She said something to him quietly, pointing towards me and gave him the token. He scanned the token on a machine beside the computer, and it beeped. The guy looked closely at his screen with widened eyes.

  The girl whispered something to him. I asked, “Did you get the details? My cousin’s name is Shikha Rathore. Is it her account?”

  She looked back at me and smiled, “We checked sir, and it appears this token is a bit damaged. But our technical department can try to fix it. We will see if we can salvage any details from it.”

  She turned back to the guy at the desk, “Are you done with it? I need to take it to the tech department.”

  “Ha-hang on! I have tried something, maybe it works,” he was thumping his fingers on the side of his keyboard, his eyes looking eager and desperate to see something, “Come on.”

  “Maybe this was a bad idea, it is probably damaged,” I had seen red, this was taking a lot of time and there was something fishy.

  “Ahh! I am done, it didn’t work, but our tech guys can repair it,” he said, looking at me and handing the token over to the girl.

  I tried to say something, but she had already started going further inside the building, and I followed her. We went into a large space with desks and cubicles lined up. Some people were aiding customers; some paused their work to stare at me. I could still feel that something was not right and I stopped her from behind, “Leave it, it’s probably nothing. It might be that somebody had lost it and my cousin found it. It got damaged too, so-”

  “No, no,” she interrupted me, “It is our duty to help our customers especially in your case where a tragedy has struck,” she went very calm all of a sudden, “We will try our best to help you till we can’t. If it still doesn’t work, then you can be on your way, is that okay?”

  I nodded and followed her into a small room where she sat me down. I admit that I was desperate to find the information as I stayed even as nothing was going according to plan.

  “I think the person we want hasn’t come in yet, let me call him,” she began dialing a number. Two more minutes passed, and she was unable to get a hold of him. It was enough, I started to get up, but then I heard a familiar sound. That sound was enough to bring back the memories of my first escape.

  The sirens grew louder as I got up. The girl tried to escape, but I grabbed her arm, “You called the police?”

  “You are Arjun, the criminal who is on the run. Your situation already seemed fishy, then we saw a familiar name on the account,” her voice quivered, “All it took then to confirm our suspicion is to match your face from police facial recognition software installed in our bank’s surveillance system.”

  “You were lying, the token’s working fine, isn’t it?” I pulled her out of the room with me and took her to the nearby computer with the same token reading machine. The staff was looking at us in panic.

  “Tell me, is it my wife’s account?” I shook her, “TELL ME!”

  “It is, oh my god, it is,” she let out a cry. “It was a safety deposit box, but it was cleared out. I checked the date and found that it happened soon after Shikha’s death.”

  “Please leave me alone,” she begged.

  “Show me the logs,” I nudged her towards the computer, “Who cleared it out?”

  “But-” she looked at me strangely.

  “Show me now.”

  She scanned the token again, and the software flashed Shikha’s name and my name as her husband. She accessed the last entry in the transaction logs, and all the contents were indeed cleared out three months ago as she had just said and there was a name.

  I ran from there, somehow getting past the sirens through a back exit that I had got from the girl, that name in the log entry still etched clearly in my mind,

  Arjun Rathore

  IMPASTOR

  “Dammit!” my phone was ringing.

  I quickly rejected the incoming call and kept the phone silent. How very stupid of me? It was from an unknown number, but I had no time to ponder. I cursed myself for making matters worse for me. I wondered whether John was right in giving me the advice. He didn’t want me to go today in the first place. Today was another disaster. I couldn’t find anything that could help me. Instead, the mystery had intensified. Shikha never told me about her account in that bank, and I had no clue who cleared out the contents posing as me. I was getting more caught up in this mess with each passing second. I was hiding behind a pile of cardboards in the adjoining alley and was in no mood for another brawl or anybody spotting me.

  “Son, why are you hiding like this?” asked my father.

  “Mom will beat me. I broke another vase,” I replied grinning.

  Dad kept a hand on my shoulder and looked at me straight in the eyes. “You should never do anything that would make you hide. Always remember that.”

  Yes, these were the words of my father, yet here I was, hiding like a thief. My parents must be so ashamed of me today. My eyes glistened reminiscing of the past times. I scanned my trousers’ pocket and found the last painkiller. I immediately gulped it down and tried to stay calm.

  ‘Okay, Arjun enough of hiding. You don’t have to look back now and just keep running.’

  I muttered to myself like a mad person and assure
d myself that I would make it. I had to catch that bastard Ajeet and avenge Aditi’s horrific murder. Without thinking twice, I made a jump and ran like crazy.

  ~*~

  On my way back, I thought about many things; what next to do, what to do about all the mess and how to proceed further but I couldn’t get any answers. Usually, drinking helped but John had none in the church, and I didn’t want to risk anything right now. I entered the church through the back gate as advised by John. It was a scorching late afternoon and I tip-toed my way into the church.

  “John! Are you there?” I whispered.

  There was no response from the other end. I could hear muffled voices coming from inside. Maybe he was in a confessional. At that moment, I toppled on a dusty old rack and some ragged clothes covering it fell over. I had never imagined what I had uncovered. There were old wine bottles placed in rows on that shelf.

  “Now, we are talking baby.”

  John rushed into the back room hearing the sound.

  “John, tell me this is not a dream.”

  “Son, this is communal wine. You should not consume it.”

  “Come on John; wine is for drinking. Moreover, it is New Year’s Eve tonight. Grab yourself a chair, and I will let you know all about my day.”

  He groaned, but I was adamant. By the time he was done with the confession, I had already poured two glasses of wine.

  “You were right John; today was a cluster-fuck!”

  “Oh dear lord, language Arjun, otherwise there is no place for you here.”

  I apologized and told him about everything that happened today. “I never knew Shikha had an account in that bank, but the fishy thing was that somebody had already cleared out the contents of that bank account. That someone was me.”

  “But you never knew that she had an account there. It means that there was an imposter Arjun at the bank.”

  “No shit, Sherlock,” I replied.

  “This looks planned, who could have done this?”

  I had no answer to this, and I sipped my wine a little. All I knew was that Aditi left me some clues, and I had to crack them, and I had to kill that bastard Ajeet.

  “I am sorry son for all your loss. May God be with you.”

  The wine was making him soft. Personally, I didn’t prefer Wine, but beggars cannot be choosers.

  “John, she was a good girl. She was my best friend. I dated her for a while in college. And I knew her heart was at the right place. This shouldn’t have happened to her.”

  “I understand son; God hasn’t been so kind on you. He must have something planned for you. And about Aditi, I truly am sorry for her. I heard she was cremated yesterday.”

  I quickly gulped down my drink. “I totally forgot about it; I had planned to meet her parents once. I will get to it now.”

  “Are you out of your mind Arjun?”

  John stood up and caught hold of my hand. I knew that he would be right, but some things in life should not be seen as right or wrong. They have to be done.

  “Her parents treated me like their son. They would be in a state of horror knowing that I am accused of killing their daughter. Please understand John, I have to go.”

  “You are a fugitive; you should be lying low instead of roaming everywhere. By now, the Police must have broadcasted the information about your new clean-shaven look. You can’t just walk in there to die.”

  The old man had a point. I was being reckless, and I couldn’t afford another setback. I had to take calculated risks from now on.

  “John, tell me what does your God say – should I meet her parents or not? They must be grieving her, and they don’t know anything about the truth. They just know the fabricated stories that are running in the media. Don’t they deserve the truth of their daughter’s death?”

  John had no answer to this, and he emptied his glass in one large sip. “When will you ever listen to my advice?”

  “Someday, old man. Someday.”

  “What will you do then?”

  “I have an idea John, but you are not going to like it.”

  He sighed. “When do I ever?”

  ~*~

  I looked at myself in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw. I had raided John’s wardrobe and put on his pastor clothes – black cloak and a huge silver cross around my neck. I had put on his reading glasses and kept a small bible in my hand for authenticity. John was thunderstruck when he saw me.

  “So, this was your idea? Dressing up like a pastor and then going to a Hindu family? It won’t be suspicious at all, duh!”

  I could easily sense the sarcasm in his voice, but I had no other idea in my mind. I had made plenty of mistakes in my short life, but I had to correct some of them.

  “This is my only shot, now give me your hat. I couldn’t find a spare one and teach me some of your sayings. I should feel like a true pastor.”

  “The God will condemn us; he won’t allow us to step inside the gates of heaven!” I didn’t bother responding. I knew I was going to hell.

  “For a change, you look good. This dress suits you, why don’t you become a pastor and spread the message of the God.” He continued.

  I made an obscene hand gesture, and John got his message. He shook his head in desperation as I left; he, however, warned me not to say or do anything disrespectful in the house of his beloved God.

  ~*~

  I looked at Aditi’s house in Defense Colony, and all the memories sprung up inside me. I could hear her laughter behind those walls. I gulped and tasted bile in my mouth. I sensed that it would be difficult, but I had to meet them. I could see some reporters standing in front of their house just to capture something or someone for their feature. I saw Rita in front of all of them. She was the one responsible for my debacle in the media and amongst everyone’s mind. Some public groups and members of various political parties were also ganged up there to benefit from this situation. I was about to go inside when a police officer stationed at the gate stopped me.

  “Who are you? Why are you going inside?”

  “I am Father John; I want to meet the family. I want to make sure that these children of God remain positive and calm even in these turbulent times.”

  The guard talked to someone over his walkie-talkie and finally allowed me to enter the house.

  Aditi’s mother Seema and father Harish were seated at the dining table, both holding each other’s hands, eyes red and swollen. It looked as if they had lost all the hope. Watching their grim faces, I wanted to kill myself, but there was some time for that. I had to do what I came here to do first.

  “Hi, I am Father John from the nearby church.”

  Both of them stood up and shook my hands. “Why are you here?” asked Seema politely.

  “How are you holding up? I know it must be really difficult losing a child at such a young age.”

  “You know it? You have lost a girl too?” shouted Harish.

  “Harish, he is a priest. Mind yourself; he hasn’t done anything to us,” intervened Seema.

  Harish couldn’t hide his tears and left the room at once.

  “I am sorry mam.”

  “It’s alright, we all have been on edge after what happened. We had never imagined seeing such a dreadful day.”

  I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Mam, you can talk to me. I am here for sharing your pain.”

  She nodded. “You seem too young to be a pastor, and I don’t know why you look familiar.”

  I pressed my glasses tightly on my face. “I assure you that the Police will catch the killer.”

  “Arjun – I know the killer. He was her ex-boyfriend.”

  My throat choked. This wasn’t easy – I was at a loss for words. “The accused murderer, Arjun-” I started.

  “I never thought that he could do such a thing, he was like my son. Even after their breakup, Arjun was always helpful and respectful. Aditi cried a lot when his wife died. She was always worried for him. My poor kid had to face such a horrific end!”

&
nbsp; And she too broke down in my arms. I tried hard to suppress my tears, but I failed miserably. I handed her my handkerchief. “You have got to remain strong.”

  At that time, something completely unexpected happened. I heard a chuckling sound from the back. I turned my head back and saw Aditi standing there. She didn’t have half her face and her hand – exactly the last time that I saw her body.

  “Police babu, thanks for taking care of my mother.”

  “Aditi –”

  “If only you were able to save me, this could have been avoided. My ma will never sleep easy, and I have never seen my dad like this.”

  “I tried my best Aditi.”

  “How do you sleep at night Arjun? You have killed me. I will kill you!”

  She sprung up on me, and I was taken aback and fell to the floor.

  “What happened father?” asked Seema as she helped me in getting up.

  I lost my glasses somewhere and couldn’t see them. “Thanks, Seema, remain strong and I will keep in touch.”

  “Arjun, why didn’t you save her?”

  I was shell-shocked and couldn’t move a muscle. She had recognized me. “Aunty, I tried, but I was late. I promise you that I will find her killer.”

  She didn’t say anything, tears rushing down her cheek.

  “I could never forgive myself. She asked for my help, and I let her down. Believe me, Aunty, I did everything that I could do, but it was not enough.”

  “Please take care of uncle and yourself. Aditi wouldn’t want to see you guys like this. And thanks for trusting me – God knows I am in dire need of that.”