by UD Yasha
She nodded her head ever so little.
‘Here’s something that will prove to you that Zakkal is attracted to not just me, but also my mother and sister. I bet you that upstairs, in the left-hand side bedroom, he’s kept a special piece of jewellery somewhere near his bed. The left-hand side room was where my mother slept. It should be in the drawers of the bedside table. It would be inside the drawer because he’s been hiding it from you.’
‘Tanya, my love, do you really believe that?’ Zakkal said and I noticed his forehead crease and eyes narrow for the first time that evening. He was getting worried.
‘What’s the piece of jewellery?’ Tanya said, her eyes transfixed on me.
‘You can’t be serious, love,’ Zakkal said.
‘It an earring that my mother had kept next to her bed the night Zakkal took her. I then gave that pair to him in Yerwada Jail by carrying it in my underwear. He was aroused by the thought that it had been on both of us, both the women he admired the most in the world. Zakkal had gifted one earring from the pair to me on my birthday six months ago.’
‘You gave her a gift?’ Tanya squealed. ‘Why did you never tell me?’
‘I have the other earring with me,’ I said. ‘It’s right here in my pocket.’
Zakkal’s forehead was sweating. I was on the right track. Zakkal had the earring somewhere in the bedroom. I had guessed it to be the bedside table as it was most easily accessible to him. After seeing my wigs, lenses, hair products and clothes at the water tower hideout, I was sure Zakkal fantasized about me. The earring in his possession was the only object he had of mine.
‘Please don’t believe her,’ Zakkal said. ‘Our love is not so weak that some stranger can come and shatter it?’
‘Can I check your bedroom?’ Tanya said.
Silence resounded.
Zakkal rubbed his stubble with his free hand and said, 'Of course. Please go. If that's what it takes to prove my love for you.'
In one smooth motion, Tanya flicked the tape from Radha’s legs. ‘You heard the conversation. You also know how this earring looks. Go upstairs and look for it.’
‘My hands aren’t free. How will I look for it?’ Radha said.
‘You need to open the fucking drawer. Use your feet. Come back right away. If you fail to return in two minutes, Kishore is going to kill your mother,’ Tanya said.
I felt something was wrong once again. Zakkal had allowed Radha to go. Had I got it wrong? Did Zakkal not have Maa's earring in his room? But he had looked shaken up when I had talked about it. What was happening? I counted the seconds in my mind. Zakkal was appearing more confident by the minute. I heard Radha come down the stairs.
‘What happened? Did you find it?’ Tanya said.
Radha said nothing as she walked back to the living room. Everyone's eyeballs followed. Except for Rathod. He was glaring at me and trying to indicate something to me. Something is up.
‘Tell her. Did you find it?’ Zakkal screamed.
Radha was now only three feet from Zakkal. Tanya was right next to him. For some reason, Radha was bidding time. It wasn’t clear to me why she was doing that. But I needed to help her out and take the attention away from her.
I pulled out the earring from the pair that was with me and held it in the air. 'This is the one that Zakkal gifted me,' I said, emphasizing the word 'gifted' because that had irked Tanya.
Zakkal and Tanya turned to me. I made sure Tanya got a good look at the earring.
The very next moment, Radha said, ‘Yes, I’ve found it,’ she said, holding up the other earring from the pair. ‘It wasn’t in my mother’s former bedroom, but instead in the side table drawer of the bed where Radha used to sleep.’
I suddenly realized what had happened. I had told Radha to check Maa’s room, and Zakkal was sure that Radha wouldn’t find it there. That’s where his confidence came from. But that I knew he had held on to it had made him nervous. Somehow, Radha had the foresight to go to the room that we used to sleep in and check there too.
While my thoughts were unravelling, Zakkal’s attention was divided. He first looked at Tanya because he knew his lie had been caught. Then Radha, with her free and long legs, launched a kick in Zakkal’s direction. At the same time, Tanya was enraged. She had a knife in hand.
As Radha’s leg crunched into Zakkal’s stomach, Tanya’s knife ripped across his neck. It did not matter what Zakkal's blood pressure was, as Tanya had slashed his carotid artery, a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain, neck, and face. Blood sprayed from his neck.
Tanya was angry. She didn’t stop there. She elbowed an already out-of-balance Zakkal. She pushed him on the floor and stabbed him over and over again in the chest.
‘Tanya!’ I yelled as Rathod and I pulled her away.
‘He lied to me,’ she said and started crying.
Rathod took her knife away and held her away from everyone.
I stared at Zakkal’s dead body as the pool of blood around it got bigger with every heartbeat.
I ran to Radha and Maa and hugged them tightly, feeling light with relief and happiness.
‘We’ve done it, my girls. We’ve done it,’ Maa said as tears streamed down all our cheeks.
Chapter Forty-Nine
SIX MONTHS LATER
Against the setting sun with the beach in the background, Radha and Rahul stood on a stage to have their first picture taken as a married couple. I couldn’t help stop smiling as I looked at them. Radha was my rock, and seeing her happy and marrying the man of her dreams was deeply satisfying. We had decided to have the wedding in Goa, a popular tourist destination for those who loved the sun, sand and beach.
The last six months had gone by in a flash. Only when Zakkal was no longer a part of our lives had I realized how much of my mental energy had been consumed by him. The world was a better place without Kishore Zakkal. We had found out that he had rented our old house and another apartment close to our new house using some fake papers. He had paid for all of it by killing three men for the Shirole gang. His lover, Tanya Thomas was safe from Zakkal, but the scars of what he did to her would take time to heal. She was in a mental institution for treatment. The women that Zakkal had taken, including Sudha Barve, had safely returned to their homes.
‘Hey, don’t you look happy,’ Maa said, nudging my side. ‘That smile looks very good on you and you’ve been wearing it for a long time.’
‘Senior Missus Rajput, I have got that smile from you,’ I said.
‘Someone was looking for you,’ Maa said.
I raised my eyebrows, not sure what she was talking about. She pointed towards Rathod, who was sitting by himself on the beach.
‘Siya,’ Maa said. ‘One psychopath has influenced everything you’ve done in life. And I don’t blame you. I was kidnapped when you were fourteen years old. You matured fast, held the family together and turned into this beautiful and fascinating woman. During all these years, you’ve not let yourself free. I understand why. You always had so much to take care of around you.’ Maa put a hand on my shoulder. ‘Beta, this is now your time. You need to go out and enjoy yourself. Loosen up a bit. One thing that we’ve learnt over the years is that life’s too short to not enjoy it. So, promise me that for the first time, you’ll put yourself first and think about what would make you happy.’
I held Maa’s hand and squeezed it gently. ‘Thanks for everything. I promise that to you,’ I said and got up and walked towards the beach, thinking only about all the happiness that awaited me.
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About the Author
Born in Pune, U.D. Yasha graduated from Symbiosis International University with an undergraduate degree i
n Economics and a minor in International Relations. His love for reading pushed him to write. He lives with his family in Pune, India.
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