Warlock

by Vickram E Diwan

  Before Payal could respond, Shalini arrived with Naresh and the topic of conversation changed altogether. They all enjoyed the non-vegetarian delicates that Abhay had brought with him and the jolly natured Naresh kept them entertained thoroughly before he left with Abhay. The latter’s mood had also changed in that interval; he did not raise the unpleasant topic with Payal again and took his leave after reiterating his fondness for the Bengali beauty.

  CHAPTER 12: THE ROOTS OF EVIL & THE ACQUITTAL

  Shalini reached A-391 in New Friends Colony. The upper half of the glass nameplate on the pillar beside the iron-gate was missing, not enabling her to know for certain if Costello lived there. She got out of her car and locked the door; she looked sideways, it was a quiet street of the locality. She checked her wristwatch; it showed seven-thirty; with her leather handbag hanging by her shoulder, Shalini walked towards the iron gate. She opened the gate and walked into the driveway beside an unkempt garden, which led to the bungalow.

  On the driveway was parked an old Toyota car, telling her that Costello was inside the house at that time. It was a quite old bungalow that stood in that plot; it looked as much unkempt and uncared for as the garden. She stopped in front of the wooden door that led from the driveway to the bungalow; just as she was about to press the button of the call bell, the door suddenly opened.

  In his rashness, a man got his feet entangled in the doormat and fell down before Shalini; just on the doorway in front of her. He seemed to be coming out with a large basket filled with the waste of vegetables, which he intended to throw in the dustbin outside the closed shutter of the garage at the end of the driveway. Not expecting a person right outside his door, he probably stopped himself forcibly from knocking into Shalini. But his sudden stopping of himself, when his body was in motion had got his feet entangled in the doormat and he consequently lay on his face with the overturned bowl with the waste of vegetables on the driveway.

  The ‘clone’ of Danny de Vito raised his eyes; he noticed high red heels of a sandal before him. Still lying on his chest, he raised his head further; a tall young woman stood before him, dressed in blood red sari and wearing strong feminine cologne. His breath stopped as his eyes raised further; even in his peculiar situation he could not help but wonder about the size of Lingerie that would fit her, more because of the force of habit than because of any obscene thoughts.

  He got up on his feet and panting said, “Hi, I’m Danny.”

  “Oh! I’m sorry; I was looking for a certain Mister Costello. Wrong address, please forgive me,” Shalini said and turned on her heels.

  “Hey! Wait up,” Danny called behind her. I’m Costello, Vincent Costello.”

  She turned back towards him and with her eyebrows raised; asked in a suspicious voice, “Why did you say that your name was Danny?”

  “Danny is my nickname, pet name; everybody thinks that I resemble Danny de Vito; you know, the Hollywood actor and director. My real name, however, is Vincent Costello.

  Shalini looked closely at him; sure enough, she had to admit to herself, that 4.5 feet man of around 38-40 years definitely looked like a clone of Danny de Vito.

  “And what do you do Mr. Danny?”

  “I’m the manager of a shop in Hauz Khas that sells imported lingerie.” Hearing that Shalini’s face relaxed, he was definitely the man she had come to meet. “Well?” Danny asked, “Are you going to keep standing there and staring at me? Not that I mind it,” he said bending down on his knees and picking the waste of vegetables, putting it back in the basket, “but I have rather got used to it, when people see me for the first time, this is exactly what they do. I bet you are comparing me to that Danny de Vito,” he said laughing heartily.

  Shalini also laughed and helping Danny put back that waste of vegetables in the bowl said, “You certainly can’t blame me or other people for this.”

  “I’ll just go and throw this muck,” he went towards the end of the driveway and threw it in a dustbin placed there. He came back and said, “Would you like to come in?”

  “Sure,” she said following Danny inside the house. When they reached the drawing room and Danny turned towards her, she offered her hand to him and said, “Hi, I’m Shalini Dhingra.”

  “And to what do I owe my good fortune for your visit here Shalini?” Danny asked shaking her hand. “But wait, let me get you a drink or something. Please sit down and make yourself comfortable.”

  Shalini saw Danny go towards the kitchen; she looked around and saw the mess the drawing room was in, clothes, ashtray, newspapers, magazines, everything was lying anywhere. She had to pick up a heap of old newspapers to make space for herself on a sofa.

  “What would you like to have?” she heard Danny call out from the kitchen.

  “Any soft drink will do,” Shalini answered aloud. Looking at the state of the drawing room, she became convinced that Danny lived alone. No place could where a woman lives be so unkempt and only a single man could be expected to live that carelessly.

  “Here,” Danny said coming into the drawing room and giving Shalini a chilled can of Pepsi. “I hope you don’t mind my taking a drink,” he said raising his glass filled with Scotch whiskey. “After a long day at work, I relax with a couple.”

  “Not at all, please feel free,” said Shalini smilingly.

  “Tell you what, why don’t we go to the kitchen and continue our conversation there. That way I can also keep an eye on the supper.”

  “Do you also cook?” Asked Shalini.

  “Who else would; as you must have noticed, I live alone, come, let’s go to the kitchen, bring along your drink,” Carlos expressed freely.

  “By the way, do you always let strangers get in like this, I mean in your house,” Shalini asked as she followed Danny to the kitchen. “Here I am, in your house; and you don’t know anything about me, not even the purpose of my visit.”

  “You would tell me that yourself in a while, won’t you? Besides, the way I live, every beautiful woman is welcomed,” he added staring at her keenly, “and I’ll be damned before I scare her away because of unwarranted queries.”

  “You are a very interesting man, Danny,” said Shalini.

  “Yeah, give me a chance and you will see how much more interesting I can get,” he said as they walked into the kitchen, he offered Shalini a chair beside the dinning table and after checking the food cooking on the gas burner, he joined her. “Yes, Ms. Shalini, what brings your beautiful self to my humble abode?”

  “My school time friend Payal, who lived with me at my flat before her marriage, she had enrolled as a student at the Institute of your brother Rudolf Schönherr in South Extension.”

  “Ah! She’s the girl, who got him arrested! I am very sorry about what happened to her, but not surprised; my half-brother has never been a descent person,” he said in a regretful voice, “which is one the reasons why we never got along.”

  “Great! Then you must help her!”

  “Miss Shalini, we can pick our friends, sometimes our enemies as well, but not our relatives. It is my misfortune that Rudolf is my brother; what else can I say? But let me assure you that I have never condoned his criminal or sinful activities, much less supported or participated in them. He is the black sheep of the family and I personally identify more with my father’s Spanish side, then my mother’s Austrian side, which is as evil as Rudolf. I didn’t visit them more than three times in all these years and was left disgusted by the experience.”

  “I shall be honest with you Mr. Danny, despite their best efforts; the Police and the public prosecutor has not succeeded in proving the guilt of your brother, who is as cunning as he is corrupt. And I am here on behalf of my friend Payal, to request you to agree to testify as for the prosecution’s witness against Rudolf.”

  “Absolutely out of question,” Danny said unequivocally. “There is no way that I will stand in the witness box and earn the wrath of my younger brother. Besides, I was not connected in any way with what happened to your friend; I
don’t know anything about this case, except what has appeared in papers and has been reported in television news channels. I admit that I have followed this case, out of sheer curiosity you understand, because Rudolf was the accused, but that is all there is to it. I didn’t attend any hearings or took an active part in the proceedings from either side and see no reason to change my neutral stand in this affair.”

  “You may not be directly involved in the case per-se, but you can at least give the court information about Rudolf’s past life, which may prove as beneficial. It may not substitute for hard evidence or eyewitnesses – which we are deprived of – but still, it may help create sentiment against your devilish brother. And help in swaying the opinion of the Judge, if the final decision, in this case, is a close call, as public prosecutor believes it maybe. Your testimony would help the prosecution establish a pattern and regularity in Rudolf’s criminal deeds and the Judge might be persuaded to look more favourably at the charges against him.”

  “I am not convinced,” Danny faltered.

  “Please consider for a moment the torture, pain,and suffering that my friend had to endure. I shudder to imagine what would have happened to her if the Police hadn’t arrived just in the nick of time. And after her rescue, she had reoccurring nightmares and for months she was unable to sleep by herself or in a darkened room. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and sweating and shaking like a leaf. Though she acts bold and confident, I have seen her sobbing like a poor and powerless child, on many occasions. She had to visit a psychiatrist and take medication to contain her post-traumatic disorder and she hasn’t yet fully recovered from her horrendous experience, which I fear may have left scars of a lifetime on her psyche. Payal is like my kid-sister and what Rudolf has done and had tried to do to her, it makes my blood boil with anger! His behaviour shows that he must have been doing this to God knows how many girls in the past as well; and someone has got to put a stop to these evil deeds of that god damn maniac.”

  “So your friend has told you that Rudolf is a Warlock.”

  “Yes she has, but –”

  “But she does not know,” Danny said interrupting her, “neither do you; of how cruel Rudolf can be.” He paused for a breath and then added, “You may think that I had a few glasses too many that I speak so frankly before you, who I met only today. But I feel instinctively that I can trust you, unlike that cop, who had asked me so many questions about Rudolf, immediately after his arrest. Also, I am sick and tired of him and his dirty deeds. I am not courageous enough to confront him openly, maybe bitching about him or telling his sinful past to others may help me get even with him. Can you believe that when he was just seven years old, Rudolf murdered a kid in front of my own eyes?”

  “He did not!” Shalini said flabbergasted.

  “In broad daylight,” Danny said with a shudder as his mind drifted into the past. “…We had gone for a picnic at the dam on river Danube near Austria-German border with my mother’s family. The river assumed the shape of an artificial waterfall as it met man-made obstruction; fog and mist arose as the hundreds of gallons of water fell down with a thunderous noise, also helping to generate hydro-electricity. There were many weekend revelers like us there, who had come with their families. While the elders put up chairs and sat on mats spread out near the waterfall, we children went away playing various games.”

  “Some distance from there was a canal, branched out from the river, which flew between tall cemented walls. Since it was an hour to lunch, many of the children decided to go for a swim and climbed down the iron ladder to bathe in the canal. Rudolf ridiculed us for being timid and sissy and scared the daylights out of us by recklessly jumping into the canal from the top of the cemented wall, the depth of which was not less than 20-30 feet. And not just once but numerous times, much to the delight and excitement of other children.”

  “However impressive his performance was, he failed to outshine another boy who had competed in swimming at state level tournaments. The latter performed somersault and other such antics and wowed the girls, which greatly infuriated Rudolf, whose eyes burned with hatred, being outsmarted in that manner. All of us children ran back to join our parents for lunch, when they called us; while my brother and the other boy were still swimming in the canal.”

  “Halfway round I realized that I had left my ball near the canal and went back to fetch it. As I was picking it up, I saw Rudolf getting hold of his competitor from behind and hit his head with the iron pole of the ladder in a brutal manner. The sudden and unexpected assault made the latter fall back in the water, taking Rudolf with him. As I looked down horrified, my brother gagged his opponent, forcing his head under the water until his terrified shrieks and struggle ended in a painful death. Not satisfied with it, he smashed the boy’s face and head with the wall of the canal, before letting his body drift away in the water.”

  The remembrance of those screams made Carlos stop and his face turned pale with some unknown terror. He emptied his glass and then said, “I was shell-shocked, but Rudolf was unafraid, no, not a trace of fear was visible on his face when he climbed out of the canal. I still remember it so vividly when he came and looked at me with blood on his face and a ghastly smile on his lips before he broke into uncontrollable laughter like a maniac. It was then that I came out of my trance like state or shock and ran away as fast I could from that canal.”

  “My lord! How did you put up with such a monster!”

  “From that day onwards we became strangers, living under the same roof and I was always frightened of him. And when our mother left India eleven years later, we both went our separate ways. It is just one incident, Ms. Shalini,” Danny still looked pale but continued gingerly, “it will give you an idea of how much evil there is, within that man. He had led a reckless life so essentially without any moral significance and therefore is so repulsive in his dealings. His mannerisms are hard and cold, restless, abundantly amoral but bearing the hallmark of resounding sophistries. If you ask me, then your friend Payal is making a big mistake in bringing up charges against Rudolf.”

  Shalini could clearly see the sweat on Danny’s face, simply by the remembrance of that incident racked with pain, of the past the traces of which were visible on his face. “You think Payal should let Rudolf get away with that?” She asked. “After all that he has done to her?”

  Danny emptied his glass and made himself a fresh drink. “What has he done to your friend Payal? Ask me, I tell you that Rudolf has not done anything to her. You girls have simply no idea; you cannot even imagine as to what length of cruelty Rudolf can really go. I don’t even want to think of what would happen to your friend, the day my evil-brother comes to settle scores with her.”

  “Oh come now, you blow him out of proportions,” consoled Shalini.

  “You say that even after I have told you of the unforgettable incident that happened in his childhood, years ago?” After a long pause, he spoke in a different tone, “Let us change this topic and allow me to ask you a question?”

  “What?” Shalini asked surprised with the sudden and inexplicable change in his behaviour.

  “That ring in the third finger of your left hand; has it been given to you by a man?”

  Shalini’s eyes fell on her left hand resting on the table; she raised her face and looked at Danny with surprise. “My fiancée has given me this ring,” she answered.

  “Oh!” Danny exclaimed as disappointment clearly showed on his face. “So you are engaged, lucky guy he must be. One more question Shalini, can you tell me why the best things and best woman in life are always taken or belongs to someone else?”

  Shalini could not help but smile at that lovable man. “You will find your special lady Danny,” she said, “believe me.”

  “I want to, but my life does not make it easy for me to believe in such fairy tales anymore. You know what Rudolf thinks of me?”

  “What?”

  “He thinks that I’m a failure, an utter flop; a non-ambitio
us and a non-achiever at 45. He thinks that I am a pathetic boozer and a compulsive skirt-chaser who makes his living in an undignified fashion by selling ladies underwear.”

  “Now, now Danny; you should not judge yourself by Rudolf’s remark. Why do you even care about what he thinks about you?” Shalini argued.

  “I shouldn’t? Look at Rudolf for instance; he has got everything – fame, fortune, beautiful women going crazy over him. And what have I got in comparison?” Carlos lamented.

  “Honesty, integrity, character and the ability to love and be faithful,” Shalini said. “Has Rudolf got any of those qualities?”

  “Who cares about those so-called qualities?” Danny asked drinking the scotch from his glass.

  “Believe me Danny; a lot of women do, even today. Honesty and faithfulness never go out of fashion. You take it from me,” Shalini said in consoling tone.

  “These are but fancy words,” Danny said sighing. “Why go far, take yourself, would you want a guy like me?” He asked looking directly at her.

  “Me! I…I am engaged. Believe me, if I was not -” she hesitated in framing her reply.

  “No need Shalini,” Danny interrupted her raising his hand, “you have no need to explain yourself or come up with excuses. I know that no woman would want a dwarf, overweight, middle-aged man like me, who is a complete failure in life, as a person to consort with.”

  “Please, don’t say that Danny,” Shalini protested, “Why should you be so sad for no reason?”

  “If it is not too much to ask; can I have a dance with you?” Carlos suggested.

  “What?” She asked, confused by his unusual request in the middle of a serious conversation.