THE ANSWERS

Tim wakes up due to the heat in the room. He is full of sweat as neither fan nor the air conditioner is working. He rubs his eyes to clear his vision and checks his mobile. To his surprise, his mobile is showing that it has no sim. He tries to connect his mobile with wifi but the wifi section is not displaying the name of his wifi. He thinks, “What is happening? No sim? No wifi?"

He gets out of bed, wears the slippers, and presses the light button but the room lights don't switch on. He keeps pressing the switch but nothing happens. He turns on the torch of his mobile and moves towards the door, trying to turn the knob but the door is locked from the outside. Tim starts getting anxious and worried. He starts knocking on the door but there’s no response. Tim starts banging on the door but again there’s no response. He screams, “Help! Let me out of here," but again there’s no response. He hears some sound beneath his bed. He gets furious. He looks beneath the bed and finds a walkie-talkie lying. He grabs it, turns it on, and says, "Hello?"

“Hello, Tim. Hope you are fine. I was waiting for you to wake up,” a man with a heavy voice says on the walkie-talkie.

Tim starts shouting, “Who are you? Why am I locked in my room?”

The man says, “I have locked your room from the outside. Don’t worry. I am here just to get some answers from you.”

“You think I’m stupid enough to fall for this? Unlock the room and where are my parents? They were in the next room,” Tim raises his voice.

The man also raises his voice, “You have to answer some of my questions first if you want to be out of this room. Once you answer all of my questions, you will be a free man and then you can meet your parents too. Believe me, they are in a safe place.”

Tim doesn’t say anything for some time. After a few minutes of thinking, he responds, “Tell me what you want.”

The man laughs, “That’s a good boy. I am trying to seek some answers. I hope you will help me with this. Just give me the answers to some fucking questions that are creating chaos in my mind and you will be a free man. I want proper answers and if you fail in doing so then you will die. Hope, everything is clear?”

“Shall we start then?” the man says.

Tim says, “Start it, dammit.”

“So, tell me, Tim. Why do people hate each other without any reason? the man asks.

Tim shouts, "What type of question is this?"

The man responds, "You have five minutes to answer. Don't waste your and my time."

Tim thinks for some time and then says, "People may hate others for many reasons, jealousy is the usual cause of most hate from individuals. At times, hate arises from misunderstanding or not knowing someone well enough and forming judgments instead of getting to know them better.”

“Well, well, well. That’s a well-framed answer,” the man says.

Tim again shouts, “Ask the second question. Now, you don't waste time.”

“Be polite. I am asking the second question. Tell me, what is the best way to deal with people who hate you?” the man asks.

Tim again thinks for some time and then says, “Don’t deal with them at all! Those folks who hate you, have no place in your life. They are toxic! Just start staying out of their way. You’ll love the peace that replaces the toxic ones.” 

“That answer hurt me. Shouldn’t you try to understand why they hate you? You can also be wrong, that's why they hate you. I think your answer was biased,” the man says.

Tim interrupts, “That’s your way of thinking. Now, ask me the next question.”

The man raises his voice, “I am talking about such an important topic and you are continuously interrupting me? Do you want the next question? This is a statement followed by a question. 'Ever since I can remember I always felt like I was born just to be hated. Seems like everyone hates my personality. I think I am a very polite and sympathetic person. Yet I’ve been alone for years.' What should I do?”

Tim also raises his voice, “What an idiotic question. The answer is simple. Get to know yourself. You won’t find your answers easily. Ask yourself questions like, “Am I an asshole, and if so, why?” “Am I controlling and if so why?”.

“What type of answer is that? You don’t know how your answers are affecting me."

"I don't give a shit if it's affecting you or not. I don't even know why you are asking such senseless questions," Tim shouts.

"Shut up you bloodsucker," the man shouts, "You want to know why I am asking these questions? Well, my family always hated me just because they had another good son whom they loved unconditionally. Ever since I can remember I always felt like I was born just to be hated. I want answers as to why my parents hated me. What was my fault?"

"See you, idiot. I don't give a damn about your personal problems. Ask these questions to your parents and not me," Tim shouts.

"I will ask them these questions. You don't worry about it," the man responds.

"Then get me out of this room," Tim continues shouting. The man laughs and switches off walkie talkie.

"Hello? Hello?Tim shouts on walkie talkie.

The door of his room unlocks from outside. Tim rushes toward the door and opens it. A man with a mask on his face standing outside, strikes Tim's head with a hammer. Tim falls on the ground, grabs his head and starts screaming in pain. Blood starts coming out of his head, covers his entire hand and starts dripping on the floor. The man throws the hammer on the ground and brings an old man and an old woman in front of Tim. They are tied to the chair and their mouths are stuffed with handkerchiefs.

"I am sorry, Tim but you failed to answer all of my questions. And the questions whose answers you gave hurt me. So, you lose," the man laughs and takes out a gun from his pants back pocket.

"You asked me to question my parents? So, here it is. I will question my parents. If they give a satisfying answer they will live or they will die," the man takes out his mask and throws it. Tim isn't able to see the man's face as his vision gets blurry due to injury on his head. He squeezes his eyes and rubs them but then also he's not able to see his face.

"Dear old man and old woman, there are a lot of questions whose answers I need. Do give me answers to some of the questions that I am asking now. You always hated me from childhood like I have done some crime. Why? You loved my younger brother more than me and gave him everything. Why? The day he was born, my life became hell. Why? You started giving him more time. Why? If he did anything wrong, I was blamed and beaten for it. Why? I had to suffer everyday because of him. Why? You are giving each piece of your property to him. Why? You all never cared about me. Why? I along with my pregnant wife were thrown out of the house. Why?”

Tim's vision gets a little bit clear and he gets the shock of his life.

"Jimmy, you? Why are you doing this?," Tim says in pain.

"You smartass is acting as if you don't know anything," Jimmy shouts.

Tim interrupts, “I know Jimmy why you are angry but we can discuss all this while we all sit together. I have sympathy for you”

“People who earlier didn’t gave a fuck about me are now showing sympathy to me,” Jimmy says in an angry voice, “You made my life hell. If I can’t live a happy and normal life because of you monsters then I will not let you live a happy and normal life. I will make your life a hell too because you deserve it."

"You two monsters don't deserve to live. First, you made my life hell and when I married, you both threw us out of the house. Why? It is because of you monsters that my wife and my unborn child are not in this world. After what you two did with me, they were my only hope left. You threw us on the road without any food and money. She had complexity in giving birth to the child for which an operation was needed and we didn’t have enough money to operate on her. How would I have money? You and those two old monsters didn’t give us anything. You all are devils who came in the form of humans to make my life a living hell. You two should have died earlier but better late than never," Jimmy points his gun towards his father.

"Don't do this, please," Tim says in pain. Tears start coming out of his eyes as he begs for his parents' life.

"Oh see, a great son is crying for his parents. I will spare them if you answer my one simple question. Will my wife and son come back if I let this old man live?," Jimmy says in a grudge.

Tim doesn't say anything as he knew the question only had one answer. Jimmy shoots his father in the skull. Tim and his mother cry and scream.

Now, Jimmy points his gun towards his mother, "So here's the question to save your mother. Will this old woman be able to live without her old man?"

Tim doesn't say anything as the answer to this question could be only given by his mother. He looks towards his mother. His mother tries to say something but is unable to understand due to the handkerchief. Jimmy takes out handkerchief, "So, the old woman has decided to answer? Very well."

Her mother crying says in a broken voice, "You devil! We should have killed you instead of throwing you out of the house."

"And that's the wrong answer," Jimmy shoots his mother twice.

Jimmy comes closer to Tim who is crying while grabbing his head which is covered with blood. 

"Don't cry. Everything will be fine. I lost the closest person in my life. Same happened to you. We are on the same page now. Feel lucky that you are not married yet."

Tim grabs the hammer lying on the ground and hits Jimmy on the head. Jimmy grabs his head and starts screaming in pain. Blood starts coming out of his head. Tim hits him on the head again. He stands using the support of the door handle and moves outside the room. He grabs the landline phone and calls the police. Before he could say anything, Jimmy shoots him four times. Tim falls on the ground and dies.

Jimmy drags himself outside the room and towards the kitchen. He turns the knob of the cylinder and gas starts leaking, "This evil place needs to be burnt."

He sits on the floor taking the support of the wall. His vision starts getting blurry due to the injury he got on the head. He thinks, " Maria, I have sent those devils to hell. Where will I go, heaven or hell? This question even I can't answer but what I know is that you must be in heaven, I am sure of that. Hoping that I will meet you again, if not in heaven then in the next life." 

Tears start coming out of his eyes and he takes out a packet of matchstick from his pocket. He could smell the gas which had now spread throughout the entire house. He says in his mouth, "Hope, no one gets this type of life. It is better to be dead rather than to have this type of life." 

He lights the matchstick.