The Chance Encounter

"What do we do with the body?" The young man with freckles asked the middle-aged man with henna-dyed hair. The question was asked in a whisper and was meant for the ears of the middle-aged man but Rahul heard it too. It was sort of a superpower for Rahul, a college-going kid who was trying his hardest to survive the college years and get a degree that he hoped would help him get a job. That was what he wanted from the engineering degree course that he was pursuing although the teachers, the curriculum, and his classmates had joined hands to disappoint him and turn him into a cynic. His hearing superpower was triggered when he was about 10 years old. His mother would sneak upon him to startle him or to check up on him if he was doing homework or if he was watching videos on his phone. The sudden realization that he was being observed without his knowledge was deeply discomforting to him and he began to keep a sharp lookout for his mother. His mother would still outsmart him and sneak upon him. It became a tussle between them. She would sneak upon him, catch him watching videos, and either thrash him herself or get him beaten by his father at the end of the day. The beating would keep Rahul on the path of the narrow and straight for a day or two and then he would go back to binge-watching videos. The videos appealed to him, called out to him during his sleep, and held such a fascination for him that he would forget the last beating and spend time watching them. One day, his father got really mad at him and smashed his head in the wall. Rahul blacked out for some time and was then dragged to his bed and left alone. His mother came to check up on him after some time. She never apologized to him for getting him in trouble. His father never again talked of that day when he almost killed his only son. The blow on Rahul's head knocked the much-needed sense in him. He stopped watching videos and focussed more on his books. That was not the only change that took place. Rahul found that his hearing had been enhanced by multiple degrees. He could now listen to his mother's soft footsteps when she would come sneaking upon him. He used to sit on the backbenches of his class because he did not want to listen to the droning voices of the teachers but ever since he got the superpower, he could listen to them very clearly. Initially, the whispers in the classroom coupled with the teachers' monotonous exposition of lessons would leave him all muddled and feeling upset but step by step he figured out how to block out the extraneous noises. It took him about six months to master it but once he went past that hurdle, his life suddenly became very easy. He was able to figure out the footsteps of all the teachers and the bullies and kept himself out of trouble at school. At home, his mother was unable to ever surprise him again and he was spared of the much-dreaded beatings. His grades improved and he was even able to get into an engineering college. He was now in the third year and he was thoroughly disillusioned with the system. He used to hang out alone and sometimes he would eavesdrop on the conversations of people around him just so as to take a peep in their lives, to see if they were also struggling in their lives, to check if they were also tired of the world.

On the morning of 17th June, Rahul went to the nearest dhaba and after ordering his usual 'dosa', he sat in a corner and spent time eavesdropping. Sometimes he would listen to the couple who were seated two tables ahead of him (the wife seemed upset with her exchange of words with her sister-in-law and the husband listened to her patients but did not comment) and sometimes to the young man and the middle-aged man who seated three tables away in a corner(who ate in a hurry and looked around furtively). When the young man asked the strangest question ever (Rahul had never heard anyone else discussing such a topic), Rahul's hackles were raised. He focused on the strange table and suddenly all the surrounding sounds simply disappeared. The whispered question made the middle-aged man look around quickly to check if someone else could hear them. His eyes had the look of a hunted animal. He rebuked Prakash for that was the name of the young man for raking the stupid topic up just when he had finished his breakfast. Prakash grimaced but leaned forward in order to bring his head closer to the middle-aged man.

"Come on, Uncle!"

Prakash's uncle shrugged helplessly. "Let us discuss it in the car." He got up hurriedly, paid at the counter, and left. Prakash did not wait at the counter. He walked outside and stood next to an old beaten-up car where he waited for his uncle. His attempts to stay calm were belied by the near-constant shaking of his right leg. It was clear that something was bothering him terribly and it had to do something with his body.

Rahul followed the middle-aged man outside but he kept his distance. When Prakash and his uncle began to have a heated discussion once again in furious whispers, Rahul was able to listen to them clearly. The man with Prakash was his youngest uncle. Some hours back Prakash had a huge row with his father in the presence of his uncle. Prakash's father got into a scuffle with them. The way Prakash and his uncle discussed the entire affair, it seemed as if the entire fault lay with Prakash's father who started the kerfuffle and then fell down and died.

"We should have taken him to the hospital earlier," Prakash shuddered as he recalled the grotesque face of his dead father.

"I don’t think that’s what you wanted," his uncle pointed out. Prakash did not rebut his claim so it was clear to Rahul that he had done something to his father and that he did not want others to know about his role in his father's death.

"So what now?" Prakash touched his leg to stop it from shaking but the leg had its own mind and it kept shaking and shuddering to a macabre beat of its own.

"We get some heavy-duty saw machines," his uncle spoke on a monotone. "And sacks! Black plastic bags! A freezer to hold it all for some days. Don't want to go around scattering the body parts in one day. We need to take our time. Don't want to alert anyone."

It was amply clear that they were making plans to get rid of a dead body. Rahul wanted to scream for some help, to get the duo arrested but he held himself back. There was no way anyone was going to accept his word that Prakash and his uncle were discussing how to dismember the corpse of Prakash's father. He watched helplessly at the departing car carrying Prakash and his uncle away from him. He could have taken down the car registration number but he froze and let the opportunity pass. As there was nothing else to do, he returned back to his room where he pondered seriously over his next action. He got so tired that he dozed off. When he woke up, it was already evening. There was nothing he could do about the horrible affair. If Prakash had murdered his father, Rahul knew that Prakash would get his comeuppance sooner than later. Rahul was a Fatalist and so he put the onus on the great, unseen force of Fate.

The immediate fallout of the strange encounter was the complete cessation of eavesdropping activities by Rahul. He no longer wanted to know more about the struggles of other people. He still hated his studies but he applied himself and was able to land a mediocre job with an MNC. It was enough to make his father happy. Rahul found his job boring but he was able to do more than needful in all the projects he worked on and got promoted on a regular basis. His superpower helped him many times. He was able to find out who his true friends were. He was able to find out that his girlfriend was having a secret affair with her boss and that she was planning to trap him in marriage. He dumped her quickly and moved on. He used to hang out alone and kept his distance from other people. In short, his life was boring and very ordinary.

Five long years passed since he last saw Prakash or his uncle. He had forgotten all about the macabre stuff when he ran into Prakash once again. The fortuitous encounter happened outside a barbershop. Rahul could not tolerate long hair but he also did not want to subject himself to the scissors of a barber. He dragged himself to the salon and allowed himself to be brutalized by the barber. The moment his ordeal was over, he rushed out of the salon and barely evaded the customer walking in. He did not even recognize Prakash immediately for Prakash had grown a beard but when Prakash cried out to him to watch where he was going, a faint memory got triggered in Rahul's mind. By the time he had taken a couple of steps, the traumatic memory returned and he recognized Prakash as the man who committed patricide.

The realization that his path had once again crossed with Prakash made Rahul stop and think. Was it not the way of Fate to keep throwing people together so that the drama involving them could be taken to a logical conclusion? Rahul barely understood the dramas that he was participating in. The barely understood drams took place all around them with the Fate pulling all the strings making people dance like marionettes. He was convinced that it was Fate that had brought Prakash once again into his life. He wondered about his next step. Was he to help bring a killer to justice? If so, how would he go about it? He tried to not think about Prakash but his mind kept going back to that awful day when he had heard Prakash talk about his father’s death. He recalled how he had kept an eye on newspaper reports about a dismembered corpse being found but no such report came. Whatever means Prakash and his uncle used to dispose of the corpse were remarkably efficient. The second encounter with Prakash left him restless. Suddenly he recalled the Hindi phrase "vicharon ke jhanjhawat" and laughed heartily for he was reliving that phrase literally. The bout of laughter calmed him down. As he smoked his cigarette and watched the smoke dissipate around his face, he knew what he needed to do.

Rahul went back to the salon and confirmed for himself that Prakash was still getting his hair cut. He waited outside the salon and when Prakash walked out, he followed him discreetly. Prakash seemed oblivious of his surroundings and Rahul soon found the reason behind the extra gaiety in Prakash’s movements. A girl waited for Prakash outside a café and they entered it in high spirits. Rahul followed them inside and listened to the idle chit-chat of the two lovers. The girl seemed to know about the tragic death of Prakash’s father but was very proud of how Prakash had dealt with the tragedy, how Prakash had turned around the family business and how Prakash helped his youngest sister cope up with the trauma. Prakash gently rebuked his girlfriend for bringing up the sad topic of his sister’s trauma and thus chided she fell silent for some moments.

“What you did for Rani is extraordinary,” she spoke suddenly. Prakash sighed and requested her to not rake up events that he wanted to forget. His lover pressed Prakash’s hands gently. They chatted freely for some time about a new movie that had hit the screens last week. Then she got a call and she went outside to receive it. Rahul got an incredible urge to follow her and so he walked outside and took his position keeping a comfortable distance between himself and the girl on the phone. She kept an eye on people around her for she did not want them to listen to what she was talking about. Rahul could hear it all very clearly though and soon learned that Rani, Prakash’s youngest sister, had successfully taken her Xth board exams.

“When I first heard about what happened to her,” Prakash’s girlfriend spoke softly, “I was left heartbroken. She was just 10 years old and she was being sexually assaulted so brutally. No, we never found out who it was. She kept talking of a masked man making his way to her room every night. She was just a kid, Ma! She was scared of the masked man and oh my god, I can’t even speak of it without hurting so much for that little girl. What did you say? Could it have been her father? Oh yes! No doubt about it! The old coot died one day and the masked man stopped harassing the little girl. Who else could it be? No, Prakash never speaks about what happened to his father. He died of a heart attack. No, Prakash was not alone that day. His youngest uncle was with him. Did they kill him? I would love to believe that! But Prakash is such a gentle soul! I can’t even imagine that he could even hit anyone but if he killed that monster then he did a great service to society. No one would ever suspect him. His father died of a heart attack because a pig attacked him and he fell down the stairs. No, really! The police investigated and that was what they found. His father used to drink a lot and his heart was weak and when the pig startled him, he took a tumble down the stairs and his heart simply stopped. Just like that! The police closed the case. Yes, I remember how awful his father was, how he used to harass all the maids who ever worked in his house. Whenever we talk about him, I always say ‘good riddance! In any case, Prakash worked so hard at turning the business around. Yes, it helped that the alcohol expenses became nil overnight. I believe that helped the bottom line a lot. Right! All that money going down his guts! Saved and put to great use. And Prakash spent a lot of money on Rani’s psychiatric evaluations. He stood like a rock beside her, helping her to cope up with the trauma. I know he is a gem of a person. Of course, I know that! That is why I am marrying him! Ok! Bye for now! Prakash is waiting inside! I will bring him along now. See you soon!”

She walked past Rahul without even giving him a glance. Rahul stood frozen at his spot for quite some time. He watched Prakash and his girlfriend leave together and kept staring at their car till it turned a corner and went out of his sight. Then, with a prolonged sigh, Rahul trudged back to his apartment, lost in his own thoughts. He thought about how he used to think of Prakash as a villain, how his inability to get Prakash arrested played havoc with his mental health, how his inaction fed his depression and cut him off from other people around him. He thought of how lonely his life was, of how there was no purpose to his life. He reflected upon his superpower and came to the painful realization that his superpower was the main reason behind his cynicism and his hatred for mankind. He used the power to push others from him. The power had definitely helped him many times but it had also helped him create a barrier against the world. He was safe in his cocoon with hardly any interactions with the world but his life was useless and meaningless. His life was a horrendous waste if compared with the life of Prakash who he used to hate with a passion. Rahul stood in front of his mirror and stared at his reflection. He saw a loser with no purpose, no dream, no zest for life. He closed his eyes and cursed his superpower. He wept a lot that day and slept in a fetal position that night. Early next morning, someone jolted him awake. Rahul found himself staring at Prakash. The shock woke him up.

When Rahul tried to get on his feet, Prakash shoved him down.

“I could not recognize you right away,” Prakash snarled at him, “but when you followed Seema outside I noticed you. You looked vaguely familiar. I had to really think hard but I finally recognized you. I had seen you outside a restaurant some years back. You see, I have this gift from my angel. I am blessed with the gift of memory. I can’t forget a face or a name or a phone number. So yes, I was able to recognize you. The interest that you paid to Seema made me think about you and then I remembered that when I last saw you, you were hovering around us with that same intent expression on your face. Are you able to listen to voices from that distance? That’s very impressive, isn’t it?”

“Listen,” Rahul found his throat dry and his mouth full of cotton, “I don’t have any beef with you anymore. I learned of the awful truth yesterday and I believe that what you did was quite brave.”

“What did I do?” Prakash asked him in staccato, chewing out every syllable.

“Why, um, you killed your father who was, um, a child molester!”

Prakash could not help but laugh. “So you found out about that story. Good! But you see, the mask of the masked man was never found. Do you know why?”

Rahul shook his head.

“Because I burnt it.”

Rahul was surprised. “You wanted to protect your father?”

“No, you doofus,” Prakash’s smile turned evil, “I did not want them to find my DNA on it.”

Rahul gagged as he understood the import of Prakash’s words. Prakash seemed to enjoy the changing expressions on Rahul’s face.

“Stranger, you have got a beautiful face but I can’t let you live,” Prakash muttered. “You will have to die to keep my secret safe.”

“So did you kill your father?”

“Of course!” Prakash shrugged. “He found out about my nightly visits and confronted me. He even called my uncle Baljeet but he did not know that Baljeet had run into debt and I made a deal with him. Money runs the world around, doesn’t it? Baba died of a heart attack but a gentle push down the stairs helped. The part about the pig was a good touch, wasn’t it? We had to wait near him for about an hour before Baba took his last breath. It is quite traumatizing, you know, to listen to a dying man’s rasps and gasps. Baljeet Mama forgot all about it but I can’t. Gift of memory and all that! Every night I am reminded of that ghastly scene. I guess that is what Hell is all about. I stopped harassing Rani and found Seema. So now everything is going so well but then I found that you are taking too much interest in me. How does it bother you if I did something to my Baba?”

“So how did you dispose of his body?” Rahul tried to engage Prakash in a conversation to delay the inevitable.

“Dispose of the whose body?” Prakash smiled with a glint in his eyes. “Baba was burnt on a pyre with all rites and rituals are done properly.”

“But I heard of electric saws and black polythene bags that day!”

“Did you now?” Prakash took out a pistol and pointed it at him. “Baljeet too thought that I wanted to dispose of my father’s body but all the arrangements that he did that day were used to get him out of the way. He himself got all the things needed to make him disappear from our lives. Imagine that! No one misses Baljeet Mama. He was a drunkard and a gambler and it is generally believed that he skipped town and most likely he won’t return ever again.”

Prakash was about to shoot Rahul when there were some faint footsteps outside Rahul’s apartment. The milkman had come to deliver the milk packets. Prakash’s hearing was not so sharp to discern the sound of shuffling feet of the milkman but Rahul had heard those footsteps earlier and he instantly knew that the only way out of his predicament was to call out for help. He grabbed a pillow and placing it in front of his body, he screamed bloody murder. The milkman outside the apartment was shocked by the cry for help from the apartment. Prakash was taken aback but he regained his composure quickly and fired once at Rahul who was shot in his shoulder instead of his chest, most probably because Prakash could not see his target properly due to the pillow coming in between him and Rahul. On being shot, Rahul gave such a terrifying scream that the milkman was jolted into action. Prakash could no longer ignore the incessant beating on the front door and he escaped through the kitchen, the same way he had come inside. Rahul staggered to the front door and was able to open it before crashing on the floor.

When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed and a police constable was there to take his statement. Prakash was arrested that very day. He was trying to flee the town. On sustained interrogation, he confessed to the murders of his father and his uncle. Justice prevailed finally. During his hospital stay, Rahul found out that his superpower, his gift from the angels, was lost forever. The feeling of relief at the barrier between him and the world is broken made his hospital stay tolerable. He was now ready and willing to give life a chance once more.