Scream

I have read a lot of 55 words fiction, generally all of them are really good and seem very hard to come up with. It was hard for me to muster the courage to write a 55 words fiction but yaay I wrote and now you have to tell me how it is. And it is actually 55 words

The night was exceptionally hot, I was sweating. The skies were clear and the stars lit the place.  I was strolling out, there was no power. The silence was eerie and I was now bored. I heard a scream from inside. I rushed in, just to find the power was restored and TV was on.

An Attempted Murder

She was thoroughly enjoying her stroll when a man lying prone on the roadside caught her attention. Fearing the worst, she turned the limp figure over. Her heart leapt a mile when she saw the man’s face, she was shocked to find the body, this was the least likely place for the body to be in. She checked for the pulse and felt the heartbeat of a man struggling to breathe. She was petrified and couldn’t think of anything, that’s when she thought of a change in the plan. She searched her pockets for her phone and dialed 911 as fast she could with her trembling fingers.

“Hi, I am at the Northcross street and found an unconscious man there, can we please get the man medical aid” she said with an urgency in her voice.

” Yes, ma’am, the help will be on its way” said the voice on the other end.

As she waited for the medical aid, a wave of emotions engulfed her, drowning her in an ocean of memories. She wondered why the body was found at that particular spot. It was mysterious, to see the ex-cop, the ex-boyfriend lying there helplessly.

Just then she heard the sound of a police car, they were quick with their reaction, followed by it was an ambulance. A cop came out of the police car and two men from the ambulance, they put Steve’s body on a stretcher and the ambulance drove away. Leaving her and the cop behind. The cop was examining the spot where the body was found. She stood there, not sure if she could leave.

After he found nothing the cop turned to her and questioned “So missy, how did you find that body here?” The cop was a burly man, seemed around 6 feet tall.

“I was just taking a walk and stumbled on the body” she said, her voice still shaking with shock.

“Convincing enough, have you seen this man here before? Does he live in this neighborhood?”

“No, he doesn’t live here and that man happens to be my ex-boyfriend his name is Steve, we broke up three months back” she said, her voice choking.

“You stumbled upon your ex’s body in your neighborhood? You might be in trouble lady” said the cop. His name plate read Austin Rogers.

Image Source: Google Images

“He was an ex-cop, fired from the police department for being involved  in the Marijuana smuggling scandal. That’s when I broke up with him.”

“Oh, so that is” The Steve” , this sounds fishy, I am sorry but you have to come  with me for some investigation.”
She followed him in the car, it wasn’t her first time in a police car, but this time it was different from all the previous times.

To her surprise they drove into a hospital, instead of the police headquarters. There was a cop, younger than Austin waiting for them.

“Sir, they have taken him inside the ICU, he was strangled, no signs of struggle. His pockets were empty, absolutely no prove of identity or any other clue.”

“The man has been identified, Marvin, he is Steve, the fired cop, from the Marijuana smuggling case” said Austin.

“Really, is that him? Unbelievable. Sir, I believe, Creeks, the chief of the gang might be involved in this attack.”

“And he was definitely not attacked on the spot where his body was found, there were no signs there”

“Yes sir, the physician said, they will take sometime to give us details on his condition” said Marvin.

“Okay, we will wait for a word from them, right now you go and question Creeks, that man can be upto anything even when in the lock-up. Also take along this young lady, she found the body and is Steve’s ex-girlfriend” Austin ordered.

She and Marvin drove to the Police headquarters, Steve often talked about that place.

Marvin asked her to sit in an interrogation room, which was devoid of any furniture except a chair. He pitied the poor innocent looking lady, she was unlucky to find her ex’s body in her neighborhood. It was tragic to deal with such a situation, he felt. She was not allowed to leave the headquarters until proven clear of all charges. He asked one of the junior cops to keep a check on her and himself went to Creeks cell to question him.

“Creeks, Steve was attacked today, we suspect you might have something to do with this” Marvin said.

“Loser, did he die? Hope he did, he is the reason I’m here, hadn’t that freak girlfriend of his heard that conversation between us, both of us would have been doing great now.”

“I just asked, do you know anything about the attack?”

“No.”

Marvin’s phone rang, it was Austin, he asked him to leave Creeks and interrogate him later.

A shocked and unsure Marvin left the criminal’s cell. He called up Austin, looking for the next instruction. Austin asked him to rush to the hospital, Steve had regained consciousness, the physician said the police could take a statement from him in sometime.

Marvin, was angry, he was sure that Creeks was responsible for the attack and felt it foolish on Austin’s part to interrogate Creeks later. How could a man injured so gravely be trusted to give a statement. He thought Austin needed to understand that. With these angry thoughts, he drove into the hospital. He parked the car and whistling coolly, entered the hospital. When he reached the reception, he heard Austin.

“Marvin, its Stella, the woman, Marvin, its her, where is she?”

“What are you talking about Austin, what woman?”

“His girlfriend, I mean his ex, its her who attacked him and then got one of her guy friends to dispose his body. Where is she?”

“At the headquarters, John is taking care of her” said an utterly surprised Marvin.

Marvin drove at 100 miles/hour, he had never driven so fast. It was bugging Austin was screaming at him to drive faster.They rushed to the interrogation room where Stella was. John was looking at his cell phone and grinning stupidly.

“John, open the door, we need to talk to the woman.”

“Sir, she just went to the restroom” said an unaware John.

“You fool, how long has she been in there? Marvin go check” said an angry Austin.

Marvin followed the instructions and without any second thoughts entered the lady’s restroom only to find the ventilator open and a rope dangling there.

She was gone.

Cancerous Thoughts- A story.

Whammmm!! the silver color Mahindra car rams into my scooter. I lose my balance and fall on the road. The car driver just looks at me and drives away. I can’t see the car’s number but as he speeds away I see three words inscribed on the number plate ‘Government of India.’  Ha! So this is government’s new plan, kill commoners like me. It seems like a perfect idea to reduce the population and get rid of the people whose taxes do not contribute much towards their pocket money. But in my case the government didn’t have to make  the extra effort, I am dying already.

No regret, no remorse the car driver just drives away with the “Babu” the bureaucrat in the backseat, who does not even bother to look up from his evening newspaper. I stand up,dust my clothes, pick up the scooter and check for any dents or scratches on it. Although it does not even matter if there are any, it is too old, a 1996 Bajaj Chetak model. I bought it for my son when he got into junior college, he used it for two years and after that begged me to buy him a motorcycle. I bought him that and since then I have been using his discarded scooter. He now lives in Delhi where he works and drives a Hyundai Santro.

I am returning home early today, leaving Ramu at the shop, I am a grocer. I own a grocery store, a small one, where we do not use optical bar code readers and do not have security guards at the door, mine is a simple grocery store, the kind of place you find everywhere in this country.I still use weights to measure the pulses and rice, do not stock up the shelves with imported chocolates and expensive shampoos but have freshly ground wheat, rats lurk in the store sometimes.

Most of my customers are housewives, I spend my day listening to their cooking woes and suggesting the best brand of spices, they sometimes run out of money while shopping and I let them take stuff after they promise they’d pay later but most of them never come back. It is a no profit only loss equation to run a store like this. Unfortunately I had no other option this is what my father had left me with, and this is what a man who could not clear his class tenth did, run the next door ‘ karyana shop.’

In the boot of my scooter is the doctor’s report, I have been having a severe stomach ache for the past one week, my wife Lakshmi thought it was gas and kept me on a diet of gooey liquid mass she called khichdi. At fifty five you never know what can ail you, the doctor’s report says I have stomach cancer. I need immediate treatment, the doctor said it was extremely urgent. That means Lakshmi will have to forgo her Shirdi trip. She will curse me for postponing or maybe canceling her trip. I can not afford the surgery and that trip at the same time.

What good does one get out of praying to god anyways? I stopped praying after 2000, the year my shop had caught fire. It was a dreadful day, Kasim the butcher next to my shop called me at 9:30 PM, no 9:36 PM precisely on 29th March, 2000 to inform me that there was a fire in my shop and he had called the fire brigade. The cause of fire is still unknown but that was like the doomsday for me, after that I had to start from the scratch.  I wonder why god didn’t help me then but that’s when I decided he probably didn’t exist let alone helping me. We cannot rely on god for everything and every time. I wish Lakshmi did not insist on going to Shirdi so much, anyways that was the least I could do to keep her happy. She had spent her no ‘our’ entire married life complaining and cribbing. She wasn’t wrong though.

Reaching home I open the gate and park my scooter, finding the door locked I go to the immediate neighbor Sharmaji’s place, Lakshmi always leaves the house keys with them whenever she goes to the temple in evening. That’s what her life is about going to the temple in morning, once again in the evening, complaining and cooking. For the rest of the day she is either found talking to Sharmaji’s wife.

My son, Vikram now lives far away and hardly visits, calls only on Sundays to make sure if we are fine. And I had disowned my daughter Priya, she had fallen in love with a Christian man, I was against her marrying that man but she did. I had forbidden my wife and anyone  else related to me to even mention her after that. I had done everything to give these kids the best education, to make sure my son did not run my shop, my daughter like all other girls worked and earned money. The little investment I had made on these two now seemed to be a waste. They are thankless creatures. I try not  think about them.

I am hungry, the Khichdi keeps me hungry, I still can’t believe I have stomach cancer. How could I get it? I wonder what my Lakshmi’s reaction to that will be.

I go to my room and try sleeping, yes in the middle of the evening, the stomach is really troubling me a lot. Its really hot, and I am all sweaty but slowly I drift into a deep slumber. Few hours later I wake up to Lakshmi’s voice, she says Ramu has closed the shop for the day and the key is at its usual place. I grunt to let her know I heard her, she calls me for dinner, I cannot summon the energy to get up, so I tell her I am not hungry and drift back into my sleep. I dream of funny things, Ramu taking over my shop, my wife abandoning me in the hospital and going to Shridi, its all weird.

My phone is ringing at 9:00 AM in the morning, its Ramu asking when will I come. I tell him to take the keys, I can’t delay opening the shop, the business will suffer. I get out of bed, I am late, something that has never happened. Lakshmi is in kitchen talking to someone over the phone.

” The doctor called, said it was something urgent and asked you to visit him as soon as possible.” she said to me, while talking over the phone. I wonder what it can be, another growing cancer or a quick chemo session. Did they start the treatment so soon after detecting cancer? I have no idea about it.

” Its nothing, just some stomach ache, you know na how he eats, bound to have it, will be fine, don’t worry” she says to the person on the phone.

After a pause.

” No beta don’t worry, everything is fine, how is Steve?”

I can’t believe my ears she is talking to Priya, right under my nose. She comes to the dining room and sees me, she looks shocked.

” You didn’t go for your shower?” she asks me, still holding the phone close to her ears.

I go to her and snatch the phone and disconnect it.

” Nobody mentions that girl in my house.”

I see tears in her eyes and walk away. I feel like a cruel man, stopping a mother from talking to her daughter. But then I thought I was dying  soon and then she could talk to Priya as much as she wanted, live with her probably and look after her kids if she had any. If I could pay for her Shirdi trip, this was the least she could do for me.

After the quick shower I left home without telling Lakshmi, she always hears the scooter and comes to know when I leave and come back. I did not want to go the doctor. I had had enough of it, let the cancer kill me, strangle me to death. My entire life seemed like a cancer, slowly growing into a monstrous thing, I had let it rot without realizing. Suddenly my scooter hit a cyclist, he fell down.

“Dekh kar nahi chala sakta cycle?” I scream at the boy, surprised at myself, this was the second time in less than twenty four hours I had hit or had been hit by someone on the road. It was my fault, I was the one driving recklessly this time.

Without listening to what the boy had to say and asking if he was okay, I kick my scooter to a start and drive to the doctor’s clinic.

” Arre Singla Saab, where have you been? I was calling you on your mobile phone.” the doctor, the prophet of my death said.

I look at my phone.

” Its on silent mode, I didn’t hear it ringing. Do I have to get the chemotherapy right now?” I ask him.

” Singla ji I have some good news for you, my nurse accidently swapped your medical reports with someone else’s, here are your reports. Those were the reports of another patient, he is just twenty-seven and poor fellow has cancer. You just have a minor stomach infection, here is your prescription, take these medicines and you will be fine in a few days.”

I took the report from his hands and look at it.

Name: Krishan Singla, Age :55, Problem: Minor Stomach infection. My reports said.

I read the report of the young man.

Name: Abhinav, Age: 27, Problem: Growth in stomach, linitis plastica detected.

I had not even looked at the first report yesterday, I winced instead of me a young man was dying all at twenty seven. The circle of life was vicious. I take my prescription and leave the doctor’s clinic. I crush the paper and throw it in the trash bin feeling like a sadistic man, now wishing that report was mine. For once nothing wrong was happening in my life, I wasn’t dying but I wished it was the other way round.

The end.

The Midnight Walk Chapter 2

He let go off my waist, I was shocked at myself  to feel a little disappointed. My attention now drifted to the strange kidnapper’s face, he was surprisingly good looking. He had his hair falling over his forehead, nice long black hair, he was muscular yet gentle. He had brown eyes with the kind of look that said, I am never going to harm you. We wore a black shirt and a blue jeans, which looked absolutely perfect for him. I don’t believe it I was falling for my kidnapper.

” I saw you down there, you seemed to be a little lost and so when you came here I followed you, wondering if you’d like some company” he said in the voice that made me go weak in the knees.

” Yeah, my boyfriend suddenly decided to vanish and I don’t know anyone here” I said wondering why I was telling him that.

” Damn, what a jerk to desert you, anyways fancy a walk?”

” Sure, but Aaryan will be looking for me.”

“Aaryan?”

” My boyfriend.”

” Well time to desert him for a bit”  he said with a smile, there was something sinister about this remark of his. I said nothing and we began walking. It was pleasant for a summer night, there was a slight breeze and the stars shone, the moonlight spilled  all over, it was a beautiful night. Perfect for a walk albeit the stranger’s presence.

” So, what do you do apart from stalking girls out of parties?”

” Hahaha, I am a doctor, Rahul is my cousin, happened to be here so he insisted that I join him tonight and I don’t really stalk girls.”

He didn’t seem old enough to be a doctor. This guy was getting mysterious with every passing moment. I wanted to know more about him. I felt my phone vibrate, it was Aaryan, I let it ring. I didn’t want to talk to him more because I wanted to be with…oh wait I didn’t know his name.

” What is your name?”

” Thought you were not asking that, people call me Kevin.”

We silently walked for sometime, it was getting a little awkward now. He wasn’t really making any effort to start a conversation and the fact that he didn’t even ask my name baffled me. I wondered why he fancied a walk with me. We had now come back in front of the party hall entrance. My phone started vibrating again, I thought it was time to get  back and just when I was about to voice my thought, he spoke.

” Did I tell you I think you are really pretty?”

” No, not until now” I said completely taken aback. He was looking directly at me, I wanted to avoid his piercing gaze, for the first time we had an eye contact.

He was inching closer, I was curious to know what he was going to do next. He was now just a few centimeters away, I could now smell his cologne and hear him breathe. He smelt fresh despite the heat. Before I knew he was kissing me. I couldn’t make out what was happening, I was astounded, paralyzed because of shock, I barely knew this man and here he was inviting me for a walk and then kissing without a warning. My phone started vibrating yet again, why was Aaryan disturbing me? That’s when I was a realized I was cheating on him.

A voice instead me was screaming, asking me to stop him but I wasn’t  doing it. I suddenly without giving a second thought pushed him away. Now it was his turn to be in shock, he looked at me in disbelief. I wondered why. Without another word he walked away.  When he was gone I thought of  getting back to the drudging party before Aaryan thought I was missing.

When I turned around I saw him staring at  me with a skeptic, hysteric look. It looked liked someone had punched him in the face. Like the stranger he was gone too, I didn’t know what to do.It was over with Aaryan, he’d never understand, I couldn’t really blame him though.  I wondered where Kevin had gone.

The doused fire

“Ram Prasad, serve the tea to the man on the table with the broken leg” said Hari the tea stall owner, my boss and my owner as well. No, he had not bought me but considered me his property.

I took the tea cup from Rohit, who was preparing the tea. We swapped duties, sometimes he served the customers while I worked in the kitchen and the other times it was the other way round. Rohit was my co-worker at that ramshackle, Hari fancied calling, Royal Chaiwalla.

“Boy get me some rusks as well” said the tobacco chewing man. I could smell the tobacco as he spoke, his red teeth glistened in the dark whenever he spoke.

I nodded placing the tea on his table. He picked up the tea cup, blew it to cool the tea and then sipped it with a slurp.

I asked Rohit to give the man the rusks he had demanded. Rohit wiped a freshly washed lime smelling plate with his dirty, sweaty vest and kept the rusks on the, now full of germs plate.

Meanwhile I brew the tea for the next customer. This was the peak time for business, the labors working on the adjacent construction site took a break and came for a cup of tea everyday. Since our customers were a majority of labors, the tips were lousy, generally there were not any. There were times when some people did not pay the bill at all, Hari recorded this in his accounts book along with the customer’s name. It was pointless, they never came back but he never lost hope. He cribbed about it all the time but did not stop giving out free tea.

To compensate Hari gave Rohit and me less wages, almost one fourth of what he had promised. It was hard to live on Rs 150 per month it was nearly the same as it was back home.

Baba, my father was a cattle rearer for the sarpanch of the village. We were a family of seven, I had five siblings, I was the oldest at thirteen. Our mother had died one rainy night, god alone knew how she died. Had she been alive, the family’s hardships would have been a little less. She too got some money working as the house maid at the sarpanch’s house. When she died, that money stopped coming. Baba barely managed to get one square meal for the seven of us. On bad days we all shared the meal sufficient for one person, which did not satisfy anyone.

I took care of my siblings while my father was gone, rearing the cattle. My youngest sister was six months. One night my father asked me to steal some fruits from the neighboring orchid. I refused and was beaten for it. Next night the same happened, on the third night when we had been hungry for two consecutive nights and after being thrashed yet again I relented and went to get the fruits. The caretaker caught me while climbing a tree, he came to me with a cane, I ran for my life, another beating was the last thing I wanted, my body ached from the previous three. I ran aimlessly, not knowing where I was going. Before I could realize I was at the railway station, a train was at the platform, about to move. I looked back the caretaker was still chasing me with his cane and torch. I got on the train, without second thoughts.

I sat on the third class bogey floor. I was not just running away from the caretaker now, I was running from my home, my village, my family, with no intention of coming back. Even if I wanted I could not, I did not have a single penny. My life chugged on with the train, the only difference was the train had a destination, my life did not.

The next morning I got off at the first city where the train stopped. There were beggars all around, having the same starved look as me. I did not want to be one of them, begging the entire day on a railway station platform. I walked out into the city. It was big, larger than what I had ever imagined. I walked bare feet, wearing the only pair of clothes I had. Everything looked different. I wandered the entire day and slept on the side of the road that day. I had got food, at a temple, a good man was giving food to the poor hungry people. Sleep came easily, I was tired of walking. I felt lost but hopeful. The fire in me burning, hopeful I’d have a better life here, looking forward to the new day, tomorrow.

The next day I woke up with the sound of hammers, a building was being constructed. I went in, observing everything. Men and women worked, they looked different from the rest of the people I had seen in the city yesterday. They looked like my village folk. I had a sense of belonging here, after feeling alien one whole day. A man suddenly pulled me from the back, he was huge like the rest of the city people. I wondered what he was doing amidst the laborers. He asked me what I was upto and why I wasn’t working. I explained to him how I had got there.
He asked me to start working as a labor. I was registered as a daily wage worker on the construction site.

At thirteen I had my first job, but at thirteen I didn’t realize I could not work like all the other men and women at the site. I was too young to lift the bricks, didn’t know the proper technique to lay them. I was thrown out within a week. One of the labors suggested me to work at the nearby tea stall and here I am now at Hari’s tea stall. He needed someone who worked for him on minimal wages and I needed just food, I didn’t mind sleeping on the roadside, it suits both of us. The work isn’t difficult.

Today it is the eleventh of the month. I have still not got any money. At the end of the day I go to Hari and ask him to pay me. He is doing something in his accounts book, glances at me for a second and resumes his work without a word.

“Sahib, I need my money, I have not had a morsel since yesterday” I meekly said.

“Don’t you see I am doing something, come tomorrow” he said without looking up.

I sighed, picked up the rag I used to sleep on and lay on it in front of the tea stall. Hari allowed me to sleep at the tea stall. Rohit had left, he lived at the nearby slum, with his parents. He was richer than me. I stared at the stars, the noise of the cars seemed like a monster roaring. I yawned, inhaling the smoke coming from the cars. Half hour later Hari switched off the lights and rode away on his bicycle.

The last thought before I dozed off, was of food. If Hari allowed, I made up my mind to go to the temple tomorrow. I always got good food there, but if only Hari let me go. The fire in me was now doused, the city had stomped on me and killed the fire. Had I made the right choice coming here?

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A walk in the rain

She was walking in the rain on the Greenway street, a good three miles from her apartment. The rain was incessant, when she had stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door shut, the thunder showers were not expected.

“Watch out lady” screamed the guy in the Land Cruiser. She had been oblivious of the approaching car. The car brakes screeched and it halted.

“Need a ride back home missy?”asked the burly bearded driver. He wore a black falcons jersey.

She just shook her head and thanked him. The guy drove away splashing the water on the road onto her, it didn’t matter, she was drenched already.

The thoughts in her brain confused her, she knew not where she was headed to. She was just walking, walking as far as she could, her only desire was to run away, away from her life, from the people that were a part of it. It was exasperating to have the same old fights, same old arguements, every single day, every single moment they saw each other.

Despite all this she knew that when she’d go back home everything would be as good as it was in the morning, when they left for work. All the memories of their first years were coming back like a flash but then the past six months ushered away the long gone good memories. The rain disguised the tears, she did not want to cry but couldn’t stop.

Lynn was calling her every two minutes, but she didn’t want to take her call. Wondering what made her call this way she disconnected the phone and switched it off. She would explain it to Lynn, who always understood. All she wanted for now was to be left alone. The more she wanted to take control of the reins of her life, the more out of control it went.

She had been walking for nearly two hours when saw a pub, its board read ”mstic pb”, the ‘y’ of mystic and ‘u’ pub was missing. She walked in the, the place was full of guys watching a football match. The same match was responsible for today’s fight, reason she was now drenched, cold and sure she was falling sick.

The waiter placed a beer, she drew strange looks from everyone in the room, it was obvious, being the only girl, completely drenched and on the verge of tears.

She gulped down the cold beer, her insides chilling down even more, regretting drinking it later. Fortunately she had some change in her left pocket. Paying for the pathetic beer, she left the pub, hoping to get a cab.

It was only after half a mile’s walk she got a cab, giving the directions to the driver, she sat in the back seat of the cab. The driver tried making a conversation throughout the drive, curious to know what got her out in the rain. To avoid him and his piercing look she just nodded or shook her head. The rain had slowed down to a drizzle.

The cab driver dropped right outside the building, she climbed the stairs, not knowing what to say or what he wanted. All she knew was that she wanted a cup of hot chocolate, dry clothes and a blanket.

Just as she reached out to open the door, someone inside opened. As if that someone had been anticipating for her to come. He stood there with a bag, probably full of clothes. Their eyes met, there was a look of hatred, coldness in his eyes. Looking into his eyes she knew, he was not the man she had known, loved all these years. Those cold eyes belonged to a stranger. Without a word he walked away.

Happiness or sadness did not engulf her, like normally these feelings should have. She was relived, atleast one thing making her life miserable had vaporized, left her all by herself. She went in and slumped on the couch. Devoid of any strong feeling.

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Gone with the wind.

I don’t read love stories, that isn’t my genre. Even if I try reading such stories I end up abandoning the book halfway. But Gone with the wind by Margret Mitchell got me hooked.There are no two ways about the fact that GWTW is a rollicking good yarn.It will make you hate  Scarlett O’Hara the main protagonist and feel bad for her too. She is selfish, jealous of her best friends and often cruel and mean in her pursuits.And you feel bad for her all that she is going through.

Rhett Butler is of the same league and he is the only one who can see through Scarlett but you might end up loving his sarcasm.Ashley is disgustingly weak throughout the book.Its Melanie who is the real hero. Only one other time can I remember being so moved by the death of a character as I was by the death of Melly in Gone With the Wind, and that was by the death of Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

It’s melodrama at its best and is long-running and at one point after 300 pages I wanted to stop reading this too but something kept me going. Set in the American South before, during, and after the Civil War, the story catalogues Scarlett’s attempt both to hold on to her idyllic past as southern aristocracy and to survive the harsh changes inflicted upon her land. Its hard to write a book with the main character so spiteful and full of hatred, but Mitchell did it pretty convincingly.

The book is quiet racist but I think that is Mitchell’s way of depicting the era.Its probably present reality with all the faults and weaknesses of the humankind. The book has made me really curious about the civil war and I would love to read more books about it. The way it has been depicted is quiet enthralling.It was heavy-going and somewhat frustrating all the way through with consistent themes of death and sickness, deprivation, grief and inequality.

Even if you are not an ardent romance, chick-lit, historical fiction reader you have to give this book a read. Though the sheer size of this book may seem intimidating but it is definitely worth reading.

image courtesy: Google Images

85/4 Part three

Read the first part

Read the second part

 

Suddenly it struck him that they still had not informed Mrs. Smith’s family, did she even have a family.

“Mike, does Mrs Smith’s family know about the murder?” David asked while having their lunch at Cindy’s

“ We did not find records of any of her immediate family , no kids , her husband  died nearly twenty years back in a freak  accident and since then she has been living alone. Although chief says that she has an estranged step-sister in the town but does not know who she is.”

“Yeh heard of her and her sister’s stories, they haven’t talked since long, although nobody knows who the sister is.” David replied.

“Phew, this sounds like one spooky murder…..

“Did I just hear murder officers? Has someone been murdered?” Cindy had come back with some more juice.

“Yes Cindy, the emergency in the morning was Mrs Smith’s murder” said David .

“What? Mrs Smith has been murdered, granny will be sad to know.”

“Your grandmother knew her, you never told me.”

“Yes they knew each other very well when they were young but they stopped talking to after my grandmother got married.”

“Can we meet her?” Mike asked

“Not so many of you”.

“I will talk to her, where will I find her Cindy.” David said

“She is sleeping right now, tomorrow maybe.”

“That will be too late, can’t I talk to her now? “ David persisted.

“Okay let me check with her.”

After five minutes Cindy came back and told him he could go talk to her but not question her much because that might stress her.

She led him through a door inside the kitchen; they entered into what looked like a living room. So this where Cindy lived thought David. He never knew she lived somewhere inside the café itself.

She took him in a dark room next to the living room, there on a chair sat Cindy’s grandmother. She was old and looked frail.

David greeted her, then he realized he did not know what she was named, that’s when Cindy spoke up.

“Granny this is Officer David he visits the café very often. He is the one who is on grand-aunt Linda’s murder case.”

What did she just call Mrs Smith grand-aunt?  Does that mean Mrs. Smith’s step-sister was Cindy’s grandmother? Thought David.

“Oh greetings officer how are you? It’s a pleasure to meet you” she said in a broken voice.

“Pleasure’s mine Mrs. Umm…..”

“Murphy, that’s my mother’s last name. Cindy sweetheart, why don’t you go and take care of the café while I and officer chat about Linda”.

“Okay granny, take care, and call me if you need anything.”

And she left the room.

“She is such a nice girl, does everything, and takes care of me and the café so well. Yesterday she hurt herself when the coffee jar broke, in spite of that she has been working” the old lady told David.

“She indeed is a great girl.”

“So you wanted to talk about Linda. I am saddened to know she was murdered, but not surprised or shocked, she and her ways were funny and probably not accepted by a lot of people . Destiny played its game with her.”

“So you knew her, but how?” David asked, eager to know more.

“Well , it was a deep connection , we had the same father , a wretched man he was. He loved her mother more than mine and eventually started despising me too. Spoilt her but treated me like one of his servants. Even started getting mean, snubbed me , sometimes used to hit me and I could not do anything about it. And when my mother died my father got me married to this waiter and I along with him built this café , we had a son , he died long time back and left behind his daughter Cindy. Linda married the son of a rich landlord and they never had kids. When her husband died she came back to St Petersburg and started living in her father’s  house. I thought I could get that property atleast , lead a happy life in my old age but she did not let that happen and now here I am , half blind and unable to walk properly. There is little joy in my life, all I now want is Cindy lives a good life. She is a lovely girl.”

All through this David kept on nodding listening carefully. He pitied Mrs. Murphy, but was shocked to know that she was related to Mrs. Smith , Cindy and he had talked about her so often but she never mentioned that she was her great-aunt. So Cindy and Mrs. Murphy were Mrs. Smith’s mystery relatives, how come nobody knew that? I now had to talk to Cindy, he thought to himself.

“I know I did not really love my sister but please do find her murderer, murdering anybody is a great                sin. Thanks a lot officer.”

“Yes Mrs. Murphy , we will breathe only when we find the murderer.”

He then thanked her and left.

He couldn’t find Cindy anywhere in the kitchen and then he spotted her chatting with Mike and Ricky . They had finished their lunch and were the only ones sitting at the café.

“Hey Cindy, can you please come to the kitchen “he said briskly.

“What great guys Ricky and Mike are, you have a nice team” Cindy said as she entered the kitchen.

“Yes they are really cool; hey Cindy you never told Mrs. Smith was your grand-aunt.”

“Well there was nothing there to tell about in that , I never wanted anyone to know I am related to her. Infact I had never met her. She was sinister and it’s because of her, my grandmother has to live here ,  I am glad she is dead at least my grandmother can live a better life in what is her father’s house. Or we can sell that off.”

“Cindy someone has been murdered and you are happy about that fact , that’s inhuman , even you had grudges you can’t feel happy about it.”

“I don’t want to talk more about it, I have lived my entire life pretending that I didn’t know her and I will continue that.”

“Okay I won’t trouble you more with it now, by the way , take care of your hand , that seems like one nasty cut.”

“Yes officer I will” said Cindy with a tired smile.

After finishing the lunch when the three of them were leaving Mrs. Smith’s maid walked in, she said a hello and went directly in the kitchen, apparently she personally knew Cindy and her grandmother.

“So David what did the old granny tell you?” asked Mike

“She was Mrs. Smith’s step-sister.”

“Seriously? Well does that take us any way forward in the case?” Ricky asked

“ I don’t know , the lady can barely walk and is half blind , she couldn’t have murdered although she had a perfect reason and her granddaughter , well I know her personally , she can’t murder anyone and we don’t even have any evidence against her or anyone else” David said in a very confused state.

They were heading to Dr James laboratory when Ricky’s phone rang. It was Chief on the other end; he wanted to talk to David. He enquired of the progress and was disappointed to know there wasn’t any.

From the lab too they returned dissatisfied, the blood samples of the maid and mail man did not match

Just an hour before his meeting with Chief, David sat thinking the entire turn of events. Mrs. Smith was strangulated to death , the mailman  could not have done that , he came seven hours later , there was a possibility the maid could have done it , she had access to the house but her blood samples did not match the ones found on the sheets. If she had done it was with an accomplice. But who? Suddenly his mind drifted to Cindy, poor her, runs a café, takes care of her grandmother so well and keeps her happy , how did she manage all that at the age of twenty-five.

“Hey David, did you see that girl at the café was injured, she had a wound and we are looking for a murderer who is injured, she definitely fits into the puzzle very well.” Suddenly Mike said

“No Mike, not possible, there might be so many injured people we can’t go suspecting everyone and Cindy is the last person to have done it”

85/4 Part Two.

Read the previous part

“Why would I be kidding? How? and who-  that’s what you are here to find, I am putting you on this and don’t disappoint me Jenning”

He despised being called by his last name.

“No chief, I won’t disappoint”

“Your team consisting of two FBI agents is waiting for you inside, they will brief you up and you can take Duncan’s help if you need, I need you to report  me with progress by today evening. “

After saying this, chief drove away and David walked into the living room which showed the old lady’s bizarre taste. There ,  two men apparently in their forties stood, deeply in conversation. He cleared his throat to make his presence felt.

Both the heads turned towards him.

“Hi I am David; you must be the guys the chief just told me about.”

“Yep that’s us Mike and Ricky, FBI agents,  chief put us on this case with you.” said the taller on among them. He was Mike.

“So what exactly happened?  Have they taken the body, what does the medical department have to say about it?”

“Easy buddy, it’s too soon to have any updates from the medicos, they took the body half hour back itself. We will get to hear from the by noon. It seems like she died of suffocation, so that means she was probably strangulated to death” said Ricky.

“Any signs of struggle, I mean it could be a natural death seventy nine isn’t exactly that young and she did not have a very good medical history. Are you sure she was murdered, any evidence of forced entry?”

“Yes there are signs of struggle at the crime spot there was a broken flower vase and a shattered window pane, showing the murderer entered from the window. There were some blood spots on the sheets; Mrs. Smith did not have any signs of bleeding, we suspect the blood spots belong to the assailant. Also when the mail man came he heard some sounds from somewhere around. He thought someone was in the backyard but according to him it could be the neighbor’s cat too. He thought he will get some water so called Mrs. Smith and when she did not respond he came in , found her dead and called the police.”

“ Hmmmm….. He can be our no. 1 suspect, any other suspect?”

“Yes, although we wonder what could be his motive? He says he came here at 7:40 am and called the police came at 8:00 am within ten minutes of getting his call.”

“According to him he was here twenty minutes before the cops came, well that gives him enough time to murder her. Also he could have been lying , there is a possibility he was here much before 7:40. Did he say anything else?”

“Nothing else that can make us suspect him more or that gives a concrete prove that he did it.”

“Did you interrogate the neighbors?”

“Yes, we did , they saw no one , nobody talked to her much or saw her much , she preferred staying inside. The house maid came at 8:00 almost the same time as the cops , she had nothing much to tell  either, except that she left at 6  pm last evening  after giving Mrs Smith an early dinner and ensuring that all doors and windows were closed properly. She was in absolute shock when she heard about the murder.”Mike said

“ She is our suspect number two .” Ricky added.

“ When the mail man came the front door was open and the maid says that she locked all the doors last night . Did Mrs Smith wake up in the morning to unlock the doors ?”asked David.

“ No , the maid  said Mrs Smith was a late riser and unlocked  the door only when she came at 8:00 every morning  , the maid had one duplicate pair of keys .”replied Mike.

“That means she had access to the house any time . We might be on something , I wan to interrogate the maid and the mailman , today , its either of them but first lets get to know the time of the murder  from the medical department. Lets see what they have to say .”

” Yes , once we know the time of murder , we can be sure which one of the two is the murderer.” Mike added

After this they went to the room where the body was found. David had been there once before , except the vase and the window pane nothing seemed to be out of place not even the jug of water that was at the same place .

“ Seems like there wasn’t much struggle , she was quite easy to kill .” said David more to himself.

It was nearly 11:00 when the three sealed the house and left it. Ricky got a call . It was from the medicos , finally they had called. So after 85/4 they went to the Medical Sciences and research department which was a twenty minutes drive.

“ Hi , I am Dr James” said the head doctor there.

They shook hands with him .

“ Well I have nothing very out of ordinary to tell you , she was murdered , strangualted , and she has been dead for nearly twelve hours now. That means she was murdered at around 11:30 pm or at midnight” reported the doctor a bespectaled man

“Are you sure about the time ? And any marks or anything on the body?” asked David.

“ Yes pretty sure of the time and nothing else of much significance was found and oh , yes the blood spots on the sheet do not belong to Mrs Smith. So that means the assiliant might have got injured at the spot, and tthat means a big wound too.”

“Okay so we are looking for a wounded murderer , and it definetly can’t be the mail man because  she was murdered  much before he got there .”David said.

“ And the maid did not have any signs of injury either.” Ricky said

“ But lets not rule them out without interrogation.” Mike said .

“ Yes exactly , we will take their blood samples and send for analysis to Dr James here.” David said “ Or maybe lets just call them here itself .”

The mailman and the house maid came within half hour. They were made to sit in the doctors office , Dr James took their blood samples and then they both had a medical check up to see if they had any injury. Unfortunately they did not.

That reduced their chances of commiting the crime by fifty percent , fifty because they might have been accompanied by someone. Thought David, this seemed to be going nowhere . Mrs Smith had been murdered for nearly half a day now and they had no suspects or clue . The police could be in a major spot if they did not solve the case soon. The media would question them brutally. He had to report to the chief within 5 hours from now and right now he had no idea what happened in 85/4 last night.

85/4 Part One

 

David woke up with a groan as the alarm went off like it did every morning . This is how he had been waking up for six weeks now since posted in the quiet St. Petersburg  neighborhood . Nothing ever happened there , all he did in his entire day was patrolling the quite deserted streets. Not a soul was seen on those streets . There was no action and a police job without action was pointless , that is what he always said . He detested every single thing about this place .

Today was no different , he got out of his bed , dressed , tried cooking something and failed badly and then decided to go to Cindy’s for a quick breakfast.He could always get a decent breakfast there . He drove out hating his police car , he so wished he could drive a beemer , hi dream car but all he had that old jaunty car.Listening to all time favorite Bryan Adams he he slowly drove to Cindy’s old shackle .It was originally owned by her grandmother , but  owing to her bad health , Cindy ran it now.

” Morning officer” Cindy cheerfully greeted him

“Morning Cindy , how u doin’ ? “

” Good , the usual bacon , eggs and low fat coffee for you ?”

“Absolutely , please make it quick I’m running late.”

“Yes ,sir ” she replied saluting and smiling , David’s favorite smile. He so loved that smile .

David loved her friendly and outgoing way and apart from the good food he got here , she was the reason he visited the cafe every morning. When she went into the kitchen , he picked up the newspaper.

Ten minutes later Cindy cam with his food , his pager beeped.He ignored it .

” Pretty lady , giving me company today ? “

” I will in a bit officer , that guy over there has a monstrous appetite and I have to get his breakfast , after that I will. ” she said pointing at a guy who wore a leather jacket and looked like a thug.

*Beep Beep*  went his pager again.

” Looks like someone wants you real bad.”

“It’s probably the chief , asking me to see if the old lady in 85/4 to see if the old lady is still alive or not “

” Now that’s like a good cop.” she said and walked away.

David watched her go and the beeper went off yet again . This time he checked it , as he had assumed it was the chief . Might be something more important than the old lady today .

” Hey Cindy , I am using your pay phone . “

He dialed chief’s number and waited as the phone at the other end rang . In a way it was good to have lost his phone had his car phone in case of any emergency , but in situations like this not having a phone was like a disability. He knew he would have to get a new phone soon.

” Morning Chief , David here “

” Hey David , the chief requires you immediately , its very urgent . ” the said  voice,  he did not recognize.

” Okay , on my way.”

There was an urgency in the voice he could not ignore . Quickly he put down the receiver picked up his coffee and left his breakfast unfinished .

” Hey Cindy I will see you for lunch , Chief needs me urgently “

He was pretty sure it was nothing but more than an attempt to  robbery but did not want to delay .

At the headquarters , he found just Duncan , who asked him to leave for 85/4 immediately , the chief was expecting him there.

” Arggh the old lady is causing trouble yet again , What ? Did she see some ghosts this time ?”

” Dunno Buddy , was just asked you to tell you to be there . I myself got here few minutes back . You better get going , the chief sounded like its some serious business.”

“Chief might not be in his senses , why does he take her seriously. I will see you in sometime .” he said and went out.

Every single time David went to 85/4 he regretted it . But the silly old lady would call 911 for the smallest reasons. Once she called because she thought the police could get someone to fix her dishwasher the other time she mistook the plumber to be a thief and David had to go , it took an hour to  convince her that he wasn’t a thief but the plumber she had herself called.

He saw chief’s car parked outside the old mansion along with it two other cars , he had not seen them around before. One of them was a beemer , he envied the owner , it was such a beauty. He stared at it with his jaw dropping.

“David , where have you been ? I was about to call you again , why don’t buy a phone ?”

“Sorry chief, so what’s up with Mrs Smith today , did the ghost get her ?”

“She was murdered last night”

David’s jaw dropped for the second time in five minutes. “You are kidding chief! How? Who did it?”

*to be continued*