part0029

‘So your mom was not ill?’ Mahesh asked grimly. I was back in Mumbai and was striding across my room, packing.

I had decided to move back to Indore permanently.

Before leaving for Indore from the Colaba Police Station, I had lied to Mahesh that my mom was unwell and thus I would have to go immediately. I knew if I had told him the truth that I was actually going for Tara, he would have rather killed me than let me go.

‘No. Mom was not ill,’ I confessed without meeting his eyes.

‘You lied to me for that bitch?’ His tone was much calmer than I had expected.

I nodded in affirmation. I wanted to shout at him for calling Tara a bitch , but I didn’t.

‘Bastard,’ he yelled and punched me hard in the stomach. ‘If she leaves you again, don’t show your stupid face to me’.

‘Fuck, man,’ I cried in pain falling to the floor. The punch was too hard to tolerate. ‘What’s your problem?’ I gasped.

‘My problem is—I have seen you in the worst possible condition for that bitch. And I want you to stay away from her. Get any other girl in your life—but not her.’ He gave me his hand and pulled me up.

‘I got one,’ I said. ‘But her ex snatched her back from me.’

‘Alia is history now. And so is Tara. If these two are the only women you care about, then you should better stay single for your life.’

‘Do you believe in Gods, Mahesh?’ I lit a cigarette.

‘The fuck this question came from?’

‘No. I don’t. Gods are a lie.’

‘But I do. I have faith in them. Perhaps, Gods sent Alia in my life so that she can teach me a lesson.’

‘What lesson?’ He was still angry, but I had his interest now.

‘A lesson that forgiving is also a part of love. If Alia can forgive Roshan—why can’t I forgive Tara?’

‘Fuck you.’ He stared at me exasperated. ‘And why are you shifting back to Indore?’

‘Last time I went away from Tara and shit happened. Now I don’t want to take any chance. I will be with her now.’

‘By this logic I should not proceed with Merchant Navy and stick to Kamna’s ass here in Mumbai.’

‘You are impossible,’ I said as my patience was wearing off. I had just resumed my packing when the doorbell rang.

It was Bilal and he was holding a small wooden box. ‘So, finally you are leaving?’

‘Yes, brother. Finally . . .’

‘I brought a gift for you. A goodbye gift.’ Bilal gave me the wooden box he was carrying.

‘What is this?’ I checked the box. Considering its size it was very heavy.

‘Open it,’ he said, excited.

My eyes were left wide open when I opened the box. It was a gun—a revolver. ‘Are you kidding me?’

‘You didn’t like it?’

‘I love it . . . but it’s a fucking gun. Is it original?’ I took it out.

‘Yes—but stolen,’ he said and Mahesh and I exchanged worried looks. ‘I got it especially for you from Chor Bazaar . Remember, you once told me that you loved guns in childhood?’

It was true that I loved guns in childhood, but those were toy guns. Not real! Though, I did not remember telling my love for guns to Bilal. I must have been drunk when I told him that.

‘Thanks a lot, Bilal, but he can’t keep it. It’s risky to keep a firearm without a license,’ Mahesh interfered, snatching the gun from my hands and gave it back to Bilal. He was smart enough to wipe our fingerprints with his handkerchief before returning it. ‘Plus, this guy is mad. He will definitely shoot someone—or maybe himself—if he flips out.’

I was disheartened watching that beautiful gun go away. But I knew Mahesh was right. I did not need one. And it was certainly risky to possess a gun illegally.

My packing was done in the next few hours and it was the time to say a final goodbye to the gorgeous city of Mumbai and some of the best people I met there. I was excited to settle back in Indore and be with Tara, but at the time of leaving Mumbai, a strange feeling had overtaken me. It was like I was leaving something behind, something I should have taken with me. It felt like I was leaving my home.

Mumbai definitely has a bizarre charm in itself. It’s a place like no other. Yet, since Tara was in Indore—as was my family—I was happy to begin the new journey of my life.

‘What will you do in Indore?’ Mahesh questioned as I stopped my car in front of his college, the college that was once mine. All those memories of the weird days I spent there came back to life.

‘There are two big hotels in Indore. Looking at my experience, I will easily get a job at higher post in one of them.’ I got out of the car with Mahesh.

‘You love her a lot, hmm?’ He hugged me.

‘Yes. More than anything.’ I hugged him back.

‘Give her my message. If she ever ditches you again—I will take that gun from Bilal and shoot her,’ he said comically with a smile.

‘You will never have to. If she cheats me again—I will do it myself.’ I winked and smiled. Of course, I was joking.

He laughed. ‘Now that’s like my boy.’ He hugged me again and patted my back.

I fetched a leather handbag from a compartment in the dashboard. ‘This is for you,’ I said and gave that handbag to Mahesh.

‘A goodbye gift for me?’ he smiled—opening it—and looked stunned to find six bundles of notes in it. ‘What is this? Why so much money! Are you mad? I don’t need this.’

‘It’s not for you, bitch. It’s for your course in Singapore,’ I said. ‘I had one lakh as of now . . . will arrange and send you rest in a few days.’

‘No. I can’t take this.’ Mahesh zipped the handbag close and threw it back in the car.

I took it out again.

‘I am not asking you. You got to keep it. And you got to do that shit course from Singapore.’

‘I don’t need the money from you, Kunal,’ Mahesh argued. ‘You are not my dad.’

‘That’s not what your mom said last night,’ I joked, pushing the handbag back in his hand.

Shit! He punched me again in the stomach and walked to the college door. He had a smile on his face when he turned back to me and waved a goodbye. ‘I’m gonna miss you,’ I muttered and got back into the car.

Before driving back to Indore, I made a quick stop at Bilal’s place and took the gift he had offered me. It was a bloody gun, and I loved it.

‘Never tell Mahesh that I took it from you,’ I requested Bilal.

‘And if you are ever caught with this gun, never tell the cops that I gave it to you.’ He winked.