[#18] Father
A tale told by Mohit Mamoria
The story begins at The Haveli.
“Hello Ramu. How have you been? It’s been a long time”, Leah said. She had a cold and emotionless voice.
Shreyansh and Saafiya looked at each other. They exchanged their thoughts through eye gestures and shrugs. Saafiya was advised by her father to stay shut in front of Ramu but she wasn’t told there would be a guest at home. She had heard the guest’s name before but who it actually was — she had no idea. She turned to her father in hope of getting an answer, “Daddy, who is she? What is she doing here?”
Her father smiled at her and quenched the curiosity, “She is a friend of mine, Saafi. I told you about Ramu on the call. She knows how to handle this bastard.”
“Saafiya… my child… I have done nothing. She is Leah. The chief scientist at your grandfather’s lab. She is one of our enemies, Saafiya”, Ramu cried from a distance.
“Shut up, Ramu!” Leah ordered. “You’ve played enough with these kids. You will lie no more to them. I had warned you before. You didn’t listen. It is time to face the consequences.”
Ramu was taken aback. He hadn’t been scolded like that in years. His eyes turned moist. His lips began trembling. He looked at every face present in the room with a petition in his eyes — a petition to understand him. Saafiya believed her father blindly and saw Ramu in grey shade, but those pleading eyes of his made her ask, “Dad, what has he done?” Her tone was curious.
“Saafiya… he is the one who had been doing unwanted things in the Haveli. Lately, I got to know about him. He is a dangerous man, Saafi.”
He turned to Leah and said, “Take Ramu away. I will see you there afterwards.”
“Of course, sir”, Leah replied and stepped forward towards the Haveli’s caretaker.
Shreyansh felt something wrong there. He asked, “Uncle, she is addressing you as ‘sir’?!”
“Haha. That’s because of her training, son.”
“Yes, Mr Shreyansh. That’s how I am taught to address people.”
Shreyansh’s chest puffed up when he realized he was addressed as ‘Mister Shreyansh’. He smiled and nodded. For a moment, he forgot what situation he was a part of. Saafiya’s focus was on Ramu. Despite all her father’s arguments, she still wasn’t entirely convinced. Ramu had been a friend through all the horrible times at the Haveli He was the one who revealed the true identity of her best friend. He was the one who told her how to time travel. He was the one who her grandmother entrusted with the golden ball. She had her own faith in the caretaker that was conflicting with her father’s beliefs.
Ramu’s eyes had turned wet. In a weeping and trembling voice, he repeated the phrase, “She is our enemy. She is our enemy. She is our enemy.”
Leah took charge of the conversation, “Ramu! You are right. I am an enemy. But not theirs. Only yours.”
Ramu knelt down on the floor and started wailing. His eyes had turned red. Saafiya ran towards him and sat besides him. Even though her father had told her otherwise, she couldn’t forget that her grandmother entrusted Ramu with the golden ball. Saafiya wrapped her hands around Ramu’s shoulder and said, “Kaka, don’t worry. Until I am convinced, no one will do anything to you. I am there.”
Shreyansh added, “Yes, kaka. I think uncle is mistaken. Don’t worry.” He then, turned towards Leah and asked, “Leah, who are you? And how do you know uncle?”
“Mr Shreyansh, I know sir because I work for him. He is my boss.”
Saafiya’s father twitched his eyes as if she said something that wasn’t supposed to be told in front of that audience. To dilute the essence of her statement, he added, “Oh, we work together… umm… on a few projects.”
Shreyansh turned to face Saafiya’s father who wore only a sly smile. He turned back to Leah. “Wait a minute. How do you know my name? My name wasn’t mentioned here tonight. How do you know it?”
Before Leah could open her mouth, Saafiya’s father interrupted, “Son, you are my daughter’s best friend. I occasionally mention her friends in my conversations with my colleagues.”
“But Dad…?! Colleagues?! You are a trader. You’ve got no colleagues”, Saafiya stated the fact; her arms still around Ramu.
“Come on Saafi, don’t be so ridiculous with your questions. I’ve definitely got colleagues at work — the people with whom I deal every other day”, her father replied. “And before saying anything further, come up here. Leave that filthy man alone.”
Saafiya didn’t move. Her father repeated again, “Come up here, Saafiya. STAND UP.”
Saafiya was still struggling to understand what was going on around her. She believed Ramu but she couldn’t disbelieve her own father either. But the words that were spoken by her father made her do the opposite of what she wanted to do. Her father never spoke like that to her. He was strict to her but not insulting. She sensed something fishy about her father. She sensed something was not right. She unwrapped her arms around Ramu and stood up. She asked a question to her father — either to bring the truth out or to stop herself from doubting him.
“Dad, of how many friends of mine do you talk to your colleagues?”
“Umm… What Saafiya?”
“How many friends do I have, daddy?”
“Three.”
“Right. And we all went to Kibber together.”
“Yes.”
“But only two of us came back.”
“Yes, Saafi. What do you want to say?”
“Where are my other two friends?”
“Umm… I don’t know. They can be anywhere.”
“Why didn’t you ask about them when we arrived? How did you know about Ramu Kaka when we talked over phone?”
Her father stayed shut. She repeated her question, “Where are my other two friends, daddy? Where are my other two friends?”
Her father looked from Leah to Ramu to Shreyansh. Leah tried to speak something but before she could, Saafiya repeated her question again, this time in a loud voice, “WHERE ARE MY OTHER TWO FRIENDS, DADDY?”
A familiar voice came from behind her, “We are here, bitch!”
Everyone turned around to look at the owner of the voice. Shreyansh gasped, “Ryu?! Ananya?!”
Saafiya’s father said in a cold and confident voice, “No swearing in my presence, Ryu.”
Ryu replied, “I am sorry. I am sorry, father.”
Saafiya scanned every single face present in the room. She couldn’t make out what was happening around her. Her hands tightened the grip on the candle in her pocket.
It was Ryu, who spoke to Saafiya. “What are you thinking, sister? He is my father. Not yours. Same face. Different time.”
As soon as he finished the sentence, Saafiya’s father grabbed Saafiya’s arm and held to it tightly. “Leah, take him away”, he said looking at Ramu. Leah brought out a glowing candle out of her pocket and marched forward towards Ramu. She held Ramu by the nape and touched the color-changing glowing portion of the candle. Before they could be sucked inside the candle, Ramu uttered his last words, “Kill the baby.” Leah and Ramu were gone.
The father said, “Now, I too will be gone, Ryu. Do the needful. Bring me the candle. We can never accomplish our mission till they have a way to travel in time and alter it.”
The living room bore four people inside it. Ryu and Ananya were standing near the entrance. Shreyansh and Saafiya were standing at either side of the sofa.
Ryu moved swiftly and grabbed Shreyansh by his throat, strangling him.
The story continues:
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