Truly Madly Deeply (19 page)

“Don't worry about me. I've seen more darkness than your nights here,” Rahul said.

“I insist you stay back. We will have sandwiches and cornflakes for breakfast in the morning. My mother makes excellent sandwiches,” Sahil tried to tempt him.

“But your mother's away,” Rahul pointed out.

“Oh, she'll back early morning and moreover tomorrow we don't have school. It's a weekend,” Sahil replied.

But Rahul softly refused any further hospitality on Sahil's part and turned away from his welcome mat after a delicious meal that he had not eaten in years.

“We can hang out at Pennypack Park and watch fishes in the creek that runs through it, if you like tomorrow. Frankford Avenue is nearby and you must see the beautiful Stonearch Bridge. There are some small playgrounds nearby and we can grab a game of cricket...that is if you teach me,” Sahil made his plans known.

Rahul smiled just a trifle bit.

“Some other time, Sahil,” he nodded.

“I still say you should stay back,” Sahil insisted, knowing Rahul's unrelenting nature.

“It's ok. I'll make it in time for bed. I'll catch a SEPTA ahead,” Rahul said looking towards the long street that accompanied
Sahil's mansion.

“At least take my bike, God knows when you will get a proper transport at this time,” Sahil offered.

Rahul thought for a moment and glanced at his watch again.

“Ok. I will do that,” he accepted and Sahil offered him the keys to his bicycle.

He climbed on and slowly pedalled on the empty streets of Cottman Avenue towards the west of Boulevard. The usually full parking area of Roosevelt Mall was almost empty but for a dozen cars. The cool, night breeze blew softly on his face and every now and then a couple of lazy motorists drove past him. He ignored the next lane that would have taken him to his destination a bit sooner but the intersection of Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard was not a safe area to bike around.

He liked the slow, round and rhythmic movements of his thighs as they applied delicate pressure on his ankles, working clockwise on the pedals. Round and round, they went, not tired of doing the same thing repeatedly for the past half an hour. That's how it had been for him too; he had gone round and round in life, starting without love, he had found it and then done the same mistakes again and again to end up without love. There was a narrow path sloping through the nearby woods and Rahul took the route, letting the bicycle zoom ahead.

His thoughts were broken by a piercing shriek that came from the woods towards the left side of the road. He abruptly halted the bicycle, to stare into the darkness. There were no lights on the street because of which visibility was poor. Someone shrieked again, high and hollow, raising the hair on his arms. Ditching the bike in a corner, he stepped into the darkness; his dull emotions were suddenly active, his senses suddenly alert. Curiosity had got the better of him as he stepped towards the dark woods as the night swallowed his silhouette. He felt dead leaves crumble under his feet as he rushed towards the source of the sound. It was difficult to find his way in the dark but his eyes soon adjusted and after a couple of minutes what he saw, made his blood boil.

“Let me go, please… let me go,” a young girl was weeping as two well-built boys wound their arms around her. One of them pushed her to the ground and jumped on top of her with his hands tugging at her flimsy top, while the other pinned her hands.

“Please for God's sake… NO!” the girl shouted, shaking her body with all the effort that she could muster.

“Bill, can't you shut her up? Muffle her screams with your hands, will you?” the guy on top of her frail body ordered his accomplice as he tried to tug down her jeans.

“I have a better option to muffle her screams with …hahaha,” Bill said, standing up leaving her hands momentarily as he proceeded to unlock his belt and unzip himself. The girl frantically tried to get up but the weight of the big guy, on top of her, would not even allow her to move.

“Push it down her narrow throat, I'm taking her down there,” the burly guy said, managing to tug down her jeans upto her thighs, exposing her underwear.

“She's struggling like a bitchy fish, stay slut!” Bill shouted,
slapping her.

“Oh, don't you worry about that. She'll stop struggling and start moaning once mine enters, you would be better rushing it,” the burly guy promised.

It was difficult for Rahul to clearly see what was going on as the moon was behind the clouds but going by the sounds he could very well make out that the two goons were trying to rape the helpless girl. He decided he could not watch that anymore, he
could not be as indifferent to his surroundings as he was
then. He could just about make out in the dim moonlight
that the girl had shoulder-length hair, about the same height
as someone…

“Oi, leave her alone,” Rahul commanded, stepping ahead into the scene. For a moment, everything seemed to have stopped. The girl stopped her struggling and extended her neck to see her potential rescuer. The guy on top of her ceased trying to unzip himself with one hand and the other guy, Bill, in his underwear, blankly stared at him.

“Get out of here, dickhead. It ain't your business here,” the guy on top of the girl shouted straightening himself. Rahul noticed he was black with wide shoulders and wore a half-sleeve t-shirt that highlighted the bulge of his arms. He picked up a packet of white powder from the ground near his feet and after taking a pinch of the same in his palm, sniffed it strongly.

“Can't you hear what he said, mate? Move out of here before we beat your sorry ass to pulp,” Bill shouted. Rahul noticed that he was a fat short guy with strange tattoos all over his almost naked body.

“Please save me…” the girl cried, shuffling with her clothes.

“Are you deaf? Bill, show the son-of-a-bitch what he's up against,” the black guy said and almost instantly Rahul saw Bill baring his teeth and pulling out a knife out from his fallen jeans.

He heard the girl shriek as Bill charged at him with the knife, ready to plunge it into his heart. He stood his ground; not even flinching for a second till Bill almost came upon him and raised his hand to strike. Almost at that instant, Rahul spread his legs, letting himself fall down and punched him hard between the legs. His almost exposed testicles took the brunt of a punching bag as
Rahul boxed them again with his left hand, making him lose control of the knife.

“You filthy motherfucker,” the black, muscular guy flung himself at Rahul and both of them rolled on the ground until they bumped into a dead log. The black guy hit Rahul's face, causing him to stagger backwards. He could sense a thin trickle of blood running from the corner of his lip and then, he felt a kick in his ribs. He fell on the ground from the impact.

“Finish the bastard!” the black guy shouted, kicking him in the shoulder as Bill found the knife again and ran towards him in a maniacal manner.

A dim moonlight suddenly shimmered in, the clouds had
moved out and Rahul could make out every movement as distinctly as his eyes would allow. Rahul swerved just at the
last moment to evade the blow and held Bill's hand pulling
himself up, in the process bringing his striker down. He extended a leg to kick the black guy who charged at him again, not bothering to see where he struck. He found his shoes

connecting a vicious blow in the middle of his face and heard a morbid crunching sound as the stoned guy cursed and
staggered back.

Bill meanwhile stalked him from the back and pounced on him. The knife scathed his arm and if it wouldn't have been for the girl's shriek to warn him, Bill might have got him down, but Rahul wrenched at Bill's hands so hard that he dropped the knife. With the other hand, he half lifted him in the air to toss him three feet away.

“Fuck you!” the slumped figure of Bill muttered repeatedly with swollen eyes that were closed.

Rahul silently walked upto him and kicked his exposed legs, shattering his kneecaps and sending him rolling five metres ahead like a football.

“Don't teach your father how to fuck, bastard!” Rahul said, little realising that ‘bastard' was the least offensive abuse one could use in the West.

He ran his tongue over the inside of his stinging cheek and signalled the girl to come out of the bushes. She rushed out, wiping her eyes and trying to cover her bosom at the same time. She had pretty blue eyes and shoulder length blond hair that complemented her beautiful face. He noticed that the goons had torn her top and a part of her anatomy could not be contained by her shielding hands. He handed over his jacket to her while looking the other way.

“Th… Thanks,” she murmured in a shaky voice.

“This isn't a safe place for lone girls to take leisurely walks in the evening,” Rahul said, pulling out a cigarette from his pants.

“I am new to this place, I didn't know. I was just taking a walk, exploring the area when someone pulled me in the bushes…” she started crying again.

Rahul looked on, taking a puff from the cigarette.

“Oh, my God, you're hurt, you're bleeding,” the girl cried noticing the wound on his right arm and lips.

“I'll live,” Rahul said, brushing away her extending hands, not even sparing a glance at the wound.

“You'd better go home. Where do you stay?” Rahul asked, creasing his brow and releasing the smoke from his nostrils.

“Towards the corner of Teesdale Street,” the girl pointed out towards her left.

Rahul paused, eyeing her coldly.

“You're lost. I'll be passing through Teesdale Street, if you want I can drop you there,” Rahul offered, turning to go towards his right.

The girl was considering his offer when Rahul slipped out. Just as he was about to hop onto the bicycle, she came running from the woods.

“I'll come with you. Drop me at the end of Teesdale Street, dad won't be happy to see someone dropping me home. Moreover, he'll be worried, I've been gone for far too long,” she said as Rahul stared into the distance, waiting for her to sit in the front.

Rahul shifted uncomfortably whenever he braked and she held onto his arms for support.

“Thanks once again. I don't know what would have happened if
you wouldn't have come. I stay just at the corner, do drop by sometime,” she said extending her hand when he stopped the bike at the end of Teesdale Street. Rahul merely nodded and cycled towards the hostel.

“Strange guy!” the girl said embracing herself.

“Hey, hey wait… what's your name… Mister, you forgot your jacket,” she shouted at his receding figure but he did not turn back. She saw him disappear down the next alley. His jacket still remained with her and she ensured that she would give it to him, the next time she saw him. She hoped she did.

***

The incessant pedalling and then the rough fight had sapped Rahul of his energy. He felt a burning sensation on his right arm. Once in his room, he would apply an antiseptic on the wound. He wondered what he would have done if the girl he had rescued from the clutches of those ruffians would have been Seema. He felt anger rising in his temples again. Needless to say, he would have torn their bodies like paper, he told himself.

Suddenly, he was filled with a deep longing for her presence, for her comfort around him. They could have been so happy together. They would have made the perfect couple if only it had not been for the misunderstandings that plagued their relationship. He sighed and looked straight into the distance, the same repent written on his face that had been there since the past, the same remorse inscribed in his look that had existed with him since he came here. He stopped the bicycle abruptly, coming to a halt on the narrow street near the hostel. He parked it near a pine tree and sat underneath its dark shadows. He sensed the remorse on his face melt in his skin and merge with his thoughts.

“This is the very ecstasy of love,

Whose violent property fordoes itself

And leads the will to desperate undertakings

As oft as any passion under heaven

That does afflict our natures.”

-Hamlet, William Shakespeare.

The inter-house debate competition was scheduled a week after the cricket match. Presently, the Green house led the way, followed by the Blue house while the Yellow and Red trailed on. It was a day everyone was waiting for as it was also the Principal's birthday and he was known to distribute sweets amongst all.

The D day dawned. Rahul reached home late that particular day and after lunch, he opened his personal cupboard and took out an ornately wrapped book. Bending down, he found the key well hidden within its hard cover and clicked open the lock of his personal diary. He took out his treasured Parker, turned the page to the day's date and began scribbling:

‘Today was a day I would never forget. I was assigned the role of leading my house team for this contest (with me as the Head Captain what else you expect, huh?) I prayed fervently that we get the Greens against us and at least this prayer did not go unanswered like my several others which have disappeared into oblivion. For once I guess (apart from the cricket match), luck was on our side when we got the topic ‘Is India truly free after independence?'