I was drowsing on the couch when my phone sprang to life electrifying me. The TV was on and some song was playing while the entire house seemed to be in pitch silence. I looked at my phone as I wiped away the drool and tried waking-up as the screen displayed my friend's name, Leo. A smile spread across my thick lips as I opened the message and read,
Dai machan (Hey Buddy)! I am waiting down the corner of our lane , in our usual spot. Come out . The sky is bright ;) ;)
"The Sky is bright.. haha," I read it aloud laughing because it was our code for enjoying drinking liquor at night without our parent's permission, because my parents are a bit conservative they believe in simple life which revolved around 9-5 job, settle by the age of 26 and sacrifice your entire life-savings to broaden your family and children without bringing any harm to the pride and name of family. Hence consuming alcohol or smoking or doing anything eccentric was considered a habit reserved for hooligans and not for men from good families. Hence for the last 25 years, me, Srikanth K. Ramarjun has lived a simple and non-adventurous life, and I believe, I will continue to live like that forever too. It is easy and trouble-free, why to break this cycle, right?
Anyways I pulled on a sweat-shirt over my bare chest and khaki shorts as I sneaked-out of my house at 10:30 pm. The gate in the courtyard let-out a high-pitched shrill in the chill night waking-up the stray dogs near-by making them bark all at-once.
"Shit!" I cursed to myself, hoping the dogs will not charge at me as I walked towards our meeting-spot. The sky was unusually dark as I watched it while walking silently and thanking the street-lights for lighting my way or-else I don't know what will happen to me in this unusual dark night. My phone rang again, I smiled , and attended the video call, but soon I felt things were not the usual.
Leo appeared sweaty and frenzy , I could hear only his rasping , "Leo!" I inquired, still walking, " Is everything alright?"
Silence.
"Leo," I called again, but he ignored me, and now I saw not his face rather things were shaking as if he was running, I heard his panting growing wild, "Leo?!"
Huff. I heard him wheezing, and suddenly Leo's face appeared, and my gut felt as if ruptured because he looked terrified, his soul shaking in his eyes, slowly as if whispering he called my name for the last, "Sriii!" then a cry shrieked through my phone that terrified me, and I saw stranger's face and everything went blank.....
Everything that happened after that night still feels like an event from another universe. It's so unfathomably impossible to have happened yet it did happen, the death of my best-friend, my childhood friend. But why? I don't know. It wasn't that he died , rather he was murdered but why?I don't know either, and whenever I see his family weeping over his death even after a week, I feel my heart whimper, and fresh blood of pain oozing out of my unhealed wound.
"Like I mentioned before sir, I don't know who it was, and why he was killed. My friend was not a person who is interested in inviting trouble for himself, yet I don't know why this happened," I said to the DSP of Chennai, as I sat in his cabin answering his question while the police continued investigating Leo's murder case.
"Well, then we would like to inform that he was murdered by a a notorious thug named Kabali, but why we are not sure of. Anyways for now we could only figure this out," The police informed me, while I listened with a fervent heart.
"Kabali?!"
"Yes, Kabali! He is a look-out thug through-out India. He was in hiding till now, but due to this case we came to know about his presence in Chennai. You do not worry Sri, I will look into this matter. I will make sure we find the reason and bring an end to this thug,"
"Thank you soo much sir. I know how dangerous it is, but I will always owe you with my life, if you can find this gangster and bring justice to my friend. It will mean a lot." I said.
"Absolutely," The police replied with a smile, and I took my exist, but as I was about to leave, another police with a hand cast and stitch on his lips stopped me and asked, " What is your name?"
"Srikanth, sir," I answered.
"Do you live in North-Chennai?" He enquired.
"No sir,"
"Hmm."
"Why sir?"
"Nothing, it felt as if I have seen you somewhere before. I might be mistaken," The police in the cast replied.
"Okay," I said and left.
But little did Sri knew that the police never questions anyone for fun, there is always a reason, and the reason was , "He looks like the guy I saw in the hub. Was it him with Bala? Is he working for her? I have to keep an eye on him." The police muttered to himself, before entering the DSP's room to report his rejoining after 1 month of absentia due to his accident with Bala and her gang in her hub.
On the other hand as the day scrolled to mid-morning, along with the busy traffic a couple of white and black Scorpio and Toyato cars were seen rushing through the roads until it stopped in front of a mall named FORUM MALL. Men all looking hefty and dangerous climbed down the car and stood looking at the mall, while a slender and dangerous looking woman also stood in their middle.
Bala, was no woman that fell into the societal-perception of femininity, she was a category of her own. Slender and tall with muscular body, her strong jaws felt sturdy as if they haven't smiled for ages, her hair was cut into rough-pixie cut, while she wore sharp kada/ bracelet which she used to poke injuries to people. But the most dangerous part was her eyes, black to the core that you feel as if they are dead on her sun-roughed dusky skin. And, she was the leader of one of the most dangerous thug gang of Chennai. Slowly she twirled the revolver in her hand and tucked it behind her pants and covered it with her flannel shirt.
A small breeze swept through them, and the men required no more prompt as they all began walking at once.
The footfall of the eight people felt like thunder in the silence of the mall, and made heads-turn in suspicion. Their eyes wandered around searching for something/someone, until they broke and sprinted in different directions.
Bala with two other men jogged through the scurrying crowd while pulling and searching for someone in particular, until they found the person, a young student seated in a restaurant. Fear struck through her entirety as she squirmed in her seat as a man pulled her to her legs and began dragging her. Bala watched this in sobriety, before she pulled the gun out and shot it at the girl who screamed and ducked down.
Another shot and the entire mall was unraveled to chaos, people scattered around, metal daggers met the glass doors thrashing it down, bullets shot through the sky like rockets and bombarded anything in it's vicinity as the two groups of ruffians fought roughly.
Blood. Cries. Wail. Bullets all were let lose.
And Bala charged her enemy group with a charge like that of a bull, until, her legs lost its grip on the floor and she felt herself falling, but someone held her hand.
Shock surpassed her soul as a mini-attack met her heart yet she remained complacent to it as her eyes met Sri.
Fear and surprise filled each other as they stood in the middle of the chaos like rocks ready to rumble down. But he pulled her up, and she lost the footing again and they both fell backwards on to a pillar as his right hand snaked around her waist pulling and holding her to him while her fingers curled around his hair with the gun still intact in her hand. Bala gulped breathing in shallow as she stared at him, and for a second she felt as if he could see through her- see through her real self, and it scared her, it made her feel vulnerable. Their nose touched and as shock surpassed the moment, neither knew whether it was the tension in the environment or the tension they felt as their bodies stood amalgamated into one, it was getting harder for each other to pull back. The lips were just inches away and their eyes never darted away, their conscience knew it was wrong, yet they both stood like an amalgamated soul lonely and yearning to be - wanting this for years..
BOOM.. a bullet hit the top of their head. Sri jerked forward and their lips met each other...