Chapter 17 (Part 1)

Every bitter word I speak injects a poison in me that you're supposed to feel.

Vee

26th April 2019, Friday
11:30

It happened too fast. I vaguely remembered seeing Rishab's picture and his sudden proclamation. I remembered Hardik shouting my name. After that, everything was a blur. Rishab pounced on me like a wild dog.

"How dare you? What gave you the right to do this?" He spat on my face.

I was lying down, pressed under his awfully huge body.

"I should've known. I thought you were bluffing."

Someone called our names. I turned to look around with my blurred gaze. Where were the bloody teachers when you needed them?

"Stop," I managed to say. "Rishab, stop."

His fingers wrapped around my throat. I tried to push against the ground to get up. He snarled and moved his knees up to my arms and pressed them into my palms.

"Rishab, move. You're hurting him," Hardik came and tried to pull him from his shoulder.

"You stay out of this, Hardik." His hand left my neck momentarily and pushed Hardik away.

That was enough to gain an upper hand. I hit his head with mine which took him by surprise. He stumbled off me. I got up and glanced at Hardik.

"The teacher," I said and he nodded.

Turning back to Rishab, I shook my head at his state. Roles had been reversed. He was pinned to the floor by one of my classmates while another held his hand. I waved at them to leave him but maintained my distance.

"It is quite stupid to pounce on me in my class," I said with a smirk. These people knew me and not him.

He glared at me and got up. I sat on one of the tables and raised an eyebrow at his advancing movements.

"If I were you," I said, "neither would I attack someone in the class, nor anywhere else in a school that is under surveillance all the time."

That didn't stop him.

"You did this," he said.

I looked over his shoulder to Hardik. "Seems like a teacher is coming."

The coordinator stepped inside the class and took a look at everyone. "Everyone, on your seats. Your teacher may be a few minutes late but don't you have books? Open them and put something in your thick heads. Don't peep out of the class."

His scrutinizing gaze finally stopped at us. "What are you doing here, Rishab?"

He shrugged. "Accompanying Vee."

He slurred at 'Vee' and I could not help but smirk. Did he seriously think playing Kiara's card would help?

"Vicky," the teacher said. "You are supposed to go with Rishab to the reception."

Rishab slung his arm around my shoulder, lightly grazing the side of my face where he hit me. "Let's go and give you to the right people. Were you ever afraid of cops as a little child?"

"When my father tried to scare me in the name of traffic police to wear my seatbelt, I got out of the car and gave an officer standing across the road a melted chocolate that has been in the pocket of my jeans since half a day. He happily took it." I put my arm over his shoulder, making him take his arm off me. "Lead the way."

He clenched his jaw and shoved me away, walking a foot ahead of me. Well, it wasn't me who got friendly to begin with.

15:00

Roy shook his head at us. "If you were not sure, why were you shouting like a madman?"

"I was embarrassed by the incident."

I turned in the chair, already sick of the police station. "Aren't you now or do you suddenly feel like being friends again?"

He ignored my comment. "You already know and these two are grown ups. Plus," he added sheepishly, "It has been five hours if not more. I am at that phase where either I can hide from the world and further add to the embarrassment or accept it now. But that still does not mean I'm okay with whatever happened."

"Did you do it?" Roy asked.

I was sick of the question. An affirmative response sat on the tip of my tongue, even if it would be a lie if I said 'yes'. I weighed the repercussion of taking the blame. At least it would get me out of here. Plus, it could save the one person who was most probable of doing this.

"He did not do it."

I turned around and saw her standing there, holding those clutches, looking wary.

"Is this some sort of party? What is she doing here?" I muttered.

The second officer, whose name I learnt was Kamal Singh, raised an eyebrow at me.

"Stay quiet, will you?" Roy mumbled, grabbing my shoulder. He turned at Mr. Singh. "She is Sheereen."

"You seem to know everyone, Roy."

Roy shrugged. "Ashiamma seemed to know everyone."

I scoffed and stared at Shay. "I would not say that."

Roy adjusted the collar of my shirt, pulling it down but once he left it, it returned to its old position. "Incorrigible." His gaze met mine and he shook his head.

"Please sit down, Sheereen. Don't stress yourself."

She nodded. My jaw clenched and I gripped the arms of my chair as she brushed passed me, taking the chair that was two seats away. Smart girl.

"Vicky did not do it," she said.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

She glanced at me, then turned to Rishab. "You're with Sameer, aren't you?"

Rishab's widened gaze shifted from her to me. I shook my head and scowled at that girl.

"What the hell are you speaking?" I said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you getting so defensive?"

"Let us believe you are telling the truth," Mr. Singh said. I opened my mouth to protest but Roy shook his head at me. "What proof do you have that Vicky didn't do it?"

"I heard it myself. I went to Kiara's house when I heard some audio which clearly has Sameer's voice. I recorded it on my phone. Hear it yourself."

She pushed her phone towards the officers. "He did not want to hurt you," she said to Rishab.

He blinked. "I do not understand."

The audio began to play and I shook my head. There was no way I could save him any longer.

26th April 2019, Friday
7:20

I was trying to get rid of the bottle of Royal Stag that lay below the seat, pushing it back but it only rolled out again.

"How much did he have?" I asked Raj.

"I'll make sure the car is clean by noon," he replied.

I chuckled. "Does that mean three or four? I won't be surprised if he had more."

"I think you s-"

"You think a lot. Stop doing that. Start drinking. It feels good. I'm sure Papa can throw some more light on it."

I would have gladly sat there and chatted a little more had Sameer's familiar shirt not caught my eye. I left the car and walked to the gate where he was standing.

"I'll tell my parents about us," he said over the phone. As soon as he turned and saw me, he whispered something and cut the call.

"Hey Vicky." He smiled.

"So have you decided to tell your parents?" I asked. "I thought Rishab was still afraid of the consequences. He said his parents are not going to take that well."

He gave a half smile. "He is not taking it well and it has been two years. I don't expect his family to have a reaction that's not half as bad as his."

I watched as students went into the school. "What about your parents?"

"They won't mind, at least that's what I think. Ash was fine with it despite having feelings for Rishab."

"You both were practically cheating on her," I stated.

He gave me a pained look.

I raised my hands. "No hard feelings, just saying the truth."

My gaze fell behind him and I began to wave Raj who was still staring at me with a frown. "Wave at him," I said to Sameer.

He gave me a puzzled look and waved as well. That set him off and he rolled up the window. Once he drove off, Sameer stared at me.

"I never understood your friendship with Ash."

I smiled, "I never understood your brotherly bond with her. You could have told her before she got deep into him."

"He would not let me."

I nodded at his weak yet true defense. "We talked yesterday. I asked him for a favour and he brushed me off, almost forgetting he owes me big time."

"We hardly owe you anything."

I smiled. "Now, I won't say that. What were you two doing? Ah yes, you b-"

"Ash would not have wanted you to tell anyone." He took a step closer.

My mouth filled with distaste. I could still feel last night's drink on my tongue. "It is not about Ash. You both are foolish enough to still play hide and seek. Your sister is dead and her letter mentions Rishab. Do you know what that means?" Before he could begin defending him, I raised my hand. "Both of you come out clean and tell Roy, if not everyone else, that Ash knew about you two."

"Why did she mention him then?"

"That is exactly why I called you yesterday."

After Rishab had shamelessly said no, I had to call Sameer myself. On calling, all I had heard were his sobs immersed partly in Ashiamma's memory, partly in his falling relationship.

"What happened?" I asked quietly, referring to his confused state last night.

He looked at the ground. "Sometimes I think if all that pain I gave to Ash was worth it or not. I knew about myself ever since I graduated from school. When I saw Rishab's photo on her phone, I was just...I wanted to meet him. When we met, I knew who he was. It was clear by just looking at him and his awkward gestures when I was around."

I did not want to interrupt him but I did anyway. "You want him to embrace himself but you can't even say 'gay' openly."

"I can but just not here." He paused. "I met him again and he was confused. At first, he felt guilty for fooling Ash but consoled himself by saying that he may be into girls too."

"Is he, then?"

Sameer shook his head. "He dated her because she proposed to him and there was no one else he liked."

"More like there was no girl he liked."

He nodded. "It just happened between us. Then he refused to tell Ash. I decided to play along. I rarely came here, seldom met him, so I did not see anything wrong in it. That was until I saw her state when she found out."

"And she went through it herself," I mumbled. What would it be like if she had told me or anyone else? That could have eased her pain. That could have stopped me from pushing Hardik into it.

"I told Rishab that he needed to tell his family now. He refused to utter a single word. The worst part is that he's still hoping that he would wake up one day and find that he is 'okay'. No matter how much he likes me, he wants to be 'normal'."

I shoved my hands into my pockets. "And you? What do you want to be?"

"I am everything I want to be. I just could not be a good brother."

I realized something then. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

He did not answer.

"Sameer."

"I need your help. You need to convince him to talk."

"What makes you think he'd listen to me?"

"You can talk to his friends, give a hint or two–"

I laughed for a good ten seconds before pushing him. "Are you out of your mind?"

"That's the only way."

My nostrils flared and I shook my head. "No. It is his decision and no one else's. If you want to tell, talk to him and begin with his family. Do you think you're doing him a favour? He'll hate you."

"We are not doing great anyway."

I could not believe his ungenerous tone. Ashiamma broke in front of me, collecting the pieces Rishab left for this guy and he was messing up his life.

"Do whatever you want but I'm not getting into this. I'm telling you, Sameer, you're on the path of your destruction. I'd suggest you to leave."

I walked away from him to the school. That moment I learnt one thing - these two siblings were a mess. One ruined herself for her broken heart and the other was trying to break his own. What hurt me was that they were shattering the lives of many more.