Karen:
It was 6 PM and it had been a long day. Karen sat down with a sigh. She was relieved to have been offered a seat on the crowded city bus from the Medical College on the outskirts of the city to her destination in Mangalore city - Her home, her sanctuary.
The chivalrous gentleman was slight of build, reasonably good looking, with piercing black eyes and a rough hewn skin, dark and dressed in a short sleeve shirt and chinos with the shirt tucked in. She didn’t know then, but his name was Sunil. He had got up and with much difficulty held on to the overhead rod, as she squeezed into the two seater, sitting down next to another gentleman who had a frown on his face, perhaps in a dilemma now, whether to display similar chivalry and follow the gentleman’s example. He must have contemplated it for a bit, for his expressions changed rapidly and finally reverted to the fixed smile he had originally carried before she sat down.
She was pushed further into the seat, and the chivalrous gentlemen stood behind her, holding onto the rod for dear life as he was pushed around by the milling crowd. Karen felt for him, but there was nothing she could do, without jeopardizing her own comfort or safety. She kept her hand bag on her lap removed her mobile from it and checked her WhatsApp.
She was used to constantly checking her WhatsApp. to keep in touch with her numerous online friends. Her real world was not so populated, with only a few close friends and the rest family. She had 18 new messages, seven from the same person, Austin. She eagerly opened the app and went through the messages. She went straight to Austin’s messages, ignoring the three from her best friend and second cousin, jacintha. Austin’s seemed to get increasingly worried or angry as she had not replied since it was some time since she had last checked the app. The last message was especially annoying – “where are you, and the next one after five minutes, “this is my last message”. She did not reply as she found it difficult to type out messages in a moving bus, a decision she was to regret later. It was still later that she noticed the four calls she had missed while her phone was in silent mode - a whole 7 hours since she had got off the bus at the medical college
Austin was a good friend but was she in love? She could not explain the special joy and happiness she felt when he was in the vicinity or when she was in conversation with him. She was not quite sure why she felt a special affinity towards Austin. She had given it some thought, but failed to complete the process and reach a conclusion – It was too difficult. He was tall and broad shouldered and soft spoken – all the right qualities in gentlemen she desired. She especially liked his eyes and smile. He had brown eyes, a sharp nose, aquiline and charming smile and a baritone that seemed to come from the heart. He was employed in Mangalore’s premier refinery after completing his mechanical engineering 2 years ago at one of the city’s premier engineering college under the ageis of the vishweshwarya Technogical University
Karen was not the type to fall in love. No such accidents for her, whether at first sight or not. She was the logical, assertive, stubborn kind. Not one for mushiness or valentines day, she enjoyed the company of friends of both sexes and didn’t really mind spending time with a book. In fact it was one of her favorite pastimes. Life for her was full of verve and vivacity, each minute precious and she didn’t waste a minute either worrying or brooding.
She had met Austin at a party, at a friend’s house a year ago. They had kept in touch, usually going out together with mutual friends and occasionally, especially in the last couple months, just the two of them – A pleasant experience - He was well read and he kept her engaged with his vast knowledge on a variety of subjects
As the bus jerked to a stop at the Fisheries College, she felt the brush of a hand against her right shoulder. Her reverie disturbed, she looked up to see Sunil trying to prevent himself from falling over her. All the while he had been holding on to the seat bar, and his hand had apparently slipped when the bus jerked to a stop. He managed to do it successfully straightened himself and before the bus recommenced its journey, he alighted. As he went forward, he glanced back. She said “ Thanks for the seat” to Sunil who smiled shyly without saying anything and turned away.
She continued her journey, thinking nothing of the incident, these things being common on her journeys to and from college. Come to think of it, she had an eye for detail, that helped her score well in all her exams especially her clinical, and she had a faint inkling that she had seen him somewhere but couldn’t put a finger on it and soon it slipped her mind.
She alighted the bus at her bus stop – falnir. She was bone tired. She was in her third year undergraduate medicine course and had had a grueling day – both theory and clinical. All she wanted to do at this stage was to go home and crash out. She hoped her mother would be waiting for her, with something hot to eat and drink. She usually did. There were those days that that she was engaged in Church activity and was not at home, but that was perhaps twice a week and she generally made it a point to be there for Karen, when she needed it. She was one person in her life who remained a constant source of solace when she needed it. Some would attribute this obsession with giving into her daughter’s whims as an assuaging of guilt.
She was not an only child. Her brother seven years her senior, was abroad in the US. She did not connect very well with him as he treated her rather shabbily, perhaps enraged by the fact of her birth. Her dad had died when she needed him the most – in her early teens, when she just needed his presence, not his advice. But he let her down, he was away at his job, as a bank clerk, in dubai most of the time, and when he was here, he drank too much to be of any solace to her. He loved her no doubt, and until he died, she would rather confide in him than her mother. He died suddenly, not waking up from his sleep in Dubai, and the whole process of burial and forgetting him was a painful exercise, one she overcame with time, but it only made her bitter and whimsical, which she hid well behind the veneer of vivacity and friendliness. Only her mother knew.
She got up from her seat a few minutes before her stop arrived, alighted from the bus and without looking back proceeded towards her apartment complex which was a good 500 meters away. Getting up and getting down was easy, as by now the crowd had eased. She was glad she was nearly home. She just wanted to go home and plunk herself on the sofa in front of the TV with a packet of chips.
At the door, she rang the bell. There was no answer. Strange. She had a key. She fished it out of her bag’s side pocket and slid it into the key hole and turned it. The door was unlocked. She turned the handle and opened the door calling out for her mother as she entered. “mummy, mummy”. No one in the hall. She began to wonder where her mum had disappeared, all of a sudden. She heard a sound from the kitchen. she dropped her bag on the sofa and she went straight to into the kitchen. She screamed.
Austin:
Austin, an only child, always appeared to be calm, but was often a maelstrom of emotions and a bundle of contradictions. He smiled when he was tense or worried. He was brave when he was terrified. Austin was on the first shift – 6 am to 2 PM. He had finished his shift and was agitated. His life had, so far been difficult.
His father suffered from cancer, diagnosed 4 years ago. As long as he remembered, his mother, was prone to emotional outbursts and histrionics, and this became worse after his father was diagnosed with cancer. All savings they had had from the gulf where his father had worked were wiped out and the last year of his engineering was especially difficult. He went through great trauma, both emotional and physical – it was a punishing schedule – study, college, hospital, home. He went through it all, not with confidence, but with courage combined with doubt and worry.
But when it came to his studies he was in charge of himself – he had a good grasp of his subject – he’d always had – he was a quick learner who always had done well. He was shy by nature, but was easy to get along with. Socially easy going, he was comfortable in the role of a listener, he could expound on wide variety of topics from the serious to the funny as he was widely read, but he rarely did so, unless he knew his conversation partner rather well.
He had not disclosed these facts to Karen. He was afraid of losing her friendship – he believed that she was used to an easy life and he did not want to burden her with his woes or his boring family. He was all fun and laughter when she was with him. He liked her and maybe even loved her – He was not sure what the word meant, but he did feel alive when he was around her. He was now caught between two worlds – His and hers. He knew that she too had gone through a rather difficult time – She had confided in him and he empathized with her. He wanted to hold her hand when she told him such things, but he sensed that while she wanted a willing ear, she was not so comfortable with his hand on hers. He refrained.
His father was deteriorating. He couldn’t bear to see him suffer. His company had been helping with the expenses, upto a set limit and this year’s limit had already expired. He had complained of severe pain the day before yesterday and seemed to breathe with difficulty. His mother had called him at the office and since he could not take off immediately, he rushed home after work only to find his father writhing in pain and unable to breathe freely. He telephoned the treating doctor who told him to admit him immediately, which he did. Doctors then conducted a series of investigations, as is their wont each time he was admitted – it cost him on an average 1500 rupees per day and he was lucky that the company was indeed supporting him. Luckily his father had taken both medical and life insurance before the detection of the disease. This insurance supplemented his company’s limited support. He had put in an application for further support, but it was unlikely to come through.
Doctors suggested that he undergo a surgery to remove a tumorous kidney, he had already lost a lung and had issues with his bladder. The Doctors had warned him however, that the operation would be difficult to survive, but it would give his dad the best chance of survival for a few more years with reasonably decent quality of life. It was Austin’s call. He was desperate and in a dilemma. He wanted to talk to some one other than his mother, who could become hysterical if he even brought up the subject. The first person he thought of was Karen, He had so far not told her of his problems, and he didn’t want to burden her – undoubtedly a noble thought, as though she cared. But he had no else to turn to for support in time of need and he made up his mind. He called her up in the noon – she didn’t answer either his phone calls or whats app messages for more than three hours.
He worked up his courage and decided to visit her at her home for the first time and uninvited.
Sunil:
Sunil came from a humble background. He lived in a two room tenement near Karen’s medical College. His father and mother both worked at the attached college hospital as menial staff. He had one sister who was studying in the pre university classes’ close by. Sunil himself was a college dropout and now worked as a janitor in the College office. He was liked by all his colleagues. Helpful to all and ever smiling, he had built a reputation of dependability for himself at the College.
However at home, the story was different. He did not contribute to the household budget and being lazy, he did not lift a finger to help out with household chores. He did not have many friends other than those at work and while he did not have any real vices, he would spend most of his free time on his smart phone, his prized possession, browsing the web or playing video games much to the annoyance of his parents and even his sister who was much younger than him and with whom he did not have much of a connection.
He had seen Karen often as he did many other students but found her special. On the short side, with shoulder length but curly black hair and eyes that rarely displayed sadness, Karen had the perfect figure of his imagination. He became besotted with her without ever speaking to her.
Sunil knew his limitations of status, of language, of body and of mind. His emotions though had no limitations and they drove the rest of him, to find out more about her. He did so quietly following her from a distance sitting at the back of the bus and avoiding her gaze in the college. He found out where she lived, reconnoitered the place and did his further research via the social media.
He very much wanted to talk to her, spend time around her but in his mind, was chained to his status in the college and society. She seemed such a joy to be around. She had lots of friends but was also very kind to those serving her, including him when he had crossed her path once. He avoided her thereafter. She had time for everyone, perhaps even for him – after all he was higher up the pecking order – he was an anatomy lab assistant. But he lacked self confidence.
His investigations complete, he was ready to make his move. He had become obsessed with her and he stalked her wherever and whenever he could, but from a distance. On one occasion, he managed a peek into her hand bag which revealed among other things, a single key on a key ring. He assumed, correctly, that it was for her flat, already having had a look at the door. He quickly took it out pressed into a bar of soap he always carried since he had reconnoitered her apartment, and returned it to the hand bag. He got the key made nearby and kept it hidden from all. He was now set, but he waited a couple of days to work up his courage and get an appropriate opportunity.
He had climbed onto the bus two stops before her and was lucky to have obtained the seat he did, at the center of the bus – He had not wanted to sit there, fearing discovery. But he was literally pushed into the seat by the conductor who seemed intent on running a well ordered bus. For a person who had consciously avoided Karen at college and elsewhere, it was indeed a shock to see her face to face, and it was a spontaneous gesture on his part to offer her a seat. Chivalry was an after thought. As he got down, his hand had brushed against her shoulder and he felt the tingle in his spine. Her thank you when he turned back before alighting, had melted his heart.
He got off a four stops before she was due to alight and picked up his two wheeler, which he had parked close by. He was tense. He didn’t know what lay ahead. He was afraid he might lose his nerve at the last minute. But he just wanted to hold her close and give her all his love that he was storing up inside. He parked a short distance away and walked the last mile. He knew he didn’t have much time before she reached home.
Sunil had a rough Plan A and Plan B. Plan A took into account the possibility that Karen’s mother might be at home. In that event he planned to seek entry on the plea that he had found a book of hers on the bus and was passing by and had come to return it. It was a specious plan no doubt, but he could not come up with any other in the short time that it had been forming in his head. Plan B involved using the copied keys. He reached the flat, avoided looking directly at the security guard as there was a mild possibility that he might have recognized him from his three previous visits. He could not avoid the security cameras however and as far as possible he avoided looking directly into them. He also avoided the elevator which had a security camera installed within and took the stairs to the 8th floor, which winded him.
He rang the bell. There was no response from inside. He waited. He rang the bell again. There was no response. He took out his key and inserted into the lock, turned it slightly. He realized that the door was open. He entered and gently closed it behind him.
He heard a sound from the left of the hall, and moved towards it without a sound.
Karen, Austin and Sunil:
When Karen screamed, Sunil looked up in surprise, dropped the knife and realizing his predicament ran from the room down the stairs and onto the road, his hand dripping blood all the way. His strange appearance and hurried approach prompted the security guard in the lobby to apprehend him, Sunil avoided him and ran out onto the street. He was soon apprehended by the public near the building and handed over to the police who rushed to the building, sirens blazing in a response to a call to 911.
Karen looked down at her mother lying in a pool of blood – but she was alive. She made a gurgling sound and a little blood spurted from her throat. Her medical training came into play immediately. She instinctively realized that her mother had suffered an ulcer attack. She ran into the hall and dialed 911 and asked for an ambulance.
She went back into the kitchen and cradled her mother’s head in her lap and looked at the lifeless body of Austin. She felt an incredible sense of sadness. She had no idea what had happened and why.
The neighbors, Police and ambulance arrived in quick succession and took both her mother and Austin away. Sunil was taken into custody and interrogated as was Karen the neighbors the security guards and the rest. Austin’s funeral was well attended, it was a double funeral, his father having died after his organs failed him that night. His mother suffered a heart attack but survived and was all alone in this world.
Karen’s mother recovered quickly and explained Austin’s visit to her, Karen, as a plea for help. He had begun to explain his predicament, when she had collapsed. Karen went to see Sunil in judicial custody with a mixture of anger and sadness. Post his confession before a magistrate, he would most likely get life imprisonment. He was remorseful, cried and explained his fatal actions as a reaction of rage – Seeing Austin cradling his mothers head in with a pool of blood around it, the table cloth and the dishes broken on the floor, he had assumed that he had attacked her, when in reality, she had collapsed and pulled the table cloth down with her. He did what he did for Karen. He grabbed a knife that was on the kitchen platform and attacked her mother’s attacker. He did not explain to her what he was doing at her house, but he had told the police that he had come to hand over her book to her. Karen listened to him, but did not feel compassion – She was numb and would remain that way for the best part of a year.
A brilliant student and not one to brood, Karen for the first time failed her semester exams that year.
