Forsaken - Chapter 26

Chapter 26
The bar was totally empty. The afternoon rush was just over and the waiters were cleaning the floor when they walked in. It was dark inside and strewn with used paper napkins. There was a pungent aroma inside the bar. The aroma of stale smoke and liquor.

They sat down on a corner table, which was just cleaned by the waiters. As they did so, a boy, no more than eighteen and was wearing a black t-shirt and dirty trousers, came over. He stood there expectantly.

“I want a quarter of whiskey.” Ajit ordered. He chose a cheap local made one. He then looked expectantly at Raju.

“I’ll have a coke.” Raju declined the offer.

The waiter came back with the orders and put it in front of them. Ajit opened the bottle, poured almost all the content of the quarter whiskey, added little water and drank in one gulp. Then he took a piece of cucumber from the plate that the boy just placed there.

All the while Raju was just observing him. His initial contempt has subsided and sympathy took its place. Sure, he had gone through hell. He thought. He got the punishment. There is no point in hurting him anymore. But the accusation that he was the reason was too much for him.
“Do you remember the day when my father came to your house and burned my cricket kit?” Ajit started without any preamble.

“Yes. How can I forget?” Raju answered. It was still clear in his mind. Kurien came bursting inside searching for the boy. Raju pleaded with him to let the boy finish the tournament at least. His remarks were terse.

“Do you plan to adopt him, Raju? I am his father. You have no right to interfere. I want him to study.”

They had an argument. Kurien threatened him with physical violence if he interfered and Raju had no doubt that he meant it. So he was a mute spectator to the horrifying, savage act.
“Once back at home, he beat me with his belt.” Ajit was pouring whatever was left in the bottle.
It was as if Kurien was determined to break every bone in the boy’s body. He let out his anger and hatred on him. After beating and kicking him in the stomach, he took his leather belt, and swung it. It coiled around Ajit’s upper torso and as it uncoiled, it went with the skin. It was all in the closed room. He could hear the pounding on the door. It was Ammachi.

“Eda leave him. Please don’t kill him. I sent him. You beat me, but please, oh please, let the boy out.”

Ajit took the punishment without shedding a tear. It was like his body was insulated against any pain. He did not feel any pain. Finally and fortunately Kurien had had enough. He opened the door. Ammachi came running. As she saw his shirt-less upper torso, she let out a gasp.

Later she put some Ayurvedic oil onto the wounds. Ajit did not speak at all. His stare was blank. He was not aware about the things he was being subjected to.

That night Ammachi decided to confront Kurien. She went to Kurien, who was sitting in the living room, reading a Malayalam news paper.

“God will never forgive you for what you did to the boy” She cursed him.

Kurien sprang up from the seat. He grabbed a wooden chair that was closer to him and smashed it.
There was a thunderous noise as the chair made contact with the floor. Splinters flew across the room.

“De Thalle (vulgar term for lady), if you don’t behave properly, I will kill both of you,” he thundered.

“But why you hate him so much? What did he do?” She asked as she stood back, away from his reach as if she feared he would strangulate her.

“It is my broadmindedness that I am feeding him. The bastard. And you, despite knowing that I was coming, you let that creep continue there?” he said through clenched teeth.

“If you are his father, then you had to feed him and look after him.” She retorted.

“If I am the father. He is not mine” he spoke with hatred filled in his voice.

Ammachi was taken aback. She knew that he doubted his former wife and they quarreled about it, but she had never thought that his suspicion was this deep.

“If that is the case, you never touch him anymore. Otherwise I’ll call in all our relatives and neighbors.” She warned him.

“If I can feed him, I have the right to punish him” He was boiling in anger.

“No. You don’t give a penny to that boy, you dog. I have half of your father’s property in my name. He will live by that. If you touch him once more, I am going to call the police.”
With that she turned back.

Ajit never returned to college. He could not face Prof. Sathyapalan. After all he had let him down. And his friends must be aware about what happened there, he believed.

Ajit was full of hatred. He hated his father and prayed for his death. After a week or so, Nisha called up once.

“Aji, how can you stand this?” was her first query. From her voice it was apparent that she was going through some stress.

He did not answer. He was humiliated right in front of her. Yet nobody raised a voice. He was angry.

Then Nisha told him about Kurien’s threat and he understood.

The next thing that she said, though, completely put him off.

“Aji, I am calling you since Amma and Acha are not at home. I was warned by Acha not to call you or have any relationship with you.” She said in a voice that expressed her anxiety.

“Why?” Ajit was taken aback. He could not think of losing her.

“Acha said that he would never speak to your father, for what he said. I think Acha knows of our love. He said if Kurien uncle come to know about us, he would wreak havoc. Nowadays Acha locks the phone,” she said in one breath.

Ajit hated his father even more.

“Now what do you think?” He was resigned to his fate.

“I will never forget you. You are the only man in my life.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know Aji. I can’t defy Acha. I can’t forget you.”

“Nisha, please. I can’t live without you.”

“Do you think I can? But circumstances are like that. At least for sometime we have to go without seeing or speaking to each other.”

So, that’s it. It was that easy.

“So you are going to avoid me, huh?” Ajit asked with a scorn in his voice.

“I am not avoiding you. You are there in my heart. I’ll come with you when you find a good job and can stand on your own leg. Then, you call me, I’ll come with you without thinking twice. Okay? I have to go Aji, I am calling from a nearby telephone booth and Acha may return anytime now. Bye” She did not even wait for him to say bye.

Was that goodbye? Ajit wondered. Wasn’t it a few days only, when she said he was her life?
“It’s my fate. Everyone that I love has to depart from my life. First it was mother, whom he did not even have slightest memory of. Then his father. It was another thing that he ever loved him. Now Nisha.”

“I am forsaken”’ he thought. “Now I have nobody”

It was that then he started drinking. It had started on Christmas day. He was sitting at the bus stop, absent mindedly watching the people who were waiting for the bus. They all had places to go. He did not even like to go to Johny Uncle’s place. A group of local boys, with whom he was never acquainted because of their reputation of being outcasts and their drinking habits, were having a good time. It was apparent that they had a celebration. They were standing around a Maruti Omni van, which belonged to Reji, who was the leader of the group.

Reji spotted him and waved to him. He hailed from a good family, Kalathil, but because of his nefarious activities, he was looked down by the good boys like Ajit. Kalathil family has a long running feud with Mecheril and in the church they always in opposition to each other. Every decision supported by Mecheril family was routinely opposed by Kalathil family.

As Reji said something pointing to him, the group erupted in laughter. Ajit started to fume. He stood up, walked up to the group.

“What the hell was so funny?” He came close to Reji, pushed him on his chest. He was spoiling for a fight. He wanted to vent his anger somewhere.

The group stopped laughing. They closed in on him menacingly.

“Hey guys. Cool it. It’s between me and him” Reji called out.

“So you wanted to fight me, huh? Want to challenge Reji Kalathil?” He asked as they both looked each other in the eye.

Ajit glared at him, not saying anything.

“Hey man. It’s Christmas. Let’s not fight. If you want to prove something, challenge me in drinking. Can you do that?” The group once again erupted in laughter amidst, loud “Aye Aye.”

Ajit flinched. He never drank liquor.

“Oh. Look at him. He is the Mamma’s boy man. He can not do that.” One of the boys teased, raising a half-empty liquor bottle and waving it on his face.

Ajit did not know what drove him. He grabbed the bottle in his fist, opened it and poured a mouthful.

He gasped. It was burning. He could sense the liquid flowing down in his body. It was like molten wax flowing down his throat. He threw up.

“Hey, easy. First time it feels a little harsh. But it will be okay.” Reji said, winking to the others.

In a few minutes, Ajit was floating. He felt like he did not weigh at all. He got a third-person view of his own body. It was as if his eyes were hovering over him, watching him. It felt wonderful.

He had one more at the insistence of Reji. This time it was mixed with water and he drank it slowly. The taste was bitter, but he swallowed it. Within ten minutes, he was walking into the house, staggering. He straight away went to his room. He just wanted to lie down.

As he lied down, he felt something rushing in to his brain. It was like his body is being lifted from the bed, slowly and gradually. He felt the rush of blood into his brain. With a loud, awkward sound, he threw up on his bed.

The next day he woke, feeling famished. He remembered what he has done. His head sank in shame. Ammachi encountered him at the kitchen. She was furious and chastised him. She warned him that if he ever did that once again, he was out of the house.

Ajit was feeling exhausted. His head was pounding. He was thinking about the wonderful feeling he had yesterday after downing the drink. He slept well and for a change, there were no frightening dreams. It was as if all his worries had been washed away by the liquid. But he did not want to disappoint Ammachi and he promised himself that he will never drink.

Two days later, he had to appear for his driving license test. He had turned eighteen and was now eligible for it. So he got up early morning, and after breakfast he was ready to go.

“Where are you going, Mone?” Ammachi has forgiven him, but kept an eye on him. She did not want him to go astray.

“I told you Ammachi, I got a driving test today at Pathanamthitta R.T.O office.” The R.T.O (Regional Transport Officer) was the licensing authority.

“Ok. Take the car then,” she suggested.

“I would never, ever touch that man’s car,” he spat.

“Then how are you going to take the test without a vehicle?” She knew that much. For a license test, one needs to bring his own vehicle.

“I have spoken to a Driving school owner. If I pay him a five-hundred, he would let me take his vehicle.” He had arranged it over the phone, since he knew the man personally.

She gave him the money.

When he reached the driving school premises, bad news waited him. Last night one of the students rammed the car into a wall. It is in the workshop and would not be out until the next day.

Ajit cursed his luck. If he missed this chance, he had to wait for another month. Not that he has some urgency. But he was longing for it for many years. Since his education stopped abruptly, he did not know what to do. Even if he had to go for some technical studies, like I.T.I or diploma course he had to wait until the next academic year.

He was about to turn back home when a van stopped near to him. Reji poked his head out of the window and called out.

“Ajit, what are you doing here?”

“Nothing. Going home.” He was not feeling the same anguish towards him as he did before Christmas. Why should I? He reasoned. He hasn’t done any harm to me.

“No. Why are you in this driving school? I mean you know driving.” He knew Ajit drove the car since his early teenage years.

Ajit explained about the driving test and how he could not attend it.

“What are friends for, boy? Once we shared a drink, you have become one of us. Come, hop in. I’ll take you there” Reji offered.

Ajit thought about it for a minute. What the hell, I will just go with him, and once done I’ll pay him the five hundred as petrol cost and return home.

So he jumped into the van. He found two more boys sitting in the van.

“I hope I am not bothering you.” He said to everyone.

“Not at all. It would be our pleasure to help you. I mean, I know how much you have suffered”
Ajit’s plight was a well-known secret in his village.

During the journey, Ajit was a mute spectator to the boisterous behavior of the group. They passed lewd comments at girls, frightened the cyclists by swerving towards them and all the while laughing hysterically. Ajit was hoping that he is not making a mistake by travelling with them. Oh, this is another village, where no one knew who I am, he reasoned.

The test was successful since Ajit was an experienced driver. He took the “H” test, where he had to drive the vehicle forward, then in reverse, turning to left, and straighten then forward once again, completing the “H” shape. He did it with ease and was told that his license would be ready in two weeks.

As they were heading back, Ajit offered to pay Reji the amount he was supposed to pay the driving school guy. Reji sported a hurt look.

“Hey, are you putting a price tag on my goodwill?” he asked.

Ajit tried to explain. But he was cut short by one of the guys.

“If you insist paying, why don’t you buy some whiskey, so that we all can enjoy?”

There were murmurs of assent.

He thought of the promise he made. Then he told them that he would pay for it, but he won’t drink. They objected to this, but agreed later.

They parked on an empty road side, and Reji opened the dash and took out a glass. They started drinking from the same glass, one drank the liquid in a single gulp and passed it on to the next one who repeated the routine.

After a few pegs, Reji offered.

“Ajit, why don’t you just try one? See, it won’t be like last time. That was your first, huh?”
Ajit declined the offer. But the temptation was strong. He saw the golden brown liquid being poured into the glass, adding the water to make it a smooth looking liquid, and downed with one neat gulp. He felt the urge to take a drink.

“Ok. I will take one, just for your company,” he asked them, a little shy.

“There you are. See only men drink. Okay? You are a man now” Reji exclaimed.

Ajit took the glass in his hand. Just by holding it, he felt powerful. He was a man. A grown-up, strong, masculine man. He raised the glass to his lips, and drank half of it. It was smooth. He did not feel the bitterness at all this time.

Another round followed. By the time the glass reached Ajit, he was feeling a little light. A slight numbness. It felt wonderful.

He let them pour another one for him. And another one.

By the time they reached his house, he was full drunk. As he was climbing down from the Van, a few meters down from his gate, Reji reminded him.

“Once you get the license, I will give you a party. Okay? It’s on me. You give me call when you get the license.”