“Who?” asked the middle-aged man who was shining bright in his khaki trousers, as he banged on the table. The distant skies roared with thunder.
“I wish I’d been there earlier. It might have made all the difference. All I can tell you is why he was murdered.” answered the man, who knew that his silence could not be held back as long as he had expected. “He had to die because he loved you!”, he then shouted and held him up against the wall while clinging to his shirt by the neck. The teary eyes of the Officer filled with rage, had let out its regret immediately, but the emotion was not shared by his broad hands which still had its killer grip on the man’s neck.
The officer followed up his single syllabled question with a smirk in his face, “For old times’ sake Uncle, tell me who ordered the execution? Tell me now and I shall make sure that you are untouched. Do you realize what will happen to you if I let you out in the streets right now? All I have to do is let the rumor spread that you murdered the old man and our own men will stone you to death. Of course, knowing our men, they are very creative when it comes to getting rid of traitors.”
“That’s a real nice name you have for me, ‘Traitor. You’re a fine one to talk. You abandoned us, Siva. You could have been the King. Yet you chose to walk out on us. Your father was heartbroken when you chose to neglect your family…Our Family! And yet you address my men as ‘Our Men’. Who is the bigger hypocrite? Is it the accuser or the one who is being accused? Tell me, Inspector Siva.”
“No one can beat you at wordplay, Uncle. But then again, what good would it do for me to succeed my father as the Don? I would probably be dead like him.”
“You abandoned us! Do you really think that anyone would even think of touching him while you were beside him? What kind of a son are you? He died because you weren’t there to protect him. That’s why!” the old man said, finally having his breath come back to him.
“Do you remember the last thing I said to him before I walked out?” asked Siva. He knew that the man who raised him, the man who was more of a father figure than the dead gangster would ever be, would remember the last words that the Father and Son shared.
“I don’t want to be your heir. I don’t want to be part of your business. I don’t want your kingdom. But I will always be your son.” responded the old man.
On his knees, Siva looked into his Uncle’s eyes and made his case, “Help me find the person responsible, Uncle. We owe father at least that much! Please.”
Sundar assured him, “I am not doing this for you. I am doing this to get my hands on the chump who had the nerve to kill him! I can’t make any promises that I will deliver the bastard alive to you!”
“Let’s just see who gets hands on him first. Okay, where do we begin?” asked Siva, but both of them knew that the question was rhetorical and the most obvious person popped up in their minds in unison.
A little while later…
Sundar upon seeing the boy he raised, “Finally! It has been a while since I have seen you without Khakis. And thank god that you didn’t come in your uniform, it’s bad enough that you are your father’s son. Just imagine the reputation they will gain once they tag an Inspector! And please don’t mention to anyone inside who your father is or who you really are.”
“Who are you? What do you want?” asked the guards.
“Tell Samuel that Bhadran’s son and right-hand man Sundar are here to see him.”
One of the guards gasped, “What? Bah…? Wait right here…”, as he dashed inside to tell his boss that the son of his fallen nemesis is here to see him. Sundar not at all pleased with Siva exclaimed, “I thought I had specifically told you, not to reveal who you really are.”
“You said it yourself, Uncle. I’m my father’s son. I have nothing to fear.” Siva replied, only for Sundar to regret the decision to go along with him on this fact-finding mission.
Samuel without even bothering to look properly, “So, you are Siva, huh? I expected someone a lot older.”
Siva sarcastically, “And I expected someone who looks like a proper gangster. And it’s not Siva! It’s Inspector Siva. Let’s keep this simple, shall we?”
“I understand why you are here. I know that you think that I ordered the hit. Trust me it’s only basic human instinct. I would have loved to kill him myself. But unfortunately, I didn’t. So, you can leave now. Leave before I send both of you to join your father.”
Drawing the pistol from his holster, Siva held his gun close to Samuel’s temple, all in the blink of an eye. With their boss held against gunpoint, the thugs were helpless and had no other choice but to withdraw from resorting to the ruthless violence that they are notoriously famous for.
“So, what do you say, Uncle? Should I pop his brains out?” asked Siva.
“I think I saw the guy who popped your dad.”
As Siva looked at Sundar with a smile in his face, Sundar asked, “We are listening.”
“You might assume that I might have killed Bhadran because I was one of the last few people to talk to him before he died. I did not shoot your dad!”
“People…? You mean that there was more than one person? Who else met him on that day?” asked the officer as he was clearly losing his patience.
“I don’t know. All I saw was some person wearing a bright green shirt. Well-built and tall. Other than that, I really do not anything else. Now for the love of god, please lower the gun!”
“Why should we believe you?” asked Sundar as the entire confession could have been cooked up in order to throw Siva and Sundar off track. Sam continued, “Look, I met him to talk about the issues that he had caused among my factory workers. Nothing more and nothing less. Besides I make money in business ventures that your father was not involved in. In a way, I made more money staying out of his way than coming face to face with him. We were rivals, yes. I did hate him. But in a way, everybody hated him for something in the end. That does not mean that I killed him. I’ll just tell you what happened and then let you decide whether to shoot me or not.”
“Alright… Ask you men to drop all their guns inside my car. Before that, order them to shoot the tires of their cars. And I mean all of them!”
“Why do you want them to…?” started Samuel, but before he could finish that question, Siva shoots one of the bodyguards in the head. The bullet came through and through the thick skull of the well-built man and effectively sending the message that the Officer and his Uncle were here on business.”
“Yikes!! Okay…okay… Do it, you idiots! Otherwise he’ll put all of us out.” Shouted Samuel.
After driving to a safe distance, the Officer had finally stopped the car to chat. “Okay. Talk...”
“I wanted to meet him. I think Sundar knows about it. I called and fixed an appointment at your father’s boat house. My business was facing heavy losses because of your father’s meddling in my factory. I wanted a truce. And that truce came at a heavy bargain. Thanks to your no-good father.”
“You do realize that my gun is still loaded right?” asked the Inspector, only for the gangster to realize that provocation wasn’t going to be helpful right now. The color-blind thug continued, “After thirty minutes or so, we reached a conclusion. At least he did. FOR BOTH OF US! But that does not mean that I did it! Remember the bright green shirt that I told you about? I saw the man waiting near the door, but I couldn’t catch a glimpse of his face while I was going out. I do however remember your father mention that he was going to take care of some unfinished business after the meeting with me. Finally, I did hear two gunshots coming from inside and I decided to scram before the police showed up.”
“What time did you hear the gunshots?”
“I am not sure but I think that it would be around 11 to 11:30 maybe? Look, I would love to help but I have a business to run. So, when are you going to let me go?”
“Here’s ten bucks. Get on the next bus back to your home.” Exclaimed the Officer, as he handed over the note to the so-called notorious gangster.
“I will not forget this, Siva! Some day we are going to meet again, and that day might be the last time we see each other. You are going to pay dearly…” sneered Samuel, only to have Siva shoot near him till the fat mobster started running for his life.
Siva turned to his uncle, “God, I hate gangsters. Especially the pretend ones. Uncle, that description he gave us… Is that enough to zero in on a person?”
“I was hoping that it wasn’t him. I think he is talking about Satya.” Exclaimed the uncle, as he hoped that his hunch was wrong.
“No, it can’t be…” Siva exclaimed, in equal disbelief.
It had been a while since Siva saw Satya. The last time he saw him, Satya was still a kid. Little did he imagine that the kid who grew up with him could be reeled in as a key suspect in his Uncle’s murder case. For Sundar, Satya will always be a worry and the biggest regret. Other fathers call their worries and regrets as their sons.
“I always thought you would end up dying in a shoot-out!” said Satya upon seeing his estranged cousin, as some bad blood was still evident between the Siva and Satya. Sundar slapped Satya and intervened, “Would you please stop it? Fighting or holding a grudge won’t bring him back! It’s been six years. Let it go!”
“What kind of a father are you, huh? How long is it going to take, for you to realize that you are nothing more than an errand boy for this asshole and his family? How many more of your sons is it going to take for you to understand that these people do not care about you or me? Huh? Tell me, Dad!”
“Did you kill my father?” murmured Siva whose sore memories with Sundar and Satya came out bursting when Satya mentioned his dead brother, Shankar. “My answer depends on your answer to my question. Admit it, Siva. You were the one, weren’t you? The one who ordered my Brother to be executed? What crime did he commit, Siva? Other than being a good friend to you? He treated you like a brother and you had him killed!”
Siva drew his handgun in a fit of rage and shouted, “Shut up.” Un-flinched by the aggravation, Satya moved into the gun’s range and reassured the shivering hands of Siva by placing the gun in the middle of his head, “Shoot me! I know that you want to shoot me! After all, you are your father’s son, aren’t you? The monster’s blood runs through your veins.”
“What is wrong with the two of you?” intervened Sundar. He loved both of them and felt like his heart is being ripped to pieces as he saw them fight.
“He is just insane, Uncle. I was hesitant to accuse him at first, but I can strongly say that he has something to do with my father being shot to death. We all know that he is still mad at me and my dad for what happened to Shankar!”
“Well do you blame me? I wanted the person responsible for his death to be punished. To answer your question, NO! I did not kill your father! But like many others, I wish I had killed him myself.!”
Sundar outraged by his comments about his brother and godson, started hitting Satya like a deranged person, “What is the matter with you two? I did nothing wrong while I was raising all three of you. Why? Is it because of Shankar? Shankar was a hot head, who never listened to what Bhadra had to say. He acted on his own terms and was shot like a dog in broad daylight. If anyone is to be blamed, I think the person is me! Siva had nothing to do with Shankar getting himself killed.” He lamented haplessly after a round of beatings.
“Do you really believe that? Everyone knows that Siva was jealous of Shankar. Everybody wanted Shankar to take over the gang from the old man who was leading us to death. I predicted that years ago. So did Shankar. And I think this asshole did too, no wonder he jumped ship and became an officer! How long is it going for you to accept the fact that he gave up Shankar to gain trust as an Inspector? He set him up!”
“If it wasn’t you, then who killed my father?” shouted Siva, who had reached the saturation point of his patience. Satya replied with a creepy smile on his face, “Maybe someone with a red shirt? Or was it a green one?”
Siva’s handgun gave a hard thump upon contact with Satya’s big skull. Dazed and confused from the hit, an unrelenting Satya touted Siva to hit him more and more. Irritated and outraged, Siva continued to hit him again and again till a bloodied Satya went to the brink of passing out. Spitting out the blood that sprouted out from the barrage of violence, Satya announces, “I think this looks convincing enough…”
Siva replied, “I agree…”
As both the young men laughed hysterically, Sundar looked at them with an utterly confused expression on his face. Siva clarified, “You confused, Uncle? Let me just clear things for you. You see, the paths to great heights are usually laid with stones and thorns. Some notable examples in mine and Satya’s path were you, my father and of course, Shankar. One by one, we had to pluck the thorns to make our roses look good. It wasn’t easy. After all, they were family. So, we agreed that to kill for one for the another. I killed Shankar and he popped my Pop. But he is your son after all, Satya was stupid enough to be caught in the eye of that idiot, Sam. Nonetheless we will take care of him. But before that, we still have one last thing to do.”
“To get rid of me, huh?” answered the Old man, who was very much impressed with the shrewd Siva as he was evidently more cunning than his father ever was. Sundar knew that Siva was capable of recreating his father’s empire by spilling lesser blood than him.
“I hope you understand that it was all strictly business. Satya here will confess that you killed my dad. Satya will surrender himself after which he takes care of the operations upon his release. I will be celebrated as a hero with an eventual promotion. Your body will never be found as it would be tied to an anchor and pushed into the ocean. I have no idea what you did to Satya that was so bad, that he insisted that he should be the one to put you down. Satya, here take this gun and finish this!” exclaimed Siva, as he was not completely hollow inside. After all, the man had raised him.
With just one bullet coming out of the gun, the body fell to the ground to die. Before the victim could comprehend anything, Sundar announces, “Do you really think that I do not know anything that has been happening behind my back? How much long do you expect me to be the sidekick or the stooge? I know that you killed Shankar and I know that you recruited Satya to get rid of your dad. But the one thing that you forgot was the fact that he will never betray me. I hope you understand, Siva. It was…”
“…Strictly Business? Yeah, I understand very well, Uncle." Said the Inspector who had realized just before dying that he was swallowed up by the snake just before he could land on the final tile of this never-ending game of Snakes and Ladders.

Karthik Sreeram Kannan.

#WritcoAnthology #WritcoAnthology@thrills