Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

At breakfast, Jaya was looking at Raghav and thinking, had her son gotten enough rest last night after his panic attack? Was it still too soon to talk to him, or already too late?

Today was only the sixth morning after Raghav's accident with a nail on the wall had put him in the hospital. And over the past five days, instead of being comforted by Pallavi who had saved his life by bringing him donated blood from Vikarabad, Raghav had suffered two panic attacks, lost Pallavi to Mandar, and become infamous for forcing another man's wife to marry him. Could he keep his promise to stay sober? Last night, Raghav had eaten his dinner early, given Damayanti her dinner and insulin, and shut his bedroom door before Jaya returned from Farhad's flat and Sunny brought Kirti home. This morning, Raghav looked like he hadn't gotten drunk; perhaps he had been crying, but he had managed to sleep.

Jaya knew that she had to tell Raghav about sharing his secret with Pallavi. She had not anticipated that after Raghav accepted Pallavi's right to share his bed, and after his Vaṭa-Sāvitrī fast pledging himself to her for seven lifetimes, he was still hiding his past sins from her. That deceit was an obstacle to pleasing Satya-Nārāyaṇa, and so the truth had come out in a way that Raghav would have to ask Pallavi to forgive. As soon as Raghav had eaten breakfast, Jaya would ask him to talk in private. What if Raghav panicked and needed to be taken to the hospital? Farhad and Harish and Madan would be here soon; Jaya would wait for them.

Raghav had woken up on schedule to walk Damayanti, and after working out and washing up, he had taken that white saree to the room where he had recreated his childhood home. Sleeping with the saree in his arms had helped him to imagine that Pallavi could be his, but he had to live in reality. The saree belonged with the other objects that he hugged when he couldn't hold his loved ones.

In that room was a toy train that looked like the one with which Arjun had played, except that Raghav had bought it new and Arjun's had been salvaged from what another child didn't want anymore. Tammi would be around Junior College Nikhil's age, if he were alive today, Raghav mused as he ate his breakfast. I would share Jayati Jewels with him, and when he finished college, he could ride trains all over India, or airplanes and cruise ships all over the world. Arjun wanted to grow up and do whatever his Raghav Anna could do, but he wouldn't follow my example with girls. No one would call him a predator. He would be popular, Raghav Rao's little brother after all, but he wouldn't be cruel. I taught myself to hate gold-diggers so that I could slam on the brakes before the point when I would have to tell a girl that I have HIV. Tammi wouldn't have to worry about that, he would be enjoying his train rides ... if I had protected him!

Placing the white saree in that room, Raghav's fingers had lingered over a medal on a ribbon, just like the ones that had made Kirti and Arjun so happy to pretend that they stood first in their exams. He hardly tasted the breakfast caṭaṇī as he remembered. We had no right to play with your medals, Prasaha! You won them in Bharatanatyam competitions, and you wanted Amma to display them in our house to inspire her younger students. I was sure you were talking about me. Amma didn't have a proper place to train dancers, and your parents could have taken you and Puruhut to any Guru, but they respected Amma's dedication to traditional knowledge, and so did you. You were my inspiration, Prasaha! You were first at everything, well-connected, resourceful, generous, and so beautiful! I will always hate you for causing the deaths of my Nānna and Tammi, but even today, I remember how your kindness made me feel special, even if it meant nothing to you. We left behind your medals when we moved to Hyderabad, but then I bought this one for Celli's scholarship.

Raghav glanced at Kirti, who was eating her breakfast in silence. Why won't Celli look up at me? She knows it's her fault that Pallavi was embarrassed yesterday, but she won't say that to me. Celli told me, I shouldn't be able to pretend to be a good person. Don't worry, Celli, Jagadish and son won't open their mouths about what you did with that recording. I will always protect your honour. Accepting that scholarship meant that you could finish college while working to support Amma. I couldn't give you the medal, of course, because then you would know that the scholarship was fake, I funded it only for my Celli.

Everything in that room is fake, Raghav thought, other than Amma's handkerchief. Amma never wore that ghuṅgarū, and that nādasvaram isn't Nānna's beloved instrument, which got destroyed in the riot that took his life. I love those objects anyway. I love every memory in that entire room, even if nothing in it is real. In the real world, Mandar is Pallavi's husband and she was never a widow, but inside that room, that mark of sindūra on a white saree means that I made Pallavi mine.

Raghav's thoughts were interrupted by Farhad's arrival with Dhananjay and Inspector Swami. "Anna, Inspector Swami has the results of Mandar's DNA test against the bloodstains on the car."

"All right, let's meet in the den and get this out of the way." Raghav pushed back his chair and headed for the stairs. "Celli, I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you." He didn't ask Kirti to join the meeting; that would only make her feel more guilty.

Jaya put her arms around Kirti to comfort her. Her talk with Raghav would have to wait.

"Are you on your way to arrest Sunny, Inspector?" Raghav demanded. "It's a match, right?"

"No, Anna. The DNA patterns are clearly not the same. It isn't Mandar Deshmukh's blood on the car." Inspector Swami was very pleased with his luck. He had thought that doing the investigation honestly would bring bad news for Raghav Rao's sister, but it hadn't, and surely there would be a reward for him.

"You mean, Mandar isn't - this man who claims to be Mandar isn't the real Mandar!" Raghav's words tumbled out in his excitement. He would rescue Pallavi from the imposter pretending to be her husband!

"Anna, there's no doubt that Mandar is alive," Farhad reasoned. "He has recovered his memories. Everyone recognizes him. Dr. Janaki confessed that she released him to the same person who took him to Dr. Ramya, and he was wearing a bracelet with the name that you gave him, Rajiv Dev."

"Then why isn't it a match?" Raghav argued. "I saw the car right after it hit Mandar. His blood should be there!"

"Mandar Deshmukh's blood may have stained the car," Inspector Swami explained, "but over the two years and seven months that you kept the car in a shed, Anna, his DNA in the bloodstains could have degraded, our forensic experts say. If there wasn't a lot of blood there, because Mandar Deshmukh survived the accident, they wouldn't have been able to recover his DNA."

"You said that the forensics team was able to extract DNA from the bloodstains!" Raghav snapped. "Now you say the DNA was degraded! Which is it?"

"The DNA that wasn't completely degraded in all this time belongs to someone who left more blood on the car than Mandar Deshmukh, Anna," Inspector Swami clarified. "That's why the DNA pattern is different from Mandar Deshmukh's."

"No, the man who was hit by the car was Mandar! He was wearing his engagement ring; who else could it be?" Raghav stubbornly insisted.

"Anna, what Inspector Swami is telling us is that the car may have hit two people," Farhad interpreted. "Mandar's accident didn't leave enough blood to prove that he was hit by that car. The other victim, who left more blood, may have been more seriously injured, but we haven't identified that victim, nor who was driving when that accident occurred, nor any witnesses."

"Exactly, Farhad Bhāī, that's just what I'm telling you."

"All right, I get it now. What does this mean for Kirti?" Raghav got to the point. "And Sunny?"

Inspector Swami nodded, but turned his gaze to Dhananjay to answer the questions.

"There isn't enough evidence to prosecute them, Mr. Raghav," Dhananjay began. "The judge will surely grant Mr. Sunny's petition to drop the charge of vehicular homicide on the grounds that Mr. Mandar is living. Without physical evidence that the car hit Mr. Mandar, and without witnesses, the prosecutor can't bring a charge of vehicular assault. Mrs. Pallavi's recording of a conversation between Mr. Sunny and Ms. Kirti is insufficient. And without charging Mr. Sunny with a crime against Mr. Mandar, the prosecutor can't charge Mr. Sunny or Ms. Kirti with leaving the scene of a crime."

"I'm a witness to the accident," Raghav admitted, "and so is Vipul Kadam, but I won't testify if it could hurt my sister, and I already paid Mr. Kadam to change his story. Still, Sunny was driving drunk. Can't that be the charge, so that there will be justice for Mandar?"

Raghav saw Farhad's surprised expression, realized what he had said, and quickly corrected it. "I mean, so that Pallavi can have justice for Mandar?"

"With no record of Mr. Sunny's level of intoxication, and with Ms. Kirti as the only witness who could see that he was drunk," Dhananjay replied, "if she protects him, he won't be convicted of impaired driving."

"All right," Raghav sighed, and signalled to Farhad, who handed an envelope full of money to Inspector Swami. Inspector Swami gave his thanks and left.

"I'll tell Celli the good news." Raghav stood up, and then remembered, "Farhad, in all that confusion yesterday, I forgot to ask you, what did you find out about Mandar when you went to Vikarabad with him? Is he really as perfect as Pallavi thinks he is? Or is he a drug smuggler like Ved?"

Farhad felt guilty, lying to Raghav Anna, but the memory of Mandar's hand in his hand gave him courage. Mandar just needed a little more time, Farhad felt sure, and he would tell Pallavi Bhābhī the truth. And then Raghav Anna would have his chance to win Bhābhī back. "Mandar and Ved were classmates, Anna, that's all. I met Mandar's neighbours and his landlord, and they all had a good opinion of him. Mandar must be a law-abiding man; he had no issue with the police questioning him about a patient that he took to the hospital."

"All right," Raghav sighed again, still disappointed that Mandar wasn't an imposter with plastic surgery like the one in that TV drama he had watched at the hospital.

Raghav left the den to talk to Kirti. Farhad was about to walk out, but Dhananjay held him back.

"Mr. Farhad, were you at S. K. Venkatesh Criticare Hospital yesterday evening?"

"Yes, Dhananjay jī."

"My wife Subhadra had an appointment with her doctor, so I was there too. I was bringing the car from the parking lot to pick her up at the pharmacy when I saw you. If I'm not mistaken, you have a boyfriend, Mr. Farhad!"

"No, Dhananjay jī. It's true that I am gay, but he is just a friend." Farhad tried not to blush, thinking, Yā Allāh, please keep showing Your mercy to Mandar and me! Dhananjay jī has never met Mandar or seen his photo, but Subhadra jī is Pallavi Bhābhī's lawyer, and if she had seen us and told Bhābhī, both Mandar and I would be guilty of hurting Bhābhī!

"I see. Mr. Farhad, I apologize for my mistake. I saw him kissing you. Of course, when we Indian men hold hands and walk with arms around each other, no one thinks it's romantic. But kissing will get you noticed. Mr. Farhad, please be careful with your friends, and especially if you have a special man in your life, because you are a target for Mr. Raghav's enemies. It was an uphill battle for the prosecutor to get a conviction in that boyfriend case."

"Yes, Dhananjay jī, of course. Thank you for your concern."

At that moment, through the open door of the den, they heard Raghav roar, "Enough! Not one more day of your excuses! I am Raghav Rao! You are going to fix that ring-making machine today, I will make sure of that! Gorilla! Madan! I have to give Damayanti her breakfast and insulin, and then we're going to pay a visit to someone who thinks Jayati Jewels can wait to make Raghav Rao's sister's engagement ring."

Jaya watched as Raghav fed Damayanti. He was in no mood to hear what she had to tell him. And Kirti's voice could be heard all the way from her room, "Of course I believe you, Sunny! But there wasn't any blood on the car when we got it from Akshay. And I know Raghav punched Akshay's face the next day, but so much blood? I don't believe it. You're right, Sunny, I don't know if Akshay hit someone with his car after you returned it. I don't know if Raghav hit someone while driving that car to the shed. But don't call me a bad name for asking you if you remember what you did after you dropped me off at the āśrama in Guntur that night. Don't you want to know, Sunny?"