Three months had passed since RK bhai's live-wire girlfriend took off. Even Chottu missed toh bhai toh was beyond enraged. He quit the beach altogether, stopped drinking too while was at it. No woman had scarred him so bad, he was furious. So angry he would dive to the corners of the earth to find her and kill her with his own hands. And just when he was about to put his thoughts into action she showed up again.
He was sprawled across his couch watching the 6:30 news. Something about their gang's shootout last Sunday. Boring. So boring he almost fell asleep.
Her feather light footsteps running around the concrete floor woke him up.
"Who is it?" he asked with half an eye open and reached out for his shotgun hidden under the pillows.
"Don't shoot", she put her hands up in surrender. "It's me".
"Umm", he muttered half-asleep. He subconsciously relaxed around her. Even though he was supposed to be angry, he was supposed to gut her brains out for leaving but her sweet honey sounding voice was killing him softly.
"Come here", he opened up his arms and patted on the space next to him. She cuddled up on his lap and played with his beard. "What?" She sounded extra nice today. She must have wanted something from him.
"When did you come back?" he asked in his baby voice.
"While you were sleeping".
"What about that boy in the club?"
In her head, the boy in the club was never an issue. He never mattered.
"I was just try to make you jealous", she replied candidly.
"Well, you succeeded alright".
She pulled up his chin with her index finger, bowed his head to the side and leaned in for a kiss. Her supple lips shut him up but she was afraid of using her tongue. He was too unpredictable, too easily angered. She treaded carefully, slowly claiming all territory. Her hot breath felt familiar in his mouth, the sound of his name ringing still on her lips. He scooped her up easily and led her inside the bedroom where the puke colored blanket was. They finally had an inside joke.
She looked up from underneath him wanting to say something, "I want to, I want to..."
"I missed you", he interrupted. "Don't you ever leave like that again".
She wanted to be strong. She wanted to use her sassy voice and shout, "dream on!" but his twinkling eyes and that scruffy hair. She longed for a touch and fighting would only delay the pleasure. "Okay", she pulled him down, they were tumbling on the carpet entangled together.
It was only an hour later that Rishabh realized her belly was swollen. "Three months in", she said. "That night when you waving a gun at me, we conceived. My kid is probably crazy. I thought about not having it. I mean nobody wanted me so who would want this, she pointed to her belly, "but I just came here to ask you. Do you want me?"
He stared down at her stomach, speechless. What nonsense was this woman spouting? "Of course I want you. I said I wanted to marry you then and I stand by my words. You are home girl. You are always welcome home. And what the f**k are you doing running around pregnant anyway? Sit your arse down on the couch until you pop. Hear me?"
"Dream on!" she finally shit out the punch line she'd been holding in for minutes now.
"When are we getting married?" he asked excited like a kid in candystore.
"No way am I putting on a dress with a baby in my belly and your thugs as my wedding party. You better straighten up your act".
"What you mean is?" Oh no, she better not be asking him to quit.
"I am not saying give up the business, just stop kidnapping and shit. Less run-ins with the police. I don't want you killed in an encounter is all".
"I will come back in one piece woman".
And he better. The woman who could not be tied down to one man had finally settled down in a quiet ghetto suburb serving lemonade to the tired thugs of her (would-be-) husband's gang.
"Bhabhi aap ke haath ka nimboo paani toh kya hi baat hai", Chottu buttered her up.
"Jaldi bak kya mangta hai?"
"Bhai se bolo na bhabhi mere ko deal karne de. Abhi maal aya kya Goa se aur mere ko bola bhai kud karega. Mera bari kab ayega bhabhi?"
"Mere ko kya maloom chottu. Mein toh dhandha nahi na karti eh".
"Bhabhi aap bolega toh bhai maan jayega".
"Kya boloon?"
"Ke mere ko help karne de bhai"
"Rishabh", she called out to the subject of the conversation.
"Don't disturb me when I am boiling milk. We ain't got no samsung stove here. It's a freaking 1980s burned", he cursed out the ant-speed process of preserving raw milk.
"Chottu bola I got to tell you something about helping him...what was it chottu?"
"Kya bhabhi! Bhai, I said I need you to give me more responsibility. Bhabhi you don't know nepotism at all!" he gulped down a peg of homemade beer in despair.
Rishabh suddenly sprung up from his seat on the kitchen cabinet.
"Chottu, you want responsibility? Then, go check out the movement outside. I see bald and sweaty men".
The entire gang was alerted by one command. They pulled out their arms and spread out in various directions. Rishabh pulled out his pistol and led Madhu into a closet.
"Do not come out until I get you", he said.
She looked at him and swallowed her words. Now was not the time to argue so she simply obeyed.
Five minutes. Ten minutes. A whole hour passed without a stir in the apartment. Madhu's heart was still racing just as fast as when he left her alone. She slowly peaked her head out from an opening and looked around the living room.
There was a tall man blocking her view. He reeked of cigarette smell mixed with cheap cologne. He had a finger to his lips and was slowly advancing toward the bathroom. She watched as Rishabh sneaked up from begin the man and shot him cold in the skull. Gunshots rang up the quiet floor and she heard footsteps running up the stairs. She pushed open the closet door and ran toward Rishabh. Today might be the last time she'd see him alive. The last time their baby hears her father. She crashed into his bosom refusing to let go.
"Madhubala get in the kitchen".
"No, not unless you are coming with me. They are going to kill you".
"They are the police. They won't kill YOU. So get inside the kitchen and wait for my signal".
She nodded in an affirmative and quickly locked herself inside the pantry.
Her breath became heavy as she watched him cry out in pain. A gunshot had scratched his shoulder. He was still kicking but she had her doubts he could carry on much longer. Gunshot to any part of the body can kill you in time. And just like that, she saw a man running toward Rishabh from the corner of her eye. He wasn't even try to arrest him, he was just out to kill him.
"How cruel!" she thought. But she didn't have time to think much else. She watched from the closet as her body sprang running and covered Rishabh with her arms. It was as if it wasn't her doing the actions. It was someone else entirely.
Even she did not realize how much she loved this man until she had two bullets lodged in her stomach. With blood streaming out from her mouth she said, "I would have married you Rishabh".
"Thank you", he said as she took her last breaths.
Cricket
