Not proofread. Please excuse any mistakes.
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Chapter 49:
The azure blue skies stretched out endlessly until they blended seamlessly into the horizon, not a single white cloud in sight. There was a slight breeze, just enough to rustle some of the longer blades of grass that had been missed by the mower earlier that morning. The air was faintly perfumed with the sweet smell of the recently cut grass. He sat on the bench taking in the peacefulness and stillness of his surroundings, a complete contrast to the frenzied scene occurring inside the walls of the house behind him.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and shifted a bit on the bench to make room, not taking his eyes off of the activities occurring in the nest which was tucked away into one of the small bushes that lined the stone patio. He felt the soft hand rubbing his wrist in slow circular motions, massaging the deep imprints that had been left behind by the screws of the metal handcuffs. The hands lingered on the upper part of his forearm, stroking and tracing the outline of the faint scars from his childhood that glinted sharply in the sunlight against his tanned skin.
"There are three baby sparrows in that nest right now. The mother has to feed the chicks until they are strong enough to fend for themselves."
He announced and looked on curiously, as the mother sparrow landed back in the nest and dropped, from her mouth, a mixture of seeds and nuts into a pile. She began placing the food directly into the mouth of her hungry chicks, who noisily chirped and clucked, as they waited impatiently to be fed. One of the chicks, a bit bigger and stronger than its siblings, chirped the loudest.
"See the one that's chirping louder than the others? He's getting more food since he's drawing the mother's attention towards himself. He's already the strongest one in the nest and he will just get stronger as he gets fed a larger share of food."
He kept his eyes fixed on the nest as he spoke, observing the scene with intrigue. The largest chick flapped its wings slightly, toppling over one of its smaller siblings. The mother continued to feed the other two chicks without a break, unconcerned about the one who had fallen over. The largest of the baby sparrows jumped closer to its mother and flapped its wings again, pushing the fallen chick out of the nest completely. The mother paid no attention to the fight and continued to feed the two chicks that remained standing in the nest.
"The little one who just fell out is going to have to fight to survive without his mother. He can't really see too well right now so he's going to have a tough time finding food for himself."
The chick that had fallen out of the nest remained motionless, stunned briefly by the impact of hitting the hard ground. A few moments later, it stirred and struggled to stand up as it flapped its wings a little and chirped quietly. The chirps of the chick on the ground got louder as it jumped and flapped its wings harder.
"But he's going to make it."
The chick gave one strong jump and left the ground, successfully gaining altitude as it spread out its wings to their full span. It glided effortlessly through the air and perched itself onto the extended stem of a birdfeeder which hung from one of the pillars that held the awning up over the patio. The chick twittered proudly as it thrust its beak into a pile of seeds and began eating from the birdfeeder.
Turning his attention away from the chick at the birdfeeder, he looked back towards the nest with the tracings of a faint smile on his lips. The largest chick in the nest was handing out the same treatment to its other sibling, as the mother continued to ignore the fight and just focused on dropping the food into the first open mouth she saw. One final thrust and the second chick too fell out of the nest, leaving the mother sparrow with just one chick.
"He's going to have to find his brother. They'll have a better chance of survival if they are together."
The second chick stirred and tried to flap its wings unsuccessfully. He stood up from the bench and cradled the chick into his hands carefully as he carried it to safety and placed it on the birdfeeder next to its brother, who chirped a welcome song and happily made room for it on the stem.
"It's instinctual for her to behave this way. The mother just doesn't have the capacity to care for more than one child at a time," he stated as he took his seat on the bench again, talking about something more than just the birds in the nest.
He turned his gaze back towards the nest, where the mother was squawking loudly, trying to warn and intimidate the approaching predator. The show of bravery failed her as the garden snake happily gulped down the mother sparrow for its lunch and slithered away. The single chick chirped in distress, as it jumped around the nest looking for its mother, realizing soon enough that it was now painfully alone.
He closed his eyes, letting the tears flow in a steady stream, as he let the soft hand guide his face into a safe nook.
"Shhh. It's okay. Everything will be fine." He heard the delicate voice, the words only causing him to sob harder.
He wrapped his arms around her body tightly, as she mirrored her husband's actions and took him into a secure embrace. He felt the steady movements of her hands, as she rubbed his back with comforting motions.
"They have finished up with everything else Kabir. They just need your statement. It will only take a few minutes."
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"Okay, thank you for your cooperation Mr. Kabir. Everything is essentially sorted here, but I will call if I need anything else from you. I'll just take your leave now."
Kabir sat on the chair motionless, while the officer stood up to leave and nodded towards Rachna, who remained seated next to her husband as she held his hand firmly for support. Once the room was clear, she moved to stand in front of him and wiped the tears from his face.
"I never wanted all this to happen Rachna. I never mean to push the tri..." Kabir's voice came out as a hoarse whisper, almost inaudible. His words were cut off as a sob erupted from deep within his chest. He buried his face into her abdomen and pulled her close to himself, as his arms circled securely around her waist. She let him cry, slowly running her fingers through his hair, as a few tears dropped from her own eyes.
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"Mom, pull the trigger."
Gayatri's smirk faltered for a moment as she observed Kabir's face, her hand poised on the gun, ready to fire the bullet into his chest. She expected to see him glaring at her with anger, looking towards her with disgust upon hearing the truth, or even fearing his impending death, but what she saw surprised her. She saw tears glistening in his eyes, his lips quivering with sadness, an expression of pure innocence painted on his visage, almost as though he trusted her and believed that she would save him. The softness passed in an instant, her face hardening back into a menacing glare that was not afraid to pull the trigger. She moved her finger into position, but froze as she saw the faded scars on the exposed skin of Kabir's forearms; she recalled something and was transported back in time to a moment that was burned into her memory permanently.
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She sighed as she dropped the army of shopping bags onto the floor and collapsed into the rocking chair. She painfully pinched the little pooch of fat that hung from her lower abdomen and cursed herself for agreeing to her husband's words four years ago. Her body hadn't bounced back from the pregnancy like she had expected it to and the rolls of back fat and the sagging skin on her stomach mocked her every day, every single time she looked in the mirror. Reminiscing the old days when she used to flaunt her tiny waist and flat abdomen off to her husband and the world, she swore colorfully for not getting her tubes tied after Mayank's birth. The mere mention of her first child brought a peaceful smile to her face, pushing all the degrading thoughts about her body out of her mind. She hadn't seen him since this morning, as she had spent the entirety of the day shopping at the mall with her usual group of girl friends, most of whom were wives of her husband's business associates as well.
She stood up with an excited energy as she called for the help to bring Mayank into her room. Giving a quick glance out the window to look for her husband's car in the driveway, she was disappointed to see an empty parking spot where his car would have been if he was at home. A slight movement in the driveway caught her eye, as she caught sight of Mayank carrying a package out towards the trashcan. The first instinct was to yell at his nanny and reprimand her for letting the precious child do such demeaning work, but a moment later she observed that the package in his arms was squirming and wriggling. She watched curiously as Mayank approached the trashcan and bent down to drop off the bundle carelessly, immediately turning around to run back inside the house with a happy jump in his step. She squinted her eyes to make out the identity of the bundle and quickly realized that Mayank had just placed his younger brother, her second child, next to the trash. The toddler was evidently distressed and hurt, as she could see him wailing non-stop, flailing his arms and legs out in pain. A string tugged lightly at her heart seeing the child crying so terribly, but the merciless voice in the back of her head told her that he deserved it for all the trouble he had caused her. Her heart twisted as the child turned his innocent, tear-stained face in her direction, calling out for her to save him, as though he knew she was watching him from the window. For a brief moment, she seriously considered going downstairs to bring the child back into the house and even took a few steps forward. However, the cheery voice of Mayank calling out to her pushed that thought from her brain and she put all of her attention towards the young lad who was now bouncing around the room with happiness, forgetting the agonizing cries of her second-born.
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The same innocent look was mirrored on his face today, again calling out to her for help. The merciless voice in her head urged her to pull the trigger. Her heart twisted mildly as the seconds ticked by.
Mayank's cheery voice called out behind her. "Do it mom."
She released the pent up breath that she had unknowingly been holding and drew her finger away from the trigger slowly as she brought the gun down towards the ground, away from Kabir's chest, unable to follow through with the murderous act.
"Mayank beta, a bigger punishment will be for him to see that tramp become yours in front of his very eyes. A bullet to the chest will kill him instantly, but seeing her become someone else's will torture him with every passing second."
The words flowed out without hesitation, but her voice wavered slightly at the word kill,' a point that Kabir didn't fail to notice.
Rachna screamed as Mayank gave an evil smirk and brought his lips towards her. His mouth was just centimeters away from her skin; she could feel his breath repulsively on her neck as she pushed with all her might to free herself from his hold. The sudden noise of a gunshot made her blood run cold as her body became limp with fear.
"Drop the weapons and put your hands up."
The severe voice of the police officer spoke out as ten armed constables ran into the room and surrounded the perimeter. Gayatri and Mayank looked up with shock, as Karan smiled at Pathak and Prakash, flashing his cell phone triumphantly. He stepped forward and nodded approvingly as he met the head inspector's gaze, immediately rushing towards Rachna and pulling her away from Mayank's clutches. Meanwhile, one of the constables cut away the handcuffs from Kabir's wrists, while the gun dropped from Gayatri's hands with a clunk.
Mayank growled as Karan dragged Rachna away and safely brought her to stand at the side of the room next to Prakash, who put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her like a dutiful father, without a moment of hesitation. Kabir remained rooted to his spot, standing in front of Gayatri, while Mayank stood a few feet behind his mother.
"Pandey, arrest them both."
Just as the head officer called out the order to his subordinate, Mayank fluidly picked the gun up from the ground and stepped in between Gayatri and Kabir, with the gun pointed towards his younger brother. Kabir grabbed the nozzle of the gun and struggled to direct it away from himself, as the armed officers pulled out their own weapons and aimed them towards Mayank.
"Put down the gun Mayank. One misstep and you'll have ten bullets whizzing into your body in a matter of seconds." The police officer shouted out, trying to diffuse the threatening situation.
Kabir continued to struggle against Mayank when the gun fired a bullet with a loud bang. Time appeared to have slowed down, as Gayatri's body crumpled to the ground in slow motion. The gun was released from Mayank's grip as he rushed to catch his mother's lifeless body, trying pointlessly to stop the gushing flow of blood from her chest, where the bullet appeared to have squarely pierced her heart.
"Mom! Mom! Open your eyes! Mom!" Mayank shook the unresponsive body violently, as a few constables tried to restrain him and the head inspector called for an ambulance.
Kabir stood unmoving, his eyes fixed at the growing red puddle on the ground. His breath hitched as he saw the gun still in his hand; he threw it away repulsively. Rachna shrugged off Prakash's arm from her shoulder walked towards Kabir, while Prakash, Pathak, and Karan turned to speak in hushed tones to the officer-in-charge. Rachna touched Kabir's arm, but he pulled away from her and hurried out of the room and house, taking a seat on the bench of the back patio.
"Let him go Rachna. He needs to be alone for some time."
Rachna nodded her head slowly to acknowledge her father-in-law's words, as one of the constables asked to record her statement.
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Rachna spoke with a satisfactory resolve. "He pushed the trigger, not you Kabir. He confessed to his every crime after you left the room."
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The ambulance arrived a short while after everyone, except Mayank and Kabir, had given their statements to the police. The paramedics wheeled in the stretcher to take away Gayatri's body for the procedural autopsy, but Mayank refused to let anyone near his mother or himself. He hugged his mother's body to his chest, deliriously shaking with distress and panic, unable to accept the loss of his mother, as he mumbled to himself.
"Why did I do it? How could I pull the trigger? How could I kill you mom?" He screamed the last of the accusations, as tears flowed down his face non-stop.
The paramedics, with the help of some police officers, pinned Mayank down forcefully and administered a tranquilizer, which immediately relaxed him and made him cooperative enough to allow the authorities to complete their investigation. As Gayatri's corpse was wheeled out of the house and into the ambulance, the officer-in-charge questioned Mayank and noted down his testimony.
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Prakash entered the room and cleared his throat to announce his arrival. He walked towards Kabir and Rachna and stood in front of them with folded hands.
"It seems like much too small of a thing to say right now, but I have to say it. I'm sorry Kabir beta. I should have told you all of this much earlier."
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❤️ Nivi
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
