CHAPTER 52
Paro saw the huge rusty gates that shielded a deserted home. She had never taken this route to the city before. What was this place? She noticed that Sumer bhaisa was also just as lost as hers. His eyes bore at the hand on Rudra's shoulder. Shatabdi shook him gently and said, "Rudra forget about this place. This darkness doesn't belong in your life anymore. Please, just drive." Sumer's eyes popped out of his head. His wife never said please. "It's getting late, banna," he added in support of his wife.
Rudra turned to Paro and she knew something beyond that gates that called to him. Thud! They heard a noise. Rudra jumped out of the jeep. "Stop!" Shatabdi shouted. Rudra replied that he just needed to check something. "What is the need for that, Rudra," his father scolded coming out the other car. He groaned. He hated questions. "There was a noise from inside I'm going to check it out. Stay here," he said looking at Paro.
Sumer and Samrat offered to go with him just in case. "Maybe it's just a few kids fooling around," Sunheri suggested. Paro gasped. This was no place for children. Shatabdi and Dilsher exchanged a glance while Rudra looked away. Sumer whispered in his ear, "Scum like that Tejawat could be staying here too." His cousin nodded, "Samrat you stay here. We'll go in," he said decidedly.
He paused just before entering, "Yes, Paro?" He knew something was on her mind though she speaks before understanding what was going on. "We will be fine here. Maybe your soldiers should be by your side," she replied uneasily. Rudra bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing. He wasn't known as the Jallad because he was mean to her. He could be a monster in the battle field if he needed to. "Sunheri is probably right it's just children looking for trouble," he said pushing her fringe back. Paro wasn't convinced. There was something about this place that bothered him and she didn't want to him to go. What if someone like that horrid Mirza is there when he was so distracted?
"I'm coming with you too," she said. Between her and Sumer bhaisa they would keep him safe. Rudra heard another strange sound from inside, as if something was being dragged. He sighed in despair. He didn't mind sharing this part of his history with his wife but this wouldn't be the time. "This isn't like the last bhooth bungalow we stayed at, Paro," he said reminding her of the night they shared a blanket for the first time. He ordered two guards to follow him and went in with Sumer.
A few minutes passed. Paro walked up to Bapusa, "Your leg will start to hurt. Let's wait in the car." He let her guide him back to the car. "I never told you about how things were in Jaipur did I?" he asked, voice breaking. She smiled and reminded him of their sight seeing trips around the city. He waved her off. "We did that at first. It was nice. Two men on our own. Nobody to answer to," he smiled sadly. Paro rubbed held his hand soothingly as his eyes grew sad.
"After a while I missed her," he spoke in a smallest of voices. Maithili saw his hesitation to share his pain with his daughter. She stepped out with Shanti and joined the others giving them some privacy. "The memories wouldn't leave me. Everyone around was happy and loved and I couldn't understand why I was alone. Alcohol was the only thing that warmed me. It made me a terrible father. It blinded me to all the wonderful qualities that boy had and showed only the eyes he inherited from her. I couldn't stand to have him around. We grew apart barely talking except for bitterness exchanged. He knew the drinking was tearing me apart and tried to keep it away. I started to beat him. My son. My Rudradev," he started to cry.
Paro opened her mouth in consolation but the terror in his eyes frightened her. "You know what happened after that? You know what the devil drove him to? The same addiction that had hardened my heart. I never knew. I took him away from his home to keep him safe. And I left him to fend for himself. He used to tell me that Mrs. Sisodia was tutoring him. But the truth was he was working. The Ranavat heir was washing dishes and cups in a dhabha after school. They used to pay him for his expenses because he didn't want to come to me."
Paro was at a loss to handle him but she needed to know that somehow things got better. Someone had taken care of the boy in the bus stop. "It was their fault. 14 years old. That's how old he was when they gave him his first drink. And he started to savor it. The child who used to break my bottles of whiskey started to steal it from me."
Rudra and his colleagues removed the safety from their firearm as they went around the locked house. Sumer grabbed a rod from the derelict house for his own protection. They heard a crash and quickened their pace. Surprisingly it was followed by a loud laugh. In the backyard, they found three who must be between the ages of 14 and 16. The tallest of them quickly pulled out a pocket knife and approached them. "Who are you? What do you want?" he asked with authority. The visitors assumed that he was the leader of this motley crew. They put back their weapons seeing the children.
The back door opened and a middle aged man stepped out. "Who are these people, Raj?" he asked the tallest. The boy just shrugged. The man politely held out his hand, "My name is Ian Thomas and these three are my charges. They spend most of their free time here. I just came today to make sure it was safe for them," he said. Rudra noticed gardening tools lying around. Wild bushes and brambles weren'to the only danger here, he remembered well.
"One night, he didn't return home. I looked everywhere my drunkenness allowed. I felt my worst nightmare come true. My son who had inherited her eyes was showing signs of her wickedness," Dilsher told the distraught Paro. Rudra would never abandon his father. He was like an anchor. "Papa found him stumbling about and brought him home," Shatabdi said trying to remember that terrible night. Her father had left instantly with a search party.
His tender stomach couldn't tolerate the potent stuff he had purchased this time. He had been experimented for sometime now. He had seen how a simple mixture of soda and liquor was enough for Ranavat to forget his pain. He was overjoyed that it worked for him too. The voices weren't heard anymore. He could forget Chandangard and his life there. But that day it was his birthday and the memories wouldn't stop. The man in the shoddy bar didn't blink when he handed over the bottles. He had come here and consumed it straight from the bottle.
Then this own eyes started to play tricks on him. He saw balloons and streamers hanging from the roof. The laughter of his friends, his cake his father had brought all the way from Jaipur, the presents piled up on the table all motivated him to rise up and dance. Then he had stumbled and fell. He tried to hold on to a table. But the rickety thing's legs gave way and toppled over him. He had no idea what happened next.
"They found out from his classmates how he started to come here. It was supposed to be a grand adventure for them to explore a bhooth bungalow. The others stopped when their mothers forbid him. But Rudra... he made it his form of protest. He would go there until his mother stopped him. I was so scared when uncle collapsed infront of our jeep. But Mom recognised him and brought him to home. We contacted his friends but nobody knew where he was.Then she informed VK uncle who left with a search party. I remember he was in the hospital for a few days after that," Shatabdi finished.
"Your Maasiji was the one who got through to him. She told him, as a mother she has the right to punish naughty boys. He replied that she wasn't his mother. The great lady that she was didn't take offense. She simply said she already had a son and wanted a daughter for variety," Dilsher laughed. It was then he gave up drinking and started to pay attention to his son. With his old friends and former colleagues he managed to provide a decent home for him to grow up. He still had episodes of rage and bitterness when he would drink to numb his pain. But he made sure Rudra had a support system he could lean on.
"I'm sorry, you two had to go through all that Bapusa. If I wish I could have done something," she said wondering in her heart if she could have convinced Thakurainsa to return to her home somehow. Bapusa patted her head fondly, "Beta, you have done more than I could have expected. You filled the hollow shell that walked about in a BSD uniform and made him complete."
She looked away embarrassed by his open praise. Her eyes shot up when she heard his next words, "But there is one problem. Since you came into our lives, I have on excuse to drink. When Rudra joined BSD, I used to happily sink my worries during his away missions. Now, I don't worry any more. I know he will be careful just to come back to you." She shook her head at his teasing and went to join the rest.
"Wait Shanti, your Kakosa will be back soon. Then we can go," Maithili cajoled the child tugging her skirts. Paro looked at the watch. They had been gone for quite a long time. "Maybe we should go check," she suggested. Her sister shook her head and reminded her that Rudra told them to stay here. "We didn't here guns being fired. They should be fine," Mohini offered. Paro was not convinced. Rudra was probably remembering the dark past that Bapusa shared with her. She needed to be with him.
She went up to the gate when she felt someone hold her back. "One minute, Paro!" Samrat stopped her. "We shouldn't trespass one someone else's property," he added. Shatabdi pointed out that Rudra was already inside. "He is a BSD officer and this area comes under our jurisdiction," came Danveer's wry reply. This made Mohini worry. Sumer didn't have badge and could be prosecuted for this. She glared at Shatabdi, the girl who was inspiring such craziness from her son.
"Bhaisa, this place is deserted. We can go in if we want. Nobody will stop us," Shatabdi told the rest eager to for a little adventure. This made Mohini furious, "This girl like a whirlwind trying to suck us all into trouble," she mumbled. Samrat stretched himself to his full height, "No. Someone definitely lives here." The outer walls of the house hidden away by wild weds had been recently whitewashed. A pathway had been cleared, probably leading to the gate. This hous was a work in progress.
"Maybe, we should just go inside and knock," suggested Maithili prudently. Danveer looked at his wife who was ready to blow up in rage when her quietest bahu spoke up. "Why don't we all go in? Together," he suggested putting himself in the way way of her ire. She grabbed her granddaughter, "Chal, Shanti we will wait in the car. Let leave these hotheads to their foolishness." Maithili looked at her husband who was bitting his lips to keep himself from laughing. He was aware of his mother's disapproval but his brothers had been inside for almost an hour. Paro and Shatabdi were right. Someone needed to check on them. His mother could wait with his uncle for a while.
They carefully pushed the gates which creaked open. Paro's heart beat wildly with each footstep on the gravelly pathway. She felt someone grab her arm and turned with a gasp. Shatabdi pointed out a hand pushing aside the curtain. Who on earth was waiting for them inside? Why didn't Rudra come out yet? 
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