The Act

THE ACT

The day before the act

They both have been living together for quite a long time now, almost four years to the date. The interaction that started as a mere knowing of each other’s name, had now been developed into a brotherhood. Both of them now shared the same flat which they manage to pay the rent very hardly as each month passes by.

Naval got himself into the university business, teaching psychology to fourth year students, while Daniel chose a more creative side, which was writing. He was fond of romance fiction, and had almost read as good as hundred plus romance books in just a single year.

The morning sun glowed as the clock hit 9:30. “Let’s go buy a cold drink” called Naval as he threw the hoodie right on top of Daniel’s chest. Daniel, who had come to a sudden jerk at the throw, got up from the sofa and wore the hoodie in such a manner that not even one dust of cold could touch him, his face almost buried inside it, and walked out with Naval. The shop was just down the building, close to the highway. “Two chai please please” said Daniel to the shop owner. “One biscuit too” added Daniel from behind. Both of them took their drinks and almost gulped it at once.

As they were drinking, Daniel as usual, got busy on his phone, an addiction that Naval really found hard to get him out of it. Just then, Naval’s eyes falls on a girl who was standing right across the street.

She looked directly at him, and as soon as he noticed, she waved her hand out of excitement. Naval pulling himself slightly away from Daniel, takes out his phone and dials a number. The girl on the other end picks up.

“Go away, right now!” says Naval slowly while each word articulated exceptionally well.

“But -”

“Please, not now” he says and cuts the call.

The girl slowly turns as if disappointed by her own expectations, and walks away. Naval joins Daniel, who was still on his phone. “Done? He asked. “Yeah” replied Daniel. They threw their cans and walked back up to their room.

The clock struck again, it was 10:00 AM now, and Naval was well dressed to leave. He arranged his tie so that it stayed in a perfect position, tightened his belt once more, and polished his shoes again.

“Looking quite happy these days, huh?” asked Daniel with a faint smile to Naval, who was now combing his hair standing in front of the mirror. Naval let out a huge smirk “Don’t know what you’re talking about”. “Is it so?” asked Daniel who now sat on his writing chair, the laptop still opened in front of him, the page blank. “Any updates on your new novel” asked Naval. “Nope” replied Daniel “No updates at all”. “Don’t worry, you’ll get something” said Naval. “I hope so” replies Daniel.

Naval walks to the door, “I’m leaving” and closes the door swiftly.

After half an hour, Naval reaches the University. The Class started from 11:00 and lasted one hour. It was break period, and the students walked out of the classroom, except one, she was sitting in the second bench, and staring at Naval with a pleasant smile.

“The canteen” he said, and walked out of the classroom.

He walked to the canteen, and took a seat at a corner where, the crowd was less. After some time, the girl came, and sat on the other end of the table.

“Jasmine, how many times do I have to tell you, do not roam around my flat.” Naval frowned at her.

“But why?” she asked.

“Because, I don’t want anyone known person seeing us like that, in a road.”

“Okay, but you only have three classes a week, so -”

“That’s childish behavior, because we still talk every night.”

“Alright, alright. Calm down” she raised her voice a little.

“My friend today, he could have you, us.”

“What’s wrong in that?” she asked.

“Nothing. But for now, I just don’t want him to know about anything.” he confessed.

“As you wish” said Jasmine and gave him a comforting smile.

“I have talked to my mother, about us. You’re in your last year now, and I have got some good news for you once you complete it” said Naval. “Like what?” asked Jasmine. Naval gave her a smirk and said “Like you can continue your higher studies after marriage” winking at her. Jasmine gave him the most happy and the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. They talked for nearly an hour. The drinks had ended, but their conversations hadn’t. They talked about all sorts of things, positive mostly, but still, once or twice, people didn’t forget to give them a suspicious look, most of them who were the students themselves. They looked good together, although one might assume that there was a huge problem in this dating scenario, but in truth, Jasmine was only six years younger than Naval.

After an hour or so, they left the canteen. Jasmine, who was in her final year had to attend her next class, while Naval had a presentation to be completed for the second year students.

At the flat, Daniel had been scratching his head to find a good romance story to write. All these books that he had read, were now seemed of no use, as he couldn’t even think of taking an inspiration from some other good books. All he had in his mind, was emptiness. He could sense that lately, his sleep schedule has been horrible because of the late night writing practices. Most of the days he couldn’t even sleep the whole night, the side effects of which, had started to show during the day. He would feel lethargic, like devoid of any energy, somehow making himself sit on that chair, only to keep sitting on it for hours, with the blank page in front of him. The worst part was, he even had hallucinations, very little, but frequent. Daniel himself knew that his thoughts were turning dark now, his brain filling with dangerous thoughts.

The day of the act

It was a fine Saturday morning. Naval was up before 8:00, looking fresh as ever, while Daniel was looking like a dead man who could walk; a zombie to be more precise. His dark circles under his eyes told that he hadn’t experienced much of what’s called sleep last night. His posture had bent, mouth wide open.

Naval was in the kitchen, preparing a cup of coffee for himself. “Yo, look at you!” frowned Naval, who just saw Daniel coming out of his room. “Have you been even getting the faintest bit of sleep these days?

“Na” said Daniel with his mouth still open. He somehow managed to walk himself to the sofa, in which he sat, like he had been paralyzed of moving. “That’s some serious dedication right there, to tell you, I am kind of excited of your story.” said Naval. “No, no, no” replied Daniel “I haven’t even written a single word”.

“What?” said Naval looking at him. “I can tell that the day you find one, is going to be a hell of a story”

Daniel passed a lazy smile at him.

“Can I have your car for a ride?” he asked Naval.

“You want to go somewhere?” asked Naval.

“Uh, yeah, my aunt lives really close. So, I thought I would just go and meet her for once.

Naval didn’t question for once after that.

“Sure man, the keys are by the door” he said “See you”

Daniel took the keys from the holder near the entrance door. He rushed towards the garage, and screeched out the car to the main road. He looked at the time. It was almost 8:30 now, and he had to hurry. He rushed his car through the early morning traffic. After riding for nearly 20 minutes, his car finally slowed down and came to a halt, as he killed the engine.

It was clear that he had lied to Naval’s face, as his car had stopped outside of a public library. It looked like it had just opened as there weren’t many people that could be seen outside. Daniel, sat on his seat, and kept looking out of the window as he had been expecting someone particular to arrive. After a few minutes, his wish came true. Daniel’s shoulder widened and a sudden spark came to his eyes when he saw the girl pedaling towards the library on her cycle. His movements began to occur, as she kept on getting closer and closer to the library.

Daniel watched her with surprising awe, as if he had seen something completely out of this world. He admired the girl, the beauty of her as it so clearly visible. Daniel quickly opened the door, and ran towards her. The girl, put her cycle on the stand, and as she was about to go inside the library, he called.

“Uh, excuse me!” he called out. As she turned, it was for the first time that they had any sort of eye contact. For a few seconds, Daniel couldn’t say anything except for “Uh, uh” and just stared at her for a second or so. But the girl’s voice surprised him.

“You?” she said with a disgusted face.

Daniel was baffled. “You, uh, you know me?”

“Of course I do” she said “You are the prick that keeps stalking me everywhere I go. Everywhere I go, I can see a face, at a distance, sometimes from behind the trees, sometimes hiding behind another stalls, and sometimes even following me as I walk back home. At first I couldn’t recognise you, but now as I think, yes, it’s you. It’s definitely you”.

Daniel was left speechless in this. Not because he was hurt, but because she spilled all the truths. She knew everything, from the beginning. A short burst of anger mixed with a few drops of tears had emerged out of his face. “Listen-” he tried to speak, but she cut him midway.

“I haven’t taken any actions against you because you hadn’t have any direct harm on my daily life, but today, even that has come to an end. As soon as I get out after my study session, I am going to call police on you, so wherever you stay, be ready” she screamed at him, and walked hastily inside the library.

“No no pleas-” he tried walking behind her, but the guard stopped him from entering. “What are you doing, I am a student, I need some books” he said to the guard giving him a dirty look. “Fuck off, I heard that conversation” said the guard giving him a evil smile and pushed him so hard that Daniel almost fell.

Daniel, shakily walks back to his car. His heart was beating at an incredible speed. He shuts the door and sits in silence for a few seconds. He puts both of his hands inside his pocket as they were getting suspiciously cold. It felt like Daniel’ brain had stopped thinking for a second. He couldn’t form thoughts.

In that moment of emptiness, came a very disturbing thought. The only thought that shouldn’t have come, ultimately, did come. Daniel’ eyebrows contracted with fury, his teeth clenched and his fists tightened. He had made the worst possible decision of his life at that moment.

After nearly two hours, the girl came out of the library, the anger still visible on her tiny face. She took out her cycle, and started to slowly pedal away from the library. Daniel, who had been watching closely, started his engine, he let her get a bit forward, and slowly moved it out behind her. The girl rode forward and Daniel followed from behind. He was aware of not to get too close, his eyes just waited for a perfect moment, where the crowd was nil and sound was zero. And after following her for about half a kilometer, he found it. She turned her cycle towards a dirt road surrounded by the jungle on both sides. Not a single vehicle was in sight and there was no trace of any people passing by. It was only the road, the car and the cycle that made all the noises. Daniel took a deep breath and he roared his car at full speed. It was only moments after when the car burst into the cycle from behind, making it almost fly for a few meters. The cycle raised above, fell with a loud thud on the ground, and so did the girl who had been riding it all along. Daniel, who was inside his car, had realised even without getting out that she was dead. The sound indicated so. It was a loud thud, and no one could have survived that.

He slowly got out of his car, and walked towards her body. It laid motionless at the center of the road.

Her knee was bent at an unnatural angle, and stream of blood rushed out of her open mouth. Her head had a deep cut, and most of the blood had flown out of it. Her eyes still opened, looked at the sky, and the last expression she had on her face, was of surprise. It was sure. She was dead.

Daniel, while also angry, shed a drop or a two. He looked at her for a few seconds.

“You could have been mine.” he said to himself.

He saw an id card, hanging out of her right pocket. He bent at his knee and took it out. He almost gave a faint laugh to it.

He looked at it, took a deep sigh and said “All these months that I have been wanting you, I didn’t even try to know your name; and now that I can never have you, I’ve got it.”

He rubbed his fingers at her name, and slowly whispered her name out of his mouth.

“Jasmine Nair”