Maya’s return chapter 4

Maya’s return

“yes! Yes! Yes!” “What happened and why are you so happy?” “he gave it, a second chance. He is extremely pissed but he gave it.” “and you’re happy for that?” “he’ll come around. He can’t be pissed for long. At least not at me” “Oh believe me he can and is pissed at you, especially you more than me.” “How do you know that Abhi?” he drew in a deep breath and spoke in a heavy tone “I’m just using what he taught me. I’m stalking him, I’ve been doing that ever since that shit happened between you two.” “Why?” “I knew that this day would come someday. I knew that he could live without any friends, still can. I knew that you would need him back; eventually” “how come you know that?”“Another trick I picked from him; reading the human emotions” “and how come he knows that?” she questioned him “you develop a few skills when you have no social contact. It taught him. Loneliness taught him.” “Now you are starting to speak like him”

“So you’re going after him eh?” Maya’s mom popped her head in her room “Yeah mom! Just don’t let dad know about this. He will literary put him behind bars. He just hates him especially after that fight.” “I won’t. I like him, in spite of his reckless and ill mannered behavior” “Thanks mom. Uh! Mom can I shift to his high school? I know I cannot get him back from here.” “Anything for you dear!” she smiles and leaves the room.

“That was your mom??” Abhishek asked her with wide eye and a frog like voice “THAT was your mom???” “Yep.” “and she is letting you go after a boy who beat her husband to pulp?” “Yep.” “I don’t get your family at all.” “you don’t have to. Let’s just say that my mom kinda has a secret crush on Ravi. ;)” “Holy COW” “now shut up. I have to get registered at his school by tomorrow” “let’s go then.” “you wanna tag along?” “Look dude, no offence to your family’s economy but I don’t think that your moms gonna have the cash required for the registrations and advance payment right now and uh… the bank is pretty far away.” “and you have that amount?” “yeah, I got a job you dumbo.” “ok. Guess it’s admission fees for admission fees”

“hey moma were going out.” She shouts towards “k. just be home before dinner and hey Abhi-” “yes aunty” “don’t leave my daughter alone.” “OK aunty. You don’t have to say that.” ‘ok now the same bullshit is happening with me. What’s up with our fates any way’ and he starts to laugh. “stop laughing you moron. It ain’t funny.” “it’s not this. It’s my situation. Its somehow very similar to Ravi’s situation.” What do you mean by that?” “let’s get out shall we I will tell you on the way. And it’s a long way.” And so they get out. Abhishek tells her about what he heard on the phone and what he saw through his gadgets.

“and how did you heard that?” Maya asks Abhi after listening to the account of his observation. “I had placed a call bug on his phone. Although it’s not as high tech as the bugs he uses it is still useful compared to an radio frequency bug.” “And where do you get these?” “he has a lot of contact on the black market. He showed me some people. Must I add your questions have a lot of ‘And’s  p.s judging from your questions I say that you didn’t know that so I gonna shut up now.” He ended his long talk with this sentence. They were walking side by side and if a normal person was to look, they would definitely think that both of them were a couple. But they weren’t, best friends were all they were. He looks at her glowing face, sunny as the weather around them, fresh as the humid air signaling the arrival of monsoon. They had been together for like about 3years now(one year after Maya and Ravi first met) and yeah they had and still are best buddies. But today something happened. Something innocent inside him awoke at that moment.

They registered into the school and bought the books. The next day was her first day at LP high, the day that she would finally see Ravi after much awaited 3 months. As soon as she reached home she jumped with joy. She was so happy that she kissed Abhishek on the cheek “Oh thank you thank you thank you soooo much. Thanks for this Abhi.” He said nothing but just smiled. A child was being born inside of him, a child so innocent, so naive ,a child who doesn’t know the difference between friendship and love. After about half hour he left but Maya was so lost in her own happiness that she didn’t even notice.

He woke with sweat on his eyebrows and a wet vest. He woke up as a sudden shock overcame his body. he woke up in pain. That’s who he is, who he’s always been; a defected piece. He looks at his cell purely out of instinct, a message: don’t forget to pick me up. He looks at the time 5:15. Perfect. He goes to the bathroom and freshens up, puts on his black hood and walks out of the house with a cigarette on his lips. “hey aunty. A coffee please.”“Ravi, THROW THAT CIG out. Caffeine and nicotine is not a great combination.”  “it seems like you speak with experience!” she sighs “Yes.” He gives a look at her and with that look she pours him a hot cup of coffee. A few seconds after that she gives another look and calls her niece “Hey Aasha, your guy’s here” within literary seconds after the call she enters the café and pours herself a coffee, extra dark. She looks at his cup “you prefer extra dark coffee too?” this was her first sentence of the day. Not hi, or good morning but a question about coffee. “yeah. Why can’t I like it?” “no, it’s just odd that two people who’ve just met share such common preference.” “you haven’t known me and if you were to know me you would find me just like the coffee.” “then I will like it, all dark and bitter” “What the fu**?” ‘is she flirting with me?’ “Hey, control your mouth around my niece will you?” “Ok aunty. And the desks will be done today.” “No need. It’s already done and besides you’ve got your own shit to deal with.” “so shall we go?” Aasha asks with her usual sweet voice.” “Yeah. Let’s go” with these words they part the café together and walk slowly into the morning. The timing i.e. 5:30 am is perfect. The sun has just risen but the yellow light is not there yet, it’s just a light shade of grey but up in the sky the clouds are of bright orange and scarlet of color. The cool breeze makes this time Oh, so peaceful.

He looks at her and he just finds her more beautiful than the day before. The grey shade on her brown leather jacket and black jeans, her fair skin, her round nose, her hazel eyes and her not so big lips was perfect. She looked like a dark angel sent straight for him. As they walk in silence, in the cool of the morning breeze Ravi notices a slight heaviness in her mood. “hey dude? What’s wrong?” she jerks as if she just came to life “It’s nothing. Just a bunch of flash backs and memories.” A calm toned voice “A walk down the memory lane is painful but sometimes the pleasure is in the pain itself” a rise in her voice “Where the hell did you came with that?” “let’s just say   I’ve<Air quote> ‘been there done that’<Air quote>” she looks at him with her cute watery eyes “my mom, she once brought me here and we followed this very same path. We actually came to visit aunt Yasmin but she wasn’t here and we returned back. This path, this quietness just brings back memories” “where is your mom anyway?” a pearl of teardrop falls from her eyes “She’s dead!”

Ravi looks at her with a sorry face “I’m sorry. Didn’t know that.” And pulls her near him she in turn rests her head on his soldiers and cries there. ‘what the hell is this feeling? Why am I leaning on him for support. I barely know this guy but It he just feels safe. ’They walk, with her head on his soldiers and his arm around hers and soon they reach their school. “There is someone waiting for you Ravi bhai” the guard says as soon as he sees him and then winks at him. Not caring about the look of the guard they walk to their classroom. “hey Aasha can I confess something?” “Yeah” her voice so low that one could barely hear it. He smiles and holds her face up in his palm “you look cute when you cry.” “shut up” “no seriously. I’ve never seen anyone look that cute when they cry.” She smiles, showing her glowing face with two sparkling across her cheeks. He wipes them up. “yeah but look better while smiling.” Before they enter the class Aasha asks him a question “Why are you doing this? I mean you barely even know me and yet you are supporting me like we’ve best friends forever” “that’s simple dumbo. I care too much, and Yasmin told me to do so. I guess that is among a few good things that I have” and he smiles and they both enter the class with smile on their faces.

“Ravi. Its Soo good see you after such a long time!” and a hand hugs him in the door way. “Maya? What the fu** are doing here?” “Maya? Love P.M” Aasha’s voice rose as she saw Maya. Maya looked at Aasha “Black Rose? What the heck are you doing here?” “Black rose?” Ravi let himself go of Maya’s unwanted embrace and looked sharply at Aasha. “Uh… yeah that’s my facebook name.” and she let out a wide grin. “Pardon the expression but the fuck kind of name is that?” “And look who’s talking” Maya said in a sarcastic voice “the one who’s Facebook name is Stoic Wraith” “thought that was your Pen name!” “Uhh, it’s my facebook name too” and he let out a grin as a reply to Aasha’s grin. “ok so you are the Maya who he’s pissed at?” “Guess so” and the girls grinned at each other. “just get a seat will ya.” “wait I’ve got something to ask ‘black rose’ first, how come you to know each other?” “Uh.. I’m his neighbor Duh!” he shakes his head and sits and Aasha follows him closely.

She sits right besides her. Aasha whispers to him “So what happened between you two?” “not the time, not the place. I will tell you but at home. She has sharp ears.” “I can’t wait for the day to end” “stop whispering morons.” “told you! hehe”

The day ended with Maya trying in vain to talk to Ravi and Ravi avoiding her as much as he could all the while both talking to Aasha. “Why are you avoiding me?” Maya finally said at the end of the class “Because I’m pissed, pissed at you. Abhi might have said this to you” she stood there with mouth open wide with surprise. “How did you-“ “I bugged him!” he interrupted her “what do you mean by bugged him?” “it didn’t took long for me to find out that he bugged my cell so I bugged his favorite t-shirt and some of his jeans.” “can’t you ever forgive me?” “maybe one day I will but till that day, try not to piss me off more will you?” she looked down and walked away. No doubt she was sad. On her way back she met Aasha who had gone to the washroom “Hey, can I have your number? It looks like I’ma need a girl friend. I have none.” “sure thing. Here 98******” she gave one of her sweet smiles and walked towards Ravi. “what happened?” “I told her the truth, about how I am currently feeling about her.” She shook her head with a smile “couldn’t you have lied?” “well she needed to hear that and I’ve never lied to her” just then his cell phone rings “yo, what’s the deal?” “it has arrived.” “took you long enough, it’ll  probably be half an hour for me to reach home, the windows open so throw it there. I’ll have mine sent to your account” “Done”

“who was that?” “you wanna hear the truth?” “obviously yes!” “weed dealer.” “get outa town! Really?” “I admit that lying is my second nature but err… for some reason I can’t seem to lie to you” ‘and why the hell did I just reveal my weakness?” “I wanna watch!” “WHAT?” “I wanna watch you smoke weed. I haven’t really seen one do that.” “then be at my house by 5.” “ok sure thing”

They walk silently. Both had their own things to think of. While Ravi was thinking of this re-entry of Maya, Aasha was surprised at the discovery of his new side. Ravi was sad, his past had come back to him again. As they walk memories fly past before his eyes and before he could say a single word they had arrived at their home. “so see you later?” “yeah see you. Give me a call in about half an hour. I’ll come there and we will go to my house from there.” “don’t bother, I will come there. After all I wanna see how my guard dogs kennel looks like.” She said this with a wide grin on her face “you’re always welcome.” He replied not paying much attention to her.

He reaches home and takes a shot of “Ruslan Vodka” and then washes his face. he turns his laptop on and opens his facebook, one he hadn’t done for almost 5 months now. 35 inbox messages and 125 notifications and 2 friend requests. He looks through them with super speed (Most of the messages were from Maya, some were from Abhi and others were from a few of the people he dared to add as friends) and he opens his blog(which surprisingly has about 50 followers) and starts typing

“dear blog, #2186

Maya is back and she’s back with a mission to reclaim me back. It’s been 6 months now since that shit happened and yet the ghosts of the past follow me. My mind is blank. It’s no surprise that I’m still very angry at her but something inside me is craving to give her a chance to prove herself. That feeling of friendship doesn’t die just like that. She had once relayed a quote to me “life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain” well this is me trying to dance in the rain(I’m a sloppy dancer) so why is she trying to take me home, why is she telling me to wait?
     “you cannot outrun your past- prince of Persia” is it really true??? Life has taught me many lessons so maybe this time its teaching me one. she had helped me to run away from myself, taught me the feeling of belonging, the feeling of having a head to lean on. And then she abandoned me. Is it fair???  I don’t know but it sure as hell is painful. Hope to get over this pain as soon as possible”

Maya walks slowly to her home devastated at Ravi’sthis reaction. Her tears glistened in the sun as her hair swayed back and forth hiding her face. the half hour walked seemed to last forever now that she was as sad as hell. ‘he has changed, apparently a lot than I thought. How did he become so dark? So enraged? So ruthless? The Ravi I once knew is gone and all I now see is a dark him’. She reaches her room, goes inside and slams the door. “honey is everything okay??” “NO!” and the house goes quiet for a brief moment. She locks the door, buries her head on her pillow and cries.

“it is better now” she speaks to herself after half an hour. She picks up her phone and dials a number “sup dude?” “hey, come to my place ASAP.” “you crying?” “Fu**! How the hell did you know?” “your voice. It gets a little bit cranky when you cry. I’ll be there in 15minutes. Just don’t do anything stupid will ya?” “I won’t.” and Abhi hangs up.

He comes sooner than he had said “Maya it’s me open the damn door!” she opens it and hugs him as soon as he sees him. “calm down and tell me what happened?” “he was so mean. I thought that he was just upset but I saw a beast inside him today. He wasn’t himself. He was some dark version of himself. What happened in the past 6 months?” “as far as I know, he took the easy way out. We were his life and when we left him he had two options; forgive us and risk getting hurt again or live a life of solitude and go rouge again. He chose the second one. the way I see it its fair for him to be enraged. We did bad dude. We pushed him too hard” she just hugged him and he could feel tears on his soldiers. “You know what lets change the topic. He will come around eventually. You just gotta be patient!” “he bugged you!” “what?” “he bugged you. As a matter of fact this t-shirt that you are wearing is bugged too and your jeans could be bugged too” he looked at her in awe, not knowing what to do “That sonovabitch.”

Soon it was night and it was time for Abhi to leave “thanks for being there” and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. That innocent kid inside him awoke again, that feeling awoke again. ‘could I have??? No this can’t be!’

‘knock knock’ he opened his eyes and lazily walked to the door. “its 5” Aasha walked in his house. He followed her a few steps behind. “welcome to my dump!” “it is nice. It needs to be cleaned but it’s nice” “thanks for the compliment!” they sat down and Ravi took out a box containing some plastic packets. He took out one of the packets. It contained some dried grass like stuff. “so is this what you call weed?” “yes, this specific type is called the blue prince. Strong but short effect.” He then takes out another plastic packet from underneath his couch it still was the dried grass stuff but it was much rougher “now this one is the local marijuana. Its effect varies from person to person. I’m gonna mix these two weeds to make them strong and long lasting” and so he begins. He takes out a packet of cigarette from the side of the couch and empties the tobacco from the single cig. He then pours the local weed into the blue prince’s bag and shakes them and then fills them into the cigarette. All this time Aasha was looking at him with awe. ‘guess this is his dark side. This is the broken window.’ He lights his now customized stick of pot and takes a long puff. The room instantly smells funny. After that he cleans the mess and goes back to smoking weed. He takes long puffs and soon he finishes his stick. Meanwhile Aasha was looking at him, with her jaw wide open. After the pot he takes out a jumbo bottle of Ruslan vodka and pours himself one “you want one?” she nods. He goes to the kitchen after pouring two shots of vodka.

She takes out her laptop and opens her blog and starts to type

“blog entry #1569

I just witnessed someone preparing and smoking a cocktail of different weed. The whole process took just about 15 minutes. I was shocked to see his this side (Ravi). A new character of my life Ravi. He is my neighbor next door and he just gives me all those mushy feelings. You know those first crush types but I don’t know why I feel these feelings. It’s only been 2 days after all. I don’t know him at all and I don’t know why am I even shocked. But something is amiss here.

I actually leaned on him for support today and he let me considering the fact that we just met yesterday morning. It feels like I can trust him completely and he trusts me completely. You meet thousands of people, and none of them really touch you. And then you meet one person, and your life is changed forever. Could he be that kind of person for me???? My head is full of questions and no answers. -_-“

And she closes her laptop.  After a while he comes back with two plates and two ‘on the rock’ glasses. “let’s drink today. It’s been a while since I had guest.” And he puts them down. In the plate was beautifully cooked omelets and some pan cake. He then went to the refrigerator and takes out a large bottle of Royal stag Rum along with some pickles. She quickly empties her vodka and settles down. “so what are we drinking to?” “Maya’s return!” “why??” “I actually don’t know. The weed must be getting to me.” They smiled, they drank till the bottle was empty. Ravi got asleep while talking so Aasha cleaned up the plates and left him, placing a pillow and a blanket sheet over him before leaving.