Suffocation

SUFFOCATION.by Paddu Menon

Today.

It was the first thought that came to her as she woke up. He was gone. And, soon, this bedroom, the house in whose eastern corner it sat, and the tiny garden outside with its gnarled old red hibiscus and the half-grown mango tree they had planted together, all those would be gone as well. It was the strangest feeling ever. Apart from that the garden was abloom. She had loved the hibiscus in different colours, the roses big and small and the hydrangeas and the chendus. Common but so colourful. 

Supriya woke up with a start. She was sweating and her hands felt clammy .Why did she get that thought in her head? And where was that house with the gnarled old red hibiscus? Or the half grown mango tree they had planted together? And the burst of flower power!!Who were they? And why would this thought , this vague feeling come to her? She wasn’t dreaming…this thought had jolted her awake. She looked around her room wondering why she felt as though she was being suffocated. She had felt that she had a bag over her head…..she shivered. Claustrophobia was not her thing. Anil was snoring next to her oblivious to her terror. 

She couldn’t sleep after that. So she got up and went to fetch her Tarot cards. She lit the agarbattis and shuffled the cards when a sudden, unseen gust of wind knocked the Tarot cards to the floor. She felt a sense of foreboding; a cold icy hand seemed to touch her heart. She shivered. Goodness, what was it? This feeling of dread had persisted from yesterday and she wasn’t sure why or what it meant. She did a quick recap. 

24 hours ago. 

Yesterday was her weekly tarot card reading at the Club and this feeling must have started then. She had three clients and yes….yes; it was when Kunal had sat for his reading that the gnawing started. He was a well dressed young man and very polite, in fact polite to a fault. He had asked for a reading of his future. She looked at him, smiled her ‘relax smile’ and made small talk as she shuffled the cards. The cards felt unusually heavy and dropped from her hands. He abruptly pushed the chair back and said “It’s all right…I will be back tomorrow,” and rudely walked away. Well, that certainly wasn’t polite! 

Thankfully he had been the last client and so she gathered her things and went to the dining hall. She saw that Kunal was sitting there with some other guys…He turned around as she entered and the fading rays of the sun fell on him. To her horror his eyes glowed red. She gasped and took a step backwards… her heart thudded painfully and she sort of plonked herself into a chair at the table where her husband was already seated. Sensing something amiss he held her hands and the warmth made her calm down. Her breathing became normal and she took deep breaths to control her fear. Fear of what? After some time she gathered up courage to casually turn around and check Kunal’s table. But it was empty. She sighed in relief.

Today.

Her experience as a medium and Tarot card reader made her aware of the paranormal. And she knew there was something or somebody out there trying to reach her. And Kunal was involved. She decided to do a bit of ‘jasoosi’(play detective) about him. His red eyes had sent a chill up her spine but she was not giving up. She called up the secretary of the club and casually asked a few questions about various members before narrowing down to Kunal. Being a regular at the club she did not remember having seen Kunal or his family around anytime. The secretary wasn’t too sure but the bartender had a bit of information. “Madam, he has shifted from Poona and recently lost his wife..”

“How” ,I asked..The niggle starting again.

“He lost his wife.”He repeated.

“Oh, how...I mean..Natural causes?”

“Not too sure, madam but she was young and pregnant. A tragedy indeed.”

“Is he a member?”

“No, do you remember Wing Commander Ahuja?”

“Yes,I do… ..Kunal is his son?”

“No, son-in-law.”

She gasped as a sudden feeling of breathlessness engulfed her. Her hands felt clammy again.

There was something wrong. Definitely wrong.

Her friend Neeta had more information. “Kunal was abroad but after marriage settled in Poona. Their wedding had been a grand affair .Reema had been a mousy character, not too talkative …she was educated and all…”

“How did she die?”asked Supriya.

“Not too sure…Tell you what, I have a friend in Poona who attended the wedding and might have more news”, said Neeta and Supriya agreed.

“Call me”, she said. Icy fingers clutched her heart as she got into the car in the parking lot. As she reversed, she looked back ….right into the eyes of the driver behind her. It was Kunal and he raised his hands in a polite salute. She nodded and drove off. Why did he make her uneasy?

Anil pooh-poohed her fear and said that her cards were spooking her and to relax. But she couldn’t. She sat near the phone and waited for Neeta’s call .Finally she grabbed the phone and dialled. “Any news?”, she actually rapped.

“Whoa, hold on …it is an uncommon story, she drowned in the bath, her body was blue in death.”As soon as Neeta finished, Supriya felt as though she was choking. She screamed. Anil was surprised to see his wife on the floor writhing and behaving as though she had something over her head. She kept trying to pull something away from herself. “Supriya…what’s happening to you?” he yelled shaking her. With a loud gasp Supriya surfaced, surfaced as though from asphyxiation.

Anil hugged her and held on till her breathing became normal. “What is the matter?”He asked gently.

“I am not sure”, she said and wasn’t actually sure at all. She just knew that there was something fishy about Reema’s death. Could she have been murdered? A bag over her head? But why? Why would anyone do that? Was it Kunal? Her mind screamed YESSSSSS but where was the proof? The poor girl had been pregnant too…. 

She decided to draw her cards. The Devil card breathed fire into her eyes…..she was sure now. But what could she do? She couldn’t order an exhumation without proper proof..Tarot cards were not even accepted. Oh dear, she felt helpless. Proof, she needed proof. She whipped out her cards again. Sword cards stared her in the face….bad…then a cup card….cup…something to drink? Yes, she could have been drugged….the Devil card again…she was getting a picture….but valid proof? Who could tell her?

 As she wondered what to do a sudden gust of wind blew a polythene bag into the room. She looked at it…it was the cover from a recent purchase. She kept looking at it, her mind busy. As if in slow motion, the cover rose into the air, slapped against her face, made her gasp in shock and a feeling of acute asphyxiation. She gasped like a goldfish and sat down abruptly, her body pale and shaking, “Who is it?”, she whispered. “Help me if you want help”, she gulped. A shadow passed by slowly and a pair of grotesque eyes looked blindly at her. Eyes of a person who had gagged to death. It was gone in a spilt second. Supriya fainted.

That was how Anil found her. 

The next day. 

Anil agreed to talk to someone in Poona who could throw some light on the death of Reema. In the meantime Supriya decided to talk to Reema’s father. The Wing commander was a broken man, his daughter’s death had made him an alcoholic and he slurred as he spoke. He did not make any sense but his last sentence made her sit up. “What irony, my daughter, a swimming champion drowned in her bath”! She looked at the picture of garlanded Reema hanging on the wall and whispered, “What are you trying to tell me?”

The eyes seemed to pierce into her; she just could not look away.

Reema was sitting in front of a gnarled red hibiscus bush and there was a half grown mango tree next to it. Visions of a sad Reema sitting near the tree and her thoughts flashed into Supriya’s mind. Flashes of Kunal and her in happier times planting the tree and Kunal turning out to be a lesser man and having an affair and asking her for a divorce or leave the house..Gosh, Supriya felt weak. As she watched the photograph fell down. It did not splinter as it was acrylic but something fell from it. Supriya picked it up to hang it back as Wing Commander Ahuja sloshed to his feet. The piece of paper dangling from the picture caught her eye and she prised it off. It was a number of papers stuck together. She read the first one and her eyes popped .The writing was uneven and it read, “Kunal is not what he seems, sometimes I think he is damaged somewhere, he is violent and lovey dovey in the same breath.” The next one said,” He doesn’t love me at all , I think he has found another girl, I will have to tell Pappa, I don’t want to stay here anymore,” The next one said, “I think he is drugging me….I am scared he will murder me, he is not normal…he was talking to someone “She handed all the papers to Ahuja who sobered as he read……The papers were a revelation. And Ahuja acted, he was no longer the sloshed drunkard.

The next day the headlines made Supriya heave a sigh of relief . “ You know Anil , that Kunal is crazy…what did he gain out of the whole situation? Poor Neeta, pregnant also…the cad!” 

“Property Supriya….money makes devils of humans”, said Anil. She shivered. Throttling her with plastic and then dumping her in the bathtub….he forgot that she was a swimming champion”. RIP Reema, she whispered and this time the cool breeze did not chill her. She knew Reema was at peace. And so was Ahuja and so was she!