Where Is The Body?

                  Where is the body?

I should have taken the underbridge. It’s very difficult to cross the road during morning rush hour. There was a long line of pedestrians, all waiting for the light to turn red. Giving them a tough competition was the equally long line of vehicles on the road. The drivers grind their teeth whenever the light turned red. In this battle between the legs and the wheels I was a liability with my crutch and a limping leg. I could have taken a cab at the hospital and headed straight for the home but today just the thought of home gave me jitters. Instead, I thought of going for a cup of coffee, spend some more time in the outside.

I quickly followed the crowd as the light turned red. A kind fellow gave me a hand and helped me cross the road. After thanking him I looked around for a good café and found one. It took me good five minutes to walk upto the café door and as I was about to enter I saw him, right in front of the café, smiling at me. The crutch fell down from my hand and I grabbed the wall to keep myself steady.

“How are you alive?” I shot a bullet into you five days back.”

He gives a sinister smile like the one he always gives whenever he’s in a rotten mood.

“You think you can kill me, Shawn?’ he says. “ You’re a sissy. You can’t even kill a bug….you will kill me!”

“I remember it clearly, Drake. I remember the pain on your face, the blood oozing from your body and the thrill in my heart. Yes, I killed you that day.”

He moved aside to give way to a couple exiting the café. The girl gave me a strange look, and said something to the boy. The boy grinned as they went past me.

Drake moved back to his position again with the sinister smile pasted on his face.

“We are in this together, Shawn. I am your reflection.”

I turned to look at the couple who were now heading towards the parking lot. I tried to decipher what the girl meant when I heard Drake’s voice again.

“She was right, you know. Think, think from the beginning.”

When I turned back he was gone.

Now that I’ve seen Drake alive, there’s no way I can go back to my apartment. He must be there, waiting for me with a well thought about revenge in his head. I took a cab, found myself a small hotel and checked in. On the way to make sure that he was not following me I changed the cab twice. Drake was not like this always. We used to be great buddies. He was my rock, kind of like an older brother always ready to protect me. Somewhere along the growing up phase he took the role more seriously and ruined it for us.

After having a light dinner I lay down on the single bed thinking about the day I had first met him.

It was a cloudy day at the small, sleepy hill station which was my hometown. Mom was packing my father’s lunch box while he was shouting at her. It was the daily routine of our house. I’ve never seen my father not angry. He was a daily wager in the town factory. Every evening he would come home drunk and either shout at my mother or beat her. Once at the age of twelve when I tried to rescue her from his beatings, he cracked his belt on me. From then on it was a hide and seek game between me and my father much like the thing I was facing in school with the bullies. Some rich boys for whom I was the easy patsy.

Back to the cloudy day- My father was shouting at my mom and I was eavesdropping.

“Tell that son of yours, no more school,” he said to my mom. “He’s old enough to earn. He’ll accompany me to factory from tomorrow.”

“He is only fourteen,” mom said in a barely audible voice.

“I thought he’s thirteen! In that case he can accompany me now.” Saying this he walked towards my room.

Seeing no other option, I jumped out of the window of my room and ran towards the back street. I hid behind a trash bin and prayed with a thumping heart for my father to not find me. After a very long time I came out of my hiding place and was contemplating whether to go home or not when a voice said, “Don’t be a fool.”

It was a boy of around my age. He introduced himself as Drake.

“It’s time for your school, let’s go,” he said.

I was in my school uniform along with the bag but instead of shoes I had my slippers on.

“Make an excuse for those. Your teacher will understand,” Drake said when he found me looking at my feet.

“I’m not worried about my teacher.”

“Don’t worry,” Drake gave a sinister half smile, “I’ll take care of the boys toady.”

I was confused. Who was this boy, how does he know about me so much, and why does he want to help me?

“Are you in my school?”

“No, but from today I will always be with you. Think of me as your big brother,” said Drake.

That day I saw him tackle the bullies. One got his nose broken, another one got a deep cut on his forehead and the third one got a tooth knocked out. Those ninnies were so afraid of Drake that when their parents asked who did that to them, they gave my name. I was expelled from the school.

I got a good thrashing from father, not because of the expulsion, he was happy about that. Incidentally one of the boys was the son of his factory supervisor and he was afraid he might lose his job.

As I was trying to sleep through my pain Drake came into my room.

“I can save you from all this,” he offered

I wanted to give the old man a good dose of his own medicine. I told Drake not to break any bone but thrash him black and blue. He again gave that sinister smile.

A gurgling voice prompted me to go out where my father was sleeping. I was horrified to see Drake trying to strangulate him.

“What are you doing? I didn’t ask for this,” I said as I tried to restrict him but he was more powerful than I was and the task was done. By the time my mother came out Drake was long gone. She found me with my father’s dead body.

There was a strange look in my mother’s eyes that night. It was not a glint of happiness or relief but a mixture of horror, sadness, hatred, and despise.

“Go away, and don’t ever come back!” she hissed.

That night changed my whole world. Something broke inside me. I left home for an unknown destination. Drake found me at the bus depot and though I despised him from the bottom of my heart, he was the only one left in my life.

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From that on we became inseparable or to be precise he latched on to me. Drake supported me in all my highs and lows especially the lows. Nothing much changed in my demeanor, from the timid boy I grew up to be a timid man. Drake took care of all the bullies in my life, be it a colleague, a manager, a mean client, harassing landlord or a rude passerby.

It was going very well until Rico came into my life. She was like a breath of fresh air. She brought a whole new perspective to my life. Rico was beautiful, sensible, gentle and fun to talk to. I started spending most of my free time with her. Slowly my personality started to change. I became more confident, bold and friendly.

One Sunday morning I suddenly felt the absence of Drake. I was spending all my after office time with Rico. Coming home late at night I always presumed him to have slept. I called out to him but he was not there to respond. I reminded myself that this was not the first time that he has done so. Few months back I hosted a promotion party at my home and invited almost all of my colleagues. This made him very angry. He kept himself locked in his room for the entire night and vanished the next morning without leaving me any note or clue. He returned after 25 days.

It’s good if he has left. I want some privacy in my life and with him gone Rico and I can live together. I admonished myself for this selfishness. Drake was there when everyone left me. I thought of giving him a call but then remembered he has never shared his number with me. In fact I have never seen any mobile on him. I took out my phone to text Rico. As I opened the message box I got the shock of my life. There was a long list of conversation between Drake and Rico. On reading the chats it was clear that Rico was not cheating me. She assumed it was me on the other end. With each passing conversation I felt like killing Drake. He pretended to be my friend, well-wisher and now back stabbing me by going after my girl. At the last chat I froze.

Drake- Lets’ meet at breakfast tomorrow.

Rico- Sure. Place?

Drake- At the back of the old church. I’ll bring sandwich and coffee.

The old church was in a dilapidated state. It was not in use anymore. With a feeling of foreboding I left for the church. It was not far from my place, a mere fifteen minutes’ walk. I took a cab and reached there in five minutes, found Drake on the steps of the church.

“What’s going on Drake?”

He looked at me and gave that same sinister smile.

“Shawn! Come, I was waiting for you.”

“Waiting for me or Rico?”

“So, you’ve seen the messages. I wanted you to see those. Now you know that Rico is also a back stabbing witch.”

“You are a back stabber, Drake, not Rico. She thought I was chatting with her as you used my phone.” I shouted at him.

 “Shawn, no one will care for you like the way I do. I am your reflection. We understand each other,” Drake said while walking down the steps. “Let me handle this witch for you like I had others.”

Something sinister shined in his hand.

A cab stopped at the gate of the church and Rico got down. She couldn’t see Drake as he was not in her line of vision. She waved and started walking towards me with a smile on her lips.

“Rico wait!” I shouted.

She stopped in her tracks. Drake came out in the opening and pointed the pistol at her. Seeing no other alternative I jumped on him.

Bang! Bang! There were two fires. I felt a surge of pain. As I closed my eyes, I saw Rico running towards me crying my name out.

                                       ********************

All this happened five days back. I was hospitalized probably by Rico. When I recovered consciousness yesterday morning the first thing the doctor asked me was why I attempted suicide.

A hundred things crossed my mind with the speed of light. Why did Rico say suicide and why she is not here? What happened to Drake’s body? How did the bullet end up in my thigh?

At the end I concluded that when I jumped on Drake his bullet hit my thigh. I then snatched the pistol from him and fired at his chest. He is dead. I remember the surprised look on his face and the excessive blood coming out from…somewhere. Still to be on the safe side I asked the doctor if there was any other patient admitted along with me. He replied in negative.

I told the doctor that it was an accident and not a suicide. He relieved me after a day of rest. I tried Rico’s phone many times but it was continuously switched off. I don’t blame her after what she has witnessed. She probably thinks I am the bad guy here.

So, that was my life with Drake. A life that is over now as I’ve finished him off or that’s what I had thought.

“Think, think Shawn!” Drake’s voice jolted me out of my thoughts. I sat up and looked into the mirror. There he was sitting right next to me on the bed. Suddenly the café girl’s voice echoed in my head- Why is he talking to his reflection? Can’t the fool see the glass?

Reflection! Drake has said he is my reflection. The scenes started pouring in my head one by one. After Drake hit the bullies why were my knuckles bleeding and my clothes torn? When Drake killed father, why did mother found me in the act of choking him? Mr. Shaw’s motor accident, landlord’s falling down from stairs, and finally pointing the pistol at Rico…..I saw myself instead of Drake in all the places. The café!! Yes, of course it was a tinted glass acting like a mirror.

“Oh my God!”

“No, not God. You created me Shawn and I’ll always remain with you like your reflection.”

I saw myself in the mirror saying these lines with a sinister smile.

                               *************************