In Full Bloom

Have you ever started something and was unable to stop it? This is a story about revenge!

Today is the first day of spring. It’s that time of the year again. It’s warming up and you can smell the scent of jasmine and blooming flowers. The breeze that penetrates your soul promising a fresh start and new possibilities of better days ahead. Who doesn’t like spring? It feels like life is giving us another shot, a brand new, blank page to begin again. Here’s to another season yet to live and prosper!

This morning I got out of bed feeling a sudden rush of warm air. It was unusually pleasant. I remembered what day it was: the first day of spring. I walked out of my room to see if my dream was real. I had to see if you were still here! Out on the balcony I saw you standing, clutching your coffee with both hands and looking at the sky, the way you always did, with admiration, as if you see it for the first time. The dress you wore matched the color of your eyes. Those eyes looking at me. I reached out and said, “I’m glad you’re here Laila!” A smile of contentment rested on your face. I know spring was your favorite season. I can still hear you saying, “ spring breathes new life into the world around us.”

I can somehow see you walking through the blooming fields, smelling the spring flowers and rejoicing. Your face took me back to the days when I was fortunate, shielded and beaming.

Today, I did woke up feeling the rush of fine warm air but I couldn’t get out of bed. I dreaded getting up to look for you. I felt those waves of fire growing bigger and swallowing everything in me. I live in the abyss. Today is the first day of spring without you. I am afraid!

If Tommy could change one thing in his life, it’d be choosing not to meet you, Laila. He’d choose to never have known you. “What a plague, a burden, an ailment!” he’d cry out. Everyone could see it, after you slipped away, things have changed for good. Tommy has become bitter and hostile. The enigma that still surrounds your death leaves him in a peculiar state. If I could describe it in words, I’d say sinister. He hasn’t come back to the Sterling Theatre since that day. He barely answers my phone calls. His mind tells him that somehow I am responsible for your accident. You told me he has a sick mind before. I believe you now. You were always right. Always!

    Dear Laila, I tried contacting Tommy again last night, I did it for you. He sounded gloomy, as usual. The love you two shared was admirable. You were a sunflower and he was your sun. When you were gone, the rays of sunshine were faint and dim. Do you think the sun grieved, too? We have survived a year without you. A year where things went and are still going out of hand. Today is the day I decided to reveal it, the secret behind your untimely death. The first day of spring, your favorite time of the year is the time to uncover the truth. Words are struggling to come out and my heart is leaping out of my chest. Forgive me Laila if you could make no sense out my fragmented story, but when you’ve kept a secret for so long, it becomes so hard to let it out. 

It was the night before your unfortunate demise. Tommy was walking down the street where our theatre lies, the theatre where you and I used to work. During this time, he was a part of a project called “Poe’s Resurrection” and he played the role of Montresor, a character in a short story called “ The Cask of Amontillado” I am certain you know all this Laila, you’ve been doing the script writing yourself. 

“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” I can still remember his opening line, the way his voice shook with anger as he said it and how he trembled like a mad man. Tommy is a talented actor, we all agree to that. We were a small happy theatrical family! Laila, the talented writer and I, her best friend, the less appealing and poorly talented actress! We were used to actors barging in at any time of the day t o do more rehearsals or pick up a costume or just hang around. It was the time of our lives! Life seemed to be smiling at us. You had the career, the money and the perfect boyfriend. I had a little less of everything, but I had you! A shoulder to cry on and a company I could never get tired of.

Back to the ill fated night! What you don’t know about that night is why and how did Tommy end up right outside the theatre’s closed gate. What was on his mind then? Why was he shaking when it was nearly summer and the weather was warm? What was hidden under his large cap? The cap that had bells attached to it — it wasn’t even his character’s cap! And who was there to hear the jingling bells on his cap? Who was he expecting to meet behind the gate? It was when he raised a bloody finger to ring the bell that his strength failed him and he fell down. I opened the gate to what looked like a dead corpse with a familiar face. I dragged him inside and shook him awake. His eyes looked bare and hollow. 

“What happened, Tommy?” I asked. 

“I was riding my bike and….” He panted. “ I think I hit a man!” Tommy burst in tears. 

“What? Is he hurt? Where is he now?” I gasped.

Tommy replied, “I think he’s still there, I may have killed him.”

A scream of terror escaped me.I asked about the blood on his shirt and he explained that he tried to revive him but wasn’t successful. That night was long and heavy, Laila. Tommy and I sat there contemplating what happened. I was terrified and so was he. He begged me not to tell and I begged him to report it. The sun crept through the window. It was morning. I was thinking how someone out there has lost a son, a husband or a sibling and the person responsible for this tragedy is sitting by me. Death is cruel, but so is life! 

Learning about your death, Laila, was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Tommy and I completely forgot about his accident the next morning. We were immobilized by the news. It all began when the actors, directors and crew showed up to the theatre but you didn’t. You never answered your phone nor buzzed us in to your place. It was noon when we learnt the news. A dead body found in bed with several gun shots, and whoever did it remains anonymous. I cried a lot and Tommy did, too. We’ve been investigated and the theatre was shut for some time. One month passed, life was back to normal, but I wasn’t. I am still shocked at your death as if it’s just happened. Like a storm, it blows through me breaking me to pieces. Why did you leave, Laila? 

Today I decided to share what I’ve been hiding for so long. I realize that this diary, If ever found, could send someone straight to jail. There must be a reason why Tommy has averted from us after your death. He abandoned me, his best friend and secret keeper, and released his anger on everyone. I’ve been told that sometimes his neighbors heard him cry your name in his sleep. Why has no one ever suspected that he might have been the murderer? Of course, I have told the police that we spent the night together at the theatre. I didn’t lie! Tommy would never do it, you knew how much he loved you. This leaves us with very few suspects. Who would want to kill you?

Let’s think together; the night Tom came to the theatre, what was I doing there? That was the first question he asked me when he was awake. I was lying on the floor when I heard the bells ring. I clearly had no idea why I was holding an empty glass of Amontillado. I believe I had been doing some tarot reading there and then I had a drink or two. Do you know what my readings said ? I still tremble every time I recall the empty glass of Amontillado they found in your hand. Were we together that night?

  People said, “When Laila smiled, the whole world lit up.” Every one was dazzled by your beauty. When you faced any troubles, everyone was there to save you. “Laila has a bright future!” said the owner of the theatre one day. Tommy chose to ask you out when he saw us for the first time. You were a talented writer and a compassionate person. You used to cry when you saw a stray cat and ran the fields in a euphoric state every day. You embraced the world blissfully. I saw you growing more fond of life day by day. Since we were kids, I have seen life putting you ahead of me in every possible way. Life preferred you; a thousand times everyone chose you. I never hated you, Laila. I just hated that you were above me.

You always said that you were my mirror, that no one would care for me as much as you do. You were faithful and true. But have I ever told you that I needed to see a reflection of myself ? I never wanted to see through your mirror. I’ll tell you one more thing, Laila. The night you said I betrayed you was the night I decided to break faith. I had to let it loose, all the outrage. After all I’ve been taking for you. I’d swim oceans for you and you still called it betrayal!      

That night I stole my father’s gun and shot my mirror dead! 

Relieved….