The Secret

"What are you doing here, at this odd time?", Sarah squeaked, looking at her husband's blood ridden hands and clothes.

Salem stood in the middle of their backyard petrified, the shovel in his hands dropped. Nearby the pile of soil looked like a freshly dug grave.

Sarah came near him baffled... horrified. What she had just witnessed was scary enough to bring hell out of anyone, "Were you digging a grave?"

"Sara, please go back inside. I'll come, too, in a couple of minutes and explain it all to you but right now go inside. I beg you please !", Salem tried to push her inward but she stood frozen.

"I will not unless you tell me the truth !" She retorted, determined.

Salem sighed and replied softly, "I will but after completing the burial ."

*****

"What I am about to tell you is the biggest secret of my life and I hope being my wife you will keep it like one !" Salem mumbled. He has just returned from the washroom after changing his clothes and washing his hands.

Now he looked completely clean and innocent, Sara observed him sadly. Her heart beat faster.

"You love me, huh? you have vowed to support me no matter what! Can I trust you?" he demanded assurance.

"Y-y-yes.... you....c-c-c-can... " she stammered.

"Listen ", he bent closer to her and whispered.

"Today on my return from office, I was overspeeding a bit when out of nowhere a kid came in front of my car. He got hit and died on the instance."

Sarah gasped in horror, "Did you take him to the hospital?"

"Do you think I was a fool? I was overspeeding in a residential area, killed a child... Had I taken him to the hospital I would surely be sitting in the police cell now waiting for a life sentence !"

"But doctors might have saved that kid's life?"

"I never saw doctors putting the souls back in deads. "

"But.." she tried to assert but was interrupted right away.

"Now you may know why I was trying to keep it a secret from you as well. you are not smart enough to know the gravity of situations and keep secrets!"

"So what were you doing in the backyard?" she asked trembling.

"Burying his dead body!" he replied plainly.

"Are you mad? Why didn't you leave him there and just come home? " Sarah shrieked.

"Because when I lifted him his blood spilled on my clothes and my car. I was too afraid to think clearly."

"But when you came home I didn't notice any blood on your shirt", Sarah spoke thinking hard.

"I entered from the backdoor, changed clothes, put the dirty shirt in the car's trunk along with the dead body of the boy, and then came to the kitchen through the front door to meet you so you may not doubt anything. Now I waited for these late hours in the night so that everyone including you and neighbors might be asleep. I tried to be as careful as I can but still, you caught me red-handed." He looked guilty.

Sarah's head spun and her heart pumped faster. Salem had just buried an innocent soul after killing him and he was talking so casually as if it was a piece of cake for him. She pressed her temples, they were hurting so much.

"What will happen now ?"

"As long the secret is guarded, we are safe. there's nothing to worry about. Now behave normally as if nothing has happened so nobody may suspect us. Stop trembling and sleep."

**********

"Listen, I'm reminding you again. DON'T TRUST YOUR SISTER, EVEN. The secret is the secret until it's kept like one. Are you getting me?" Salem muttered worriedly after parking the car in the parking lot. They had just reached Sara's sister Natasha's birthday party.

"I'll. Now stop reminding me again and again", Sarah replied annoyed.

" See, it's for our betterment. I don't think your sister hides anything from her husband. "Salem explained.

"So do I. I also tell you every single stuff. We are a family, you should remember that!"

"But I think her husband, Amaar, is jealous of me. We should not take risks."

"We are already late, stop schooling me like a kid," Sarah replied angrily.

"Ok let's go. But please be careful!" Salem affirmed again but Sarah didn't listen. She had already opened the door and stepped outside the car.

********

"Oh, now I know why you were so worried ever since you came here. Don't get upset, everything will be ok soon." Natasha tried to comfort Sarah by caressing her hand affectionately. "Have you considered moving abroad yet, you know you are not safe here anymore. Police will be after you now?"

"I can't think ostensively, I'm so scared right now," Sarah replied wiping her tears.

"Come on. Get normal and come outside. Everyone must be waiting for us." Natasha instructed her while dragging her from her arm. Sarah obeyed her without any resistance.

"Natasha... Please don't tell this to anyone, not even to Ammar... It's our secret", Sarah reminded her before going outside.

" Don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" Natasha assured her, smiling.

*****

Salem was remorseful as well as vigilant. He was carefully observing everyone at the party. When he saw Sarah and Natasha coming out of the restroom, he instantly understood the solemnity of the predicament. He became more observant. Something inside his head rang the alarms.

Natasha after a while left Sarah with other guests and went to Ammar. Soon both of them were out of sight. It was the moment that clicked Salem. He decided to act promptly. In an instant, he went to Sarah, and momentarily, they were driving back home without greeting goodbyes to anyone.

*********

"I always knew you were not good at keeping secrets. Now get ready to bear the consequences of what you have just done!" Salem yelled at Sara while driving the car at the speed of sound.

"Slow down. Don't fuss! Nothing has happened. Your secret is still a secret... " Sarah howled back.

"I don't know if you are playing dumb or are a real one! But what you have just done is going to cost us much more than we can imagine!"

*******

"Sir, you are certainly misguided. Someone... Mmm.... might have... Pppp.... played a....app... prank upon yyyy.... you guys!" Salem sputtered as he tried to stop the cops at the door, who had just arrived with the search warrants. He was visibly trembling.

"Every culprit tries to mislead the police initially by denying his crime just like you. If you were innocent you would not be afraid of anything. Moreover, we were informed by confirmed resources what you are hiding in your backyard. Come on Mark, let's search their backyard for a grave!" the Police Officer Andrew ordered his colleague Mark. They both went straight to the backside of the house while Sarah stood frozen in the hallway... listening... repenting!!

But wasn't it too late to cry over spilt milk?

********

"What the hell is this? This does not look like blood at all!", officer Andrew shrieked while waiving the red cloth in the air. They had just opened the grave but there was no dead body inside it. Only a piece of cloth with red strains was found. The strains looked more like red paint than blood.

" There is nothing else in this entire yard, I have double-checked." Officer Mark agreed.

"You would never find anything anyway because there is none. I lied to my wife. I knew she was bad at keeping secrets. So I made up a story about killing a boy and then burying him in our backyard. I just wanted to validate my assumptions. Here are the results. Now she may know how bad is she at keeping secrets and trusting her sister and brother in law... Sorry, you were also dragged into my prank!" Salem explained smirking.

The officers looked at each other in disbelief.

"The person who called the police is my brother in law, Ammar. I manipulated this prank, just to prove his intentions. He was jealous of me so he accused me of murder, nothing else," Salem further informed the police officers.

"Lack of evidence has surely supported your claims. Sorry for the inconvenience!", officer Mark apologized and left. Officer Andrew followed him too.

********

" I'm sorry, I was wrong to trust them. I will be always vigilant in the future. Please forgive me this time...." Sarah was apologizing to Salem. Her hands joined in a common gesture of apology.

But Salem wasn't listening. He was too busy admiring his wisdom because of which he timely survived. The moment he realized he was caught by his wife he had instantly buried the dead body in the yard of that abandoned house, few houses away from his home. And hid a red-painted cloth in his backyard instead. Had he spoken the truth to his wife he would have been behind the bars right now. But thanks to his intelligence, his secret was still a secret!

*******