Cross Roads: Pick a Path (15 page)

“No Arrun, not people like you.” Condoled
Nilani.

“Nilani! Look at me! I’m responsible for so
much!” I cried, it was too much to bear; I was actually beginning
to feel guilt. I started to feel responsible for parts of the
negativity the world produces. “Hasini, would hate me right now!
Don’t you?” I asked.

“
Take a second to think, you keep
thinking off all the bad things you’ve done. You’ve never really
considered the fact that you know what to fix. Remember what I told
you, I could see through you. Behind the hard front you put up,
you’ve got the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. You want to see things
change, and you’ve got the voice to lead people to change. Stop
tearing up like a little baby Arrun.”

She whipped the tear from my eyes, before
leaning back against my chest. I smiled; it was one of those
moments. The moment you smile, and have no absolute clue as to why
you have a big grin on your face. I closed to rest, hoping for a
new road.

~

My eyes opened to glistening of the suns
rays, it was murderous with my head throbbing. I knew I drank too
much last night, and it didn’t help as Nilani pounded my chest to
wake up. “Arrun your phones ringing,” she whispered. The number
wasn’t familiar, but it was probably one of the guys calling from
the Duranji house.

“Hello?” I responded, in my wakening tone. A
brief moment of silence woke me up.

“Hello?” I repeated.

“
You did set fear in me. I stood in fear
glancing down at my motionless son. You made me regret ever
entering this life. I’ve been fighting with Marona for years now,
and I’ve never stood shocked till I saw you shoot my son. Though
when the fear faded, and that it did, only revenge boiled in my
blood. I haven’t even done my final rites for my son yet, not until
I show you what fear is. Have you got a call from your friends?
Remone, Thambi; do those names ring a bell? You think they got home
after they dropped you off at the Commissioners house? Why don’t
you give them a call, check up on them.”

“Khan, don’t do it!” I shouted, before
hearing the line go dead. I rushed to call both their phones, and I
didn’t get a response from either one of them. “Is everything
okay?” Inquired Nilani; she must have seen my face light up with
fear for the worst possible situation. “Nilani, go home! Text me
when you’re home safe!” I ordered, as I caught an auto-rickshaw for
her safe passage.

I didn’t want to think of the worst, but I
can’t underestimate the extents a man would go to after watching
his only son being killed before his own eyes. Moments later the
phone rang again, this time around I didn’t wait a second before
answering.

“Khan, Khan! Leave them alone; it’s me you
want, come get me! I’m at Marina Beach.” I informed.

“
I guess you called your friends, they
didn’t answer did they. I’d be surprised if the fat one did, seeing
how he’s been chopped piece by piece, scattered all across Chennai.
The other one has been fairly quiet, since we made him watch your
buddy get slashed up. I think he maybe traumatized; do you feel the
fear sinking in yet? We’re veterans kid, don’t come to play the
game if you aren’t prepared for war. You may want to hurry up and
make it to Napier Bridge, well that is if you want to save your
friend.”

He was right, fear; I felt it creep down my
spine. This wasn’t a sadistic joke; it was reality. I quickly
stopped the next rickshaw coming my way, and as I told him the
destination I called Verone to inform him of the situation. I was
closer to the bridge, but this situation wasn’t going to go well if
I were alone. I kept putting grave pressure on the driver, and he
responded by driving faster. Napier Bridge was just six minutes
from Marina beach, and by the time we made it there I practically
jumped into the oncoming traffic. The rickshaw driver began yelling
for his money, as I walked through the cars, honking, trying their
best to avoid hitting me.

I stood confused and worried for a few
seconds; I couldn’t spot Khan or his men. I was beginning to think
that this was all a big diversion, maybe a trap. Though it wasn’t,
they did come, and when they came it was with full force. A few
vehicles, and dozens of men; they blocked the oncoming traffic. All
but helpless stood a crowd of civilians, as if they were prepared
to watch a show.

Khan was first to step out, and behind him
was a man dragging out Remone. He was beaten and bloody, at first I
couldn’t even identify him. When the rest of Khans men stepped out,
I knew that my only chance of saving my friend would be to hand
over my head.

“Khan leave Remone! It’s me you want!” I
shouted.

He shrugged off my offer with a smile; the
look of revenge was evident in his eyes. I wanted to hope that
Thambi was still alive, but I wasn’t stupid. I know Khan wasn’t
lying when he said Thambi’s body was scattered across the city. I
have the blood of a friend on my hands already; I wasn’t ready to
allow that of another spill over too. At this point I had one shot
at saving my friend, and it maybe at the cost of offering my own
head. The fear had already gotten to me, throughout my entire stint
of life I never truly experienced fear until I had another persons
life in my hands, the life of a person I actually cared about.

Nervous, and embodied in terror I ran
towards Remone, hoping they’d let him go. A trip, summoned the
cards for a change in scenario. I fell to the floor, bashing my
head against the hard surfaced road, and when I glanced up I saw
Remone being forced down to his knees. His face was partially
covered in dry blood, as a few drips warmly drenched out. His head
was down, but he looked up to take a quick glimpse at me.

“They cut up Thambi, right in front of me.
Don’t spare them Arrun.” Cried Remone; as I watched Khans men hand
him a machete. Remone knew what was coming; he dropped his head
back down. I felt a bit dizzy because of the knock to my head, but
I tried to will myself up.

It was too late; I felt my sanity take part.
I watched as my best friends head rolled across the floor.
Traumatized, my brain couldn’t process what happened before my
eyes. My eyes widened and I dropped to the floor once again,
bashing the floor in the rage, as the tears ran down my face. It’s
on me, all me. I noticed a familiar feeling creeping back into my
life, the questioning of my existence, and the thought of death
following those around me. I could just lay on the floor, with my
head faced to its side, listening to the machete being scraped
against the floor as Khan walked towards me, or I could try and
live to be the change. My death may spare the lives of a few, but
this war would just continue. It was my mistake for sparing Khans
life, and it must be my responsibility to end it.

A sudden breach within the crowd, as the
civilians attempted to flee the scene, my support came thrashing
in. I watched as my men pulled in, attempting to gun down the
counter part. It was a shame though, they were prepared to drive
off; the first of the few vehicles drove by picking up Khan, as the
others provided cover. I got back on two feet attempting to catch
up with the first car; “Arrun!” Called a voice from behind, it was
a man in the last of Khans vehicles. It was odd because he was
masked unlike the others, and I tried to grasp hold of his mask in
my quick glancing second but to my loss, I received a demolishing
hit from a metal rod to my chest.

I felt miserable, desperately trying to
grasp breath. Sethu and Renny were the ones to help me up. “Remone,
where’s Remone!” I cried, still unable to come to terms of what I
witnessed. They both cried, attempting to calm me down.

“Don’t let Verone see the body!” I warned
them, but it was too late. I knew of the bond the both of them
shared. Marona attempted to console Verone as he held the headless
body of a brother; I never expected to see such reactions from men
who normally show no emotions at all. Miran, along with a few other
men continued to race down the street, in hopes of catching up with
Khan. I knew it was a long shot, it seemed as if they had already
planned according to every possible situation.

“Where’s Thambi Arrun?” Asked Renny.

“We have to kill them.” I responded.

“Where’s Thambi!” Questioned Renny once
more.

“Look at Remone! You think they spared
Thambi? They cut him to pieces and scattered him across the city.
We can’t even give him his last rites.” I cried.

“Lets go, right now.” Sethu cried.

It felt right; I didn’t want to say no. I
too felt the rage that boiled amongst my friends; Khan didn’t
deserve to live another day. Hot headed, ragged of revenge we tried
walking over to the car.

“Stop!” Ordered Marona.

“Why, how long will we stand watching people
die?” I retorted.

“Arrun, you aren’t thinking straight. We’ll
talk about this later.” Suggested Marona, I didn’t want to argue
with him, but I didn’t want wait as another day went by. Another
day, waiting for Khan to make his next plans; I killed his son; he
wasn’t going to be satisfied just yet.

“And what? Do you ask me to watch him kill
someone else? It could be Renny, Sethu, me, maybe even you the next
time!” I pressured.

“Arrun, stop! Remone deserves to be rested
first,” spoke Verone; I didn’t feel right listening to Marona, but
I felt the need to respect what Verone had to say. Remone was the
first person I had ever considered a friend; and I should feel
ashamed to have not considered resting my friend before acting out
of spite.

~

We thought we had won, I thought we had won.
I felt that I’d finally be able to walk away from a life of death.
I thought I could bring change to the world, cancelling the wrongs
we commit on a daily basis. Instead I stood amongst a crowd of all
our men, furiously mourning the death of two brothers. One of which
we weren’t even able to find. Verone lit the fire, cremating the
remains of Remone. I stared deep into the heavily breathing fire;
replicating the colour of a murderous setting sky.

No one spoke a word, and when Verone began
walking away towards the vehicle the rest of us followed. Renny
took the wheel, and we remained silent on the drive back to the
Duranji’s. The silence was of peace; it provided time for us to
process things out. I attempted to put the rage aside, trying to
find smarter means of dealing with this situation. Though one thing
is certain, the end shall not be peaceful.

Last night we were one as a family,
celebrating what was assumed to be a victory, and now the house
usually filled with life, fell silent. Most our men were scattered
across the house, trying to get their mind off things. I sat on a
couch across from Verone and Marona, remaining quiet as the both of
them did too.

“I’m home safe, I hope everything is fine.”
Read a text I received from Nilani. She sent it quite early in the
day, but I was in no mindset to respond.

“Arrun, can you come with me for a minute?”
Requested Marona, as he led me to the room where we first planned
to silence Khan. I was so sure that he had come up with a plan to
make a return hit, but he surprised me.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“What? Why are you apologizing?” I
asked.

“
My fault, its my fault that you’ve
become like this. I didn’t realize what I’ve made you become till I
saw your eyes earlier today. The rage I saw was monstrous, it
wasn’t you kid, and I’m responsible for you becoming this way. You
should go back to Toronto, walk away from this life! Take Nilani
with you and be happy, you could still do it. Get married, have
kids, it’s all in the cards for you! I’ve made you a criminal, I
felt like I saw myself in you. Though today I realized the amount
of hate I have for myself, I can’t stand aside and watch you become
the person I am.”

“
Marona, do you hear yourself? You
yourself realized that you’re better than all of this! I’ve been
meaning to talk to you about change, change for the better. We
don’t need to kill to make a statement. We shouldn’t enlist fear in
ordinary citizens, that’s what were doing wrong! Criminals,
Politicians, and anyone of higher authority, those are the ones we
want to tame. We have power, we can use it for a better purpose,
and it starts with you realizing that this isn’t the life you want
to die living.”

“Arrun, just listen! You should go back to
Toronto!” He insisted.

“But why? Don’t you see my vision for
change?” I replied.

“Change will not come without a war! Your
father wouldn’t want this!” He snapped.

“My father? What?” I asked. My thoughts
began to run curiously; I don’t understand why my dead father is
involved in this.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated, as a tear drenched
down his face.

~

The year was 1985; a year after Marona had
finished his ten-year sentence for a mass murder he committed when
he was eighteen. Standing aside him in crime was his trusted
childhood friend Durai, who had helped him commit the murder. Durai
had come out of prison two years earlier, he was now married and
expected to be a father quite soon.

Marona’s initial cause for actions came out
of revenge. With the assistance of Durai, he killed the people that
were responsible for the murder of the Duranji family. Durai,
didn’t really have anyone but Marona to call family, and
practically grew up a child of the Duranji household. They were
inseparable, and they continued to be inseparable as they raised
anarchy across the streets of Chennai. Over the period of a few
months, they were starting to grasp attention from people all over
India. They began taking out the top kingpins, leading to the
association of friends with higher authority.

Time and influence are the two chemical
compounds responsible for ones change in path. Such was what
happened between the two; as the business collided with criminal
activities, Raja was brought in to help share the load. Durai on
one hand was being forced to walk away from the life by his wife,
for the sake of his newborn child. Yet his loyalty remained with
his friend, but he knew it would be quite difficult raising a child
in this environment.