Cross Roads: Pick a Path (16 page)

Durai started to notice things going in the
wrong direction after the addition of Raja to the crew. Sure he did
bring new concepts of making money, but they came at the cost of
ruining lives of innocent people. At first it was just murders,
murders of people who did wrong things; now its prostitution,
smuggling, trafficking, and more. All at the beginning stages, give
it a few years more, and who knows where this will end up.

Unlike Durai, Marona had the negative
influence of Raja winding him in the wrong direction. He started to
present Marona of the wealth and glory that awaits him in the
future, all that won’t come if Durai is still around.

Raja made it pretty clear to Marona that
there could only be one king, and if it were to be him, Durai must
die, with no loose ends.

There was a month left till Arrun’s first
birthday, and plans for a party were already in the works. It was a
Wednesday morning, when Marona came for an unexpected visit.

“There’s something I need to talk to you
about.” Said Marona.

“Give me a few minutes, I just got to
change.” Durai replied.

Devi, Durai’s wife was in the kitchen
cooking; while Durai was upstairs getting ready to go out, Marona
stepped in to the kitchen.

“Will you be staying for lunch?” Asked Devi,
unable to bear having a conversation Marona replied, “I’m sorry.”
He pulled out the pistol with an attached silencer that was held
underneath his shirt, and reacted before Devi could even cry for
help. With the sound of the cooking food, it was hard to even make
out the minimal sound the pistol made.

Marona returned to the living room, and sat
on the couch, attempting to play it cool.

“Alright, should we go?” Questioned
Durai.

“Devi! I’ll be back in a bit.” Shouted
Durai, he didn’t wait for a response. Instead he walked out the
front door, while his wife laid dead in the other room.

Marona continued to play it cool, and drove
far out into empty lands. “I’ve decided to buy this land, what do
you think,” questioned Marona. Durai got out to have a look around,
and in that instant Marona raised his handgun once more, the slide
pulled back, ready to fire. Durai turned around, and there wasn’t
much of a change in his expression, even when he had a gun pointed
straight for him, and that by his best friend too. Oddly enough, he
may have seen it coming.

“Did you kill Devi and Arrun?” Inquired a
worried Durai.

“Devi is dead, I spared Arrun.” Responded
Marona, as his trembled unwillingly.

“I forgive you brother,” said Durai. Marona
was left in total confusion; he couldn’t understand why Durai was
forgiving him. Where was the anger? Where was the immediate attempt
for revenge? The more time he wasted, the more he began to doubt if
he were doing the right thing, but the fear consumed him.

His shaking hands gave in, his second
thoughts didn’t matter, and the first bullet hit Durai straight
near the heart. Marona couldn’t watch as Durai struggled to hold on
to his life, he pulled the trigger three more times to insure an
immediate death.

~

“Your dad forgave me, I tried to killed him;
its been haunting me!” Cried Marona.

I didn’t know what to say; I mean the guy
before my eyes killed both my parents, but I couldn’t feel the
rage. But then the rage I felt when Sarah passed, the anger of
losing Hasini, and then losing both Remone and Thambi fuelled more
anger. This just presented me with possibilities of a life I
could’ve had.

“I swear I didn’t know you were Durai’s son
when you first came,” continued Marona, as he tried to reason for
his actions. “Raja figured it out first, when the both of you first
met,” he added.

“Arrun, just do it. Kill me, please free
me,” pleaded a lost Marona; he was tired of being a monster. I
could really just kill him, but I’d just lose another important
piece to the puzzle, and that wasn’t worth it. Yet I still couldn’t
find the words to respond to the man, he was older and wiser and I
guess I can see the regret in his eyes; it might be reasonable to
give a man willing to change a chance. If I kill him now, I’d be
giving the throne to someone like Miran. Though Miran has changed
quite a bit, I still wouldn’t want to see his capabilities with all
that power.

“Be the father, you took from me.” I
responded; I watched as Marona’s face lightened up. It was the
closest thing to forgiveness that I could give him. I was actually
beginning to look up to Marona as a father figure. Judging from
what he said of my father, I think he was a good man; I believe he
truly meant for things to happen for the greater good. I shall take
the initiative to consider my dads goals, when planning a dream for
the future.

Though this doesn’t mean I’ll be laying down
my weapon. Sometimes the world needs a little anarchism, just to
keep calm the power hungry giants. I wasn’t going to just walk away
from Khan; I consider myself to be in the same situation. He
should’ve hurried to kill me, because I’m not ready to show mercy
when avenging my brothers. It was a war, and my dream for a
brighter future won’t come while he continues to live. The Grim
Reaper doesn’t symbolize death; humans and humans alone symbolize
death. Death comes from the chaos that we exhale, what men like
Khan live off of.

“Arrun just leave it, lets walk away,”
suggested Marona. I don’t know why he said that. He knew I
wouldn’t; I guess he was hoping for some change, expecting that the
change would come as early as this particular situation. I nodded,
to show him that I acknowledged his suggestion. I was still in
midst of trying to come to terms with the fact that I’m working
with the man that killed my parents; but he seemed to be a lot more
freed, a lot more free than I was now of course.

Space was what I needed, sometime alone from
this dreaded world I was around on a daily basis. I wanted to be
alone, but I know what that does to me; I’d much rather prefer the
company of Nilani.

“I’m going to head out now, I need to be
alone for a bit,” I said.

“Yeah son sure, give me a call if you need
anything,” responded Marona before opening his arms. I hugged him
on the way out; just to assure him that everything was going to be
fine.

I tried calling Nilani’s phone a few times
before I left the Duranji house, but her phone was off. I wasn’t
surprised; she could possibly be asleep after I kept her up last
night. Then again, she’s been home for a while, I guess it’d be
fine if I go over and pick her up. Besides, she did say that her
father wanted to speak to me; I guess I might as well get that over
with too.

I stepped out of the house to see a familiar
face, that of one from my past life. It was Trent, who was one of
Hasini’s co-workers. I remember meeting him at a work party she
once took me to. He was speaking to Miran, curious enough I went
over to say hi.

“Trent! What are you doing here?” I
asked.

“He’s just some reporter; apparently he’s
working on a story about us,” intruded Miran.

“About us?” I questioned.

“Yeah, the Duranji Empire is a force known
worldwide, it would make a great story,” responded Trent.

“Don’t waste your time here bro, you don’t
want to get involved in this,” I suggested.

He seemed to be in a lot of panic, it
probably didn’t help that Miran was the first person he spoke
to.

“You’re probably right, I’ve got to be
somewhere else soon. It was good seeing you,” responded a rickety
Trent.

“So soon? Well if you aren’t busy, come by,
we’ll catch up on a few things,” I said.

Miran continued to speak to him, while I
began to walk away. Once I got in the car I started having thoughts
of the people I left behind. Seeing Trent reminded me that I had
another life prior to coming over here. People I left behind, but I
guess it was for the best. I’m at the stage where I’m losing
people; I wouldn’t be able to bear losing a sister or brother due
to my actions.

The drive over to Nilani’s didn’t seem too
long, it was nearing 11pm and the traffic had condensed. Upon
arriving, I told the security at the front gates that I was here to
see Nilani. He was a bit hesitant of letting me in at first,
probably because he last saw me holding her at gunpoint, but he
received a call to let me in, so he did.

When I rang the doorbell the man at the door
responded partially as the Police Commissioner, badgering me with
questions.

“Where’s Nilani,” he asked.

“What do you mean, she came home early in
the morning,” I responded.

“No she didn’t! I’ve been calling her phone!
I thought she was with you!” He shouted.

No, I didn’t want to start panicking just
yet. I got a text from her saying she got home fine though. Maybe
she was with her friend, Dipti. I think that was the name she
mentioned yesterday?

“Dipti, do you have her number?” I
questioned.

“I’ve spoke to her already! Nilani isn’t
with her,” he replied in a worrisome tone, curious of her where a
bouts. All right I guess it was fine to jump to conclusions now,
because Nilani isn’t the type of girl to just leave, shutting out
the world.

“If anything happens to her because of you,”
he yelled.

I was starting to fear that Khan maybe
behind this, and if that is the case, the tables have truly
turned.

“I’ll find her!” I said, racing back into
the car. I searched for a few hours before parking along side a
somewhat busy intersection. I wanted to think that I was just
blowing the situation out of hand, and that she may just be busy
doing something else, but considering recent events, I couldn’t
settle on plain hope. I tried calling her phone many times over,
hoping she’d pick up.

My last few calls actually had a ring, but
she wasn’t picking up. Considering that her phone was on I decided
to give a call to her father, maybe he’d be able to trace a call if
someone picks up or calls.

“Sir, Nilani’s phone is on now. Wait for a
call and trace it!” I suggested.

He was already on it, but the problem was
that we might end up waiting forever on a call that we won’t get. I
was usually great when it came to coming up with immediate plans,
but with it being of Nilani, my mind felt helpless. This is exactly
what I was worried about; I knew that letting her in my life would
do this. A man’s love can turn out to be his biggest weakness,
leading to his tragic downfall.

My first love caused my initial downfall; I
wasn’t prepared to let Nilani’s love do the same.

I parked near a street side teashop, and
while I had a smoke, I tried sipping down a glass of tea to clear
my mind. In the midst of it all I saw Trent, who was carrying a
duffle bag, and he did make eye contact with me. Though the
response wasn’t what I expected, it actually didn’t make sense at
all. He had that similar panic from earlier today, though I now
realized it was towards me, and not Miran! He turned in the
opposite direction and attempted to flee. I wasn’t slow to respond,
I dropped my glass of tea, and ran across the street, holding my
right arm out to insure the cars would stop. His heavy bag was
slowing him down, and so he tossed it to the side, hopping over a
concrete wall I followed. It was a closed out alleyway, eventually
he’d meet a dead end, but I caught him much before that.

I tackled him to ground, smacking him
against the floor once before picking him up. I then slammed him
against the wall; I was bound on figuring out why he was
running.

“Why were you running?” I shouted!

“I was late for my bus,” he replied,
attempting to play it off.

“Don’t lie to me you piece of shit,” I
continued to shout. I didn’t plan on wasting my time asking him
more questions. I used my left forearm to hold him tight against
the alleyway wall, while I bundled him with a few knocks to the
face. I let my forearm fall back a bit, and he fell to the floor.
He wasn’t willing to speak just yet, so I leaned down over him and
insured a few more knocks to his head as the blood began to dowse
down.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he cried.

“You know! Where is she! Where is Nilani?” I
demanded.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

He was really pushing the wrong buttons,
apologizing only made things worse. I was tired of hearing
apologies, and he was about to learn it in the worst way possible.
He’d probably bleed to death if I continued to smack him across his
face, so instead I started to hit him across the body with a long
piece of wood I had found on the ground. By the end of it, I knew
that I can’t expect this guy to speak, but he knew something and
that was for sure. I dragged him by his foot, across the street and
threw him in the car as people stood aside and watched.

I walked back over to the teashop and asked
for another glass of tea, while the few nightwalkers watched in
shock. I didn’t care for the attention; my thoughts were of what
could possibly happen next. Maybe I shouldn’t have beaten Trent so
hard; he probably knew of Nilani’s whereabouts. Though I don’t
understand what he had to do with it, it makes no sense. Miran said
that Trent was just here to cover a story, so why would he have to
run from me.

Then it made sense! It was him, it was Trent
who was in the car on the bridge; he was the one that slammed me
with the metal rod. The white shirt he’s wearing resembled that of
the masked man! So there’s a link; Khan must be linked to Trent in
some way! I hate the human mind, we function completely fine until
we face a problem; every clear thought becomes a jumble. Though one
breaking moment can clear all once again.

I was getting a call; it was from Nilani’s
phone. I picked up hoping for her voice, and it was.

“Arrun, Arrun!” She cried.

I heard her call out my name twice before I
heard Khan’s voice. I should’ve expected this; I should’ve known
that Khan wasn’t finished with his antics.