THE TRAITOR - part 1 By: Ajaya Kusum Adhikari
Her face was dejected. Melancholy flooded her happiness. She had been down in the dumps for a couple of weeks since the death of her boyfriend. Her abominable behavior made everyone traumatized leaving her to have no feelings. Mary Shaw seemed so lost. Her eyes froze in a place looking at a particular object. The eyes were dull and were searching for an answer. There hadn't been any sparkle of joy in her face for a long time. It was the first time that I stood by her side and had held her hands. She didn't speak anything. I murmured something but she acted motionless. I found myself holding her hands tightly. Her face tightened up and stilled in hostile surmise. I mumbled some words, but they were not coming out. I realized it was not the right thing to do at the wrong time. I slid my hand and I sprinted, disappearing into the streets. Few months later, she was refurbished. She stood in the main gate of the collage in her beautiful body. Her elegant appearance catching the view of many bystanders making their eyes stick on her. Her eyes were filled with merriment. She had slowly forgotten about the past. And this was the time that I had to complete what I was up to.
There was a trendy guy in the collage. He was tall and adorable. His name was John and he had new stunning girls every week. Gesture of money was his only motive. His parents had kept him pampered by giving desired amount of money .I approached him casually. I reached to my back-pocket, took out some money that were tightly squeezed on my palms. I shook his hand firmly. "I want that girl" I said pointing with my mouth at Mary Shaw. His smile froze. His eyebrows narrowed with a gesture. "Done deal" he said with assurance. I kiddingly punched in his fists.
Since then, Mary Shaw had been staring me at school. I tried to distract myself by ignoring her. And I didn't know why I did this. John said me that he had been visiting her every week and telling good things about me. But after a week or so, she didn't even respond to me. I waited her to give the same one-sided smile at the collage. But she didn't. She just walked pass me. I couldn't endure the patience dwelling inside me. I clumsily walked through the road murmuring "the hell song". As I reached the pier I saw John with Mary. My eyes were stuck on them. Mary stood hesitating, watching him. Her heart was full of love for him, and yet there was a curiosity within them. They were ineptly kicking the gush of water that was splashing their feet. The sun dropped down the hills. The black dark clouds gathered quickly and the sunlight was desperately trying to escape from some wounds in the clouds. There was howling of wind and suddenly it began to get cold. I saw them hugging themselves and sharing each other's warmth. My I grinned and anxiously waited for John. My fists were so frantic for the enemy. Anger was boiling within me and I was taking long and aggravated breaths. Minutes later I saw John jogging in the rain. I hid myself near the canopy of a small house, a small hut which had one long room with a brick floor, scrubbed benches and scrubbed tables. The place was bare. As soon as he came closer, I countered. He fell in the ground in disbelief. I grabbed his collar and punched him in his nose. Slowly, methodically, he began to smell a shower of dilemma. "Get up" I squawked. He hardly managed to get in his feet. I grabbed his neck and punched him hard on his head. He dropped in his knees. His eyes were wet as tears began to trickle down his rosy cheeks. "Please stop this" he begged, wiping the blood from his nose by his naked arms. But I didn't listen to him. "So this is what I paid my money for huh?" I said in a dominating manly voice.
"I am sorry, please have mercy" he said with his eyes full of tears. I grabbed his hair. He was crying. Rain was spattering and the lightning came down as a sign of a jinx. I kicked him in his face. Now he began to cry loudly. He swung his hands at me, but I dodged. This made me totally stunned. "How did he have the courage to do this"? I wondered. And this made me even more livid. I hit him with a broken chair in his head. I went down; put my keens beside his chest .I continuously punched in his head with both my hands. Blood began to ooze from his head as he was busted open. He was not talking. I had no control over my mouth. I hit him until my heart was finally settled. I threw long breaths from my mouth. He was helplessly lying on the ground, crying. And I left him. I saw him struggling to get in his feet. I turned around took out a knife that I had kept inside my socks and hit it on his calf. He gave a loud shriek and cried. Pain flourished in his body. Blood was gushing out from the large deep cut. Just as I left, I saw Mary. I offhandedly walked pretending that I wasn't seeing her. Her face was cold and solemn. I ran swiftly. As I turned around, I saw her comforting him.
THE TRAITOR - part 2
John was dead. Everyone was shaken knowing the fact that I had killed him. It was just a foolish flippancy. It was just an accident, I explained to the inspector. It was an unfinished, unrelated rumor.
The collage was so silent without John. Everyone had long faces. There were no cracking of jokes in the class. Mary was depressed with herself. She was so quiet and had gone astray again for the second time after the death of her boyfriend for the second time. I began to feel strange when everyone kept staring at me. The teachers, classmates and even the chef and the staffs of the school. I didn't bother because no one had the proof that I had murdered John. I had almost killed him. I was left alone. I felt so isolated and despondent. I sat at the corner of the cafeteria, slowly chewing the burger. Mary walked towards me and sat. "I know you love me" she said. But I also know that you killed John and my boy before him. My face grew pale and red. "I am unwilling loving you because if love other guy you will surely kill him." I was baffled by her shuddering words. But the good point was, I had finally gotten what I actually wanted. I didn't take her emotions seriously. She was mine after all and I was happy about that. An evil smile spread my face. Few months later, she was advocating about the fact that I hadn't killed John. He must've died of an illness, she used to say. That wasn't the truth either. But she said what was good for me. There always was a shine of happiness on her face. She was happy to be with me.
We graduated from college. She said that she would be going to New York for supplementary studies. And I was studying at the same place. We promised to love each other even though we would not be meeting for a long time. One night before her exodus, she called me without prior notice at 6 in the evening. There was a slight shower outside. I frantically zipped my jacket up to my bosom and walked to her house. I was drenched with wet. She was waiting me at the door. She hugged me and planted a kiss on my cheeks. "I have a surprise for you "she whispered. I followed her shadow and went to her room. I felt a fist at my back and I dropped at the ground. I turned around to see who it was. My heart pounded. My hands shook. Pressure increased on me. My heart was crushed in mystifying questions. The room was filled with dominating figures. They were all tall and lanky. I could see a trace of abs on their tight shirts. Veins on the hands were so thick it looked as if it were swollen. Their faces were so fuming and evil. Seeing them, I was wobbling.
Mary sat on a chair, folded her legs and blew the coffee, sipping them between her strawberry lips. "I never liked you "she said. I neither liked Henry nor John. I was just an imposter of love. I loved their money. You are my third victim she said and gave a malevolence laugh. And it was me who killed both Henry and John. I killed John as soon as you left. I suffocated him. Saying this she grew hushed. The group of men came closer to me. Mary played a song in a loud voice and watched the men beat me. I was bleeding to death. Blood trickled from my mouth. I was comprehensively beaten by them. And there was no way where I could outfox them. and I had no tricks on my sleeves. The only thing that I could do was to pretend dead. But this didn't last long.
Blood was all over me. The huge hunk men took out a gun. "Finish him" Mary ordered. They aimed at me. I was impatiently waiting for them to shoot. I felt a sudden impact on my stomach. And them in my head. The world began to get wobbly. The men and Mary began to fade away from my sight. My hands loosened and I soon lost my consciousness
