The boy did not look surprised. Instead, with deathly calmness, said, ‘I don’t think so.’ He settled back into his seat and rubbed his forehead.
‘No, I’m sure, I’ve driven you somewhere …’ Manorama said, the end of her sentence trailing off. She was certain this had happened before. He had sat next to her before. They had driven somewhere together before. The memory lay at the edge of her mind, just beyond grasp.
She kept thinking about it all as she drove to his house. He gave her directions to his home on Veronica road, but he didn’t need to. She already knew which turn to take, which lane to follow, which gate to stop at.
‘I’ve been here, Vivek. I’m sure.’
Vivek pretended not to hear her. He got out of the car and walked to his two-storeyed home. Manorama followed him, and then stopped. She had been here before. She had stood where she was standing now, awed by the beauty of the cascading deep purple bougainvillea that hung from the second floor. She had climbed the steep narrow stairs to the second floor. Even before Vivek pushed open the timber door, Manorama knew that she would be welcomed by the fragrance of tuberoses. Inside, she looked at the familiar rustic furniture and colourful walls. This wasn’t déjà vu. She had been here before.
‘Look for Ma’s phone. It’s somewhere here,’ he said, frantically upturning cushions and scattering books.
But Manorama didn’t feel the need to look for the phone. It was not the phone that mattered but the message. ‘What was that message again?’ she asked him. ‘The acts of mercy. Feed the hungry. Refresh the thirsty. Clothe the naked. Visit the sick. Shelter the homeless. Visit the imprisoned. Bury the dead,’ Manorama realized that she had learnt the rhyme byheart. ‘What do you think it means?’
He did not reply, ‘Look for the phone,’ he repeated.
‘It has to be a puzzle, Vivek. Maybe if we figure out what this is, we can solve it.’
‘Solve it for what?’ he asked, pausing. ‘We need to find out what’s happening. We need to find out who sent that message.’
‘Vivek, it could be a clue. It could lead us to your mom, to Vinod. To my family.’
He stood straight and looked at her. ‘Okay. I have to tell you something. You said something to me about sins.’
‘Yes, the seven deadly sins,’ she replied.
He sighed, and took a deep breath, ‘I know what yours is.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘You know my mom, Smitha.’
‘The name sounds familiar but …’
‘You don’t remember yet, but you will. My mom … she’s been missing for a few months.’
‘Missing?’
‘A few days before she went missing, mom had made a new friend. You. Both of you had met at the grocery store. The day she went missing, you were here. You took us out for lunch. Then you dropped me back here and said that both of you were going saree shopping. You said you’d have her back by evening … ‘
‘I don’t remember any of this.’
‘I waited for a day. After that dad and I went to the police; I didn’t even know your real name. I was starting to lose my mind. When one day, I remembered that dad had an ex-wife.’
‘Ex-wife?’
‘Yes, that’s what he had told us. I tracked you down through some friends of his. And I saw you at your school. And in that moment, I had realized what had happened to ma.’
‘Trust me Vivek, I didn’t … ‘
‘I followed you to your apartment. I was mad with rage.’ She could feel the helplessness in his voice. ‘I watched your place for a few days. I realized that dad had been lying to us. He had two families. It was unbearable – you and your perfect family. I couldn’t help myself.’
Manorama could feel a terrible sense of fear surge inside her.
‘I noted that you had your milk delivered outside your apartment complex every day. The watchman was almost always sleeping. I just wanted to make you sick, to punish you.’
‘What did you do Vivek?’
‘You see that plant behind you? That’s an Oleandar. It’s poisonous. I took it out of my mom’s garden. I’m sorry, Manorama – I added a petal into your milk,’ he said choking up.
Manorama gasped, unable to speak.
‘The remaining of the flower, I added in my own drink,’ his voice cracked pausing for sobs, ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘What are you saying …?’
‘I drank it, but the next thing I remember, I woke up in my home this morning. To be honest, I had forgotten you when I woke up. I didn’t even remember that my mom was missing. Maybe it’s because of the poison. Honestly, I didn’t even know who you were … till I saw you. Even when I called you up, I didn’t know who you were … but now I remember everything. But I don’t know who sent the message, I don’t know anything else … I promise,’ he broke down into uncontrollable sobs, burying his face into his hands.
All too sudden, she was hit with a painful memory – of furiously digging a hole in soft dark mud – of driving her car with a body in the backseat – of the vibrant silk in a textile shop – of lunch with a beautiful woman and her teenage son.
‘Wrath and envy … Vivek … I think I know what’s happening.’
He looked up from his hands, his eyes blood shot, ‘What … what?’
‘It’s not the world that disappeared. It’s us. We’re in purgatory.’
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Chapter 1 by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Chapter 2 by Sumira Khan
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