LA RUMBA POOL PARTY

Chapter 12. EVE OF NEW YEAR

31stDecember

The next day morning Surya got calls repeatedly from all his friends. He lay there before his laptop with his face on the table. He opened his eyes in a drowsy state with eyes laid upon the phone which was showing so many missed calls. He gradually proceeded towards the phone with a deep breath. And the calls were randomly from so many of his friends. What happened? He scrolled the screen. Suddenly his phone vibrated, and the screen showed a familiar name which was his friend Hemanth.

"Dude... what the f**k you have done? Have you been mad?"

"What the hell happened?” Surya asked drowsily.

"Why don't you open f*******: and know yourself?" Surya held his phone against his right ear with a slight right side tilt of his neck and turned on his laptop which was in sleeping mode until then. He was reminded of his father who he recklessly forgets to shut down the laptop. Yadha pitaha thatha putraha – Son, just like his father. He didn't need to open the sss as it was already on the screen. He refreshed the page, and to his embarrassment he saw so many messages flooding from complete strangers and so many comments on his post. He went through the post; he mentioned bad about the girls who didn't reply to his messages and tagged all of them. It became an overnight sensation. He immediately got the message from some of his colleagues, juniors and seniors about the nuisance happened. He immediately deleted the post and turned off the laptop.

"Hello" Hemanth shouted on the other side of phone. Surya came out of the trance and answered "Bro! What the f**k happened?!"

"That's what I have to ask you"

"I was not in my right mind when I did this.” Surya cursed under his breath. “What shall we do now?"

"Had you been drunk?" Hemanth asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah! But I only had a few pegs."

Hemanth puffed a deep sigh of exasperation.

"At least be alert in Country club. Don’t make the things ugly there."

"Don't worry man. I will come with nil money in my account." It struck 8 am in the clock. "Seems like I have to get ready for the college"

"Don't be stupid. We have a program of shopping. And Vishal is also coming."

"Shopping!" Surya gulped with a terror-stricken face. “With Vishal!”

"Yeah! Vishal! What's wrong with him? We need to do shopping. He needs new shoe"

One reason, Surya hates shopping is, there would so many options and he would struggle a lot to choose a better one. He didn't know in what criteria a shopping is done. Whenever he needed to do shopping, he would directly choose the one which caught his eyes first without much searching. He literally hates shopping but sometimes had to go due to peer pressure which suffocated him to the extent of death and present situation was like that one.

Other reason: Shopping with Vishal! In contrast, he delays a lot in choosing. Once he selects, he would show Surya for approval. When Surya approves, he rejects as an obsolete one and search another. Surya loses his temper a lot of time.

"Bring your car. We shall go all together"

"I have a duty today. I can't come" he checked the time. It’s 7 am.

"You took a leave i***t. Did u forget it?" Hemanth reminded him of his last day promise. "You clearly told that you are taking leave today." which was true unfortunately. But he had something in his mind before asking for a leave -- bowling, mystery rooms or some other exciting activity instead of boring shopping.

"Okay!" He succumbed to his defeat "I will come soon"

He freshened up and snuck out with his uncle’s car which was parked outside to travel Hyderabad.

Hemanth’s room

Morning 10 AM

Surya knocked the door. No one opened. He checked out the day. Then he realised that the previous day was Hemanth’s night duty and was asleep. He checked out the w******p and there was his message "Come at 2pm darling. I had night shift yesterday. Will be asleep"

Surya exasperated heaving deeply and became anxious being reminded of his horrible professor's face with big moustache and greyish beard who didn’t respond to his message requesting to sanction leave. Bad omen.

Suspect Pranav:

31st December Tuesday,

Afternoon 12 PM:

Raghav rang the calling bell of a flat in an apartment at Kompally. The door was decorated with Mango tree leaves on the occasion of the oncoming new year. A well-groomed man in his shirt and lungi opened the door.

He baffled by looking at the Police. In a helpless situation he welcomed him. SI took a seat in the sofa along with his constable. Opposite to him Pranav sat meekly. "Tea or coffee sir?"

"If you honestly say, I want some information"

Pranav wore a troubled expression.

"Who is that?" His wife called out from kitchen.

"Nothing. Police sahib came. Just for some inquiry"

Immediately his wife rushed in a gold colour saree.

"Seems like recently married?"

"Yes sir. Just 2 months" Pranav told. "Why did you come?"

"Okay. Come to the point. I want to talk about the Pranitha's case. For the last 2 days I was trying to contact you but you were out of station and your phone was switched off" Pranav wore conflicted expression. "It's better you send your wife inside and let's talk like gentleman completely openly"

Pranav nodded. Gestured his wife to go inside.

"Tell me what you want to offer as information?"

"Sir, Professor Sridhar asked me to send the girl to his clinic in Dilshuknagar. I thought Sridhar sir would ask for money to give her attendance. Never knew this would happen to the girl." Pranav sighed. “I sent so many people whoever comes to me with the trouble in their attendance to his clinic in Dilshuknagar to deal with money"

"Even Pranitha approached you?" Raghav raised his eyebrows.

"No sir. Pranitha is kind of reserved girl. She was already troubled with her sick mom and the possibly have detention if she couldn’t get attendance of the posting in-time. I felt pity for her. So, I only volunteered in all this to meet her. And that’s the last time I saw her. All this happened 2 weeks ago"

"Could you tell me exact date?"

"It's on Saturday sir. I remember I urged her to meet the professor that day only as the next day was holiday."

"So, it's March 14th Saturday" Pranav nodded.

Well if I need any information, I will call you. If in any case if you tried to escape, I will open FIR on you as a murderer"

"After seeing what happened in the TV, I couldn't sleep all night. A suspicion rose in mind if I was in any way responsible for her death. I could only repent for my misdeeds by helping you" his eyes welled with tears. He wiped them away. Raghav patted on his shoulder and moved away along with his constable Chary.

"What do you think about Pranav?" questioned his constable.

“He seems to be a genuine guy. He only tried to help the students but never had any ill thoughts"

"Don't judge a book by its cover. Criminals are great actors. Don't come into conclusions for now. Keep an eye on him."

"Okay sir."

Hemanth’s Room

December 31st 2019

Afternoon 1.30 PM

Surya took his seat on the stairs outside the room and unzipped his bag to take out a book. He cast his eyes over the door, which was showing room number 105, helplessly for a second and occupied with the contents of his book Dan's brown Inferno steadily. It was until afternoon he didn’t close the book. He lost his patience and knocked the door at 1.30 pm and repeatedly clicked the calling bell until a tall and slender guy with a dishevelled curly hair with faded t shirt and a worn out short opened door yawning with a sleepy face with a bottle in his hand.

“You came early?”

Surya was exhibiting herculean efforts to control his anger and eventually blurted out "Why did you call me to take leave when you are probably asleep?"

"Oh yeah! I just forgot that I had night duty"

"Is that something you should forget? You can forget the duty which you are supposed to go but not the one you already had gone." Surya eyeballed at him seriously. In the periphery of his vision tall, wheatish coloured man with a well-trimmed beard and silky hair waved his hand at him with an expressionless face and turned back to washroom like a man from Mars not cared for his surroundings.

"Come on, Man! I know your punctuality" Hemanth quoted sarcastically "Last time for lunch at 2 PM, you showed up for snacks at 4 PM."

Surya retorted “My Professor didn’t sanction leave."

"He might be busy" Hemanth shrugged drinking a sip from his water bottle.

Surya faltered with nervousness "He is among my f*******: friends"

Hemanth suddenly broke into laughter spurting water "He knows it then" He placed the bottle back into fridge. "If you had gone to the hospital today, he would be dead. Relish the break then. You have to thank me for that."

Surya smiled wryly. “By the way I will drive the car" Surya told cautiously having known the driving experience of Hemanth. Last time when they went out at night for Shah Ghouse for coffee, he literally felt it would be the end of his life. Hemanth was such a clumsy driver as the one who doesn't know what the purpose of a clutch is. Being reminded of the incident, Surya immediately rushed towards the car and took his position in driver's seat before any debate arose with Hemanth who would obviously win.

"Come on. You don't do the driving" Hemanth said.

"Don't even lay your eyes on the steering. It's not going to happen even in my dreams" Surya frowned.

"I am not saying I will drive though I have a driving license" Is this a joke? Hemanth got his driving license in a remote area where it's okay even if you drive a car like a tractor but in the cities like Hyderabad such low standards of driving is highly unacceptable.

"Dude! Do you want to kill us?" Surya asked him peevishly.

Hemanth chuckled "Come on darling! Vishal will drive"

Vishal is a colleague of Surya in peripheral postings in which students from different colleges may have to work under super-speciality hospitals. They worked under plastic Surgery in November for a month and became good friends. Surya introduced to Hemanth. Hemanth is a former IIT-ian planning to develop his coaching institute while doing his software job. Surya and Vishal volunteered to teach botany and zoology and became partners in it.

"I am the only non drinker. You have no other choice" Vishal shrugged with a stony expression on his face. He born with that.

“I will bring you to home safely" Surya nodded in agreement and gave his precious driver's seat to Vishal who gave his grand entry with an eye of connoisseurship. Surya adjusted himself in the side seat being cautious enough to instruct him in times of needs and Hemanth shifted to the backside of the car.

"Where did you have your driving license?" Surya asked jovially.

"Electricity" Vishal jeered.

Surya looked dumbstruck and the car rushed.

“He never had any license” Hemanth grinned. Surya looked terrified. Vishal pressed the gas pedal before a jerky start and raced on the road like a mad dog. After a while, bearing enough with the 120kph speed, Surya shrieked "I don’t want to die. Stop the car!". He remembered how his father terrified when he drove the car in 100kph, and constantly nagged behind him to go slow ,a king a constant hissing sound. Vishal didn’t care and drove carelessly to over take the oncoming vehicles.

He blurted out "It’s my care, I have a license and experience.” Surya exploited all his strategies to convince Vishal.

"I have the steering" Vishal imitated Amitabh Bachan sternly. He appeared like Arnold who rescues John Connor. in the popular Hollywood movie Terminator. Surya looked blankly not knowing how to counter his banter

"Relax man!" Hemanth said maintaining his cool “Enjoy the show. You are freaking for nothing.”

Surya never used to be this way before, but today, the series of bad events in his life made him a neurotic aiming for neck like a zombie. After a while Vishal parked the car aside of the road near Jubilee Hills without a prior warning and stepped out of the car along with Hemanth who gestured him to be back in 5 minutes.

Surya perplexed with an annoying face.

They reached the opposite side of the road towards a wine shop to handle a supply of Whisky. Hemanth left Surya in charge. The vehicles behind him honked impatiently. Surya cursed under his breath and slid to the driver seat, attempting to self-start the car. He groped his hand below the steering and to his horror he realised the key was missing.

The honking continued incessantly. Surya just shut his ears. A few minutes later Vishal came from behind to open the door. Surya immediately shifted to other seat and gave way for Vishal to drive. "How could you take the keys?" Surya asked infuriated.

"Sorry Man! I was in hurry" Vishal smiled nervously and apologised. Hemanth sat relaxed in the back seat with his eyes constantly laid upon the drinks.

"Why did you buy Vodka?" Surya looked anxiously.

"We can't drink much there in the country club as the beverages were so expensive.” Surya nodded half heartedly looked away from the Vodka.

The trio reached AMB cinemas, multi-storied building with a double floored ground floor labelled as Upper and lower ground floor, a trick used to lessen the tax payment to the government during construction. They parked the car in the basement and reached the entrance, headed into the lift. It was a vast shopping complex with dazzling white marble floor and shopping stalls all through the building. In the middle, the escalators were constructed in a unique style.

"I have to buy shoes" Vishal headed to the Bata show room on 2nd floor like a pre-programmed robotic toy. Dark, well dressed sales boy invited them instantly with a fake smile on his face.

"Show us a pair of shoes" Vishal sat there with his friends.

Soon, the guy presented wide variety of shoes in front of him one after another but unfortunately none were approved. One pair he showed to Surya which he immediately approved. Vishal rejected. Surya stood out of irritation.

Being a sales boy is a tedious job Surya thought mentally. Later Vishal gestured Hemanth to search in another shop. Surya heaved deeply out of exasperation. "Come on! Buy something"

Vishal replied "Let's explore the shops"

Explore? Is this a joke? Surya reluctantly followed them.

It was so exhausting for him to wait in the shopping stalls for his friend to buy shoes. He was sitting on a sofa while other guys were checking for the shoes, trialling and selecting. He intermittently went towards them trying to find a better shoe and also remind them he was still there like an i***t waiting for them but both of them were too involved in shopping that literally they forgot about Surya. Similarly, they searched other show rooms like Nike, woodland, woods, Rebook...etc. Surya had a mental revision and realisation of show rooms and vast dynasty of shoe marketing. It was 5 pm. already they passed 2 hrs shopping for nothing. Surya had a vague feeling inside his stomach making different sounds. Is this hunger? Well it is!

"Let's go to KFC and do the remaining shopping later" Surya tried to convince Vishal. But Vishal didn't listen to them and proceeded towards further stalls to check. By this time even Hemanth got vexed up with the relentless ‘shopping for nothing’. Both of them looked into each other’s face while Vishal was heading into a showroom. They used telepathy to signal their next move and immediately snatched Vishal over both of his arms and lunged towards KFC. A group of girls passing them giggled. Vishal was embarrassed.

"Leave me man! Leave! Okay let's go to KFC" It sounded kind of relief for both of them as they puffed a deep sigh and loosened the grip on his arms. The trio walked towards the restaurant with an attitude, smiling vaguely at the beautiful girls on the way who never gave a dime about them. They occupied a round table with adjacent chairs and gave their order in the KFC.

There were two plates of delicious crispy chicken and smoked chicken arrived before them. Vishal attacked on crispy chicken as he was not allergic to smoked one. Surya lost in his thoughts with a sullen expression. Vishal, while munching a big piece of crispy chicken, asked "Why do you look so irritated? Surya" mimicking a famous Telugu actor, NTR, pointing out at Surya who became wary all of a sudden. Vishal had this talent of mimicking any voice. In fact, it was very helpful for him in so many occasions like calling as a parent to sanction leave for him during his intermediate. One day he sanctioned leave for an entire college. The next day when lecturers attended their class there was very less strength. He got good beatings later when the real truth was revealed. Since then, he developed uneasiness and despise to seniors and superiors. Even in Gandhi Hospital, as a General Surgery resident, he always disobeyed his seniors who disrespects and taunts him.

Surya became alert.

"Irritated? No Man!" He tried to cover up.

Hemanth intervened in the conversation and told everything about f*******: post.

"You are screwed Surya" Vishal imitated Balakrishna continued eating.

Surya looked down out of shame.

"I was drunk. Alcohol messes up with my head."

“I don't think that's the only reason" Vishal gazed.

Surya inhaled a deep breath. The real reason was highly confidential.

“I think it’s about Fathima. Forget about her” Hemanth said “These girls are like this. Sadhana doesn’t even reply to my messages. You introduced her otherwise I would have been happy with my life. You deserve this” Hemanth rebuked.

Fathima was Surya’s intern who he had a love affair. Due to some unforeseen incidents, both got complement strain of viruses which would become lethal if they get physical. Since the revelation of the news, Fathima avoided him. Blocked in social media. She recently sent him a friend request again but she didn’t reply him to any of his messages. It freaked him a lot and made him post the status being detested with female gender and their attitude.

“I have a plan for this.” Surya was about to mention his plan. Suddenly his phone beeped. Surya took the call.

"Shut the f**k up? What do you think about yourselves? Do you think you can write anything you want on f*******:?" a female voice sounded so harshly.

“My fan” Surya excused himself and took the phone towards a stereo playing nearby and put the phone near it for a while "Sorry! I can't hear you. Sound is too loud. Better luck next time" he said derisively and cut the call. “This is the situation since morning”

Hemanth and Vishal chuckled at each other.

“My plan is. We shall invite Fathima and Sadhana to the Pool Party Krish is organising. We will have a chance to patch up with them. I will have an opportunity to promote my upcoming book too”

“You wrote another book? You didn’t mention anything about this?!” Vishal said. Hemanth and Surya began eating chicken pieces in their plates.

“I forgot to mention. I wrote a book last month November. This month I finished the editing work. Planning to release in a few days”

“Amazing Surya!” Vishal appreciated. “I wonder how you got enough time in Plastic Surgery posting especially under Hari Prasad Sir.”

“I somehow managed him last month with my good deeds in an orphanage” Surya morosely said “Until the day”

Hemanth patted on his shoulder “It’s just happened. You need to forgive yourself. Move on” Surya nodded.

“When will the Pool Party happen? I will bring Evy too” Vishal changed the topic. Surya contorted his face. “Surya had conflicts with half the population this earth.” Vishal smirked. “Fathima, Hari Prasad, Sridhar, Evy and now this controversy sss Post” Hemanth looked seriously at him. Vishal shrugged.

“After my Pondicherry trip” Surya said plainly. “This pool party happens”

“Pondicherry trip?!” Both said in unison.

“What is this for?” Hemanth asked.

“I have a reason for this. Can’t share at this moment” Surya said plainly. “Highly confidential”

Hemanth looked at his watch. "OMG! It is 6pm. Let's go to our room. Need to get ready and start for Country club"

"Shoes!" Vishal reminded "I have to still buy shoes, right?"

Surya and Hemanth looked angrily upon him.

"Okay. I adjust with old shoes"

The trio descended down the escalator which was designed in a unique way that both ascending and descending escalator aligned in crisscross way at a same place unlike other Malls where they situate far away. Vishal looked a showroom full of shirts "Let's go there" he signalled. Others protested. "I will show you something. You will never regret” They reluctantly followed him.

He took them into a show room full of various designs of clothes, to show the t-shirt section where there were unique t-shirts related to New Year. Surya and Hemanth astonished.

"Didn't I say you don't regret?" Vishal smiled haughtily.

They rummaged through the shirts and finally found one black t-shirt with hundreds of tiny round shaped shiny plates which form ‘Hi 2020’. If you smear up, shows 'Bye 2019' white on black background, while if you smear down, it shows 'Hi 2020' black coloured on white back ground, dazzling.

"We will celebrate New year with these awesome t-shirts" Vishal grinned. Others nodded gleefully.