Pools of Blood

Chapter 6

I didn’t quite well remember how I returned back home. I was in a drunken stupor. My mind was blank and I didn’t have the capacity to pull through. It was in the evening when Bo Chang arrived, only to find me lying on the floor drunk and depressed.

" Michael, you have to pull yourself up together. You can’t remain like this anymore."

-" Sir, I am done with fighting. I can’t protect anyone whom I have loved. This is not the life I had chosen for me".

-" I can well understand what you are going through. Believe me, you might like all people, see me as a strict dog, but from inside, every moment I am fighting to keep up my sanity. You know I am a widower. I too have lost my wife. She died of cancer. The last few months of her life were indescribable. Pathetic. We both knew time was running and she would leave. Imagine that pain, can you? I too have lost my parents who had died in the war. Michael,  I know how it feels like ".

-" God gave me everything that I had desired and God himself snatched them away. Why? Tell me why? How am I supposed to leave like this?"

Bo Chang looked at me with the eyes of a man who had seen so much around him.

" Michael, happiness is like an island in the middle of an ocean full of darkness and grief. You have all the good memories of your loved ones with you. Keep them in your heart. That’s what I do. It acts as an anchor. Sometimes you would feel as if you were drowning, then remember your island of happiness. You will find yourself floating, not drowning anymore. Every time I close my eyes, her beautiful smiling face flash before me. That’s what keeps me going every day. I am living with her good memories. That’s my anchor. You create your anchor too."

His words are so deep, so meaningful. It began to have an effect on me. I started to see life from a different angle.

" Sir, are you sure, you are not related to Dalai Lama?" I asked.

Bo Chang started laughing.

" No, Michael.  I just have seen more world than you. You always remind me of my younger self, that’s why you are my favorite".

Time passed slowly. We both sat on the porch looking at the setting sun. This was the favorite time of Amiya’s. Every evening after work, she would sit there with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the blissful ambiance. Another day passed and with that, the stick of our life shortened a bit. Man tries so hard to live, but when death arrives stealthily from behind, he gets no choice but to go with him. So much struggle for nothing!

" Michael, look at Jasmine. Such a young soul and she has already lost her whole world. Still, she is struggling to live. Only to get justice. She is counting upon you. If you crumble down at this moment, who will she look up to? You are her last hope."

He was right. I couldn't give up then. There was someone waiting for me, waiting for justice. I had to fight this battle and see the end of this.

-" Yes sir, you are right. I can't simply sit and cry for the lost ones. They aren’t coming back. But I have to see that no one faces the same fate. Our city was safe for the last ten years, and we have to keep protecting it ".

Bo Chang smiled. The corner of his eyes is wrinkled. He looked tired, probably hasn’t slept for a few days.

" That’s my boy! Now time for some updates. Firstly, after post mortem, Alfred will be given state honors and his funeral rites will be conducted by the state government with a firing volley of shots and guard of honors as a salute. He has been a great soldier. His record as CIA and the cases he had solved do deserve praises. He died protecting the one he loved. That’s no less than a sacrifice".

Yes. He deserved that. He deserved a memorial. I agreed with his words.

" Secondly, about Jasmine. She wants to attend the funeral rights. Although the doctors are against this, she is adamant. You have to persuade her. I know what she is going through, but she is in no condition to get up from bed let alone attend a funeral".

I didn’t know how I would be able to persuade her. He was the light of her world. And stop her from seeing him for the last time, paying homages for the last time, would be something  I would be able to do.

" And last, of all, " he said, " I heard from Angela about the reports regarding the footage. I think someone from inside the Police is involved".

-"  How?", I was surprised to hear this.

-" Because you know all the cameras are handled none but by cyber department.No one can tamper without their notice. So, until proved who is helping the criminals, from within the walls you can't trust anyone. That’s the reason I came here personally. You have to solve the case yourself. And you will report none but me".

I nodded. It was time for me to be back in action. I have slept a lot, mourned a lot, and cried a lot. Enough! I would bury the present pathetic Michael along with Alfred’s body and from its ashes would rise the old one. The old version of me.’

-" um... Michael, one last thing. You have to go and meet Alfred’s parents. They are waiting at the hospital with Jasmine".

I was dreading this. I didn’t know how I would be able to face them. They had lost their girl three years ago, then their boy too. Their son’s wife was struggling to live and their daughter’s husband was lying in a s**t hole. Who knew how much bad Karma we had done to deserve such hellish f*****g life.

Bo Chang seemed to read my mind. He got up, and said, " you are also their son. You were never treated as an outsider by the Wang family. You might not have any blood link, but they had always loved you as much as Alfred and Amiya. They have neither blamed you nor given up upon you.  You are all they have left now ".

He took his car keys, wore his jacket, and stepped out.

" Michael, you have to decide, will you continue drinking and crying for the ones who have gone or will you stand and fight for the ones who are alive? The choice is yours "