Pools of Blood

chapter 15

Lenus was dragged inside the Base by me and Angela. He was struggling hard to free. Bo Chang was waiting for us there. There was a few more police personnel posted on every inch of the Base guarding the criminals within. We took Lenus into a glass room and strapped him with a chair. He was bound tightly, so tightly that he couldn’t even move.

Bo Chang nodded at me and came forward. He removed the duck tape. Lenus was gulping for air and breathing furiously.

"You got no idea whom you are dealing with", he shouted at me.

"Whom are we dealing with? That’s what we wanna know", Bo Chang replied calmly.

-"I won't tell you anything. You can all f**k yourself and go to hell", Lenus gritted his teeth and panted out.

"Very well. Michael. Angela", Bo Chang turned towards us and said, "let's go back. This room has oxygen for only 24 hours. If he doesn’t open his mouth by then, he would die."

Saying this he left the room. We followed him outside.

"Michael, you are injured. And so is Angela. You guys go back home. Get some rest. Leave this to me for the night. I will have a watch upon our guest."

I wanted to protest. I have to know why they killed Alfred. I couldn’t rest until then. But Angela and Bo Chang insisted me to leave. I had no choice but to go back home.

"Tomorrow is Alfred’s funeral. You Have to be present there with his mom and dad. You have to rest to get back your energy. You have a long day tomorrow", Angela put in.

I knew they were right, but my mind denied obeying them. At last, after many persuasions, I reluctantly moved out and rode back.

                                                                           ***

I never imagined I would have to see the death of my brother. I never imagined I would have to attend his funeral. When Amiya died, both of us cried upon each others’ shoulders. But this time, I was all alone. No one to cry upon. No shoulder to pour out my pain. Jasmine had urged and pleaded so much that I had to carry her to the churchyard in a wheelchair. Alfred’s parents were huddled together near her, holding her hand and sobbing silently. A few of our colleagues and friends were present, who had no idea why and how he had died or rather least interested in knowing. Some people just show up for doing formality. You would never know someone’s pain until you feel it yourself. 

Losing Amiya had made me realize how much Jasmine was suffering after losing her dignity, her child, her love. She was still struggling to stand, she was still struggling to console Alfred’s parents, and was trying hard not to cry. Alfred had loved her because she was bold, brave, and beautiful. She couldn’t be weak under such dire circumstances. I have seen her rage and her desire for vengeance. I have seen that cruel, angry spark in her eyes. When I mentioned to her about the fiasco of the previous night, I observed her violent urge to finish off Lenus herself, had she been there she might have clawed him to death.

Women are a wonder by themselves. Sometimes they are lovely, charming, and caring. And sometimes they are no better than a pack of wolves hunting cruelly, tearing everything apart. I had seen the wonderful and lovely aspects in Amiya and I had also seen the rage and desire to terminate the nature of Jasmine. She looked like a wounded lioness, more dangerous, and more ominous. She hid her pains in her bosom and tried her best to manage her in-laws.

"No parents should bury their children", sobbed Mom. "It’s a curse for us. Burying two children, while we are alive. Nothing can be more painful for a mother."

She sobbed. My eyes glistened with tears. Yes. Nothing could be more painful for a birth giver to see the dead bodies of her two children. How cruel God could be sometimes! How unjust of him! What was theirs’ fault to suffer such excruciating pain in this old age? This was a burden they have to carry forever and no amount of console could fix the broken heart of a grieving mother.

Dad was staring intently at the coffin while it was being laid inside the earth. The Father of the church was performing the last rites. Dad’s eyes were moist but he was silent. He knew if he cried, he won't be able to handle his broken wife. His face was numb and expressionless as if he has been petrified into a stone. I could very well understand his condition. Being a man myself, I could empathize with his pain. He had lost his daughter, the star of his eyes, and now he had lost his son, the crown upon his head. He had nothing to survive upon.

The only thing which could ease the pain of all of us was to see the criminals dead. And this job rested upon me. Maybe I was born for this. Maybe God has kept me alive for this day to look at the old broken couple lamenting for their dead children, to hear the heart-wrenching cries of a young widow who has lost her baby and husband. If this was what the Immortals of the above have written upon my destiny, so be it. I swore silently that I won't stay still until I had seen the end to this. 

It was time to visit Lenus at the Base. Either he was going to gargle out everything or he would die in my hands. I would let him taste the bitterness which he and his gang gave to us. There was no more patience left with me.