Deal Unto Death – Part XIV

She was standing with the gun pointed at him. Her soft hands barely able to hold the heavy gun without any shake. There were blood on her dress and she looked like a frail bird after a storm. Though it was evident she was not entirely normal due whatever she had been through, there was a clear display of taunt that can be gathered with the erectness with which she stood.
“My God!!! Keerthana!! Are you alright??? What are you doing here??” Ravi stood up.

“Stay right there!!! And don’t move a muscle”

“Keerthana what are doing??? What happened???” Ravi was flabbergasted. He looked down at the corpse and continued.”You know that guy” so saying he looked down at the face of body again. Then he slowly turned towards her and asked.”You killed him????”.

“Oh Ya!!! I killed him!! You are happy now???!!!! This idiot tried to black mail me!!! think about it!! black mail ME!!! I never thought he would go so far as to call you!!!! Idiot!! He was asking for it!!! I should have never hired him to kill Vilas”

“Keerthana calm down , I know you are….” He interrupted suddenly as the words from her mouth registered into his mind!!” You hired him to kill Vilas???????”

“Huh!!! It’s a big story!!! I never thought this idiot would actually go ahead and call you and you would be here so soon. Or else I would have been done with him and gone by now!!! Now I have to figure what the hell am I gonna do with you”

“My God Keerthana!! You were responsible for Vilas’ death!! My God!!how could you do such a thing……”

“Shut up you moron!!! Don’t chatter like an idiot. Yes I killed Vilas ,he was turning out to be an adamant nuisance. I don’t know what I was thinking when I married him”

“You married him???????”

“Hmmm!! Remember the part we were in love during college and Vilas’ parents didn’t agree to the marriage and then we broke up and all that??”

Ravi nodded his head with shock.

“Well!! That story is not entirely true. Its true that I was in love with Vilas in the beginning,but the feeling started to fade away day by day.There were daily some problem with him because of the fight he used to have with his parents and he was not the same old romantic and sweet guy as I had fathomed him to be. He was always cribbing,always angry , always pestering with his thousand worries.I was not sure whether I had made the right choice and as we reached the end of the college I was waiting for a chance to explain everything and dump him once and for all!!
“But fate took a decisive turn when he got a job in bangalore. He started acting even more weirder and wanted to get a commitment in place before he went away from Mumbai. Slowly he started hinting about getting married with the help of his friends. I didn’t think he was really serious about it until he started explaining his elaborate plans. We were to be registered married with the help of couple of his friends Sameer and Akbar. I was too shocked to say anything. I was too confused to formulate a plan of a break up and had been dilly dallying, hoping for a right chance to present itself. This situation was developing way too fast. In the confusion I was not bold enough to take a decisive action and went ahead with the plans like a lamb.
“But the relationship was a non starter right from the beginning.It didn’t even have a honey moon period as obviously we didn’t even have a honeymoon. We continued to live separately , our friends and relatives unaware of our marriage , just like the movie “Saathiya”. Our quarrels increased as I grew more unforgiving and demanding due to the marriage , for which I wasn’t totally ready. Our quarrels grew more and more and shouts became louder and louder.
“That was when my parents fixed an alliance for me, He was a nice boy working in US and was planning to settle there. I knew that was the life that I had always wanted to have. Now I was double sure I wanted to be separated from Vilas as soon as possible. I told him that I want a divorce. He didn’t agree.He said that the quarrels are just temporary and were natural in any married life. That idiot didn’t know that my alliance had been fixed with the US guy. I tried to increase the pressure and make him agree by various means. That moron never budged. That’s when I decided to contact kalia. I had know kalia during my college days. My friend’s dad who was a politician had hired him to take care of some boys who used to tease us. I used to see Kalia a lot in my friend’s place as he used to come to meet her dad in relation to his business. His full time job was to kill,maim,kidnap or simply beat up anyone in return for money. He had been quite handy to quite a few politicians in the area so he never stayed in jail for too long,no matter what crime he commited. He is an orphan has no friends but he had a lot of evidences against a lot of big wigs with which he commanded respect in the elite circles.
“I contacted him to get Vilas killed. I made it abundantly clear that the death should look like a suicide. Being a thorough professional, he did his job cleanly. He strangled Vilas to death with a nylon rope and hanged him in the hall to make it look like a suicide. I was hoping that the police would buy that setup but had never thought anybody would hire a private detective for his death.
“I was shocked when you made that call to me ,but by the time Kalia had also intimated that someone had been hired to investigate Vilas’ death. Moreover he started blackmailing me with more money long before you met me. He used to torture me day and night with the calls until I wanted to put an end to it all . I knew that not a soul would be worried if he dies as all his supporters will only heave a sigh of relief when they learn that their black mailer is gone for good. Also there are so many goondas in Mumbai that he wouldn’t be missed for long.
“My plan was to finish him off as that would totally annihilate any evidence of my relation with Vilas. One of the two friends who came for my registered marriage kabir, was dead in a plane accident and I made sure sameer was also silenced ,by convincing Kalia that he is a menace for both of us”
Ravi was listening to all this without closing his mouth. He just couldn’t believe it. It was totally crazy and incredible.
“But..but……………but how can you single handedly kill a professional killer”
“Huh!! A girl can make a guy do anything if only she knows how to seduce him or make him sympathise for her. Guys are such morons that they can do anything from dancing on their head to leaving their hand gun unattended when they feel there is a helpless girl in front of them. It’s the burning callousness and pride of being a man that prevents them take a girl too seriously. Kalia too walked around laughing as I acted as if Iam a defenceless girl begging for his mercy. I still cant forget the ridicule in his eyes as he saw me pick up the gun as he was seated on the chair negotiating a unfair deal. He thought I wouldn’t go ahead and shoot him !!! that IDIOT”
Just then they could hear the noise of heavy boots climbing up the stairs.
Keerthana got anxious and ran towards the window shaft to look out side. Her eyes grew wider as she saw police jeeps parked at a distance.
“You really thought I would come here alone without intimating the police.Iam a private detective remember ??” Ravi said.
Keerthana’s eyes burnt with anger as she stared at him as if he were a worm. For a second she contemplated whether to put a bullet into his head. Then she realized it would only complicate things and would turn out to be a pointless exercise.
She turned around quickly to make her way out of the house through the rear stairs adjoining the balcony. But she could see that the exit was covered as constables entered the room after climbing up the rear stairs. Couple of other policemen rushed in to the room from the other entrance.
Keerthana was stranded. For a split second her mind was busy thinking whether there was anyway possible to make up a story and make the police believe that Ravi was the one who killed Kalia. But she was over powered by the huge wave of disappointment over the fact that she was in a huge mess anyway and there was no way she can get out of this silently. There was an inexplainable anger fuming in her heart as she realized that all her plans of marrying and settling in US was most certainly washed away.As the heavy surge of emotions built up, her hands involuntary put the gun inside her mouth at the heat of the moment and she pulled the trigger.



Ravi was in Meena’s room. It had been over one months after Keerthana’s suicide. On the fateful day Ravi had called Meena soon after he had cancelled his meeting with Rishi. Meena was shocked to hear about Sameer’s death and had told him that it was Sameer who had contacted Meena for the case. Sameer had specifically told Meena not to disclose it as he had thought that it would prevent Ravi from investigating the case with a fresh mind without assumptions. Meera also advised Ravi to intimate the police about his visit as she strongly suspected that something fishy was going to happen.

They didn’t speak for a long time. Ravi was visibly a bit shaken by the case. He suddenly started talking.
“So is this the state of love nowadays??”
“wh…what??” Meena questioned as she couldn’t catch the context.
“A gal kills her own husband because she got a better alliance. Is the love estimated only based on the happiness that it gives?? Isnt the love strong enough to see through the problems,issues and lean times??? Is it just me or does love only mean roaming around the city or having physical pleasure and showing off your mate ??? Isnt it a feeling of companionship,standing by the partner during bad times and being a support during challenges and showing affection and care when they really need the most”
“Ravi!! I think you are being too romantic about things.People are inherently selfish. There is nothing right or wrong about that. They cant carry on with something when they don’t believe it wont benefit them. That is the result of evolution where survival was possible only if you are the fittest and there were no extra mark for kindness. My husband went to somebody else because I wasn’t getting pregnant. I know iam putting it too bluntly but that’s the truth. May be it was little animal like behaviour,but we are animals basically. Keerthana wanted a happy life.she had dreams, she wanted to settle in US and she believed Vilas would fulfill her dream. So she loved him but when she realized that she was getting only trouble ,the love went away.” Meena replied
“Do you even call that love??? Wouldn’t the love stay through the thick and thin if it were really true love. Couples take a vow to stay together for better or for worse when they get married.’Till death do us apart’ they say. It’s a deal unto death. A life long companionship, which will take you through pain and pleasure and everything in between.damn!! I cant even believe I have to argue for this!! Aint it obvious”Ravi shook his head as he shrugged his shoulders.
“Such true love is very rare. Husband or wife serving his or her spouse even when the other one is in a vegetable state.All that is very very rare. Hardly you will find a madhavan marrying a vidya balan and holding her in his hands for decades as she talks about all her stories to abishek bacchan” Meena was referring to a recent movie where there is a character marries a girl who is physically challenged. Then she went on saying”By the way Vilas’ marriage with Keerthana was also a deal unto death !! Infact it was a deal that led to his death. Ha ha ha” she laughed out.
“I don’t find this a laughing matter Meena. Call me old fashioned but I shall only fall for a love that is selfless and pure otherwise I would rather stay single all my life”Ravi ended.
“Welcome to the world of lifelong singlehood ,coming to think of it,it aint so bad as it sounds” Meena smiled as she leaned back on her chair.

--THE END