Revenge: Short Story

 

It was a dark evening and the clouds covered the sky; when a black Vitz stopped before the entrance gate of Mental Hospital, the driver’s side door of car opened and a tall, dark handsome guy in black suite, eyes covered with goggles came out, he locked his vehicle with automated key lock. He started to walk towards the main gate, as he walked he found a lash green garden, full of flowers, plants and disturbing sound of a cricket.

  The watchman saluted him as though he was a regular visitor or someone whom the security man knew well. The guy in reply just smiled, and climbed four steps made of marble stone to go inside the hospital, passing through the wing and general ward where patients were tied up in chains, he came to Dr. Izhar’s cabin, who was the in-charge of this hospital, he knocked the brown wooden door that had the golden name plate “Dr. Izhar”.

“Come in,” a thick voice behind the door reached his ears,  he turned the silver round lock and opened it, with a smiling face said:

“May I come in sir?”

“Oh! Mr. Sheeraz,” the doctor exclaimed with joy: “please come in sir,” as the tall guy who had long hair that fell over his shoulders walked inside the cabin, he found the white light, a table containing a laptop, books and other stuff.

“Please sit down,” Dr. Izhar pointing to a chair said.

“Thanks a lot,” Sheeraz replied with a sharp smile.

“So,” the doctor asked: “how is everything?”

“Fine as usual,” he replied with same smile.

“Mr. Sheeraz, can I ask you something?” Izhar said looking at the guy.

“Of course sir,” he replied lightening a cigarette.

“I have noticed you coming here from last two years continuously,” he asked in decent tone: “without missing a day, I don’t know what your relation with that lady is! And to keep her here you pay a handsome amount of charity to us,” there was concern in his voice, Sheeraz just gave a sparkling smile in reply, and few moments later he said: “can I see her sir?”

“Of course, please come with me,” Izhar said standing up from his chair, Sheeraz stood up too, they started to walk and came out from the cabin, they passed through a wing in silence, Sheeraz’s head was bowed down as though he was in deep thinking, the red and yellow lights were on, a nurse passed them with a tray full of syringes, cotton, liquid and injections, she greeted them with a smile and walked away quickly as though she was in hurry to stop the sky from falling, in answer Izhar just nodded his head and both men turned to private rooms.

“Mr. Sheeraz, she doesn’t possess any mental ailment, but on your instruction we’ve kept her here, let me tell you that you are just wasting time and money.”

“Doctor,” Sheeraz spoke slowly: “she has a mental disease; the only place she deserves is this hospital.” Izhar gave him a blank look and stopped before Room no: 17, he slowly pushed the door which opened with cracking, in the corner sat a chained lady, her eyes had become red due to continuous crying, there were black spots under those big eyes, her face had gone pale, and hair in disorder fell on it, she was dressed in clothes given to her by the hospital. As she saw Sheeraz, the tall guy who regularly visited her and used to leave without speaking a word and just throwing a sharp smile over her as he might be mocking at her.

 she shouted: “who the hell are you?” there was an endless pain in her voice: “what the hell do you want from me?” she shouted again trying to break her chains but from the other side got no response, just a smile that was mocking over her.

“For God’s sake,” she cried: “tell me who the hell are you?”

“Sir,” Sheeraz said to the doctor in low tone: “could you please leave us alone?”

“Of course,” Izhar replied with a smile and started to walk out from the room, when he reached the door, he turned back and said:

“Be careful Mr. Sheeraz, she can be bit dangerous.”

“I’ll,” he told him, the doctor left the room, he came to door and bolted it, took out a cigarette, lit it and said: “this is just a beginning.” The lady who was fat and pulpy aging around fifties looked straight at his clean-shaven face that had a sharp smile, in all that time she’d been here, this was the first sentence he had spoken to her, puffing his cigarette he said:

“The list of your sins is too big, and unfortunately my life is too small to punish you for all what you did to me,” and then there was same sharp smile, he sat on the chair beside the bed; the lady again looked him with blank eyes and agitating state of mind.

“You have forgotten, but I haven’t;” as he uttered these words his facial expression changed anger overtook him and that sharp smile disappeared.

“I was a respectable professor, and you’ve have turned me into a wicked witch,” she cried hitting her legs on the bed trying to get rid-off chains. Sheeraz laughed loud, his voice touched the ceiling, throwing the cigarette on the floor and smashing it under his brown shoe said:

“Respect…… do you even know what that baldy word means? You were always a wicked witch” there was anger in his words.

“What the hell do you want from me?” she shouted hitting herself against the iron post of the bed.

“Revenge,” he replied, the word hit the ceiling of the room and echoed.

 The lady again with blank eyes glanced at him and in low tone asked:

“For what?” rather answering her question he made mockery of her and then said:

“You know, what a revenge it has been so far!” this started to disturb the lady, who was in agony and pain, desperate to know who this guy was and what was his revenge that had destroyed her name, social status and her life.

 Sheeraz stood up and walked towards the window removed the white curtains and looked outside, he only found darkness, nothing else, the trees were moving which indicated there was wind bellowing out.

“Do you know it was me who turned your own daughter against you,” he turned back looking straight into her eyes as he uttered those words, she remained silent, it seemed her tongue had dropped in her belly or she had lost all the words to speak.

“I must confess,” he spoke, his tone was soft, words clearly coming out from his mouth, words that were hurting the lady, she was still even unable to think of reason for she was being punished in this way from two years?

“Your daughter has a lovely, curvy body, she could be the greatest prostitute of all times,” he uttered these words biting his lower, his words rude and she felt a sharp blade was piercing her soul, but Sheeraz carried on without bothering that his words were hurting her badly:

“Her fleshy legs, her big round breasts, and last but not the least those fat butts, one would love to spend his entire day just slapping those mounds of flesh,” these words became unbearable for her, and she shouted:

“Stop it god damn it, please stop all that non-sense,” tears came out of her eyes as she closed them and rolled down to her bony cheeks.

“Exactly the same way,” he said with mockery, now he was getting sadistic pleasure from her pain: “this is how you reacted, when you first saw me and Anna coming out from her bedroom.” She opened her eyes they were filled with tears, she tried to spat at him in anger but he was out of her reach and the salvia fell on the floor.

“Let me tell you, she is very good in bed and she performs certain jobs delicately,” he continued his mock, as though lava was coming out from a mount which had been in silence for years, “I’ve used her thrice and she seems to be eager all the time, and why not after all she is your daughter, you must have trained her for all this!”

“Shut up, you son of bitch,” she cried hitting herself hard against the bed, and prayed in her heart if she was free she might have killed the bastard standing before her.

“That was only the first step for my glorious victory over you, Madame Shazima,” he said with complete satisfaction and asked her:

“You remember that day!” there was a pause which allowed him to light another cigarette, after which a cloud of smoke raised in the room.

“Anna and you started quarrel before me;” he said: “she was standing in my arms, when you came in the hall of your luxurious house, you must be wondering how I trapped her, so Madame technology has made our lives so simple, you can find every bitch on your baldy computer screen….. Anyways you were shocked and asked:

Anna what is this?

Anna replied: what mummy?

You said: what is going over here?

She replied: nothing mummy.

You said: if nothing, then what’s he doing here?

She said: oh! Come on mummy he is my friend.

You said: yes, I know but…..

She interjected: Mummy don’t interfere in my life, now I’m grown up child.

You shouted her name “Anna” as you always do, the temperature of your well decorated room was raising up, everyone does sins behind the silky curtains, especially when you are alone in a large luxurious house. You sat down on the couch throwing your black leather bag on the carpet and said:

Anna, this is not right.

She shouted: what wrong I have done, I have done the same thing what you do with Uncle Yasir in absence of dad. Your whole body started to shiver, your face turned red and you threw tight slap over her check, but she had blind faith in me, she left you and I left her, that was the time you started to live in mental trauma, which was the best period of my life, and now with my power I’ve proved you insane.” He stopped talking.

“I would kill you bastard…..” she cried helplessly.

“Calm down lady,” he said: “you don’t have power anymore I can even prove that you are a filthy bitch, I have the power,” there was a little pause and then he said:

“It was you, who made me so desperate to get it,” there was anger in his words as he took her name: “Madame Shazima, you thought that baldy chair will always remain under your ass, but it has slipped away, I used your own assets against you, it was me who insisted not to give you extension…..” and he started to laugh.

“Why,” she asked crying: “I even don’t know you?” suddenly the door opened and a blonde nurse in white uniform entered with a tray of medicine.

“Excuse me sir,” she said: “I have to give her medicine.”

“Sister please give us ten to fifteen minutes,” Sheeraz spoke politely, the nurse nodded her head and went out of the room without saying a word.

“You must know me, Madame Shaziam, you must know me,” he said as the nurse left the room.

“What are you getting from all this?” she asked in a weak tone.

“Pleasure,” he replied with a smile: “pleasure, inner satisfaction from your pain, shouts and morning, you must pay for the sin you committed against me.”

“But why, what wrong I did to you?” she asked in low tone.

“You tortured my soul, you insulted a father in front of his son, and he was unable to do anything,” he replied in anger: “that son from open space of the door used see his father in despair, he lost his sleep for many nights just because of you alleged that honest man of robbery,” he said in the same tone pointing his finger towards her, she saw him in astonishment, he spoke again:

“You might have forgotten all that, but I haven’t.”

“Are you talking about Prof: Shakeel?” she asked slowly.

“Yes,” he cried with angry face: “now you remember the whole baldy past, you alleged that pious man of robbery didn’t you?”

“But I personally apologized from him and he forgave me,” she said in apologetic manner.

“Oh yes, that noble man forgave a bitch like you, but not me,” he said: “I felt that pain and promised myself that I would take away peace from your life, my promise is over Madame Shazima you neither have life nor death, finished…..”

“Please take me out of this hell, I know you can do it, I am sorry,” she cried but all her cries were useless.

“Since last 12 years I wasted all my energies to take revenge, when you were on that seat you thought you were a deity and would do whatever you wanted, the cops came to our home to arrest my father, because you filthy bitch filed a case of robbery against him, for many days, my family, my father and I suffered, and years later you came to our house saying: you were sorry! One word for that humiliation, no Madame Shazima one word isn’t enough,” he said as though bellowing fire like a dragon.

 He started to walk out of the room.

 Shazima cried: “Please stop and take me out of here, your father forgave me,” but he carried on walking and went out of the room. Later a nurse entered the room injected Shazima, after which she closed her eyes, crying in dim voice:

“Your father forgave me.”

         (By: Kaleem Butt)