The Silent Witness

By Ashita Ashish Ahuja

Slate gray skies. A faint smell of wet roots and moss. The incessant barking of a golden retriever echoes through the otherwise quiet neighborhood in Ooty.

It is around 5:30 p.m., time for him to sit in the garden and sip his favorite ginger tea while listening to "Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas," a famous Bollywood song from the 1970s.

“Is the tea alright?” a woman sitting beside him asks.

Who is this woman? She entered this house yesterday with a couple of suitcases. It can only mean she is here for the long haul. I can’t even see her face properly. Ah! If only I could turn my neck a little, I would get a good look at her by now. But this voice I hear seems quite familiar.

“Well, it’s okay.” He smirks. “But not as tasty as…”

“As Madhu’s?” she interrupts. “Were you actually going to say that? You’d better not. You know I hate this joke,” she says in an almost childlike voice.

Strands of her hair cover most of her face. It’s almost impossible to see it clearly!

“Subodh, it’s my first day in this house. Aren’t you planning to do anything special?” She places her hand on his wrist. “Veera…” he sighs. “Okay, let’s order your favorite spaghetti in red sauce and mushroom risotto. I’ll pull out that bottle of wine you got, and it’s a date!”

Veera gets up from her chair, and simultaneously, Subodh stands up too, giving me a better look. She appears to be in her late forties. Tall, poised, with a caramel complexion, wearing a vibrant pair of rust-colored palazzos and an ocher blouse. They give each other a warm, reassuring hug. She places her head lightly on his shoulder.

Veera? The same woman who opened a little boutique across the street a couple of years ago. She’s in my house with my husband, and they’re in love.

Subodh is in love.

 ~

He’s making her bed tea, and for the first time in his life, he’s making omelets by himself. When did cooking become his love language? When did he start having a love language, after all? Oh, the sight of her sitting on my newly bought couch, swapping my books with her beach reads, and now she’s even started hatching a plan on how to get rid of the vintage lamps and chest of drawers.

“Subodh! I need all this gone! It’s been three weeks since I moved in.” Only if I could tell her how painful these three weeks have been.

“If you want me to live here forever…”

Did she just say forever? Will Veera stay in my house forever? The house that Subodh and I built. How can he do this to me?

“Umm, Veera, you worry too much. Take it easy. I have called the packing guys, and they’ll be here to take all these things soon. They’ll find a place for them at my office.” He reassures her. “You worry a lot. Now come inside and help me choose a shirt for tonight’s party.”

The two are leaving the living room. Oh, damn! I can’t see them again. They’ve entered the bedroom, our bedroom. The door is open but I can’t manage to see them at all. It’s been fifteen minutes. Are they just choosing a shirt or… The very thought of it makes me want to retch.

Subodh’s phone is ringing. It’s rung twice, and he’s not yet picked it up. Pick up, Subodh! What are you so busy with?

“Hello, Adi!”

Our son’s been calling him, and it’s taken so long for him to pick up. I haven’t seen Adi in ages. Oh, how I miss him. Come on, put the phone on speaker. I want to hear my son’s voice. Subodh! Subodh! Argh, I deserve to hear my son’s voice.

“Beta, how are you? Are you studying well? Your grades weren’t up to the mark this time. What happened?”

Come on, Subodh, come closer. I need to hear my son’s voice. I didn’t even know Adi had fared poorly. Oh no, he must be disturbed about everything that has happened in the last six months. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him or heard from him. I don’t know how he’ll react to seeing his father with this woman.

“I would like to come and meet you, beta, but…” Subodh walks into the living room. “...maybe you can come over some time and stay with me. No, Adi, you're at the hostel to study. You can’t just drop everything and come here forever. Adi, Adi, you need to listen to me…” Perhaps Adi has disconnected the call.

Subodh sits forlorn. He rests his legs on the coffee table in front of him, lays back his head on the sofa, and takes long, deep breaths.

Listen to me, Subodh! Our son wants to come home, and you will let him, do you understand? But you can’t get our son to this house and make him meet this woman. Subodh, you’re not even at home to listen to what she talks about on the phone with her friends. I hear her all the time. Married and divorced twice, this woman is trouble.”

~

“You didn’t hear him, Veera. His voice was quivering; he’s desperate to come home.”

Subodh and Veera are seated at the dining table. I can’t see them anymore, and I am straining my ears to hear them. But the heavy downpour is making it difficult. Argh! I can’t get up, and I can’t walk up to the dining table to see them. I am stuck.

“Veera, my love, Adi needs to come back home. He’s miserable, his grades are falling, and he misses his…”

“Subodh, please. If Adi comes home, I will have to move out. Adi won’t accept me immediately. I can’t be his new mom. I can’t. If I had to leave this house in the first place, why did I come? Veera lashes out.

“No, of course not. Adi will understand. I will make sure.”

“Really? You think it will happen just like that, overnight?” Veera raises her voice.

“Uh…”

“Come on, Subodh, it won’t!”

“Veera, Veera, please. Calm down, please.”

“Answer me! It took us four years to get here, didn’t it?”

I can’t believe this. I wish I could ask Veera to repeat what she just said. Four years, and I never knew anything. Well played, Subodh. My husband kept his affair hidden for four years.

“I know. Veera, ever since I laid my eyes on you, Madhu was out for me.”

“But, not out of your house!” Veera screams in despair.

“Stop shouting. Please, Veera.”

Veera starts sobbing. Everything goes silent, them and the rain.

“Subodh, I need an answer.” There’s a sudden calmness in her voice. “I don’t want to be without you any longer. Two failed marriages later, I have found you, the love of my life!”

“I know, I know.” Subodh sounds like he is consoling her. “Adi will be here next month, and I don’t want any more discussion on this. You need to understand…”

“If Adi rejects this, then what?” This time, Veera sounds determined and firm.

“Adi is sad; he is having a horrible time at the hostel, and he’s getting bullied now. He needs to come home. He makes calls to me every day, begging to be home. If he rejects us, you can go home for a little while till I sort things out with Adi, and then you can be back. Okay? Is that okay?”

I hear a loud thud, almost as if someone banged the table with a fist.

“Subodh!” Veera screams. “After everything I have done for you, you’re asking me to be home again? I did everything for you. I did whatever you said. I left my husband for you.” Veera is loud but emotionally breaking down.

“I have done…” Subodh tries to intervene.

“You haven’t done anything! I got rid of my husband, and I got rid of Madhu. I…I got rid of her for you, for us!” I hear them stomping out of the dining room.

“Veera, Veera…” Subodh is probably chasing her.

“And look…here she is. First her and now her son, I have had it!” Veera yells.

Veera rushes to the table in the living room and turns toward the shelf, her gaze locking on mine as though she’s staring straight into my eyes. She snatches up the photo frame, lifts it close to her face, and studies me with a look of cold vengeance.

“I am going to get rid of your Adi, just like I killed you.” Veera takes the frame and tosses it in the bin, facing downwards. And that’s all! I can no longer see anything, just a dark abyss.

“Veera, Veera no!” Subodh screams in pain.

“I am sorry, Subodh, you had a choice, and you picked Adi.”

“Veera, no!” Subodh yells at the top of his voice.

“Veera, stop, please! Where are you going?” He cries.

The door slams and everything falls silent…

By Ashita Ashish Ahuja