Apartment 2 Room #206

So, you’ve finally come. I was wondering when you shall show your face here, of all the resident of this building I must be the most interesting one. Why shouldn’t I be? I am the only person who has spent a decade of his life in a mental hospital; ergo it must be interesting to know how I cope up with the mundane day to day life.

People are afraid of me. They think that they would drop dead if they made eye contact. And why shouldn’t they be? Not long ago I was a raving lunatic who was straight jacketed, and thrown in a rubber cell. When I was sane before I never knew that there could be so many stereotypes that exist in this world. Or you could say that I was mad before, because I couldn’t see this world for what it is-An inflexible rigid martinet. However this was a lesson learnt long before I was certified. 

Look around you, you won’t find a single thing in this apartment that doesn’t serve a purpose. Many people who welcomed me here, who imposed on me to see what stereotype I fit in, told me that I lead a “Spartan” existence. They told me to buy frilly looking things, advised me on interior decorators, some even proposed to find me a girl because my apartment needed a “woman’s touch”. However this was before they discovered that I was institutionalized.

 So everything that lacked a woman’s touch was now attributed to my madness.

I don’t blame them. I learned my lessons long ago, in my previous life. What previous life? The life that I had before, the life when I was a pathetic drunk, spending the obscene amount of the money I had on booze. Then also I was a stereotype- a rich drunk kid or rather a brat, who is used to wave his money around and had his way. My neighbor also was a stereotype, another rich philanthropist who earned only for donating it. And by God, people had it all wrong. I never broke a single law in my life. I just drank. And he, he was a monster.

I remember that day, when I was leaving my apartment badly drunk and I saw him with a girl of around 15.  I dismissed it, thought that she might be one of his charities; he was usually involved with waifs nurturing them and caring for them. However I didn’t realize that he didn’t just nurture them, he forced himself on them deriving a sadistic pleasure from their misery.

When that girl disappeared, was killed by him, I told police that I last saw her with him. However I was a drunk the joke of everyone, my testimony was summarily dismissed. That was the last day I touched alcohol, in an instant I went from a bottle a day to bone dry. If I was not addicted, I could have saved her, I could have realized him for the monster he was. But I couldn’t. For all my lavish life, I couldn’t save her. I should have seen that hungry look in his eyes. I should’ve…

However I couldn’t have left him to his own devices. I didn’t. I entered his apartment, to apologize for my accusations. And I killed him.

You want to know how I did that? I tied him down, made an incision on his stomach, took two rats, pushed them inside and then sutured it. And then I watched. I sat there for all the time it took the rats to burrow their way out, and it was not long. And then I watched him bleed. And I sat there listening to his screams. And I sat there for a very long time even after he was dead. I was ready to face the consequences of my act. The killing of that bastard was reward enough for me. However I was again stereotyped.

The policeman who first apprehended me was a sudden hero for the media. He told them, that in his career he hasn’t seen such a scene. He said,”the criminal (that’s me), was unapologetic. He was calm, such calmness that only comes from madness. He was unremorseful, delirious, and his eyes. I can never forget his eyes. It was as if his stare could kill me.”

Adios…

PS: one more to come.

Apartment 2 Room #105

I shall always remember that kiss. Oh! What a moment that was. It was raining and there was sweet fragrance all around and someone was playing a violin as if to serenade us. As IF. It was in a theatre, old and ramshackle. But the ambience didn’t make it less magical for us. We were young, and we were spellbound. Me, more so. I realized that she will be the first and the last girl I shall ever give this kind of kiss. And she is.

So I know that you have been running around taking a measure of the residents of this building. Well good for you! But I don’t understand what you are looking for, what you hope to find? I mean you don’t see journalist-You are a journalist aren’t you? So I was saying that you don’t see journalists running around talking to senile old men, even if they have some juicy tidbits to share.  You know I don’t think that anyone in this building knows my name. They know me by moniker – the wifeless guy. The guy whose wife left him, left him for another man.

If you ask me they have a gist of that sorry affair.  These are not my words. I never felt sorry for myself, If you ask me that thing was a reprieve.  You can’t keep on looking at the face of person you love and see that she is unhappy with you.  No you better let her go. And let her go, I did. 

You know our eye see about three hundred frames per second. Of this the brain is capable of drawing information from only two hundred. The rest of its ability goes in supervising our movements. This is the reason you stop, like a deer  caught in headlights, when there is a sudden movement somewhere near you. Because then the body thinks that it’s necessary to analyze every bit of information relayed by your eyes.  And this indecision is often the end of you.  A predator won’t give you the time to stop and look around for a threat. He will pounce upon you during the moment of your weakness.

I decided that I won’t be weak. I won’t let that indecision be the end of me. So, I decided to leave her.  Yes! I left her.I moved out. Surprised? Why won’t you be? People don’t call her husband less, do they? The only thing that earned me that moniker was my decision to never marry again. How could I? I am still in love with her. I was in love with her and always will be. Leaving her was the most difficult thing that I did but I am happy now that she is happy. I became a villain, a monster so that she could live her life.

I have lived 55 summers and shall live many more.  I run, I work, I eat and I sleep, I have friends, I travel a lot, I earn, and I spend. I do crave for companionship, but then I always remember that kiss. In that old and ramshackle theatre.

Adios.

PS:this is the second in the apartment 2 series. Now you can be sure that the first one was not an autobiographical account. 

Friday the thirteenth

this is the story i submitted to some arbit competition.

“Rapids and gales

Storms and hails

You will have a rotten luck

If you leave your hammock

Cause sailing is nay’

If its thirteenth on a Friday.”

“I don’t know why the hell I cannot forget this stupid rhyme” cursed Jack, going about his morning
routine. “Okay today is Friday the thirteenth but what’s so special about it? Come on it’s just
another day”, were his thoughts on this particular day that plagued him at least once every year.
And it wasn’t as if he didn’t try to let go all his superstitions about this particular day, but they were
so deeply instilled in him by his grandfather – a grey bearded loon of a sailor who lost both his crew
and his ship in some bizarre storm on this day.

The fact that he had an interview (an opportunity of a life time) which had been rescheduled to
this day irked him more. So it was either to go and join a banquet of twelve and die (as the Norse
people would have it, another one of his grandfather’s absurd stories) or sit at home and watch the
nonsensical pop cultural references about the day on the idiot box.

He remembered losing the red bike to rick when he gave away his ticket (the lucky one) to the local
fair. The baseball match, the Indiana Jones visit- all lost to ‘the day’. And how could he forget Natalia
–sweet Natalia whom he asked out for prom and couldn’t attend, all because his gee gee wouldn’t
allow him to venture out. “Jacky boy! You too will lose your ship as I did” was his gramps answer
every time.

“Oh! Screw it I am done with that old geezer, with him and his ship and his bull crap of superstitions.
For all that matter he might have been drunk when he drove his ship into that rock. I am going out to
settle it once and for all” Jack decided, and began dressing up.

“Free breakfast in the cafe (apparently he was the 13th customer entering the cafe), no traffic jams
on the way, a good parking spot. I wish the interview goes this good”.

“Oh! How I breezed through the interview. I aced all the questions and even my guesses hit the
bull’s eye. If I don’t get the job now then I never would”

“Mr. Jack I would be honest with you, we were going to give the job to the guy who came before
you, but somehow my guts say that you will be the best guy for this job. So here is your advance...”

“That old geezer was certainly a fool. I had a wonderful day, the job would have gone to someone
else.” While standing at the cash withdrawal counter Jack didn’t notice the gunman enter the bank,
neither did he see him slip the carbine into position, nor did he hear the staccato burst.

He just felt the bullet that entered his body tearing away the flesh. He remembered the red bike

and the boy crushed under the bus, the accident of that beautiful girl and

“Rapids and gales

Storms and hails....

Cause sailing is nay’

If its thirteenth on a Friday.

”