The Misfortune Cycle: River Desert

Chapter 10

Kalyani made surprisingly little noise after Torun locked her in the kitchen. So little, in fact, that Torun forgot to give her food again that noon. When he opened the door with her lunch at five in the afternoon, she looked at him with bright hungry eyes that reminded him of how crocodiles in farms watch the first bucket of food in the morning.

He set down the rice and mixed vegetables curry before her and told her to eat. She jumped on it, pulling on the rubber band holding the box closed before ripping the paper lid off entirely. The hem of her Saree fell forward into the food, but she simply swung it back over her shoulder and continued at the food, savagely pouring it into her mouth, occasionally sparing guilty glances at Torun.

Torun saw her eat for a few moments, then backed out of the kitchen, locking the door from the outside once he was out. Eating sounds kept coming from inside.

He brought out his phone. Out of their little group that had gotten into the situation together, he only had Ashraful's number. So that's who he called. It rang five times before his colleague picked up the phone.

"Hello, Torun. Did you reach home safely?" Ashraful sounded rushed.

"Yes. Where are you?"

"I'm at the port. Just saw Lanka to her boat a minute ago." Someone was talking in the background, "why do you ask?"

"Well, The Shakhchunni is at my house right now. We have to discuss what we're going to do about her."

There was a pause on the other side. A brief silence from Ashraful's part which Torun utilized by trying to realize what was being said in the background. He heard the words "phone" and "Can't" being spoken. The speaker sounded male and adult.

"It's with you?" Ashraful finally asked.

"Yeah, she followed me home."

"Are you sure about that?" The background voice was getting louder. Clock. Police. Sumbitch.

"Yes. She's locked in my kitchen right now." Torun pondered whether he should tell him about Idris appearing in his dining room.

"Wait, gimme a moment," Ashraful said before the voice line cut off. The call was put on hold.

Maybe Idris could wait till they meet face to face. Preferably tomorrow.

"— so there's no use," Ashraful was saying to someone when the voice line came back, "Yeah, Torun. How do you know it's that thing you have in your kitchen?"

"It could change shape," Torun said into the phone. Background noise was still there, but now it got lower the minute it started. As if Ashraful was walking away from whoever he was talking to.

"How do you know it isn't just another one of that kind?" Ashraful asked back, sounding attentive.

"It obeys me."

"Oh, okay. Then it might be actually the right one."

Torun creased his eyebrows, "You guys have one too?"

"We found a heron sitting where that thing was when we got back to the boat. Lanka caught it and put it in a cage."

"We'll eat it tomorrow. Do you know where Budda is? I need to talk to him."

"I left him on Lanka's boat," the background voice returned. Ashraful swore before the sound cut off, the call on hold again.

The ex-Cop was doing a very poor job or hiding his secrets.

So when he came back a few minutes later, Torun confronted him.

"What are you doing in the background?" He asked.