The King, The Authority and The Nerd ( The write awards 2013) ( Lionheart series

Chapter 2 - Three months later

Rajesh Singh looked out of the only building of his ramshackle house , feeling a pit of despair in his stomach . It was a cold but sunny January afternoon, in complete contrast to the earlier winter months , where the sun rarely came out , and whenever it did, it was pale and watery at best . Still, the situation remained pretty bad. Today had been the most sunny day in months, and despite that the white glittering snow lay outside in heaps, covering the entire area in a beautiful and enchanting haze. It was as if Nature had commanded the entire world to sleep It was very enchanting, if you did not have to see the same shit for over 3 months , while trying not to freeze to death. Rajesh was literally going to starve to death very soon, unless he did something. Fast. His winter supplies were going to run out by the next days noon, and the snow was so thick that it would be fucking impossible to walk on it, forget driving. And the .nearest store was too far to drive anyway. These were , of course , lame excuses , but Rajesh had to convince himself that he was right and not a lazy, responsibility shrinking asshole. So far , he was pretty much focused on the reverse. The excuses were not working at all. To make matters worse , his stomach was rumbling really loudly. He took a step backward, and headed to his nondescript bedroom, to attempt to do something to keel himself distracted. However , as he headed towards his room ,his stomach seemed to grumble evrmore loudly , as if in protest. Giving up against the vagaries of his ever demanding stomach, he headed to the nondescript kitchen. Opening a carton lying on the rough, once tiled floor, he took out a packet of dry biscuits which were practically the only edible items that he had. He had been surviving on them for the last 3 months. He stopped, his hand frozen in midair, his hand frozen in midair, a expression of anger and apprehension writ on his weather beaten face. It had been exactly 3 months , not one day more or less, when Dheeraj Sen, a minister for Animalla, and told him that he was in fact, hald man and half lion. He had also told him back then that he would visit again , and then left as mysteriously as he arrived. In sincerity, one of the main reasons why had been stuck in this shithole fucked up house was because some part was still scared. Scared that he would walk out and see the same black escalade again. Or was he simply trying to avoid the car, or was he actually trying to avoid the added position of responsibility?? Truth was, Rajesh had always shirked from responsibility and risk. Even the smallest ones. He simply was too damn impulsive and impatient. The second anything became boring, he simply dropped the task ,and began to do anyrhing else. But that thing. Due to this brilliant fact, he was heading in absolutely no direction at all. He life was so terrible , to call it "loser" would be a insult to losers. Rajesh blinked , trying to focus out of the negative thoughts that has clouded his mind.Feeling absolutely depressed , he headed to his bedroom , dryly noting dryly in his mindd that the lazy cycle had begun again. He trudged up the stairs , trying not to feel like the biggest loser born in the history of mankind. His thoughts were so heavy, and his depression so acute , that he went up the second landing, before stopping, when he realised that they were no more stairs. He looked around, totally confused. Where the fuck had the room gone off to? Or were the drugs making him hallucinate again ?? But then again he had been perfectly lucid. Then the little voice in his head said " you drugged, fucked asshole - look at the floor!" He looked at the floor, Squinting a little and then saw. BIt was the fucking second landing !! As comprehension dawned on his brain, he began to feel worse. Was he so fucked up that could not complete simple tasks without screwing up?? He descended the flight of stairs, walked to his windowless, dark room , opened the door and slammed it shut. He simply walked to his bed, in pitch black darkness, and flopped down upon it. He was so well accostumed to this practise, as he had to undertake it for several months a year, to control his fucking electricity bill. Most of the little money that he earned, as the nightwatch went for buying drugs and cigarettes. That was half the reason for his shitty existence. He flopped down on the bed, and just lay there feeling absolutely depressed as usual. He just lay there, which for him felt like forever. Then he decided to smoke a cigeratte. He groped around in the pitch black darkness. He located a cigarette and lighter , and lit the cigeratte. A wave of contentment passed over his body, and he sighed. He continued to puff on the cigarette contentedly. For the first time that day, he felt happy. Absolutely happy. He lifted the details of the autocheck and looked around his room. It was a drab, grim room in terrible need of repair. The plaster was peeling off. The furniture was crackec and drab. There was only one chair and one miniature table. Both looked as if they could crack into little pieces any second. He looked at the ceiiing. It was hardly any better. The fan too hung precariously. Rajesh wondered as to which miracle,it had not crashed already. He stood up straight, slightly less happy. The terrible state of his room, and by extension, his house, was of great concern. Then somehow, he felt a different emotion. Not anger. Not fear. Not paranoia. It took him a few seconds to realize the emotion. It was hope. A powerful feeling that at the everything, would be alright. Just then, the acticheck rang. Rajesh frowned, wondering what it was all about. He picked it up. It was his assistant. " Sir " he said breathlessly " There's a black van with no number plate that just entered the town. No permit or anythung. They looked very intimidating, and appeared to be well armed and all. ". Rajesh found his heart thumping loudly. It had to be them. "Was there a balding, middle aged man in the van?? " he asked rather brusequely " I only saw the driver and noone else. The Windows were all tinted black . They seemed important, so I didn't say. Why, Sir??". Rajesh , who was lost in his own thoughts, collected himself with a supreme effort. " Did they say as to where and who they want to speak too?? " he asked briskly. "Yes sir" he said quietly " They wanted to speak to YOU ". Rajeshs palms became sweaty, and his hear began to thump so loudly that he thought that it would explode. So it had to be him . The descion had to be made. Finally. " sir" the assistant said, with a note of impatientence in his voice " should I come to your house to help?? ". Rajesh took a deep breath , and with his will, steadied himself. ,," No" he said with nerves of steel " I will handle it myself. Do not interfere. " and with that he disconnected the line. Taking another deep breath , he jumped off the bed and headed to the switchboard, and turned on the lights. He headed to the mirror, critically examined himself, and combed his hair, in order to look more presentable. That done, he rushed down, with the Acticheck in hand. As he reached the bottom step,he heard the sounds of doors opening, and footsteps, right in front of his. house. He stood , waiting, for what seemed like an eternity. Then the bell rang. The sound of freedom. Of hope. He steeped forward, and opened it. And outside stood Dheeraj Sen. Sen walked in his authoritative, grim manner, like that of an experienced leader about to give his troops, before battle. He looked at Rajesh, slowly, quitely,Yes" he said quietly " I will join Animalla. Because I want to follow in and with a slight tinge of urgency in The footsteps of my parents. I want to be great." Rajesh could see the joy on Sen's face. An irrescednet irreversible joy, that seemed to spread through the walls of the dull and drab house , and light it up. " So" he said , clapping " So when do we leave? ". " Now" Rajesh said quickly ,,," Now?? " Dheeraj questioned, an element of surprise in his voice " Don't you want to pack or something? ". Rajesh hesistated for a second. " well" he said after a moment, which was pregnant with tension " maybe I should wait a while "