The Kashyup Redemption

xxv. Ares

He hadn't planned how he would handle revealing everything to Randhir and that unnerved him more than the idea of facing the friend with whom he had shared a forever volatile relationship. His interactions with his former roommate were like a pendulum, always swinging, walking the fine line between tolerance and compassion. Randhir was the kind to hold grudges and Parth had a bad feeling about this. Especially since he didn't feel like his old pacifist self.

The banging had stopped, but the silence between the two people who would have reluctantly called each other friends was just as uncomfortable and intrusive as the noise that had preceded it. Randhir stood before him, looking the same- still frustrated, still fighting the world and Parth felt a sense of resentment. Randhir had had the opportunity to change his own life but here he was, smelling of grease and disappointment, staring him down as if he, Parth had personally wronged him.

Maybe it was just as well that the rest of Parth's family members had decided to stay away from the unexpected guest, giving Parth as much as privacy as he could have hoped for. He wordlessly glared back at the guest, waiting for the discomfort to dissolve. Some sign of recognition, some sign of an opening for a conversation that was sure to be as stifling as the silence that now reigned over them.

Randhir was as reluctant to step back or show any semblance of weakness as Parth was. So Parth shook his head and waited, crossing his arms and silently daring Randhir to speak. Randhir's rage was no strange thing to him, Parth knew how it simmered and then evaporated into a million questions which Randhir wanted answers to. If anything would ever make Randhir consider a compromise, it would be knowledge. Randhir lived by the idea that knowledge is power and he would be damned if he let himself be powerless. Three years of living in close proximity with Randhir had taught Parth that, and so Parth did what he had done best. Parth waited.

The expletives came first. Randhir had probably put to use his whole vocabulary, consisting of an impressive range of words in five different languages- English, French, Hindi and two others that Parth could not identify. If any of the other Saxenas was alarmed or offended at the kind of language that was being used in their abode, Parth never knew, for none of them made an appearance.

"Why the fuck didn't you call? Of course, it is not a big deal, to let me know that you are alive?" Randhir growled, clutching at his hair. He took a deep breath, temporarily drained of his rage.

Parth couldn't smother his own disgust at his friend's words. "I don't think I owe you anything. What should have been my priority - recovering from a coma or using telepathy to ensure you knew I was alive?" He knew he was contradicting himself. One of the first few questions he had asked after waking was about Randhir's whereabouts. The knowledge, that Randhir hadn't stayed to learn he was not dead but in a coma, had hardened Parth's outlook toward his friend. "You didn't stay. If you had you would have known I was in a fucking coma not dead. So, forgive me if you weren't on my priority list." Harsh as the words were, they were honest ones, and Parth was left feeling lighter than he had before he had spoken them.

Randhir scoffed, glaring back at Parth with a renewed vigour. "No shit. What do you think I am, some kind of omniscient being that would magically know that you are alive?"

At this, Parth could no longer hide his anger "Yet you act like you are one. You blamed Sanyukta for everything without bothering to find out the truth. I won't say anything more because I promised Sanyukta I won't interfere. I have done enough. Too much. It is your personal issue to resolve, not mine. But as a common friend that you both share I can say this - You left her to deal with everything, like the coward you are."

"But I promised no one anything. So, Baba Parth, I can still speak and this time you will take your own advice and confront your problems instead of playing the psychologist. I met Vidushi." Randhir took a seat on the sofa, preparing himself for the swarm of questions that was sure to follow.