What The Eyes Don't See

12 | The Man Who Lost it All

Anay woke up to find Kautuk on his bed next to him. He sat up and suddenly looked at his miserable state. He still felt naked and humiliated; he felt touched. Visuals of the harrowing experience at the police station with the groggy criminals' eyes leering at him danced in front of his eyes. Kautuk stirred and snored. Anay thought of waking him up but knowing that the guy had been out for him the entire night, he let him sleep.

He walked to the bathroom, suddenly alive to the many places that his body had started to ache in. Standing in front of his mirror, he looked at the bruise on the corner of his lip. It was a reminder of the slap. He kept his foot on the commode with great difficulty and looked at his knee. It was bruised blue. He would be stumbling for a few days. He applied an ointment and winced as it burned through the sore skin. But then another visual sprang to his mind with the momentum of a runaway truck—the thought of the poor dead body of Renee on the ground of the building, that was there just a few hours ago. In a blink, it obliterated every other thought from his mind.

He washed his face and hobbled up to the balcony. He leaned out and could see the chalk outline drawn by the police on the ground below. The corpse was gone but the bloodstains were there. Two constables were sitting at the building gate. They had perhaps been stationed for the final formalities. Just then, they looked up and saw him at the window. He hastily retreated into the room and closed the window with a bang.

Kautuk stirred and sat up. "Fuck, is it eleven already?" was the first thing he said.

Anay came up to him. "Thank you, buddy. How can I ever thank you? If it were not for you..." That thought remained unspoken, but it played out in his mind and his voice broke.

Kautuk let his friend's emotions flow. He lit a cigarette, blew a puff, and handed it over to Anay. "Have it. You'll feel better." Anay took a long drag. Staring at him, Kautuk said, "I knew Renee and you were up to something. That blind fool Vishwa could not see it, but nothing escapes me. Now tell me exactly what happened."

"I don't know, man!" Anay said. "Yes, we came up here to the house. No, it wasn't a plan. She just met me and then we came up here together. It was all her idea. You cannot blame me. You know how Renee can get when she needs something. She was all over me."

"And then?"

"Well, I couldn't do it. I really couldn't. I told her so. And then she got wild. She called me all sorts of names and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her. That was the last I saw of her."

"You didn't run behind her?"

"Nope. I was, in a way, happy that she left." Anay buried his head in his hands.

Kautuk placed his arm on Anay's shoulder. "Look, brother. I trust you. I spoke to my lawyer uncle before coming over. He has represented some of the biggest criminals in town and got them acquitted. This one will be a breeze for him. Apart from that woman's statement, the police have nothing. My will get you out of this and you'll not even know. Just stay put."

Anay nodded. "How did you know?"

"Well, the police called Vishwa as soon as they found her body. Vishwa called me up and asked me if I knew anything about Renee being here, in your house. He didn't even seem to register that she is dead. He was only going on and on about 'Why was she in his house?'"

"So Vishwa knows?"

"Vishwa knows."

"And what about Salil? I need to get back to work."

"Take it easy for a couple of days," Kautuk said. "Salil surely knows about it by now. He'll understand."

"But the project, man... I promised Sen a week."