The Birthday Party
When I
stepped out of my car, after parking it beside the footpath, I could clearly
notice the uneasiness Amrita was having.
‘Are you
sure you want to go over there, Abhi?’ She asked me. I could clearly see the
fear on her face. ‘What if we…?’
‘Nonsense,
Ams. Listen, we’ll keep mum about it. Oh, it gives me still creeps about
it…Shinjini’s death…’
Let me
clear it up a bit: Just only two days ago, we had lost our good colleague
Shinjini Roy. She was crossing the road from one side of Dharamtala to the
other, when suddenly a car…
Oh, it’s
too gruesome to recall that. Just saying that she died in a car accident on the
10th of December.
Today was
the 12th. Her birthday. And on this occasion, we were invited to her
house to celebrate her 20th birthday. At first I didn’t want to go
over there, think that it was all stupid and they might have clearly lost their
minds…but upon Amrita’s insistence, I was there: standing in front of their
door and ringing the bell, as the last rays of winter sunlight fell…
(jesus the
whisky did it)
The door
opened, and we were greeted by the former college mathematics teacher, Mr.
Jayadratha Roy – Shinjini’s father.
‘Welcome.’
he said. He looked utterly exhausted – as if he had been running about a lot –
but nevertheless, there was a smile up on his face.
As we went
to the living room, we found two of our colleagues seated over there as well –
Drick Sen and Rituja Ghosh.
‘They
invited you too?’ I asked Drick once I sat down next to them. I could see the
shadow of fear on the faces of the young women…
(dear god
why?)
‘Ya. Abhi,
I dunno…but have they completely lost their minds…? I mean, it can also happen
that they foun-’
‘No.’ I
replied quietly. ‘They seemed to be sane enough…’
I
eventually stopped talking. It was best to keep silent. I stared down at the
floor. My eyes caught a photo of our dead colleague, who shone even in her
frame. She was dazzling, was Prom Queen for three years straight, and was
literally the heart-throb of every guy in our campus.
(who knew?)
The former
Massachussets maths teacher now sat in front of us. He had a smile lurking up
in his face, as he uncorked a bottle.
‘Y’all like
the Bulleit Bourbon, don’t ya?’
‘Mr. Roy,
these weren’t necessary…’ Rituja tried to say.
Meanwhile,
I began to feel a sense of uneasiness form within me…
(how did he
know?)
‘Ha ha.’ He
laughed. ‘Well, you would have had it if she were still here. And, well, she’s
here still. She’ll come out within a few minutes…don’t worry…she’s still here…’
Alright, I confirmed
to myself. He has totally lost it. Damn, a strong man like him…
A few
moments passed by. I could feel the mixture of fear and uneasiness among us as
we wandered about the small space of the living room. Though he looked like he
had clearly lost his marbles, I couldn’t but think of the words he said…
‘She is
here…’
After
twenty minutes or so
(it felt
like an hour)
We were all
summoned to the dinner table, where the solemn-looking cake lay. The table was
clothed with a single white cloth, and I didn’t know why
(was someone
over there in the next room)
but I felt
that something was going to happen…soon….
‘Now, we
wait.’ Dr. Jayadratha said.
‘Um, for
whom?’ Amrita asked.
‘For my
dear Shinny!’ he replied. He had again that smile on his face.
And then,
as the flame flickered to its left, I suddenly remembered one thing.
Shinjini –
as she had told us earlier – had lost her mother when she was 4…
And that
day, the car accident had…the accident had…
‘Claimed
dead at the hospital.’ someone said behind me.
I turned
behind and so to my horror that it was Dr. Roy.
‘And so,
you also came along with me, dear papa.’ Another voice – this time feminine –
floated out, and a slim, fair woman came out slowly towards the cake…
Shinjini Roy!
‘You guys…you
guys…’ she said, laughing.
I felt my
mouth run dry. I felt Amrita slipping beside me. She had fainted.
‘Wait,
weren’t y-you…’
‘Dead? Yes,
I am. And because of four students who were drinking and driving…ha!’ she
replied, smiling at me.
‘Ah, that
day. I was walking down the footpath, about to cross the road with my daughter,
when suddenly this red car came and then crashed…’
My head
began to whirl…was it…was it…
OH DEAR
JESUS WHY!
It was
night. Me, Amrita, Drick and Rituja coming down the road after four glasses of
Bulleit and were speeding down…we were so engrossed in it that…
That we didn’t
realise that we had hit two people – dead on the spot.
‘Well, what
are we waiting for? Cut the cake.’ Dr.Jayadratha – now slowly disintegrating
into a skeleton – called out.
And then,
whispers came…whispers coming from the very depths….
‘Happy
Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you, dear Shinjini…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!’
There was an
applause, but I didn’t hear it…
I had
already passed out…
***
I woke up
with a start. Oh, what a horrible dream!
Daylight
was flooding in. I checked my clock. It was 4.30 p.m., 12th
December, 2020.
I put on my
glasses, and stared at the window. Dusk was falling…
I sat down on
my bed, and began to think about what I saw…
Yep,
definitely stress…
Stress from
that unintentional murder I did…
As I got up
to go downstairs, my phone buzzed in my pockets. Opening it, I found a message
from Amrita.
As I opened
it, I stood frozen.
‘Hey bro.
Shinjini’s father just texted me. He’s saying that we should come to his house
for her 20th b-day party. I think he lost it. What to do??’
Closing my
eyes, that dream came to my eyes again…
Then, taking
a deep breath, I typed out.
‘I am not
going over there. Her father is dead. Whose party are you going to go?’
Then, shutting
off my phone, I went outside. I had to buy some groceries…
After half
an hour, when I came back, I heard the news I had still a bit of confusion about
it:
Notated
alumnus of MIIT, Dr. Jayadratha Roy had passed away due to a massive heart
attack…unable to bear the loss of his beloved daughter…
***
M.Macabre
12.12.2020
Dedicated to:
A person who is 8 years younger to me and has her birthday today!!
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