Chapter 5: Raised by Wolves

                         There was a certain small girl who, growing up, very quickly realized she had an abusive father. She was shoved and pushed; she had to quarrel growing up to keep herself safe, and she was probably beaten too. She eventually put her pain into singing, and she became known among the great singers. Her name is Christina Aguilera. This is not the only one; the list goes on for Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry, Bill Clinton, etc. All these individuals had to face the same thing growing up: abuse, abuse, abuse.

                      The person who was driving us in a fancy car in the richest part of the city had a familiar past. As we were speeding down the hi-tech city road, her phone rang. The name showed ‘Dad Mr Hitler’. I casually mentioned, “Hey, someone named Hitler is calling." The moment I mentioned that she took the phone, she disconnected the call and switched off her phone. She threw the phone back in its place. When she did that, I noticed her thighs had big, unevenly healed scars. Something told me that Dad may not be a good topic to speak on. Battling with my thoughts, I kept my eyes on the road. She uttered, “Sorry for the reaction; I am in a good mood, and I don’t want to talk to him." While she was still speaking, we heard Jimmy’s phone ring. She snapped and stopped the car at a shop where she could buy cigarettes. The way she opened the door and walked towards the ‘Pan Dabba', she turned so many eyes on the road. I heard Jimmy continuing to speak on the call, and later Shenaz got out of the car and walked towards her. Eventually, we were all out of the car. Jimmy turned to me and asked, “Lights, right?” I nodded. "Yes." He paid the guy with a Rs. 1000 note. When he started to look for change, he said, “Rahne do bhai” (Keep the change). She returned to the car, lit her cigarette, leaned on the car, and started to smoke. Her long, straight hair waved to the gentle breeze. A strand of her hair tickled her left cheek. She wiped off the tear flowing down her cheek and pushed the strand of hair behind her ears. “I told that bastard so many times to never call me; why does he call me?” she yelled at Jimmy. “I don’t live with him; I don’t want him in my life; he already ruined half our lives; why the fuck now?” He continued with the tears flowing down her cheek. I don’t know if it was the night, the booze, or her. But when she was venting herself, all I could think was, ‘God! She is so beautiful. But there is so much pain inside her. Pain is a great equalizer. No matter how rich or poor you are, pain makes you equal, no matter who you are. Jimmy, trying to ease the mood, said, “It's ok, Sonia. I spoke to him; he will not bother us now." Saying this, Jimmy came close to hug her. Jenny hugging him backward, edging towards me, Jimmy continued to speak, “Anyways, today is the last day in India; let's go have some more fun. Moreover, we need to show a good time to …. ", and he looked at me, and I said, "Derrick." He continued, “We have to show a good time to Derrick, so don’t cry in front of him. He supposedly is already depressed about something”. Hearing that, I turned to stare at Shenaz. Sonia came to me and said, “Don’t stare at her; I made her talk; she is my bestie; she can’t keep anything from me.” The embarrassment just overwhelmed me, and everything just came crashing back to me: her smile, her eyes, her skin. “You are burning yourself; can’t you feel your skin burning?” Until Jenny snapped her finger in front of my eyes, I didn’t realize what I was doing. The burning end of the cigarette had seared into my palm. The pain started to become unbearable, yet I decided not to let it out. Jenny examined my palm. I was trying to dust it off, saying, “I am fine," and right then Jenny yelled. "You will get a slap from me. Get in the car right now; my house is pretty close; I will take care of the wound.” She said and turned towards Jimmy, saying, "Bhai, let’s go home; you can finish your last quota there only. I still have half your bottle at home.” Jimmy graciously obliged and said, “Bhai yeh le, yeh mar thodi dard kam hojayega." He handed over the bottle, and I could not stop myself from not drinking it. The pain spiked every second. Jenny sat in the car, turned the vehicle, and waited for us to sit. Shenaz was just looking at me and smiling as we got into the car. I said, “What?” She said, “

Ishq ne “Galib” Nikamma kar diya

Varna hum bhi aadmi the Kaam ke

  

“Mere saath thodi din bithalene de seeda kardungi”, Jenny said, laughing. I turned towards Jenny as she was zooming through the street’s Hi-tech city. Soon we stopped at a big black gate, and Jenny was honking like a lunatic. Soon, the gatekeeper opened the gate. “Soh gaye the kya, Sajad?” Jenny asked very nicely of the gatekeeper. Sajad nodded his head. Jenny stared at me while Sajad opened the gate. While she pulled her car inside, she said, "Derrick, let me tell you about Sajad. Sajad was from the army. He was one of those jawans who fought the Kargil War. After the war, when he came back, he found out that his entire family had been killed in a fire accident. He soon started to live on the street, and when I found him there, he was looking for a menial job. He still had a physique and those same stone-cold eyes. I was attacked by some guy who wanted to take revenge on me for his incarceration. That guy shot seven bullets at me. But this guy didn’t flinch; in fact, he came and stood in front of me like a wall. I have kept him since then; he was my bodyguard slash helper. As we got out of the car, she called him, “Sajad idhar aaye, yeh Derrick hai. Inka Chehra yaad raklijiye, aaj ke baad yeh yahan regularly aate jaathe rahenge”. Sajad turned towards me and said, “Salam Walaikum Saheb." I turned to him and said, “Walaikum Salaam, aap mujhe Derrick keh bula sakthe hai, Saheb bolne ki zaroorat nahin hai." She turned to walk towards the door; Jimmy and Shehnaz were already inside. I walked into a glorious house, a duplex in the middle of Hi-tech city with luxurious interiors, a super costly couch, and a lazy boy recliner. First look at Jimmy and Jenny; you would know they were from a well-to-do family, but the house actually spoke about their financial status, which is way higher than mine. Jimmy and Shehnaz went to the other room, and the door was shut from inside. Jenny looked at me and said, “Do you want to have a shower?” I nodded in response. “I don’t like to wear sweaty clothes after the shower,” I said. “Let’s go to my room,” she said. She unlocked the bedroom door, and as I walked into the bedroom, I was stunned and silent by how the room really looked. There was a big glassed balcony that faced Durgam Chervu Lake. The calm of the night, the moonlight, and the view set a sense of calm inside me. It was different. There was a big recliner facing the lake. I just sat there, looking at the view. She watched me simmer down in my seat; there was a weird sense of calm. “That’s why this is my room," she said. “Help yourself; there are different options for you on the cabinet," she pointed out at the liquor cabinet as she closed the bathroom door. As I heard the shower switch on, I got up to look at the liquor cabinet and started to count how much I drank for the night. I was down over a bottle, yet my speech didn’t stammer; I was walking fine, and I didn’t feel drunk at all. As I scanned through the bottles, I discovered Black Dog, the whiskey I had not tasted for a long time. I poured a peg for myself and sat back on the recliner. I heard Jimmy yell outside, "Jenny, I am ordering food. Do you want any?" She responded from the shower, “Yes! The regular should be fine.” I went back to staring at the calm lake, and suddenly the image of Raina standing in one corner of the office, staring at the calm lake, came to mind. That’s when it crossed my mind. I was pretty close to the office. I could see the edge of the 6^th floor from Jenny’s room. It all just came back to me: Raina’s words, the pain, and then a thought just ran through my mind. Maybe I am taking this the wrong way. I should move on, even if she didn’t have a boyfriend, and everything worked out. Who knows if I would’ve been happy with her? Look at where I am right now; I should be enjoying it right now. While these thoughts were still running through my mind, I heard, “You seemed to be reminiscing or brooding about something or someone. Who is that?”. I just scoffed and said, “It’s not that; I am just looking at my office building.” I turned to look at her; she was in black spaghetti and shorts, a simple chain, and a cross on that chain on her neck. She broke my focus by saying, “Hey! You are staring at me; is anything wrong?” I nodded my head and said, “You look beautiful.” “Thank you! You are really the most brooding, handsome guy. I saw you today at the club; honestly, that serious face suits you.” She came close to me and looked into my eyes. There was a freckle in her eyes and a scar on her left eyebrow, which made her look more beautiful than what I had noticed in the club. She touched my tattoo on my right forearm and said, “The cross is uneven, and yet it looks cool on your hand.” Then her fingers ran on the scars on my hand. “You did this to yourself?” I said, “Yes! But it’s a long, embarrassing story. Maybe another day?” I tried to move back, but she moved in closer. “You know, that’s the first time I've danced in a very long time. That trance mixed with Chaiyan Chaiyan was amazing.” She moved her fingers through my tangled hair. I could smell the whiskey on her breath. She slowly turned my face to the left and kissed me on the cheek. There were goosebumps all over my body. She turned and opened the door. Jimmy was slouching on the sofa, and he had a remote in his hand. He clicked on the remote, and a television popped out of the cabinet. I don’t know if it was the night, the place, or Jenny; I was just swept off my feet. ‘Yeah! I like a good electronic’. He was soon logging into his Netflix account. It was not like I was ignorant, but I had only heard of Netflix at this point. Never seen its app, let alone seen it on an LED television. I just sat and watched television. Curiously, I turned to Jimmy and asked, “Is this Jenny’s house or your parents?” Jenny stepped out of the kitchen and yelled, “This is all mine, dude; I paid the interior designer a bomb. Being the owner of a news channel pays off. Recently, I covered a segment on Israel. It’s traumatic to live in those countries …” Jimmy cut her short: “Can you continue while we eat?” Jenny went back to the kitchen and ordered the maid to serve the food. After dinner, Jenny gave me a tour of the house. The house was filthily luxurious. We came back and settled in her room. Jimmy and Shenaz waltz back into his room.

              I blurted out, “This is out of curiosity; do you like mutilating yourself, or were you kidnapped and tortured in Israel?” “ It was torture, but no, not in Israel. Jimmy and I went through a lot as kids. Our father is a real male Chauvinist pig. He used to physically abuse me as a kid. The cuts that you saw on my thighs were a gift from him. I also have prosthetic rods in my shoulder, arm, and ankle. Soon I got out of the house, made connections, found investors, and started my own channel.” I nodded in amazement. She asked, “Out of curiosity, why are you so depressed? It is understood that you are excessively silent and drink too much. Are you an alcoholic, or is there a pain you are trying to hide?” I smiled and said, “No, I am not an alcoholic. I don’t like living high. Recently, I went through a heartbreak. No big deal.” While I was still talking, I realized she had dozed off on the recliner. I soon realized it was four in the morning. We had spent almost the entire night talking. Just chit-chatting. I checked my wallet to see how much I had. I had none. Wondering what to do next, I closed my eyes for some time. Right then, I heard Jimmy’s door open. I got up, and Jimmy was getting ready for the airport. I slowly closed the door behind me. “Hey, can you drop me on your way?” Jimmy looked at his watch and said, “You know what, buddy? I'm pretty late, but I will tell Sajaad to drop you home.” “Home?” I turned to Jimmy. “I stay pretty far, man," I said, embarrassed. Jimmy nodded. “I am aware. Shenaz told me. Don’t worry; Sajad is a good driver. He will drop you and be back in no time." Shenaz is asleep. I’m guessing Jenny is too. You can stay here, sleep it off, and go in the morning if you want. If you still want to go, Sajad will drive you. I’m going to the airport; I am in a hurry.” Jimmy softly entered Jenny’s room, picked her up, put her on the bed, and kissed her good night. Soon I was in a black BMW. On the way home, I saw office cabs; soon, I was on partially empty roads. Early morning rides in Hyderabad are amazing. I slowly lowered down the window, the cold breeze in my hair. It was a quiet ride back home.