The Killer

TIME. 9:27 AM

‘Thanks, aunty then ill take leave.’ I said.

‘Ok, dear take care. She replied.

(DK rushes to the 1st floor, breathes heavily and slams the door shut as soon as he enters the House)

DK – It is almost half-past 9 in the morning on the 7th of February. There is so much special about this day. Today is Friday and I took off from my work and that makes my weekend long. I Woke up early, had a very nice shower, prepared good food for myself, and to top it all, today is my birthday. Yet, I’m standing in front of the mirror looking dejected, horrible, and broken because my brother was killed today.

Yes, it all happened today. My name is Rafiq Kanchan and I am a bachelor working for an MNC company as a marketing executive. The street that I reside in is well known for two particular things,

One is for the dogs, you could see them wandering, barking, sometimes chasing people or being chased by them. And The other is my apartment. Yes, and that’s because of my Landlady she is so strict, arrogant and so means that she never allows any outsiders to enter the house. Relatives of the tenants will be inquired about every single time no matter how often they visit. The tenants were not allowed to terrace for more than an hour daily.

Salesperson, delivery boys would be dealt with outside the gate itself. No one stayed in this apartment for more than a year. It was so tough to pretend to be nice but it was tougher to get myself a rented house being a bachelor, so I had no option but to be pleasant to her. I would never disturb her and would get past things without getting into an argument. I would adapt to the circumstances. I made sure that I was in her good books and that made me survive here for 3 years. That’s what we are always told to do, isn’t it? And this is what we called as getting experience and learning to get mature right? That’s what I thought too. Because everyone told me to be good, best, compete, achieve, adjust, and most importantly earn. I don’t remember anyone telling me to be myself, to be what I am, or to create my own set of qualities. Rather they handed me over a catalogue to follow and that’s what I was doing all these days. Leading a bachelor’s life has many hardships and difficulties, The saddest part of it is “being all alone” which makes us vulnerable and scary!.

Oops! “I just went off track let me take a U-turn”.

Everything was on track. That was my third week in town and this apartment, everything was new and everyone was minding their own business. As I said it was so lonely. Just then I saw him exiting one house and entering the other as he had no mother or father to take care of him. He used to go around the streets for food and shelter. Some gave him food, some bought him biscuits, and some made space outside their homes so he could spend the night if it rains.

I used to cook a little extra every time, as I was having a tough time cooking, not knowing how much to cook and that was the least of my worries. So that’s when I started providing him with the leftovers daily. He used to sneak into my house whenever the landlady was not available to get his daily quota.

Days passed by, I used to play with him, he spent more time around, I gave him food, we become so close that I almost forgot I was alone.

Since it’s my birthday today, I prepared good food with chicken curry, dry fish, and eggs. I deliberately prepared a little extra for him, despite knowing how much to cook, as he is like my bother now. 

My kitchen is built in such a way that one can smell my preparation from down. Now it's 9 in the morning. I always greet my landlady with a box of sweets for all my birthdays, and that made her feel special. I went down in a hurry so that I can see her before she leaves for the office. My brother at the same time was trying to sneak into the house thinking that my landlady would have left by now, but she hadn’t because I had barged in at the exact time she was about to leave. He waited to climb through the balcony using a tree that grows beside it. Since there were so many dogs under the tree and my brother was afraid of them he came through the front gate thinking there is no one. But to his surprise, she was with me and we were talking near the front door of her house. It is built in such a way that we can see anything and everything that comes through the front gate. Now by seeing him coming in, she took a bamboo stick and scared him away.

He was that scared! And for a while, he didn’t know what to do. Out of panic he took a jump off the gate and ran towards the dogs under the tree. he ran himself into a group of 5 dogs, unable to defend himself, he died between them. Yes! My brother died. He did.

I just stood there seeing all this and did nothing, to continue being in her good books I had to pretend that I and him were a stranger  

I was totally upset and I felt completely horrible.

She came in and said

‘oh God I just wanted him out of my house, not to die’ ( I feel so bad. I could have done something to save him. I must have at least tried to do so. How could I be so selfish)

 TIME: 9:27 AM

‘Thanks, aunty then ill take  leave.’ I said.

‘Ok, dear take care. She replied.

(Oh! Okay, I Didn’t tell you that my brother’s name is Blackie and he is a cat, who had been my company all these days when I was alone, who used to play around, and makes me forget a bad day. Cuddle with me. Sometimes he even used to respond when I talked to him, but today I didn’t even care and just stood by watching him die.)

The moment I came inside the house I saw him everywhere. The cute little things, he used to do

I could see him on the sofa where he used to sleep calm and quiet as a baby,

I could see him in the kitchen where he made innocent faces to ask me for his food.

I could see him in the main hall where he used to play with me like a friend

Sometimes we pick sides knowing that we are not on the right side but we just stand by them because the person is so close to us and we don’t want to hurt them. We pretend to be with them

Sometimes we just pass by a person on the road who has met with an accident to avoid any trouble.

We are ignorant

Sometimes we don’t like something but we do it just to earn money.

We are calculative

To fit in,

we change our thoughts for someone, we change our senses for someone,

we change our lifestyle for someone,

we change our attitude toward someone, and the list goes on. In reality, no one is living but acting.

And that’s why I couldn’t see my face in the mirror. All I could see is the person who wears a mask for so long that he forgets who he is. If not for the mask, my brother, my Blackie, would still be alive. It’s not the dogs, the landlady, or anyone but me who has killed him.

Yes! I am -The killer-