THE PAPER WAR - II

Hussain was half asleep when he heard the faint sound of ambulance near his street. He got up and searched for his glasses. He found it and took his cell phone to check the time. It was 8:00 AM. “Oh, I’m late, she is going to kill me” thought Hussain. He walked towards the window to have a view on what was happening outside. He noticed a huge crowd at the end of the street.

“Oh god, something is terribly wrong” he said to himself and yelled his wife’s name. There was no reply. Shocked, he wore his shirt and walked outside the house. He was a few feet from the crowd when a young man approached him. “Hussain bhai, it’s your wife, she is in the ambulance, I don’t know what else to tell” said the young man bowing his head down. Hussain was shocked. He felt a mild pain in his chest, he ignored it and went towards the ambulance door. He climbed the first step when he saw his wife’s face. Her cheeks were torn open and the inside of the mouth was visible. Her face was completely soaked in blood. Hussain quickly got down and closed the door. “She is dead, you take her away” Hussain replied and walked away. His chest was still paining.

Hussain reached his home and for the first time in 86 years he was feeling lonely. He reached his room and sat on the bed, confused. He didn’t know what was happening around him. He sat there static for almost a day. Then suddenly something hit his mind. Hussain smiled to himself and stood up to leave to the next room. He had made his decision. He decided to kill himself.

Hussain walked to the next room, switched on the lights and took a final look at his room. To his surprise his scribbling pad and his pen were on his table. He opened the pad, inside there was something written by his wife. “I LOVE YOU HUSSAIN” were the words written in it. Hussain dropped the pad and walked swiftly to the kitchen. He found a knife and decided to slit his wrist. Hussain was about to make the cut when his doorbell rang. He dropped the knife and went to check who it was.

Hussain clicked open the door and found a man at his early thirties at his doorstep with an array of cars behind him. “Sir could you just walk to the car there?” the man asked in a pleading tone. Hussain shut the door in reply and walked back to the kitchen. The doorbell rang again. This time repeatedly. Hussain was annoyed and approached the door. He swung open the door violently. But time an elderly man at his late sixties at his doorstep.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you are an elderly man, otherwise I would have come the first time, I hope you know me…” the man at the doorstep said in a soft tone. Hussain nodded his head. He knew him, knew him for years. He was a minister holding a major place in the ruling party. Hussain gave him a respectful smile and greeted him in.

“Thank you” the minister replied. “To be frank, I’ve never been at anyone’s doorstep in recent years, but am at yours, because the fault is at my end” the minister added clearing his throat. “Actually, confessing is the toughest job” the minister said again clearing his throat. “Have you got any drinks?” the minister interrogated. “They are the best catalyst for confession” the minister said. Hussain got up and went to fetch the whiskey he had saved.

He found a small table and placed it in front of the minister. He placed the bottle and a couple of glasses over it. “Thanks” the minister said pouring the drinks in the two glasses. “You have one” the minister said handing over a glass to him. Hussain fished the glass from the minister’s hand and emptied it in a flash.

“Okay, let me tell you something” the minister said when cough interrupted him. He coughed heavily a few times and cleared his throat. “Sorry, I was the one who hit your wife” confessed the minister. Hussain’s eyes widened.