The Truth

"Honey, I am late, will you please get me my gym bag?" Rohan screamed.

I sighed and said, "Why don't you keep your belongings where they belong. At least I don't have to run about the house all the time just like I have to do it in school."

"Don't warden or principal me! Just get my bag." He retorted.

I started searching for his bag in a haste and finally found it under the bed. But wait! something hard fell on my feet. I picked it up. It was a phone which I had never seen before. It wasn't mine. Nor it was any old phone of ours. Rohan never told me he keeps two cell phones at a time.

"Megha please? Sorry honey. Won't yell at you again. Now please find me the bag!"

I couldn't decide what to do. In a sort of reflexive manner, I hid the phone in my cupboard and gave him the bag.

I never realized it was almost an hour that I was still thinking about the latest discovery in my home. It was just a phone. Maybe he keeps it for emergency purposes. I am the first one to scream when I can't reach him. I looked at the clock. It usually takes two hours for Rohan to return from the gym. He won't return before an hour from now. Thinking that I miserably failed to my curiosity, got up, and went to my cupboard. I switched on the phone. There was no charge. I plugged in the charger, waited for it to boot, and searched the phone. There was no phone lock. Just a swipe. It did surprise me a little. Rohan was a hacking-phobic like we have hydrophobic and germophobic. And what I found left me in my tracks. My hands started shaking. It was Monica! Just to be double sure, I rang my number from that phone. The true caller with her name appeared on my screen. I froze.

Monica! A sweet young lady who lived eight floors below me in my 30 story building and a society complex of 10 blocks. She was nice to everyone. No one could have said by a glance that she had some trauma or depression in her life. She lived all by herself and didn't speak much to anyone.

It was that unfortunate day. I was returning from my mom's home after a week's stay. There were photographers and cops everywhere. I was quite startled to see all that. Rolling my suitcase I somehow entered my building and saw Rohan staring at the crowd.

"What had happened?" I asked him with an anxious face.

"Ohh! You didn't get the news yet?" said Mrs. Verma, my next-door neighbor. She glanced at me and my luggage and continued, "That girl, Monica, who lives on the 23rd floor, she jumped from the balcony. There was heavy bleeding from her head. Who can expect someone to stay alive if he or she falls from that height! Poor girl!"

I felt so sorry for her. I had tears in my eyes. She was too sweet to die. The next few days were too hard to escape the building with all the reporters rushing in and out with one million questions. "Can you tell us why did Ms. Monica kill herself?" "Do you suspect anyone?" "Did you not talk to her? Do the people around her make her lonely?" It was becoming impossible with them. The icing on the top was the ultimate crime branch and police investigation. Each and every dweller was interrogated, naturally. But time faded and, everything became as still as a dead sea. When there was no more sensation in the news, reporters left the place as we come back home after a week-long vacation. Police gave a halt to the investigation. There was no lead and, with the cell phone and laptop missing, no additional information was available.

Now, like after a month, that missing cell phone is in my house. I searched for messages, call logs, emails, nothing was there. And, police said, laptop too was missing. Does that mean...?

"Honey I am home. Please get me something to eat. I am starving."

I woke up from my thoughts in a start. I gathered myself, threw the phone below piled up clothes in my wardrobe, ensured it isn't visible, looked at myself in the mirror, made sure there are no colors on my face, and tried faking a smile.

"Oh, you are back!" I said with a low voice.

"What happened? Is all cool?" Rohan studied me and, I realized my face was still pale with fear.

"Yaa, all okay." I tried to say with a little cheer this time. "Just a little headache. Lemme see if the food is still warm."

"No honey, that's fine. You take a rest. I will manage it." Rohan kissed my forehead and pushed me to sleep.

But there wasn't any sleep. Nor any freedom from my thoughts. Has Rohan something to do with Monica and her suicide. How's it possible? Why?

The next day was no different. I couldn't concentrate in class. For half of the classes, I gave the students some questions to solve and allowed my psyche to wander in the unknown fears. Finally, I started feeling dizzy. I took a half-day leave ignoring the grumpy face of the vice-principal and, returned home. I threw myself on the couch and retired to sleep.

I don't know if I was daydreaming about Monica, but I woke with a jerk. I was madly sweating. I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to four in the afternoon. There was ample time left for Rohan to return from work. I remembered suddenly what I had been thinking in the middle of my sleep. The laptop! It has to be here, just like the phone!

I literally mined my house to dust. Every room, every loft, every cupboard, every shelf, under the bed, every nook, and corner. Looking at the mini debris hill around, I sat back on the floor in despair. Then just like that, I recalled one place. We had a fight sometime back regarding a drawer chest. He thought it was good enough and, I hated it for its atrocious colors. I gave up on his constant nagging and, he placed it in the study. I never looked at it again, even for a second. I went into the study, opened the drawers, but it wasn't there. But then my eyes fell on the back of the chest. I took a ruler and tried to hit on something. It worked. There was a tapping sound and, I knew it was there. But I couldn't move that heavy chest. But as I tried to push it, I heard the door lock twisting. I ran into my room as fast as I could. But I couldn't manage to put the things back in place.

"What the hell! Megha, are you okay?" Rohan entered the room.

"Yeah, it's fine. Umm... actually, I lost..." I tailed off.

"Lost what?" Rohan was looking at me intently.

"Lost my.... driving license. I don't know where I saw it last. I almost had a bash with the traffic police today."

Rohan sighed, "Oh my god, that's all? You scared me so badly." He wrapped his arms around me and tried to comfort me. My heart was beating at a speed of a missile. But I saw something on his face too.

"Honey, since you have made this heavenly home into a beautifully scattered mess, did you find any lost thing of mine?"

And that was it. I knew what exactly he is talking about. But I had no courage to come clean. "Lost as in?" I tried to bring a hint of surprise to my voice.

"Nothing, forget." He tailed off the conversation and went in for a shower. That night was the worst night of mine I had remembered. With no hint of sleep, I roamed the entire hall like a maniac, thinking where to go and who to tell. Without waking him up, I slowly and carefully opened my wardrobe to feel the phone if it was still there.

I couldn't take leave the next day because of the half-day leave of the previous day. I managed to take the classes and waited for it to get over. I sat on the stairs of the school playground for how long, I don't remember.

I rang my mom.

"Hey sweety, what's up?" A melodious voice hit my ears and, I got emotional out of the blue. I cleared my throat and spoke in one breathe.

"Mom, I am in a hurry and won't be able to make it a long call. Is it okay not to agree to a situation and confront someone for the wrong he did? Even if that means losing him forever?"

There was a long silence. Then she spoke softly, concerned, "Is everything fine there, Megha? Tell me if something has happened. I will help you sort out!"

"No mom, it's fine. Just wondering!" I tried to make it normal.

"Ignoring anything is of no good. Now it depends exactly what you are ignoring: an innocent carelessness is okay but, anything other than that: maybe no."

I hang up. Quite determined to know what to do, I made my way home.

I asked the guard to come and help me shift that chest. I knew I couldn't do it on my own. He pushed it and, I found the laptop!

The security guard left. I sat at the dining table with the laptop. I switched it on. Now there was the gadget asking me the password. I tried so many combinations. All in vain. I tried some more weird permutations and combinations but, they too failed. I sank back in the chair and closed my eyes. And an imagination passed through my mind which I never ever in my life wanted to be true at any cost. But I had to crack this. If there was something between Monica and Rohan, she might have put Rohan's name as a password. Obviously, it wasn't just 'Rohan.' I tried again with everything possible with 'Monica' and 'Rohan'. Finally, my luck happened. 'Romon_2510' and it opened. The desktop wallpaper appeared. Instantly, my eyes filled with tears and started rolling down my cheeks. Why in the world I never got to know about this! The wallpaper was a snap of Monica and Rohan taken in Monica's apartment!

When I gained my senses back, I felt a hand pressing hard on my shoulders. I startled and sprang from the chair. Rohan was standing beside me! It was eight in the evening. I stared at the door. When the guard had left, I forgot to lock it back. He was staring at the opened laptop. How stupid of me! But it was too late.

I started shivering and, claustrophobia was hitting me. I was getting nauseous. Shall I run back to my room or to the door?

"What did you do with the phone?" Rohan asked with a grave and serious voice.

"Nothing! It's in my wardrobe." I uttered the truth.

"Great! Give it to me." Rohan demanded.

"Only when you explain every bit of this!" My voice broke as I said.

"Hmm, fine." He ran his hand through his hair and started, "Monica and I met in a gym. She was beautiful. It started with a hi-hello and bla bla bla. She got a sprain in her ankle one day while running on the treadmill. She wasn't able to get up. So I lifted her and took her to the apartment and, we spent a lot of time that day. That was the starting. We slowly drew closer. We started missing the gym just to be together for a few hours. When you went to your mother's, we spent the whole day together. But still, we crossed that line. God knows why she started dreaming of marrying me. I still love you, see. I was just attracted to her, that's it. And this time, when you were not here, she got too serious about this. I can't leave you, it was as simple as that. But she threatened me to tell you everything. There was a beer bottle in my hand. Just to stop her from going insane, I had to hit her with that bottle. She immediately lost her senses. I got scared. Even if she had stayed alive, she would have ruined everything. I got her cell phone first, put her fingerprints and unlocked it, and deleted everything of mine. And removed the screen lock too. I knew she had this pic as wallpaper, but I couldn't get her to speak. Finally, I took her in my arms and then...You know!"

He said it with such ease. I couldn't believe that he is supposed to be my everything. My mouth flew open. I was unable to breathe.

"Okay honey, phone please!" He said again.

I took a deep breath and said with confidence this time, "That is going to the police."

"Going to what?" he screamed.

"Yes, you heard it right! You think I will spend the rest of my life with you after knowing all this? I don't blame her. I would have done the same thing if I was her. You are a filthy man, Rohan, who is selfish enough to think about himself only. I am not going to live with a murderer."

I turned back to get into my room, but the next I knew was myself lying on the ground. He thrashed me to the floor and then picked me up by my arm.

"If I can kill one, I can do it twice. But I am giving you a chance to think wifey. I am not lying this time. But I love you, seriously, or else I would have left you for her, wouldn't I."

I coughed till I managed to say again, "I love you too. But if you love me, then surrender and confess!"

"Not in a thousand years! Goodbye then. I will miss you." He threw me on the couch and, before I knew what he was going to do to me, the door banged open. Men in uniform were there.

"Are you fine, ma'am? We heard you screaming!" One of the cops asked.

"But I didn't call you?" I said

Then two of them grabbed Rohan's arm and dragged him to the door. Then it was the officer's turn to explain and, neighbors were curiously peeping into our house.

"It took us a day to discover that Ms. Monica's phone was switched on again. We had been continuously tracking the IMEI number in search of a clue. And it worked, you see. We could extract every lost messages and chat which have been deleted from the device. It was enough to find what might have happened. Thanks to the technology revolution. Though we half expected it would be from the same building, just three floors above her. It would have been solved much earlier had the CCTV camera being facing her door. Nevertheless, the truth comes out, no matter what."

Yes, the truth comes out no matter what..... I murmured in my breathe.