Repost of a story, with small changes, that i had earlier posted under a different username.
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I woke up wondering why I was feeling so miserable and angry. Looking at my surroundings, I remembered why. It was around 10 a.m. and I could hear some voices outside so I got up and after freshening up, went outside the room.
Dad was awake and talking with Chandra, "We'll leave immediately."
Chandra said, "I will go to Bangalore, you can handle Kanpur. This is a cluster-fuck but we'll straighten it out. We'll show everyone that my confidence in you has not been misplaced."
I didn't understand all that was being discussed but it seemed that some of the factories that Chandra had helped my dad get contracts for were experiencing some sort of crisis and they had to go onsite for some firefighting.
Chandra said to dad, "No need to spoil your family's holiday. They can stay here and enjoy the place. The surroundings are quite scenic. You will be back by tomorrow any way. This way we can both leave together and you can reach Kanpur without delay."
"Sounds good." dad replied.
So a few minutes later, we said our goodbyes and I and mom were left alone in the strange big house. Chandra was gone but I had a feeling that he was up to something.
In the meantime, as long as we were alone I decided to have a talk with mom. But before that I needed to look for some papers.
This was early 1970s, when India still practiced socialism. Private enterprises were heavily regulated and taxed and the government controlled and tried to provide all services. Naturally there was widespread corruption and it took ages and a small fortune in bribes to get anything done.
Telephones were a luxury only afforded by the rich. You needed to register with a government agency to get a telephone and it could take up to ten years to actually get a connection. And then you had to pay the lineman a bribe to do his job and actually install the phone for you.
So, as phones were so rare, Chandra mostly communicated with his henchmen and bosses using paper. I needed some samples of his communications. I had practiced forging handwriting and signatures, etc during the past two years.
After mom went to take a nap, I scoured the whole house and after a couple of hours was on the verge of giving up when I hit the jackpot.
In a small dusty room filled with junk, I found carefully filed communications and three chests full of gold biscuits, jewels and currency.
Studying the papers confirmed all I had learnt about Chandra's political, business and criminal relationships. I also learnt two new things.
Chandra was doing business with two rival mafia dons, double-crossing and swindling them regularly.
The second thing I found was a file containing pictures of some women and some information about them. Evidently, mom wasn't his first victim. None of them had a good ending: some were dead, others seemed to have ended up in brothels all across the country and also in some Gulf countries.
I heard mom calling my name so I quickly put everything back in its place and hobbled out.
"I've fixed us something to eat, would you like to have lunch now" asked mom.
We ate mostly in silence. After we had finished eating, I decided to be direct with mom, "What's going on between you and Chandra, mom?"
She seemed shocked and was silent for a few moments, then tears welled up in her eyes and she started sobbing, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
My heart sank, fearing that I had misread the situation. I asked, "Do you... love him?"
She looked up, her eyes filled with rage, her beautiful face contorted with hatred, "I HATE him... I want to kill him... kill him! I want him DEAD!"
Then she started sobbing even more loudly.
Relieved, I moved towards her and putting my good arm around her shoulders said, "I can take him down but I need your help."
Surprised, she looked up at me, "How? That bastard is well-connected."
"Come with me." I took mom to the room with the documents.
"I've been learning all about Chandra's dealings and how he communicates with his underlings, for the past two years. Look at these papers, this is how he communicates.
Letters bearing his seal and signature are dropped at specific shops throughout the district. They are picked up by his minions who follow his orders and communicate with him the same way."
Mom was listening intently, so I continued, "Look at this, he's been serving two rival masters and swindling them both."
Mom read the letters and documents I had handed to her but remained quiet.
"We can use all this to make sure that none of his bosses will be too bothered to find him if he disappears and they hear a rumor that he's dead."
For the first time, she seemed excited, "How do you plan to make him disappear?"
"We'll need to buy a strong anesthetic injection and a syringe and needle."
"When will we inject it, assuming we get the drug?"
I hesitated, "When he's already asleep would be easiest."
Mom understood that she will be the one to make sure he's asleep and nodded grimly, "Whatever it takes to get rid of him. What then?"
"We tie him up and finish him off."
"I want that monster to die a slow, lonely, painful death. I want him to be as terrified as his victims... but do you have the drug with you?"
"No" I replied, "We'll need to go into the city for that but there's no car here and there's no transportation available from this godforsaken place."
"Your dad will be back by tomorrow. We'll work something out then. The scumbag will be gone for a few more days, so we'll have some time to prepare."
I thought it best to keep my doubts to myself that Chandra had probably schemed to keep dad away for much longer.
We spent the rest of the day scouting the woods behind the house. There wasn't a soul for miles around. We chose a place behind an abandoned wooden shed not far from the house to dig Chandra's grave.
We decided to dig the hole after we had knocked Chandra out, so as not to arouse any suspicions.
It was early evening by the time we got back in the house. Mom was finally in good spirits; she had a determined look in her lovely face that I had never seen before. Yes, my plan was going to work.
Around 8 p.m. we noticed the lights of a car approaching the house and coming in through the front gate.
"It must be your dad." mom said brightly.
But I couldn't shake a feeling of dread.
My fears were confirmed when Chandra walked in through the front door and looking lustfully at mom, announced, "I didn't need to go to Bangalore, the mess got sorted out. But your husband will need to go straight to Calcutta after the Kanpur mess is sorted."
We still didn't have the 'knock out' drug.
