Missing - Episode 10

Tete-A-Ten
Read Episode  9










Daruwala’s residence.
Greater Kailash, 
New Delhi.

Fanus Mistry sat down on the carpet near the teak wood bookshelf on the corner of Cyrus’s room. Boman Daruwala had beckoned his son’s only friend in desperation.

There was a poster of a “Blue Morpho”, one of the most beautiful butterflies in the tropical South Americas, just above the bookshelf. With a wingspan of eight inches of rich blue color blended with black and dull brown shades over a porcelain white background made for a stunning visual.

However, what always caught his attention was the little reddish brown caterpillar on the bottom left corner of the poster, with a caption that read “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly”.
Boman Daruwala walked across the room and sat on the deck chair in front of the bookshelf.

“So son, are you going to talk or not?” He asked.

Fanus kept on staring at the poster after momentarily lowering his eyes and said “what do you want to know?”. Boman Daruwala slumped back into the chair.

“Tell me everything, you’ve been his friend for so long, tell me, where is he, where could he possibly go, who else did he meet with, did anyone want to harm him, did he hate someone, speak up and say something Fanus dikra”

Fanus Mistry offered no response.

“What are you drunk or what man? Why are you not sharing anything? Are you hiding something? Is something wrong? Tell me the truth. Tell me now”.

Fanus kept quiet again.

“Dikra, I don’t understand this silence, don’t you want to find your friend? Aren’t you worried? And if you are worried , what are you doing about it? Is there something we need to know? Your aunty and I have run out of ideas - but I’m not able to find what seems to be the problem?”

Fanus looked away without offering a response. Unable to get through to Fanus, Boman Daruwala got agitated.

“Ever since school you both have been friends, you know he is the shy type, he’ll never talk to me, and it turns out you are the same. What is it with you boys? Did you guys have a fight? Tell me,Is it about a girl ? Is there a girl in his life, did she dump him, is he heart broken, is that it, or is it something else, come on speak.Its been two days and we have no clue, no phone call, except for this message” Boman said raising his voice.

“I don’t know uncle Boman” he said.

“Then what do you know,  Boman thundered, dislodging his bifocals momentarily.

“Its not a girl. He said keeping his voice down.

“Its not a girl, what do you mean its not a girl, is it a ...?” Boman stopped as he realized the implication of what Fanus said.

Fanus looked up and reconfirmed his fears ”yes, it is a boy Uncle Boman”

Boman Daruwala rolled over his eyes as realization began to blur with each passing second in the quietness of the room. Boman clutched the armrest of the chair trying to check his emotional outburst.

“So he’s gay - my son is a homosexual, what a cruel joke. We will have the whole community laugh at us. He has shamed us. Let me get hold of him and I will fix him. He needs to get back to his senses.” Boman Daruwala shook his head in anger.
Fanus, expected the reaction and again, chose to remain silent. A few moments later Boman spoke “why didn’t he tell me?” Boman’s lowered his voice down to a whisper.

“He always did, Uncle Boman, he always did, its you who never heard, its you who never saw, its you who never cared to understand him, he just wanted to be loved the way he is, you are so insensitive”. He said.

“What nonsense is this, are you telling me I don’t know my son, are you telling me you know him better than I do,? Give me one good reason why should he be unhappy, I have given him the best of luxuries that my income could provide, he has always enjoyed freedom, he has never had to ask me for anything, how do you even have the audacity to say I am insensitive, what is it that you know and I don’t, how dare you say I don’t understand my child, who can love my son more than me?” said Boman as he stood up from the chair.

“You don’t get it Uncle Boman, do you?”

Fanus Mistry finally looked up and saw the “Blue Morpho” partially peeping out behind

Boman Daruwala and said “no one loves him the way I do, because no knows how much he is hurting right now, just the way I do. Because no one knows him the way I do.”

Sherry Daruwala just walked into the room to catch the last bit of what Fanus had to say.

She didn’t take a step after that. The couple looked at each other in a  momentary lapse of reasoning.

Fanus covered his face to hide the tears. The room was charged with multiple emotions yet not a word was exchanged. The only noise came from the air conditioner vent periodically vibrating.

“And two days earlier, he was …” Fanus couldn’t speak as tears burst out.

Sherry asked “What happened two days earlier? Tell me, tell me now , speak up, what happened to my son?”

“He was raped”

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Read Episode -11

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