The Other Side(74)

Rajiv was back at the PHC. The first sight his eyes captured brought a smile on his lips. The flock of parakeets on the mango tree seemed to smile back at him while nibbling on the fruits and singing soft melodies.

“I like to tell people I have the heart of a small girl, then I tell them it's in a jar on my desk.”

¯ Robert Bloch





Dream Girl


Istare at my nearly complete piece of art in the limited amount of light that floods this small room. The chainsaw in one hand still emanates vapours of dried blood from its blade while the scalpel in

my other, readies itself for the next step. I cast an appreciative

glance at my creation, making my heart brim with joy. Unlike other

men, I start admiring a woman's body from below. The long

slender legs with the small kneecaps, those juicy thunder thighs

that still fascinate me the same like the first time I had seen them. I always had a huge crush on Sunaina since our college days.

The sight of her in tight skirts that barely hid her underwear would

make my teenage hormones boil. Once she had bumped into me

while on the way to the library, spilling the books she was carrying.

With a look of penance, I had got down on my knees and gathered

all that fell near me and just as I was about to get up, those thunder

thighs shone in my face while she was bending to pick up a fallen

pen. That night I had fantasized about her behind the bathroom

door.

Dressed in my only suit, a fine garment that was torn from the

armpits, I asked her out some weeks later at a college event. “Have you ever seen your face in the mirror, monkeyman?” she

had guffawed, attracting the attention of all those around her. “What happened, Sunaina?” a guy who prided himself on being the college stud asked, walking over to her.

“The chimpanzee just proposed to me,” she had sneered, looking at my tearful face.

“Tchtch… poor chap, oh sorry… poor chimp. He still doesn't understand that pockmarked apes don't get dates,” the guy had said, inviting raucous laughter from the crowd.

I had felt like running away. No one had humiliated me in this manner before. I could make out when I was being teased behind my back but this was the first time I realised the effects the disorder could have on my life. My mother had always said that I was different and I had believed her until that day.

“Hey, wait, where are you off to? Are you crying? Why does your beak seem to get bigger when you cry?” the guy had asked my retreating form.

I had crunched my fists, swearing in my mind that if the guy came a step closer, I would punch him in the face. Luckily for him, one of our professors had interrupted and asked what the commotion was about, dispersing the crowd.

Some months later, I had seen Sunaina snogging the same guy as his hands roamed over her thighs behind the door of a deserted classroom on the second floor.

I took her four weeks back, unable to take my eyes off her milky white thighs that sloped down to reveal her elegant feet as she walked the ramp in a red tank-top and tight black skirt. I was part of the crowd and recognized her the moment I saw her come close, the humiliation coming back to me in an instant. I waited outside the venue once the show was over till I could see all the models



The Other Side

293 huddle together in a private bus. I followed the bus into the city, driving my van at a distance in the silent night. The bus would slow down at intervals to drop a model near her home and I counted seven of them alighting. As the bus reached the western outskirts of the city, I sneered at the figure of Sunaina clambering down alone, bidding goodbye to her model friends inside. She had changed into a basic tee and baggy cargoes. As the bus left, I got down from the van, slung the heavy bag on my shoulders and followed her trail on foot. She turned down an empty alley, casually grooving to the music in her headphones, oblivious to my presence behind.To her left, an under construction building stood out in the dark. I smiled, sensing an opportunity.

I picked up a stray brick lying on the street and rushed towards her. A single blow was all that it took me to knock her out, aided by the fact that she couldn't even hear me coming. She only had time to mutter a solitary 'ah' before falling down into my waiting arms. I dragged her size-zero figure to the third floor of the under construction building. At two in the night, no one could be seen around. I dropped her on a mound of cement, hardly registering her blood on my shirt.

Without wasting any time, I pulled down her jeans. I sensed her stir, mumbling something, trying to protest weakly. I touched the smooth skin of her exposed thighs and licked her hairless feet with the tip of my tongue. I felt her stir again. This would have to wait till the mission is complete; I told myself and opened the bag. The metal blade of the chainsaw glinted in the dark. I shivered at its touch but I knew I couldn't back out now. Thinking about my desire, I plunged the saw at a forty-five degree angle above her right thigh. The scream that followed made me slam the butt of the saw on Sunaina's face, shutting her up. I could feel her body shaking, wildly thrashing beneath the force of the metal. Finally I managed to cut through the muscle and separated the limb. I switched ends to repeat the procedure for the other reversed leg as well. This time she did not thrash around much but I could see the sweat disappearing in the whites of her eyes.