The royal Mantle (part two)

The royal Mantle (part two)(firdouz) Robert was not doing well. He took the remote and turned off the TV. He slowly came and sat on the bed, near him. ‘Hey, man… listen, I know it’s your first time and I know how it feels. But you got no reason to be upset about it. As far as the things you have told me, you have just reclaimed what is rightfully yours. So… just snap out of the guilty feeling, okay? We don’t need any sort of melodrama at any point. Just focus on getting back home. That’s the part which needs utmost caution.’
‘We need to put this back,’ he said looking at the staff.
‘Excuse me? Come again?’
‘Oh! really? Well in that case I do have a confession to make.’ Ali suddenly pressed Robert’s forearm. Robert paused for a second and said, ‘Yes it is.’
‘We need to put this back on the museum.’ Ali remained silent for a moment. He was processing on his brain what he just heard. He was thinking about how to deal with this scenario now. He was searching for the right words to say to him.
‘Are you f***ing insane?!’ shouted Ali. ‘I cannot deal with this shit now. Just snap out of whatever stupid… conscience is going on your cuckoo brain of yours and stick to the plan, MAN.’ Robert closed his eyes and faced roof wards. ‘Okay?’
‘Man… I don’t know what to tell you,’ said Robert, now looking at Ali. ‘What am I trying to achieve here by doing all this? Honour? Where is the honour in stealing a priceless staff, half the world away?’ That’s not what grandpa was trying to tell me. It had nothing to do with this crap,’ he said pointing at the staff. ‘It was the friendship that he valued. It was the friendship that his father valued. I mean… he wouldn’t have cared about some thug who snatched a staff. It matters ‘coz this staff for him was a mark of friendship. And he felt insulted and scarred as that friendship was disrespected. Stealing this would hardly redeem something which is more than two generations old. A person dying doesn’t mean that whatever they were to us also dies with them. A friend is still a friend. My great grandfather, in his sickbed shared a story of such a friendship to his son. His son always remembered that and shared that story with his grandson, because his son was long gone. It was the only story he could tell me. Because he knew that all I had left after him was friends. He was probably telling me to make friends and stories of friendship that can be remembered long after we are gone. That is the only aspect of us which will be worth remembering. I just couldn’t understand that until now. And the strange part is he is so RIGHT. I mean… look at you. Why the heck are you here, Ali? Think about it. You were touched by a friendly gesture that happened so many years back. And even after so long for you to remember it and make this effort then that means you still haven’t found something other than that worth remembering and making an effort for. ‘Coz if you did, you wouldn’t be here now.’
‘I don’t know, man…’
‘Ali you don’t owe me anything. To be honest you never did.’ There was then that silence, were the thoughts speaks louder than words. It was annoying, inevitable and long.
‘What’s the time now?’
‘Almost 3:30.’
‘… We’ll go to the museum 10 minutes before the closing time. We’ll do it exactly like we did in the morning. And we leave this place as soon as we get back. That is… if we don’t get caught.’
‘Ali…’
‘Don’t,’ he said showing him the hand. ‘Just don’t. No more talking please. I’ll see you in the lobby after an hour,’ and he left the room.

4 hours later

Ali and Robert are now walking on the streets. Robert has a carry bag with him. The bag has, “The royal mantle,” the authentic one. They couldn’t make the switch this time. As they reached the museum, there were an unusual amount of people… people from the government. No, not because they found anything suspicious. They were there to renovate this old building. Nothing too fancy though. Just fill the cracks on the wall and paint them. And for that, it will take them a week. From 5pm to 12am.
And the guard, who is a friend of Ali, has also taken a week’s leave. Ali doesn’t think he will ever come back to work there. With not much hope of being able to do it once again, they decided to walk around the town a bit. They had no fear of getting caught either. They understood that even if they showed the holding staff to a cop on the street, he will still not have a clue about it.
‘Check that out,’ said Ali pointing at a huge house decorated with dancing lights and music that can be heard far away. It looked like some sort of party. The duo decided to take a closer look but, not to gate-crash.
They stood outside the house and it seemed like a huge gathering of family members who sang and at and danced merrily. Laughter and woos can be heard. Robert pointed at the stone carving on the outer walls of the house which said, “Noor Manzil.” Ali said it meant, “The house of light.”
‘So is that why they got on all these LED lights?’ asked Robert.
‘Dude, don’t be such a foreigner. It means as in to say the blessing of god.’
‘You mean the lights…. Oh, ok got it.’ Ali shook his head.
‘Hey, hello,’ said someone who came out from the premises of the house. Ali and Robert turned back to see if there was anyone behind them. ‘No, no… you guys. Come over and join us,’ said this middle aged man with moustache, wearing a kurta.
‘Oh! No sir. Thank you for your generosity. We will have to get going. Thank you though,’ said Robert.
‘Oh! Come on, brother. Have some food. You guys are guests to our country. This is an auspicious day in our family were a member of ours got married. Please join,’ said the man and caught the two by their arms and pulled them in.
‘Wow! Okay,’ said Robert as he was dragged in.
‘Fellas! Give a big cheer to our friends!’ shouted the man as they were in. A huge reception of woos and claps from a richly dressed crowd of hundreds, that consisted of people of all ages and sizes, only to bring out a sheepish smile from the two. Robert waved back. ‘My name is Amjad, by the way,’ said the man shaking both their hands. They introduced themselves.
The next hour it was all dancing, singing, eating, playing games and again eating. Dancing was not like what you see in a club or any other party. A group of middle aged men would dance around the newly married couple in what looks like a combination of chicken dance meets tribal meets Bollywood. But it was so infectious that the whole place should be kept in quarantine. Almost everyone who was healthy to stand would wriggle like that. Singing was also not exactly what you see in weddings. Yes, the band played the music and some cousin of the bride or groom would lend their voice. But he or she wouldn’t be heard for more than a verse. The chorus was larger and louder; and at times took over the microphone too… all in good spirits. Eating was also different. One ate from the plate of his or her cousin, uncle or spouse… they just snatch and go. The games were weird too. A pencil tied in the tip of a string is tied to the contestants like a tail. The first to insert it on a bottle kept on the ground without touching with any body part is the winner. There were games for the couple too. A ring was put on a huge vessel of milk and rose flower petals. The first to get it can dare the partner for anything. The bride got the ring first and she asked the groom to do a classical dance to a rap song. And then they all sat down at peace and ate a good proper dinner. Ali and Robert totally forgot the holding staff and they were really in to this party. It was only when all the mayhem settled the thoughts and worries started to kick in.
‘I am pretty sure they are gay,’ said one of the three young men sitting in another table.
‘Don’t flatter yourself, Rauf,’ said Sohail.
‘What makes you say that?’ asked Lucky.
‘That Asian guy is never a foot away from the white dude ever since they are here. The whitey always has to whisper something whenever that dude is gonna break loose to the party. And then the Asian gets shy and becomes more circumspect. I think he was saying something kinky, you know? They are trying so hard to cover up the fact they are a couple. They think we Indians will judge them. But their bodies are merging almost all the time that its such a give away. It’s cool if they are gay but, if you are so embarrassed to accept who you are then stay in the closet, right?’
‘Do you have a “power off,” button? There should have been one for sure,’ said Sohail.
‘What?’ asked Rauf, looking at Lucky with disarray.
‘I’m gonna go and talk to them,’ said Sohail and left the group. But the group followed him behind.
‘Hey, guys,’ said Sohail drawing a chair close to them. Rauf and Lucky also did the same. They all introduced themselves. Then within the next thirteen minutes they covered topics like tourism, England, Beverly Hills, music, real estate, tomatoes, chicks, Chuck Norris and Ozzy Osborrne.
‘… I don’t know. But I am almost certainly sure that I have seen a house look exactly like this somewhere else in this city,’ said Robert.
‘Well… I am sure you would have because there are 8 other houses exactly like this one. That’s how the king wanted it to be,’ said Sohail.
‘Wait, what? The king?’ asked Ali.
‘You didn’t know? We are all royal,’ said Lucky.
‘You mean like the Arrakal family?’ enquired Robert.
‘Not like… we are the Arrakal,’ said Rauf. Robert was now really worried. They tried to be as natural as possible. The stolen property was right there on the ground in a bag.
‘W-well,’ said Robert laughing nervously. ‘Gosh! It’s really late. I guess we shouldn’t stay any further,’ he said and both of them got up.
‘How can you guys leave without seeing the ragging part and all?’ asked Rauf.
‘Wh-what do you mean?’ asked Ali.
‘Nothing guys. Its just a fun tradition here,’ said Sohail. ‘The family members of the groom ask the bride to sing, dance and all that kinda stuff and delay their first night as long as possible. They wouldn’t leave them alone until a bribe is offered by the bride’s parents. The same happens when the groom visits the bride’s place. Its just a naughty custom of warming up to all the members of each family… all in the spirit of a Malabar wedding.’
‘Sounds more like a family exclusive custom. We’ll just leave. It was a great night though…’
‘Fabulous…’ said Ali.
‘Yeah, so thank you all,’ and they started to slowly walk away.
‘Hold up,’ said Sohail. He walked towards them. ‘I’ll drop you guys. You wont get a taxi so late.’
‘No, no, no, no, no…’ said both Ali and Robert.
‘Oh, just come and chuck the formality,’ said Sohail and pulled Robert’s arm. Lucky joined them for the drive and Rauf decided to stay back. The four got in the car that was outside the house in a long queue of cars that stretched a very long way. Sohail and Lucky sat in the front, with Sohail driving. He started to drive the longer route. ‘You know… we were actually looking for an excuse to get out of there.’
‘And why is that?’ asked Robert.
‘Because of what’s in the bag next to you, Robert.’ Robert froze hearing that. He looked at Ali who was now trying to speak but the voice was not coming out. ‘Hand me over that small bag beside your feet.’ Beside the feet… that’s not where Robert’s bag was. He looked down to see another bag under the front seat. He took it out and then showed it to Ali. Ali was drenched in sweat within a minute.
‘What’s in it?’ asked Robert.
‘Marijuana, baby,’ said Rauf turning to look at them. Robert and Ali laughed nervously. Ali punched Robert’s arm on relief. After few minutes Sohail stopped in front of another big house.
‘Where are we?’ asked Robert.
‘This is my house,’ Said Sohail.
‘Nice house,’ said Robert. ‘So… to the hotel?’
‘Not right now. You guys are coming in with us to smoke a joint.’
‘Oh! No, no, no, no…’ said both of them. ‘You guys have fun. We just…’
‘I saw the look on both of your face when you saw the weed. I could tell this dude was dying for a smoke from the way he was sweating all over my back-seat. Tell me… am I right or not?’ Ali and Robert didn’t know what to say. They took a moment and then Ali said, ‘Y-yes.’ So they all went in the house which seemed to have no one in right now. It seemed like one of those houses which the king had built for his siblings. Because though it looked different from the previous one, this was a very, very old style of architecture. They went to his room which was upstairs. He didn’t switch on any lights on the hall way or any other rooms. Even the car was parked a bit far away. Rauf started to make joints in no time and he was also like very fast. He made more than 20 in a matter of few minutes. Then he was out of paper.
‘Hey, isn’t that the museum?’ asked Ali looking outside the window.
‘W-we are near the museum?’ asked Robert.
‘It’s about 500 feet away from here. You guys had been there?’
‘We were really keen to make a visit. But we couldn’t. The place was closed for renovation and I guess we will have to go back without seeing it. It’s so sad because we are such big suckers for history and antiquities,’ said Robert.
‘I never knew that that rat hole was such a big attraction for foreigners,’ said Sohail.
‘Oh, it’s of huge interest. Huge…’ said Ali.
‘You know… there is always something cool in living in an old mansion like this, especially if it is built in the hands of royalty. For instance, there is a tunnel here that actually takes you all the other houses of people in the family. And that museum you see was once the house of the king’s sister.’
‘Good lord,’ said Robert. ‘Has anyone been on the tunnel?’
‘Well… most of us are abroad. But whenever we come here for vacations, it gives us a golden opportunity to do nothing than get stoned. On one such instance, me and few of us boys including Rauf has actually been it. We went about 200 meters. Such a same that we didn’t go through it.’
‘Still awesome though,’ remarked Ali.
‘Yeah, okay. Now let’s get stoned.’

10 minutes later

They all sat on the carpet laid ground with cigarettes on hand. On their middle was a glass bowl of cigarettes. On the background was some crazy music that was just sounds. Sohail says its gives a good hang to the mood.
‘What is that? Bach?’ asked Ali.
‘Sounds like bah for bleat,’ said Rauf. Sohail eyeballed him. On response he did the “sshh,” and put his index finger on front of Sohail’s left eye. Sohail shook his head and ignored.
‘Good stuff, uh?’ asked Sohail.
‘Real nice, real nice,’ said Ali. Sohail looked at Robert. Robert smiled. Then he understood that Sohail was waiting for him to say something. He didn’t know what he was expected to talk about. Sohail pointed at bowl with his eyes and then looked back at him and raised his eye brows.
‘Oh! Yeah, well I am not really sure if it is having any sort of affect on me. Maybe I am like a kiwi bird that doesn’t fly high,’ he said and giggled with a snort.
‘This is your first time, isn’t it?’ asked Sohail.
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Coz you are now talking with a thick English accent.’
‘You know what… this just doesn’t feel good enough. I expected it to be way cooler,’ said Sohail. He opened a compact refrigerator he had in his room and took out a large chocolate cake and a small carton of Tropicana. He laid the cake on the middle and kept the juice box with himself. They all started digging in. ‘I hope this brings in all the fun. Coz you guys suck at this.’
Rauf started crying loudly all of a sudden. ‘Dude, what’s wrong?’ asked Ali.
‘What?’ He responded crying.
‘Why are you sad?’
‘No, I am so, sooo… happy.’
‘Ehmm! Fellas... I think my arms are paralysed. I can’t move it,’ said Robert.
‘Dude you are motioning it up and down. You are high, that’s all,’ said Sohail.
‘Man, you are saying you are fine and you are crying,’ said Ali.
‘I am laughing, dude. You are just too stoned,’ and Rauf started crying even louder. They had to make him quiet.
‘All right then show us how you cry just to make me realize how stoned I am.’
‘Okay,’ said Rauf and then he lay on the floor and slept within a second.
‘Unbelievable,’ said Ali. ‘Dude, this has to be the worst group to get stoned with.’
‘Amen,’ said Sohail and sipping on his juice box. ‘But I kinda like you guys. I really owe you one. You have no idea what this means to me.’
‘You are just saying,’ said Robert.
‘What you mean? Coz I am high? I never say anything without meaning it, buddy.’
‘Then let’s go in that tunnel towards the museum.’
‘No, no, no…’ said Ali. ‘He’s just talking crap. He didn’t mean it. We don’t have to do anything nuts.’ Sohail got up.
‘Oh no, Ali. As a matter of fact, let’s do that shit. I wanted to do it for such a long time. Maybe this is my last chance to do something like that.’
‘Really?’ asked Ali. Sohail nodded. ‘Isn’t that too risky?’
‘Let’s find out.’
‘Can I have a word with my friend in private, please?’
‘Go ahead. I’ll just go to the bathroom and have a Vicodin that the dentist gave me.’ And he left the room.
‘Dude, isn’t it too risky?’ asked Ali in a low voice catching Robert by his shoulders.
‘What?’
‘The tunnel…’
‘What about it?’
‘We are going in it towards the museum you moron.’
‘Are we? That’s awesome. I’ll distract him and you make the switch once we are in the museum. It’s a long shot but it’s a shot that need to long but short.’
‘What? What the hell are you saying?’ Robert looked at him with his glassy eyes in a moment of calm.
‘We have to.’
‘What if the tunnel collapses or… or has snakes? There could be thousand other horrific things in it. Haven’t you seen the Indiana Jones series?’
‘It’s safe… really safe. Trust me. I have been there.’
‘No, you haven’t you douche bag.’
‘Hey! We were there together.’
‘That was the MUSEUM. We are talking about the TUNNEL.’
‘… Okay chillax.’
‘You know what… we’ll ask Sohail to break in the museum with us, so that we can get in the tunnel from the other side. It’s a totally different thing if he does it. They are not going to expos something which one of them did when he was high, right?’ Robert looked at him without blinking. ‘That’s stupid isn’t it? Good lord almighty! What are we gonna do? Mate, I think we should just cut this shit and go home with the authentic one, okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘What?!’
‘Okay…’
‘What you mean, okay? So all of a sudden you are pretty Zen about it?’
‘There is nothing else we can do…’
‘And all it took was some weed, uh? I should have known,’ he said laughing with relief. He then took the juice box that Sohail was drinking. He took a sip from it. ‘God, this tastes awful,’ he gestured and took another sip. ‘Man, this isn’t juice. It’s liquor. That swine,’ he said laughing.
‘What’s taking him so long anyway?’ enquired Robert.
‘He went to the bathroom to take some…’ Ali suddenly froze. He got up quickly. He ran outside the room. ‘God, I should have realized when he went to a bathroom other than the one in his own room!’ Ali searched the room in the left to the corridor. It was vacant. Then he tried to open the bathroom door inside a room which was in the right side. It was locked from inside. He called his name. There was no response. Ali broke in the door. He saw Sohail lying unconscious in a pool of his own vomit. Ali yelled for Robert. Robert dashed in fearing something is wrong. He panicked and almost totally lost it to see Sohail like that. He first thought he was dead. They went back and tried to wake up Rauf. That was in vain.
‘We must take him to a hospital,’ said Robert.
‘Man this is so much trouble. The longer we stay here, that much more are the chances of us getting caught. What if they say we did this to him and not the drug overdose? We should call for emergency help and leave.’
‘Don-don’t be stupid. That will only make it worse. Plus this is some other country we are in. We don’t know if the paramedics can make it in time. It hardly does over there man. I saw a hospital on our way here. Now let’s go!’
‘First of all… your accent is back to American. Sorry to bring it up now. And… just remember… the mantle is with us now and we have no time to hide it.’ Robert looked concerned. He didn’t no what to do. And then Sohail’s cell started ringing form his trouser pockets.

2 hour later

Sohail’s father was sitting alone in a chair outside the ICU. He was concerned but composed. The doctors have said his son is 60% out of danger now. It seems like Sohail’s father has not informed anyone else in the family, it seems. Perhaps he did not want to break the wedding spirits. It seems he hasn’t even told his wife. He sat there all alone. Someone lend a cup of coffee.
‘Thank you, Robert.’ said Sohail’s father. Ali was beside him. They took the chairs beside him. ‘Don’t worry guys. He’ll be fine. I am a doctor myself.’
‘Oh...’ said Robert and nodded.
‘I work in Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Israel. I have been working there for almost 30 years now,’ he said. ‘When Sohail was a kid he had this condition called the Dravet Syndrome that gave him seizures. He had like 90-100 seizures a week. Some of those were so bad that it’s a miracle how he even survived. It was excruciating to watch him go through that,’ he says and takes a sip of his coffee. ‘I have two sons. The elder one got married today,’ he smiles. ‘In our hospital, there is a particular treatment for certain patients with cancer. You might have heard. We used marijuana for treating cancer patients and even for patients with Alzheimer. And the results were unbelievable. So I decided to take a chance and save my son’s life. Voila! It just worked. Even for a doctor like me it was a huge miracle. But everything has two sides to it. My son is not the most impressive young man. He is not the most promising or obedient one. But he is my son. I had two choices. I chose to keep him alive as much as I can. I had been in similar scenarios many times. Being all alone in front of ICUs waiting to see if my son survives this time or not. And each time I try my best that no one comes to know about it. One can only do so much to hide though. They think my son is a spoiled brat born with a silver spoon to parents who are too busy for him. Little they know what we do to survive… just to survive. And at times… I feel that in our selfishness to have him amongst us, I might have made him what he is today. He is in there solely because of me,’ he smiles.
Robert was very moved by this man. He and Ali sat with him till noon. Robert discussed with Ali his decision to tell him everything about the mantle. Ali thought it to be dumb but he asked Robert to do what he feels is right. So Robert explained to him everything he came to know in a hospital sometime ago and what all that led him in to. He expressed his wish to return it and also anyone in particular knowing about it.
‘Why?’ asked Sohail’s father.
‘What why?’
‘Why bother returning it?’ he asked. Robert didn’t know what to say to that. ‘The way I see it, you didn’t take something that you didn’t have a claim. And for you to value it like this makes you the more deserving. It will be meaningful if you kept it. They wouldn’t have given you if you have asked. Even if they did it would take a hefty lot of paper work. You don’t have to go through it right now. I say you leave as soon as possible if you want to make that cruise tomorrow.’
Robert took his advice with glee. He wanted to say goodbye to Sohail. But Sohail’s father said it will take time before he wakes up and that would ruin their plan. He gave him Sohail’s number and promised them that Sohail will not come to know anything about their secret. They shook hands and parted.

Three days later

The duo was having lunch in a restaurant near to the beach somewhere in Sri Lanka.
‘So what’s next?’ asked Robert.
‘I don’t know. I just don’t think I can go on forever living like this. I just want to settle down with a steady job and hopefully start a family.’
‘Family… for that we need to find women to marry.’
‘Women?’
‘One for me and one for you,’ said Robert.
‘I think I am pretty good in finding love. Not so good in settling down with a job and stuff.’
‘Well… I am actually going to start my own real estate firm. So here is the deal. You help me find a decent girl to marry and I help you settle down with a job. You’ll make a good broker anyway. Deal?’
‘What’s the pay like?’ he asked.
‘Are you really concerned about that part?’
‘Not really. I know we can make amends. I just always wanted to ask that if I ever did get a job. O well… deal.’
‘Good. To BFF,’ said Robert and raised his glass to make a toast.
‘Do me a favour. Don’t ever spoil the moment by saying that shit.’
‘Just clink, dumbass,’ said Robert and they made a toast.

---- FIN ------