B Positive

A Story by Sharda

She has been physically abused for years, she finds her unique solution to the problem

Friends,

Have some bad news for you. My husband died of heart attack this morning. He complained of chest pains at about 11 PM yesterday, We rushed him to the hospital, unfortunately he was pronounced dead within 15 minutes. Due to the Covid Lockdown, we have been advised to take the body directly to the crematorium.

Please say a prayer for his soul

Roshini

I got this Whatsapp message (not a forward) from Roshini . Though a little impersonal, it definitely was the most effective means of spreading the news. If things were normal, at least a thousand people would have attended the funeral. But the Indian Prime Minister had announced a complete lockdown three weeks ago and people are really scared of the dreaded virus, poor Roshini, she would be all be herself today. I wondered who was taking care of her little girl.

I met Roshini about ten years ago at a hospital. My daughter was suffering from Typhoid and was in the same room as her. There were two beds in that hospital room, Shwetha, my daughter, occupied the bed by the window and on the other bed was Roshini. She had a bandage on her forehead, her left arm was in a cast and there were dark blue marks around her eyes and mouth.

In addition to the beds, the room had a chair for the attendant and a table to keep medicines and water for the patient. On Roshini’s table was a glass of untouched juice covered in a plastic wrap, and on the attendant’s chair sat a man in his forties. He was pretending to read from his mobile phone, but his eyes were mostly focused on Roshini.

I never had the occasion to meet her husband again, and now he was dead, I will never see him again either. Though in the ten years that Roshini and I had known each another, her husband was the topic of most of our conversations. At the hospital though, I was not in any mood to speak to anyone, so I too pretended to read a book. I rarely converse with people, an introvert by nature who at the bequest of Roshini became a Insurance agent many years later.

It is anyone’s guess as to why Roshini was in the hospital, unfortunately we all choose to mind our own business. Her husband was probably feeling a little guilty and hence the bouquet of red roses and a glass of fresh juice was on her side table. Today the same lovely wife is making the funeral arrangements, maybe she will place a garland of red roses on his coffin.

In the evening the Doctor made her routine visit to see the two patients, Roshini slightly opened her eyes for a moment, but then shut them instantly and pretended to be asleep. The pretence continued until her husband walked out for a smoke. Then she opened her eyes and smiled at me. What a warm smile that was.

‘Is that your daughter, what is wrong with her?’, she asked.

“Typhoid“, I said, “she is dehydrated, so the doctors recommended that we admit her“.

She slowly turned towards my daughter and smiled.

‘Poor baby, your arms must be hurting because of the needle. Don’t worry, the Doctor said you will be discharged tomorrow. If you rest well and eat healthy foods, you will be become strong again and will be able to go to school.’

Roshini had a way with people, even the eight year old made a new friend that day.

‘What class are you studying in?”

“Fourth” replied the little one.

“Wow, my daughter is in the third standard. She loves Pokemon, do you like Pokemon?’

We heard footsteps outside the door, and immediately Roshini closed her eyes and pretended to be in deep sleep.

Her husband walked in with a glass of fresh juice in one hand and a bar of chocolate in the other. He took the old untouched glass of juice from the table and threw it in the dustbin and gave the bar of chocolate to my little one.

‘I too have a daughter about your age. Save this chocolate and eat it when you feel better’, he said while handling over the candy.

I could smell alcohol in his breath and suddenly became wary.

He then went back to his chair and pretended to read from his mobile. I pretended to read my novel, Roshini pretended to sleep and Shwetha who was too weak to do anything, continued to stare at the ceiling, after some time she fell asleep.

Every now and then he would look up and stare at Roshini, she was either in deep sleep or was pretending to be asleep. As the evening progressed, the man started to fidget, he was becoming restless. The room was dark and I could not pretend to read anymore.

To this day, I do not know why I did what I did. Maybe I felt sorry for Roshini or maybe, I was not comfortable sitting in a dark room with the stranger or maybe, just maybe the fates had decided that it was time for me to make a friend.

I told the person sitting in the opposite chair that, men were not allowed to stay after visiting hours (as this was a woman and child ward) and promised to call him if his wife awoke. He was relieved to hear that, and left shortly afterwards.

Almost instantly Roshini woke up.

‘Thank you‘, she said. ‘I just cannot stand the sight of him‘. It was obvious that he was the reason for her wounds. ‘Do you know, he asked me to tell the police, that I fell off the bed and the stupid policeman believed him. Can anyone fracture an arm and have such wounds on the head, by falling off the bed. He must have paid them heavily. Oh I hate that man‘.

I listened quietly, I felt sorry for her and offered her some juice, but she refused.

‘No, I won’t drink that, he will know that I woke up. I want him to suffer, let him think that I am in a coma. That sugarcane juice is from a shop near Kasturibai nagar, it has the right amount of ginger and lime. He knows that love this juice, but I will not drink it .. at least not today’.

I merely nodded, I wanted to ask her about the wounds, but decided against it.

Roshini could not resist drinking that juice, she always gave in to temptations. Years later she would tell me that she had eloped and married, much against her parents wishes at the age of seventeen.

‘He is not coming back tonight, I have an idea’ she said. ‘I will drink this juice and replace it with the one he has thrown in the dustbin, this way I can drink my juice and keep it too’, she smiled as she spoke. Was it a wicked smile or that of an innocent victim, I would never know.

Despite the pain, her eyes were filled with mischief. I helped her with the fresh juice and she relished every sip of it. Then I threw the empty glass in the dustbin outside our room and placed the unopened juice on the table. A classic switch-a-roo.

That’s how I became her partner in crime, she taught me to hide money from my husband, tell little white lies to my in-laws, and later stretch my resume. But until today none of my crimes were punishable under the law. I hope they cremate the body soon.

****

Remember, I said that maybe the fates wanted me to make a friend, not a new friend, but a friend.

In those days, I was a housewife, my life revolved around my kids, husband and home. No, my husband did not physically or emotionally abuse me. He just never acknowledged my presence and his only vice was that he is a ‘kanjoos’ ( a miser). I never had any spending money. He never stopped me from eating out or going for movies, but he never gave me any money for them either and probably that is why I never made friends.

Roshini on the other hand was an interior design consultant. Her clients were mostly referrals from other clients, who were not only impressed by her gregariousness, but also by her creativity. She had an eye for talent and hired undiscovered artisans (who worked dirt cheap). The young artists were happy to be recognised and Roshini’s profit margins were high. Roshini was a very smart woman and to this day, I have not understood, why she did not walkout of her marriage.

Love is strange.

As our friendship grew, I would invite her home for lunch or tea and many times take care of her daughter. In return, she would take me out for movies or for a quick bite of chaat. Like I said, our conversations usually revolved around her husband, she really loved and hated that man. Many times she would come home wearing heavy makeup and dark glasses.

We would also talk about my job or rather the lack of it. I married a total stranger immediately after graduation, and soon after started a family. Not many companies are willing to hire a middle aged woman with no experience, and a little self esteem.

Until I saw an ad from a new insurance company that is named after one of Americas biggest cities, I never thought I had any earning capability. They wanted to hire people like me (middle-aged and homemakers), the only condition was I had to provide them with a prospective client list. The larger the list, the higher the possibility of getting hired. I had neither any experience in marketing nor did I know people who I could sell insurance to.

Roshini sent me her entire client list and also the artisans she had worked with. I got the job, but I had to sell ‘life insurance’ to earn a living. Here too Roshini became my saviour, within six months almost all of Roshini’s clients had purchased insurance from me.

With new found income, my confidence grew and I have only Roshini to thank for my success.

Roshini wanted to buy a life insurance for her husband. But he was a regular drinker, a chain smoker and was overweight. The ‘objective standard’ of all insurance companies is created to ward off high risk cases such as this. There was absolutely no way he would pass the medical examination. To be honest, at that time I actually believed that Roshini was only planning to get an insurance in his name so I could get the commission.

We visited the Doctor recommended by the Insurance Company a few days before the scheduled medical checkup, pleaded him to be a lenient, Roshini even offered to renovate the clinic for free. But the Doctor was a man of principles and refused to adjust the books. It was obvious that Roshini’s husband would not pass the medical test. I have never seen Roshini so anxious.

Insurance has value only if the insured dies, I could not understand why Roshin wanted to this policy so desperately.

I completely forgot about the insurance policy until Roshini reminded me of it almost six months later.

‘I think he will pass the medical examination. I gave him an ultimatum, I gave him an ultimatum, he has to lose weight or I will to leave him‘.

‘I told him to stop smoking and got him a gym membership. Do you know he has lost 10 Kgs, stopped smoking and rarely drinks these days’.

‘I have also put him on a diet. For breakfast he has Spinach white egg omelette, then juice of kale‘

“Kale, what is that?”, I asked laughing. I could not believe my ears, but the commission from selling another policy excited me.

‘It looks like spinach. It has weight loss properties. He has Brussels sprouts and cabbage soup. For dinner, I give him only salad made from lettuce, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower’.

“All these exotic vegetables, where do you get them from“. I know she hated to cook

“Nilgiris does a special delivery every day. I make a new recipe every day, all dishes made of these green vegetables only“.

The thought of Roshini cooking brought a smile on my face, I know she hated cooking. But I was happy for her, she was cooking for him, caring for his health and maybe their marriage was finally turning a new leaf.

I filled out the forms for the life insurance policy, we went back to same Doctor, this time, her husband was given a clean chit. He had a pre-existing ailment though, irregular heart beat and was taking a drug called Warfarin. He also had a rare blood group B+ve.

But the insurance company was not concerned about irregular heart beat and a policy of fifty lakhs was awarded in his name.

It has been five months since the policy and today he died of heart attack.

I google the drug Warfarin.

Warfarin Oral :

It is important to eat a balanced, consistent diet while taking warfarin. Some foods can affect how warfarin works in your body and may affect your treatment and dose. Avoid sudden large increases or decreases in your intake of foods high in vitamin K (such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, and other green leafy vegetables, liver, green tea, certain vitamin supplements). Excessive weight can be a cause of concern and a doctor should be consulted immediately.

Overdose of green vegetables and salads will cause heart attack like symptoms.

Thankfully, these are Covid times and no hospital is performing an autopsy.

As per the Hindu customs, his body will be cremated. No one will ever suspect foul play, those who knew Roshini well, will be relieved that her suffering has ended and those who did not know her well will be glad that at least she has the insurance money to support her.