Karma

A Story by Rajeev

Sarika was staring at the cake, unable to comprehend why the cake looked all wrong even though she always longed for a birthday cake. She had been there when it was delivered from “The Bakers” and was really excited.

“Will I be seeing Daddy today mommy? will he come and wish me?” She asked her mother.

“For the last time Sarika, Yes” Shraddha said.

This birthday party would be attended only by her mother and father. Her mother explained that this was going to be a small private party, which meant her best friend Sasha and her other school friends would not be attending it. She was fine with it though.

She was meeting daddy for the very first time.

Sarika meanwhile, was sad looking into the anticipating eyes of her daughter.It was always the case when she looked into her daughters eyes. Sarika had her Fathers eyes, and that was not a good thing because the only time she looked into Sarikas fathers eyes was when he raped her.

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Pradeep Soni was a slightly deranged son of a powerful local politician. His motto always had been want it, have it but not in a good way. What he wanted, mostly caused destruction and left a trail of anguished lives. His father was always tasked with keeping Pradeep out of Laws’ long hands .His only son had to continue his political legacy after all.

These days, he had been ordered to be more circumspect with his fantasies, He was after all stepping into his fathers shoes anytime soon. Unknown to his father, he had also taken initiative to make his old mistakes disappear slowly... one at a time.

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Shraddha waited till 7 PM and knew that the monster would not be coming as promised.

Killing every bit of her self respect she had got in touch with Pradeep as she could not bear looking at Sarika distraught efforts to meet and know her father year after year. She had only asked him to meet her daughter once on her birthday and she would not disturb him again. Surprisingly, he had agreed. Even sent the birthday cake in fact. but now she understood it was a farce, he would never have come.

“Sarika, Lets cut the cake, Daddy seems to be a bit late”, Shraddha ventured.

“We will wait for daddy, no?... you said he will come” Sarika asked and the innocence of that question broke her mother's heart.

“Ok, Bring the cake to the table here, If we start cutting the cake, daddy will come...He would not miss the cake for anything” Shraddha said, mustering as cheerful face as she could.

Excited, Sarika started picking up the cake and did not notice that the knife meant for cutting it was lying angled with its handle stuck to the gap between the wall and the table.

It stung when the point nicked the back of her hand and instinctively she dropped the cake which fell face down on the floor.

Tears welling up in her eyes, Sarika started sobbing..

”Mommmy..daddys cake..fell on the floor.. I did not want to..”

“It is ok Sarika..don’t cry…..Look at me, let me get the pastry from the fridge and daddy loves pastry too so it is Fine, alright?” Shraddha said.

While her mother went into the kitchen, Sarika picked up a slice of the cake from ground and ran to her bedroom. She hid it there.

“She would give the first piece and only piece of cake to her father, no matter what. ”

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“PUULL Overrr”, Pradeep Soni shouted at his driver, his voice coming out in a slur. He was heading back from a wild party. The driver just managed to get off the road near a small pool of stagnant rain water off the road and no sooner Pradeep Soni threw open the cars’ door and started vomiting violently.

They resumed the journey after pradeep transferred his dinner, lunch along with a bottle of blue label from his stomach into the side of the road. While this was in progress mosquitoes, breeding and hovering near the stagnant rain water rushed into the car sensing food.

Tejdeep had been Pradeep Soni’s driver for a long time now and was well versed with his masters’ habits. He also had been instructed by Pradeeps father that his son should never be caught in a compromising situation and he had done this pretty well so far. The current situation could come into the compromising category if anybody noticed Pradeep in such a condition and alerted the press. Tejdeep thus increased his speed as the traffic light was changing from green to red.

At this time he felt a sharp sting on his on his neck and his hand instinctively left the steering to slap his neck. This changed the course of the car and it crashed into a car coming up from the left.

Pradeep Soni was lying in a hospital bed, It was a miracle he had survived this. Not only the accident, but also the press. Tejdeep was dead but miraculously Pradeep himself was not injured much. His father was mad at him but as usual he managed to hide his son’s inebriated condition from the law once again. What was exhausting though was that he had been receiving condolences from Innumerable people the whole day. How he wished he was left alone.

In a couple of days he might have to meet Mala in his guest house to get rid of all this irritating meetings. He smiled with that thought. But that would have to wait a couple of days and he was tired now.

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep at night he saw a small piece of cake among the bouquets. He remembered that the warden boy had said that it was from a little girl. His fathers’ political supporters lapped it up as it would make him look good in the news and who knows it could help change his image in the general public. He absent mindedly popped it into his mouth.

It was the last thing he ever ate.

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Doctors later found that Pradeep soni was poisoned to death. They could not trace the girl as nobody asked her who she was, they had been preoccupied with just political advantage around it.

Jaidev, who ran “The Bakers”, was a very distressed man that day. That cake was meant for the girl and her mother.

How are they alive? How did Pradeep Soni die due to poisoning?? Few days earlier Pradeep Soni’s man had sought him out and asked him to poison a certain birthday cake meant for a certain girl. He was frightened at first but the man had assured him that Pradeep would make sure that this case would not be investigated by the police.

Jaidev always thought he was a good man but which good man he had decided could say no to a large bag of money, which could take care of his sons’ Cancer treatment.