Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
DHEER
I sha blew out a heavy breath and shook her head in disapproval.
“You guys can’t go on like this, Bhai Sa. It’s like there’s a Raksha-shaped wall between the two of you, and you will never find true happiness until you bring down that wall. Just tell her the truth,” she pleaded.
“I can’t, Isha. You know that,” I said sharply. “Besides, she will leave me even sooner if I tell her the truth.”
“She’s hurting, Bhai Sa. She has never got over what she sees as your betrayal, and you can’t build a marriage around it. You have to smash through it to build her trust in you.”
“No! I know it will take me a long time to earn her trust again, but I’d rather do it without referring to the past because the past is dead. Nothing good can come out of raking it up again.”
She shook her head again and picked up the tray with the money that my mother had used to utaaro our nazar.
“I need to take this down to the orphanage in the village. I’ll see you guys later.”
Diya came out of the bedroom just then. Her nose was red and she looked as if she had been crying. She ignored me and looked at Isha.
“We’re going to the police station, Isha. Can you help us get away before the elders see us?”
“Of course! I’ll call them into the den to see the wedding videos and pics I took on my phone,” Isha said promptly. “Give me ten minutes.”
Ten minutes later, Diya and I crept downstairs and slipped out through a side door. My car was already waiting in the driveway.
Kirori Ji was waiting for us when we got out of the car at the police HQ, and I introduced him to Diya. When she learnt that he was the person who was responsible for the evidence we had found, she thanked him with joined hands. He was greatly embarrassed to have a Maharani show him so much respect, and blew his nose loudly on a handkerchief as he led us upstairs to meet the Police Commissioner.
“Commissioner Saheb, Hukum aa gaye,” he called before we entered the office.
Commissioner Dhaliwal rose to greet us and was all praise for Diya because he was immensely impressed by her determination to bring Ayush to justice.
“Your Highness, we’re doing our best to build a strong case against him so that we can get a warrant to search his house. If the husband is telling the truth about where they buried the body, we will have enough evidence to throw Ayush in jail, and your evidence will keep him there for a long time.”
“I’m glad to do my part, Commissioner,” replied Diya firmly. “Did the husband say why Ayush killed her?”
The Commissioner blew out a heavy breath.
“It’s a very murky story, Your Highness. The Goels have their fingers in many pies. Some legal, but many illegal ones, as well. And this man, Manto Singh, was just given charge of Ayush’s latest venture - human trafficking. He brings in girls from the distant villages around here on the pretext of finding them jobs in the city, and sells them to red-light districts all over the country.”
Diya inhaled sharply when she heard that.
“And these people are praised in society for their philanthropy,” she snarled.
“That’s the way of the world, ma’am,” said the Commissioner gently. “As I was saying, Manto Singh was taking delivery of these girls in huge containers. His wife, Sheela, thought he was cheating on her with another woman, so she decided to spy on him. She discovered these women locked in a container outside his office, and being a decent woman, she freed them all. She even paid for them to go to women’s shelters around the city.”
“That was the maal that Ayush meant,” exclaimed Diya. “He said she had stolen his maal.”
“Exactly! And that’s why he killed her. Her death was supposed to set an example for anyone who interfered with his business.”
“Will he really go jail, Commissioner Sahab?”
“Yes, ma’am. I promise you that Ayush Goel will go to jail, not only on this murder charge but also on charges of human trafficking. His Highness has also provided us with evidence of his drug dealing. We’re building an airtight case to take down the Goel empire. You will be required to come here and give a statement after we begin the formal investigation into Sheela Singh’s death.”
“And when will that begin?”
“As soon as we find her body. My team is preparing the warrant application as we speak, and we should have the warrant within a few hours. The premise is that her best friend reported her missing, and on interrogation, the husband confessed to being party to her murder.”
Commissioner Dhaliwal was a man of his word. By the next morning, word spread around Trikhera that cops had turned up at Goel House with a search warrant, and they had dug up the whole backyard to find Sheela Singh’s body.
When we got back from the police station after recording Diya’s statement, Isha was waiting for us in the courtyard, and she looked worried.
“Are you okay, babe?”
“I am,” said Diya, but she wasn’t.
“Don’t you need to make the dessert for lunch? Dadi Sa is going to be on your case until you prove to her that you can cook,” said Isha with a grimace.
“About that… is there any way I can order the dessert and say I made it? If my mother couldn’t teach me to cook in thirty years, I don’t think I can learn how to do it in one afternoon.”
“If you get caught ordering the dessert instead of cooking it, Dadi Sa will go up in smoke,” gasped Isha.
Diya whimpered in distress and I gave Isha a pointed look. She was quick on the uptake and smiled slowly.
“We do have a chef in residence who can teach you how to make something step by step,” she said, with a grin.
“But my mother warned me that the cooks would be banned from the kitchen while I was cooking to make sure they didn’t help me,” wailed Diya. “This is a test for the new bride, and your grandmother is a very strict examiner.”
“Don’t worry, babe. You have a secret weapon.”
“What weapon?” asked Diya doubtfully.
“Your husband! Dheer is an excellent cook and I’m sure he will help you make something simple but delicious.”
Diya turned to me suspiciously.
“Seriously? When did you learn to cook?”
“Nine years is a long time, Diya. I’ve learnt many new skills since we last met.”
Her lips tightened at the reminder of the time we spent apart, and I wondered why I was needling her.
“But why would you help me?”
“Because we’re a team, whether you like it or not. I’m always going to support you.”
Ramsingh appeared in the doorway.
“The Rani Ma has asked the Maharani to step into the kitchen, Hukum.”
“This is it,” squealed Isha. “I can’t wait to see what you cook.”
“Only see?” Diya asked drily.
“Dude, I’ve seen you burn Maggi. So let’s not make too many plans,” she teased, as we headed downstairs.
I veered towards the door that led to the garden, and Diya grabbed my arm.
“Where are you going? I need you to help me,” she hissed.
“I’ll join you in a bit,” I promised.
I took the long way around and entered the huge bawarchi-khaana through the side door. Diya was alone in there, and she looked frantic as she stared at the big vessels on the counter. Our kitchen was huge, with one section devoted to the vegetarian food that was cooked on holy days. I put a finger on my lips and led Diya to that section. There was a big window above the kitchen counter that opened onto the herb garden.
“I’ll stand on the other side of the window in case Dadi Sa decides to check on you. She takes this sort of thing very seriously and will no doubt be looking for a reason to complain about you.”
Diya grabbed my hand before I could go out.
“Look, I don’t even know how to boil an egg. I need detailed instructions and a lot of handholding, not some orders thrown at me from a window,” she said desperately.
“I’ve got this, Diya. And I will give you step-by-step instructions, don’t worry,” I promised hastily and got out of the kitchen before Dadi Sa saw me.
Diya muttered under her breath until she saw me outside the window. I rapped on the glass and she threw the window open.
“Put that apron on,” I said, pointing to the one that hung on the door to the pantry.
She looked adorable as she struggled with it, so I popped back into the kitchen and helped her tuck her pallu into the waist of her saree before I tied the apron strings.
“Thanks,” she muttered, still not meeting my eyes.
I raised her chin and kissed her swiftly. She kissed me back for a minute before she drew back angrily.
“I was just following orders,” I said, pointing to her sunshine yellow apron which ordered you to kiss the cook.
“Hmph! Do you always kiss the cook who wears this apron?” she asked snidely.
“Since this apron belongs to our chief bawarchi who is a huge mountain of a man that can wring my neck with one hand, I have to say I don’t. But I promise to kiss you every time you wear it.”
“For how long, Dheer? How soon will you lose your head over another woman like you did the last time?”
Despair twisted my insides at her damning words.
“I swear to you, Diya. I will not look at another woman for the rest of my life,” I swore, but she didn’t look very convinced. “I know I fucked up nine years ago, but we were both kids then. You were twenty-one and I was twenty-five. Can’t you forgive the mistake I made when I was a young fool?”
“Have you cheated on any other woman after that?” she demanded.
“No. Never!” I replied with conviction, but Diya just flashed me a bitter, crooked smile that broke my heart.
“So it was just me that you tired of. In that case, what is to stop you from losing interest in me again?”
“Give me a chance to prove myself,” I begged. “I swear to God, Diya, I won’t let you down again.”
A week ago, I had no idea that I was about to be thrown into Diya’s orbit again, let alone predict that we would be married before the week was out. I had stayed away from her for nine years because I thought that was the right thing to do, but as soon as I got to know her again, as soon as I touched her again, I found myself falling for her all over again.
It wasn’t just her beauty that drew me to her. It was her courage. The way she was willing to risk her life for a woman she didn’t even know, and the way she did not back down in the face of extreme danger. Diya was my warrior princess. And I loved the way she was with my family. I loved her closeness to Isha, her kindness to my mother who hadn’t known much kindness in life, as well as the way she stood up to Dadi Sa’s tyranny without being rude.
I’d cut my heart out before I hurt her again, but I didn’t know how to convince her. For now, I decided to just help her. I forced a smile and let myself out into the herb garden again before she could reply.
“Take that big pan and put it on the hob. Now, take some ghee and… no! That is salted butter, not ghee! Put that down and check the big glass jar in front of you,” I whispered frantically through the window.
It was a long and arduous process, but I took Diya through the steps of making seviyan kheer, and almost an hour later, the kheer was bubbling in the pan while Diya did a happy dance around the kitchen. I winced when she banged her head into the edge of a cabinet door she’d left open. The woman really needed a keeper every minute of the day. A dedicated guardian angel. If only she’d hire me for the job, I thought with a wry smile. She’d drive me to drink before the year was out, but I’d die a happy man.
I plucked a red rose from my grandmother’s prized rose bushes and handed it to her through the window.
“Thank you,” she said, with a little blush. “But the whole credit goes to you. I couldn’t have done this without your help.”
“You’re a quick learner, Diya. Now, pluck that rose clean and sprinkle the petals over the kheer after you transfer it to a big bowl. Use the huge Wedgwood bowl. Dadi Sa likes it because it was part of her dowry. And there is silver varak in a little box in that drawer behind you. I’ll show you how to place it on the surface of the kheer.”
Diya wailed in despair when her first sheet of edible silver sank into the kheer like the Titanic, but she got the hang of it eventually.
“I’ll see you in the dining room,” I said when I heard the sound of Dadi Sa’s walker approaching the kitchen.
“Wait! Are you sure this is fine?” she hissed.
“It’s perfect,” I said, reaching through the window and taking her hands. I raised them to my lips and kissed them gently, and was rewarded by Diya’s smile. “Now, go and show off your kheer, and remember, don’t let Dadi Sa browbeat you into anything.”
Diya smiled proudly at the dining table when everyone, including the Rani Ma of Mirpur, praised her kheer. I gave her a quick wink when she met my eyes and she flashed me a wide, wicked grin that made me want to grab her and take her upstairs right then.
Nandini Devi’s phone pinged just then and she gasped when she read the text she’d received.
“I can’t believe this! Apparently cops turned up at Goel House just now with a search warrant. And they found a dead body! They’ve taken Ayush into custody.”
Commissioner Dhaliwal was a man of his word, I thought with relief.
My phone rang just then, and my eyes widened when I saw who it was. I declined the call and decided to call back later. When I looked up, Diya was staring at me thoughtfully, and I wasn’t sure if I liked the look on her face.