Chapter 6 #4
The boardroom wasn’t what Neel expected.
A massive mahogany table dominated the centre, surrounded by high-backed leather chairs.
Everything from the carpet to the state-of-the-art technology hinted at the success and wealth of the law firm.
He wondered how Kaavi’s father could afford to hire this lawyer on a cop’s salary.
Sen, his father and Kaavi’s mother were already there when they arrived.
Sen was representing Kaavi and her mother and his father was just sitting in.
An elderly lawyer and his assistant walked in.
‘Mr Joubert, I expected you to be dead by now,’ Kaavi said.
‘Kaavi!’ Her mother scolded.
‘Well, I at least hoped so,’ Kaavi responded, winking at her cousin, who smiled back.
‘Miss Archary, we meet again,’ the lawyer said as he took his seat.
‘It’s actually Mrs Naran now,’ she replied.
The lawyer didn’t respond. Instead, he opened a file.
‘Right, let’s get on with it,’ he said, retrieving two pages out of the file.
‘I, Jay Archary, being of sound mind and body, do hereby declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I revoke all previous wills and codicils made by me. To Yanam Archary I leave the sum of five million rand. To Kaavi Naran, I leave my house, its contents and everything else on the property.’
Kaavi jumped up from her seat.
‘You said Naran. Does it say Naran there?’ She pointed to the document.
The lawyer pushed the document towards her.
‘How did he know I was married?’ she demanded. ‘This will is dated six months ago,’
Neel sat back. Yes, a reality show about a dysfunctional family.
‘Is there any more in the will?’ Sen asked.
The other lawyer handed the file to Sen.
‘That’s it. The money in the bank and the house will be transferred,’ he replied.
‘Are you able to furnish my client with information about her father’s knowledge of her marriage?’ asked Sen.
‘Mr Archary was not obliged to inform me of such, however we did discuss it. He hired a private investigator to track Mrs Naran down six months ago.’
Definitely a reality show about a dysfunctional family, Neel mused.
‘For what purposes?’ Sen asked.
‘He wanted to make amends.’
Kaavi’s ‘I’m a bad bitch’ attitude was back.
‘Is there anything else we need to know?’ she asked.
‘Not formally. But I can say that Jay wanted to make amends.’
‘Then why didn’t he?’ Kaavi’s uncle asked.
‘Because the private investigator reported back that she was happy,’ the lawyer responded.
‘And she should be, especially after what he did,’ her mother suddenly said.
Neel felt Kaavi’s body stiffen next to him.
‘I think we’re done here. I’ll await documents for the transfer of the capital and property,’ Sen said.
Kaavi stood before anyone else. The others followed, but Neel didn’t rise. He looked around the room. There was something more to this. It was more than just her father being a controlling bastard.
‘Neel?’
He stood. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ he said.
Kaavi was not having any of it.
‘I DO NOT want this house. He wanted me to know that he’d won. That’s why he sneaked my married surname into his will. He wanted to say: “Look Kaavi, I won”.’
She paced the room. Neel was still trying to figure out how her father had acquired five million rand.
‘You could accept it and sell it,’ her aunt offered.
‘If I accept it, it’s me accepting defeat,’ Kaavi replied.
Her grandfather sighed.
‘Kaavi, don’t you see how this is eating you up? Don’t you see what it’s doing to you … what it’s done to you? Your marriage. Think about that. Think about all the other things it’s going to steal from you. It’s stealing joy and you’re letting it,’ her grandfather said.
Neel sat up straighter. He replayed her grandfather’s words in his head. What did this have to do with the marriage?
He hadn’t uttered a word since they arrived at her parents’ house. Everyone had an opinion. He and Shona were the only two sitting silently, observing.
‘I’m letting it, Granddad? Do you think I don’t want to forget it happened?’
Neel had had enough. He stood.
‘Kaavi, we need to go,’ he said.
‘Go?’
‘Yes. We need to talk. You vent to me. Me. Don’t ruin your relationship with other people that you love in the heat of the moment. Your grandfather loves you. We all do. No one wants to see you like this,’ he said.
He expected her to fight him on it. But she simply nodded, picked up her bag and walked out.
They didn’t speak on the way back to his house. She just looked out the window. When they got back, she slipped off her sandals and collapsed on the couch.
Neel slowly walked over to her and sat down.
‘You’re going to tell me?’
She nodded but didn’t speak.
He sat back and stretched his legs.
About five minutes passed. Still nothing.
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on.
‘My father …’ she began.
He sat up and looked at her.
‘Promise you’ll listen without judgement. I’ll speak without interruptions. You can ask questions after I’m done.’
He nodded.
‘My parents met when my father was in Rally with a couple of friends from the police training academy. My mother was beautiful and he swept her off her feet. He came from a very wealthy family but despised his father so he became a cop to “disgrace” his family.
‘My mother was from what people call “Rally’s richest family”, but she left all that behind to marry him. My grandparents had to accept that she was moving away to Jo’burg with someone they didn’t approve of. He was controlling, but no one ever imagined it would become as bad as it did.’
She stopped talking and shook her head. She sighed and then started again.
‘My birth made it worse. It triggered him. He had to control us. The cameras arrived when I was about five. He watched our every move. If we were out of line, we were punished. Mom would be locked in her room for days. Sometimes he locked her outdoors all night. He’d withhold food. If you didn’t obey, you couldn’t eat.’
Neel ran a hand through his hair. He was trying not to interrupt, but he was finding it very hard to contain himself.
‘My grandfather and aunt and uncle knew he was controlling, but they didn’t know all of it.
When they came to visit all appeared well until it didn’t.
When I was 11, my mother left him. She got both of us out of the house in secret and we caught a flight to Rally.
My mom told her family everything. My father arrived later that night.
He accused my mother of lying. He said she was delusional.
I don’t know what happened, but we left the next morning with him.
My mother became subservient. She didn’t fight it. She just accepted it.’
Kaavi paused and bit her lip. Neel shifted next to her. She began talking again.
‘My granddad and uncle tried multiple times to get my mother to leave him but she didn’t. While my mother became subservient, I became rebellious. I was a teenager. I wanted freedom, but the reigns got tighter. He started to lose it because he couldn’t control my mind. I was defying him.’
Kaavi stopped to take a breath. Neel prayed that she wasn’t going to have another panic attack. But she started speaking again.
‘Two days before I turned 18, we had an argument. I wanted to go out with my friends to a party. He said absolutely not. He reminded me that he had at least allowed me to get my learner’s licence and I should be grateful for that.
It made my blood boil. He left for his shift.
His partner picked him up in the police squad car.
‘As soon as he left, I found his car keys. Rikesh and Tarisha came over and we headed to the party. Rikesh already had his licence so I could drive as a learner driver. We were about two streets away from the party when a cop stopped us. My father had reported the vehicle stolen. I explained to the officer that the car was my father’s, but Rikesh, Tarisha and I were handcuffed and taken to the police station.
I assumed we’d be allowed to leave after my father had his say, but I was wrong,’ she said bitterly.
Neel was now hanging on her every word.
‘The charges were processed. We were put in a cell. It was a Friday. We’d only be allowed to apply for bail on Monday.
Rikesh and Tarisha were allowed to call their parents.
I wasn’t allowed to call anyone. Every officer I came in contact with listened to my father.
They were macho about it. Laughing that the little girl couldn’t call her mommy. ’
She stopped. ‘Neel, are you alright?’
He nodded. He couldn’t exactly tell her that he was shocked, angry and disturbed by what he was hearing.
‘Rikesh and Tarisha’s parents tried to get word to my mother.
But they couldn’t. She was locked in her room.
She had to be punished too. We spent the weekend in the holding cells.
On Monday morning, the investigating officer asked my father if he wanted to drop charges.
He refused. He had to make me pay. If I couldn’t be his prisoner at home, I would be a prisoner somewhere else.
We got to court and the prosecutor was best pals with my father.
They somehow convinced the judge that I was a flight risk because my grandfather lived in Rally and had the means to help me evade trial. ’
Kaavi shut her eyes tightly. Neel could see she was trying to erase the memories. She quickly opened her eyes again.
‘Rikesh and Tarisha got bail. I didn’t. Neel, I had turned 18 on that Sunday. I couldn’t go to the juvenile centre. Neel, where do you think 18-year-old awaiting trial prisoners go?’
Neel stood.
‘I need some water. You?’
She nodded. He walked to the refrigerator behind her in the kitchen and looked over his shoulder to see if she was watching him.
As she was still facing forward, he covered his eyes with his palm.
He felt physically ill. He’d never felt that way, even when Kaavi left him.
He quickly pulled himself together. But when he reached into the fridge, his hand was shaking.
He grabbed two bottles of water and went back to her.
She took the bottle he held out to her but didn’t open it.
He sat back down.
‘I was sent to the correctional service centre, also known as prison … the slammer … the joint. Rikesh and Tarisha managed to get word to Sen because they remembered him from when he’d visited.
He was serving his articles at his father’s law firm.
My uncle is one of the best criminal defence lawyers in the country.
But it was of no use. An urgent application for bail was launched.
My uncle, representing me, was further proof that I had the means to run if I got bail.
We lost. My grandfather launched his own application against my father for abuse of police power, but it was thrown out because my father had strong connections in the judiciary.
‘Days became weeks. My uncle and Sen researched every avenue to get me out but lost every time. How could they? The judges were corrupt. My father was a wealthy man. It was easy to pay them off.’
Kaavi took a deep breath before continuing: ‘About a month in, I was assaulted. It happened so fast …’
Neel gripped his water bottle so tightly that it crumpled in his hand.
‘As I was saying, it happened so fast. All I remember was lying on the cold floor trying to block the kicks. I at least covered my face. This face later proved to be an asset to me.’
‘Kaavi, I have to interrupt. I’m sorry.’
‘Yes?’
‘I … I just …’
She reached out and brushed her thumb over his cheek.
‘I know, Neel. You want to go back in time and help me but because you can’t, you feel helpless. But you have to know. I want you to know,’ she said kindly.
He nodded.
‘I was assaulted. I woke up in the prison hospital with two broken ribs and plenty of bruises. Word got to my father. He still refused to drop the charge. I became an easy target. I was a cop’s daughter.
I was with women accused of mass murders, robbery …
all because I’d used my father’s car without his permission.
Sen stayed in a hotel in the city the whole time I was in jail – to visit me and try to fight my case.
But he wasn’t the only visitor. My father sent cops in full uniform to taunt me.
They’d insinuate that my mother was dead.
Sen lodged a harassment charge against the police service, but it didn’t go anywhere because there was no proof.
Their names were not recorded in the visitors’ log.
‘I never heard from my mother. She didn’t fight for me. She didn’t stand up for me. Sen assured me that she was alive but still with my father.’
Again, Kaavi paused, staring straight ahead.
‘I was on constant high alert. My body would literally quake with fear. I couldn’t sleep. I had to watch my back. I made three more visits to the prison hospital: broken finger, a bite on my arm and a concussion.’
She shook her head, eyes blurred with tears.
‘It was the third of March. I felt okay that day. Sen and my grandfather were coming to visit. I didn’t even see it coming.
All I remember is the pain. I got stabbed in my thigh.
There was so much blood … I could have died.
I was rushed to the prison hospital. Two days later, I lay in that bed, broken, beaten and almost lifeless, when the warden arrived.
I was being released. The charges were suddenly dropped.
Neel, I was an awaiting trial prisoner for close to two months. ’
She gasped softly as she found herself on Neel’s lap, her head resting on his shoulder.
Neel buried his face into her shoulder, his breath warm against her skin.
His arms tightened around her, as if he could shield her from the pain with his presence alone.
The silence was thick, filled with the unspoken anguish he felt for her.
He held her firmly, his own emotions a turbulent mix of sadness and fierce protectiveness.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered, his voice muffled against her neck. ‘I had no idea.’
She didn’t respond. She just held onto him tightly.